A New Day : Education to Repatriation
KILI Radio premieres on May 4 and May 11, 2022
Episode 6 of our series explores some of the major changes that came about starting in the 1970s - most of them policy changes - that were signs of brighter days ahead. While we heard many times that these new policies would take quite awhile to have an actual impact, they still represent something to celebrate, as all progress should be celebrated. Part 1 starts with a look at changes within the field of education following the 1972 Indian Education Act and 1975’s Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. The second section covers the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act that overturned the 1883 Code and Court of Indian Offenses which banned indigenous spirituality under risk of severe punishment and even death. The third section turns to the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act which was a response to strong evidence that indigenous children were being removed disproportionately from their families and placed in non-indigenous homes even when “fit and willing relatives were available.”
The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty created the “Great Sioux Reservation” - comprising the western part of South Dakota including He Sapa - which was to be reserved exclusively for the “absolute and undisturbed use and occupation” of the Sioux Nation. By 1877, after the discovery of gold by George Armstrong Custer’s sanctioned expedition, this treaty was swiftly broken when the Black Hills were confiscated by the U.S. Congress. Part 2 of the episode begins with a detailed explanation of the cases related to the Black Hills land claim that culminated in 1980’s United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians Supreme Court case. The next and final segment of this episode discusses 1990’s Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act(NAGPRA) which was enacted “to establish the rights of Indian tribes and their lineal descendants to obtain repatriation of certain human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony from federal agencies or museums.”
Hear the main episode sections on their own.
Utilize the Episodes Breakdown and Master Narration Script documents to help identify & contextualize the clips.
