>> GOOD MORNING. I'M DELIGHTED TO BE HERE TODAY TO WELCOME YOU TO THE THIRD SEMINAR OF THE NIH NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE SPEAKER SERIES, HEALING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH NARRATIVE, THE POWER OF STORY TELLING. I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE JOINED US BY WEBCAST. MY NAME IS MIMI LITHING, I LEAD THE MULTICULTURAL OUTREACH HE WAS FOR THE OFFICE OF SCIENCE POLICY AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ARTHRITIS, MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DECEMBER AND COORDINATE INFORMATION WORK GROUP. THIS EVENT IS ONE OF MANY TAKING PLACE THIS MONTH AT NIH, TO HONOR AND CELEBRATE THE MYRIAD OF WAYS AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE CONTRIBUTE TO BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND LEARNING AND EXPLORING WITH US. I'D LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK THE NIH OFFICE OF EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FOR SPONSORING THIS SEMINAR, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE TRANS-NIH AI/AN HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION WORK GROUP AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP. IN PARTICULAR, I WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE ASHLEY WELLS, THE STRATEGIST FOR THE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTFOLIO, WITHIN THE NIH OFFICE OF EQUITY AND DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FOR HER EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP ON PLANNING THIS EVENT. THANK YOU, ASHLEY. BEFORE YOU LEAVE, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO COMPLETE THE EVALUATION FORM AND RETURN IT TO US AT THE END OF THE SEMINAR. AND I'D ALSO ENCOURAGE YOU TO STOP BY THE TWO EXHIBIT TABLES OUTSIDE THIS ROOM TO CHECK OUT NATIVE VOICES EXHIBIT THROUGH THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE AND OTHER NIH AND CDC MATERIALS DEVELOPED SPECIFICALLY FOR AMERICAN INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES. IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD THE CHANCE TO VISIT THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN OR HAVEN'T BEEN THERE FOR A WHILE TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY. WE'RE BRINGING THE MUSEUM TO YOU BY WAY OF OUR GUEST SPEAKER, DR. GABRIELLE TAYAC, WHO SERVED AS ONE OF ITS HISTORIANS. THROUGH HER WORK AS CURATOR, AUTHOR, EDITOR, LECTURER AND ACTIVIST, DR. TAYAC ILLUSTRATES THE POWER OF STORY TELLING TO HEAL COMMUNITIES. DR. GABRIELLE TAYAC, A MEMBER OF THE PISCATAWAY INDIAN NATION, HAS COMMITTED HER LIFE TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S RIGHTS AND HISTORY. HER ACTIVISM BEGAN AS AN UNDERGRADUATE AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY, WHERE SHE RECEIVED A DEGREE IN SOCIAL WORK AND AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES. WHILE AT CORNELL, DR. TAYAC SPENT A SEMESTER IN ECUADOR AND EL SALVADORE RESULTING IN AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED. FOLLOWING GRADUATION SHE PARTICIPATED IN A FELLOWSHIP AT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ALLOWING HER TO CONTINUE HER WORK, CONTINUING AT HARVARD WHERE SHE RECEIVED HER MASTERS AND DOCTORAL DEGREES IN SOCIOLOGY. DR. TAYAC'S SCHOLARLY RESEARCH FOCUSES ON AMERICAN INDIAN IDENTITY, MULTI-RACIALISM, INDIGENOUS RELIGION, AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, MAINTAINING A REGIONAL SPECIALTY IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. IN FACT, MANY OF THE ORGANIZATIONS FOR WHOM SHE HAS SERVED IN STAFF AND ADVISORY CAPACITIES, FOCUS ON THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION, INCLUDING THE MARYLAND COMMISSION ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, HISTORIC ST. MARY'S COMMISSION, AKIKI FOUNDATION AND MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES. DR. TAYAC HAS CONDUCTED A BODY OF VERY RESPECTED RESEARCH, LECTURED AT THE WHITE HOUSE AND CURATED EXHIBITS, MOSTLY RECENTLY A PERMANENT EXHIBIT, NATIVE NEW YORK, WHERE NATIONS RISE, SCHEDULED TO OPEN IN 2016 IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN NEW YORK CITY VENUE. JOIN ME IN GIVING A WARM WELCOME TO DR. TAYAC. [APPLAUSE] >> WELL, GOOD MORNING, THANK YOU FOR THAT VERY WARM FRAMING AND INTRODUCTION. IT REALLY IS INTERESTING TO ME IN THE SENSE THAT I NEVER I WOULD WORK AT A MUSEUM. THAT WAS THE FURTHEST THING FROM MY MIND WHEN I BEGAN THINKING ABOUT A CAREER MANY YEARS AGO. AS WAS MENTIONED, I STARTED OUT REALLY AT FIRST VERY INTERESTED IN INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH AND HEALING COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION, AND AS I WENT THROUGH THAT PROCESS I STARTED TO THINK MORE ABOUT STRUCTURES, AND HOW IT WAS THAT PEOPLE WERE PUT INTO THE POSITION THAT THEY WERE IN, AND THEN STARTING TO TRANSFORM FROM THAT NOTION OF PEOPLE ONLY AS VICTIMS, BUT AS PEOPLE WHO COULD BE ACTIVE AGENTS. IT'S ACTUALLY AN INTERESTING TERM THAT THERE'S A WRITER AND LITERARY SCHOLAR, GERALD VISNER WHO COINED A TERM, SURVIVANCE. IT'S NOT A MISSPELLING OF SURVIVAL BUT IT'S A WAY OF USING -- THERE'S TIMES WE CAN USE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND REINVENT IT TO WORK ON CONCEPTS HARDER TO DESCRIBE. SURVIVANCE IS NOT ABOUT JUST SURVIVING. ALL THE WORK YOU DO, SURVIVING IS JUST HANGING IN THERE AND IT'S HARD. SURVIVANCE MEANS THE PRO-ACTIVE PROCESS FORWARD, HOW YOU CAN CREATE YOUR LIFE, TAKE AN ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT, EVEN IN THINGS INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT AND RISING UP FROM POINTS THAT ARE REALLY, AS WE SAW IN THE CASE HERE IN THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION FOR MY OWN PISCATAWAY PEOPLE, FOR MANY PEOPLES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND WESTERN HEMISPHERE, FOR NATIVE PEOPLE SOMETIMES IT WAS NEAR ANNIHILATION OR DISAPPEARANCE, PHYSICALLY, CULTURALLY, NOT BECAUSE OF CHOICE BUT BECAUSE OF CONDITIONS. SO THAT WAS WHERE I STARTED TO GET MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN STRUCTURES AND WENT INTO SOCIOLOGY. I WORKED VERY CAREFULLY IN HUMAN RIGHTS, IN POLITICAL ADVOCACY AND THEN AS I WAS GRADUATING FROM MY DOCTORATE I GOT THIS CHANCE TO BE ASKED TO COME IN TO WORK FOR THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, A FORMER PROFESSOR OF MINE, CHARLOTTE HESS, A CHEROKEE MUSICOLOGY, WAS HERE, AND I WAS IN THE REGION BECAUSE I WAS WORKING ON MY DISSERTATION, JUST FINISHING UP3 AND MOVED FROM CAMBRIDGE TO HERE AND WAS VERY INVOLVED WITH PISCATAWAY RECOGNITION AND REPATRIATION OF HUMAN REMAINS AND MANY OTHER HEMISPHERIC KINDS OF ACTIVITIES THAT WERE TAKING PLACE IN THE D.C. AREA, SHE SAID WHY DON'T YOU COME IN. I SAID, WELL, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MUSEUMS. YOU SHOULD NEVER -- I TELL PEOPLE THIS. DON'T EVER DO THIS ON A JOB W. IF SOMEBODY SAYS WE WANTS YOU, YOU DON'T SAY I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT AND I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN DO THAT. SHE CALLED AND SAID, NO, THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE WANT YOU TO COME HERE. THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE THINK THAT IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU TO COME TO NNAI, BECAUSE WE'RE CREATING SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND MY EXPERIENCE WITH MUSEUMS WAS MUCH MORE -- I USED MUSEUMS FOR RESEARCH, COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES, BUT THERE WAS A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP WITH MUSEUMS, BECAUSE MUSEUMS HAD BEEN PRIMARILY COLONIA ENTERPRISES WITH THE NOTION THESE ARE DISAPPEARING PEOPLE SO LET'S COLLECT THEIR STUFF, NOT ASKING PEOPLE TO ENGAGE, BUT THIS WAS FLIPPING IT FOR NATIVE PEOPLE TO TELL THEIR STORIES AND IN TELLING THEIR STORIES, NOT ONLY TELLING THEIR STORIES BUT CREATING AND DRAWING FROM NATIVE-BASED SCHOLARSHIP, KNOWLEDGE, THAT THIS WOULD GIVE VOICE IN AN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL VENUE. SO THAT'S HOW I ENDED UP THERE. I THOUGHT -- THAT WAS IN 1999, A FEW YEARS BEFORE WE STARTED, AND I THOUGHT I WOULD BE THERE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS AND NOW IT'S 15 YEARS LATER AND, YOU KNOW, HERE I AM. BUT WHAT I SAW, AND WHAT YOU SAID, WAS THAT GIVING THIS SIGHT TO TRY TO TRANSLATE NATIVE EXPERIENCES IN A VENUE NEXT TO THE NATION'S CAPITOL, WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO TO LEARN AND ENGAGE BECOME A MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE CITIZENRY AND BE ABLE TO VALIDATE WHERE NATIVE PEOPLES WERE COMING FROM WAS INCREDIBLY APPEALING. WHAT I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT TODAY OVER THE COURSE OF THE TIME THAT WE HAVE TOGETHER HOPING ALSO WE'LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME FOR CONVERSATION AS WELL, IS LOOKING AT THIS SENSIBILITY WHERE I'VE BEEN VERY CURIOUS ABOUT IDENTITY, IDENTITY IN ITS LARGER CONTEXT, IN MULTI-FACETED WAYS, BUT ALSO HOW TO UNDERSTAND IT IN A MUSEUM CONTEXT, SOMETHING THAT'S SO PERSONAL AND EMOTIONAL, HOW CAN YOU TRY TO TRANSFER THAT INTO A MUSEUM SETTING AND WHAT'S THE WORTH OF IT? I STARTED TO THINK ABOUT WORKING IN A MUSEUM MORE AS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL AUTHORSHIP, BECAUSE MUSEUMS ARE SENSORY, THEY ARE EXPERENTIAL. THEY HAVE TO DO WITH -- YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO WALK THROUGH SPACE. YOU HAVE TO LEARN AN EXPERIENCE. YOU SEE OBJECTS, IMAGES, HEAR VOICES, HEAR MUSIC, THE WAY EVERYTHING IS DESIGNED SO I'VE COME OVER THESE YEARS TO SEE THAT AS A POWERFUL WAY OF TRING AND WORKING FROM WORDS TO IMAGE AND EXPERIENCE. MUSEUMS ALSO WERE VERY SOCIAL. YOU KNOW, YOU USUALLY GO -- I MEAN, I GO TO MUSEUMS BY MYSELF BUT A LOT OF TIMES YOU MEET PEOPLE THERE. HEY, I'LL MEET YOU AT THIS PLACE. OR IT'S A GROUP THAT GOES. SO IT'S VERY SOCIAL. AND THAT MAKES IT VERY INTERESTING. SO WE'RE AT AN INTERESTING POINT IN THE MUSEUM RIGHT NOW, AND I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU, WE'RE ACTUALLY AT OUR TENTH ANNIVERSARY. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. WE'RE AT TEN YEARS SINCE OUR ORIGINAL OPENING, AND WE'VE MOVED MORE FROM THIS IDEA OF OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, INTO SEEING THIS IS AN EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF US, LIKE EVERYBODY. SO I WANTED TO SHOW YOU THE LATEST. LET ME GET TO -- ANTHONY DID A VERY GOOD RUN-THROUGH WITH ME. OKAY, THANKS. OKAY. [ MUSIC ] >> AS WITH ALL OF THOSE BEFORE US, THERE COMES A TIME WHEN WE COME OF AGE AND DEPART FROM YOUTH. WHEN WE GO BEYOND OUR FAMILY TO TAKE OUR PLACE IN THE BROADER COMMUNITY, WHEN WE ACHIEVE OUR VISION AND DECLARE OUR INTENT FOR THE FUTURE, WHEN WE STAND WHERE NO ONE HAS STOOD BEFORE IN OUR COMMUNITY, WE WILL SEE WHERE THERE IS NEED OF FOOD, WE WILL TEACH WHERE THERE IS A NEED TO TELL THE WHOLE STORY, WE WILL PRESERVE OUR TREASURES WHERE THERE IS NEED OF MEMORIES, AND WE WILL LEAD SO OTHERS MAY ONE DAY WALK IN OUR PATH. THEY WILL BE DRAWN TO US, TO THE CLARITY OF OUR PURPOSE AND THE SATISFACTION. AS WITH ALL THOSE BEFORE US, THERE COMES A TIME TO SHARE THE VISION, A BEACON FOR GENERATIONS. FOR US, THAT TIME IS NOW. [ MUSIC ] >> THANK YOU. SO THAT'S THE EXPERIENCE OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS WE'VE GONE THROUGH, THAT I'VE GONE THROUGH, WORKING AT THE MUSEUM AND WHERE THE MUSEUM SITS, IS UNDERSTANDING THAT WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO NOT ONLY SPEAK ABOUT NATIVE EXPERIENCE BUT HAVE A WAY THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW NATIVE EXPERIENCE AND IDENTITY SPEAKS, INCORPORATES, AND CAN BE HEARD BY THOSE NOT IN THAT EXPERIENCE. HOW DO WE BRIDGE THAT? BECAUSE WHEN WE OPEN, AND THIS IS -- I'M JUST USING SOME OLDER SLIDES TO GIVE YOU A VIEW. THE "OUR LIVES" EXHIBIT OPENED IN 2004. WE HAD STILL HERE AS CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE. PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD BARELY THINK ABOUT NATIVE PEOPLES AS CONTEMPORARY BREATHING, LIVING PEOPLES, DIVERSE PEOPLES. SO OUR FIRST TASK WAS TO GET THAT SENSE THAT WE ARE STILL HERE AND I THINK WE DID A GOOD JOB OF THAT. THE IDEA THAT THERE ARE OVER NOW 560 FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES, THERE ARE ABOUT 200 STATE RECOGNIZED TRIBES, THE PISCATAWAY PEOPLE ARE PART OF THAT GROUP, AND WE REPRESENT THE NORTH CENTRAL, AND ALSO HAWAII ENCOMPASSES 2000 DISTINCT COMMUNITIES. IN THE UNITED STATES THERE'S 4 MILLION PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THE LATEST CENSUS RESULTS THAT IDENTIFY AS HAVING SOME NATIVE ETHNICITY OR BACKGROUND, 1.5 MILLION IN THE SERVICE POPULATION FOR INDIAN SERVICE SO WE'RE TALKING STILL ABOUT A REALLY SMALL MINORITY OF PEOPLE, AND THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT HAVE AN IDENTITY THAT'S REGULATED BY THE UNITED STATES POLICY AND LEGISLATION, AND THAT'S WHY NATIVE PEOPLES AREN'T ONLY MINORITIES, AND FALL SOMEWHAT BOTH WITHIN THAT AND OUTSIDE OF THAT. THERE'S THE REGULATION, BUT WITH THE NOTION OF SOVEREIGNTY, IN THE NATION TO NATION RELATIONSHIP, SO WE'VE ALSO JUST OPENED UP AN EXHIBITION CALLED "NATION TO NATION." IT'S REALLY QUITE COMPELLING. IT WILL BE UP FOR A FEW YEARS SO I WOULD INVITE YOU TO TAKE A WE HAVE THIS SENSIBILITY WHEN WE FIRST OPENED, AND THAT WAS BASED ON MANY YEARS BEFORE ME, BECAUSE THE LEGISLATION WAS 1989, OF HOW DO WE THEN TELL THIS MASSIVE, MASSIVE STORY THAT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT, RIGHT? OR VERY FEW PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT. AND IF THEY KNOW ABOUT IT, OF THAT THERE'S A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO IT'S LIKE, AS MY COLLEAGUE WROTE A BOOK, "EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT INDIANS IS WRONG." THERE'S A PROCESS OF UNLEARNING, UNTANGLING STEREOTYPES, TRUE FOR NATIVE PERSON PEOPLE TOO. PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THE SAME IMAGE, SAME IMAGES, SAME CARTOONS, MS, PEOPLE HAVE TO DISENANGLE FROM THAT. SO I WAS INVITED TO WORK ON A -- I WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS BECAUSE HAVING A BACKGROUND ABOUT IDENTITY AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AND ALSO TRYING TO GET TO THAT EMOTIONAL SENSIBILITY ABOUT HOW IS IT -- WHO ARE NATIVE PEOPLE NOW? AND THAT SENSE THAT IT'S NOT JUST -- YOU'RE NOT JUST BORN WITH IT, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T JUST HAVE IT. IT'S NOT LIKE THIS MYSTICAL SUDDEN KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HA3 THAT YOU CARRY WITH YOU. IT MEANS THAT FROM 1492 TILL THE PRESENT DAY, GIVEN EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED, AND WE CAN GIVE THE HORRIBLE LIST, YOU KNOW ABOUT THE HORRIBLE LIST, PANDEMIC, WARS, REMOVALS, THE POLICIES, FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, IT MEANS THAT EVERY DAY THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO MAKE A CONSCIENTIOUS DECISION TO CONTINUE WITH THEIR CULTURE. EVERY SINGLE DAY. AND IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT -- IT'S NOT JUST THE KIND OF CEREMONIAL PRACTICE. IT MEANS EVERY DAY, GRANDMA GETS UP, SHE DECIDES, YOU KNOW, SHE DOES WHAT SHE DOES, YOU KNOW, GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE WAKING UP EVERY DAY AND MAKING THAT DECISION, AND THAT THAT'S, TO ME, SOMETHING WE NEED TO HONOR AND LOOK AT. NOT ONLY JUST THE BIG FLASHY IMPORTANT HISTORIC MOMENTS BUT THAT DAILY DECISION, AND THAT ALSO HAS TO DO WITH HEALTH, WITH ASSERTIVENESS, WITH THE POLITICAL. IT ALL GOES BACK AND FORTH. I TEAMED UP WITH AN ART HISTORIAN BECAUSE I'M A WORDY KIND OF PERSON, AS YOU CAN SEE. I TEAMED UP WITH JOLENE RICARD, A TUSCARORA HISTORIAN TO DO THE INAUGURAL EXHIBITIONS, CONSULTING WITH PEOPLE ALL OVER THE HEMISPHERE FOR MANY YEARS, AND THE IDEA WAS THEY WANTED PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT THE DIVERSITY BUT THEY WANTED THEM TO KNOW ABOUT THE COMMONALITY AND BREAKING OUT OF THE MOLD OF A LOT OF TIMES YOU'LL SEE LIKE A NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM WHERE IT GOES BY REGION, LIKE WOODLANDS, PLAINS, SOUTHWEST, SO THERE'S THESE KINDS OF REGIONS YOU LOOK AT, AND THE NATURAL HISTORY MODEL ACTUALLY GOES TOWARDS THE NOTION ABOUT HUMAN ADAPTATION TO NATURE, SO THAT'S WHY -- I ALWAYS WANDERED WHY ARE INDIANS IN THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, I DON'T UNDERSTAND. I TOOK IT FOR GRANTED BUT IT HAS TO DO WITH THIS NOTION ABOUT LIKE MAN IN NATURE AND THAT'S AN IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW, BUT THERE'S ALSO WAYS TO KNOW ABOUT HOW PEOPLE LIVE CULTURALLY, SOCIALLY, ECONOMICALLY, THOSE ARE ALL THINGS THAT ARE CONSTRUCTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS. SO WE STARTED TO THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WELL, WHAT IS NATIVE IDENTITY AND WHAT IS IDENTITY, AND WE DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE TO JUST COME INTO THIS GALLERY. IT WAS ONE OF THE THREE INAUGURAL ONES, LIKE I SAID, WITHIN WAS ON COSMOLOGY, THAT'S STILL UP. OUR PEOPLE, ON HISTORY, THAT CAME DOWN. AND THEN WE HAVE OUR LIVES, ABOUT IDENTITY. AND WE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS, AND WE THOUGHT CAREFULLY BUT WE ALSO WANT PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES, WHOEVER YOU ARE, WE WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BASED ON YOUR OWN SENSE OF SELF AND HOW OTHER PEOPLE PERCEIVE YOU. WE WERE LOOKING AT NATIVE IDENTITY AND DECIDED TO START WITH THIS IDEA, REAMS AND REAMS OF STUFF ABOUT LIKE IDENTITY THEORY AND IDENTITY POLICY, WENT BACK AND FORTH AND JOLENE SAID LET'S TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF PEOPLE OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL MONTHS, AND LET'S JUST PUT IT OUT THERE TO SAY IF YOU'RE NATIVE, NATIVE HAWAIIAN, NATIVE NORTH CENTRAL OR SOUTH AMERICA, YOU HAPPEN TO BE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, COME BY AND WE'LL TAKE YOUR PICTURE. AND A HUNDRED PEOPLE OVER THE COURSE OF TIME SHOWED UP. IT WAS JUST WORD OF MOUTH. WE DECIDED WE WEREN'T GOING TO ASK FOR TRIBAL ENROLLMENT CARDS OR BLOOD QUANTUM. IF YOU SEE WHO IS INDIAN, WHO IS GOING TO SHOW UP, AND WE GOT A HUNDRED PEOPLE, WE SELECTED 84 PHOTOS, AND JOLENE DECIDED WE WOULD PHOTOGRAPH THEM COMING OUT OF THE BOX. SO YOU CAN SEE LIKE -- HAS ANYBODY BEEN IN THIS EXHIBIT? OKAY. WE DECIDED THAT OFTEN YOU SEE NATIVE PEOPLE VERY STOIC AND VERY POSED, AND YOU DON'T SEE THEM LAUGHING, YOU DON'T SEE THE VARIETY ALSO OF SKIN SHADES, ABOUT AT LEAST 60%, VERY HIGH RATES OF INTERMARRIAGE FOR A LONG TIME, I THINK IT'S LIKE A 60% INTERMARRIAGE RATE, NOT TO MENTION COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN MIXED FOR A REALLY LONG TIME, LIKE FROM THE 1600s, 1700s, PARTICULARLY ON THE ATLANTIC COAST. SO WE WANTED THE NOTION PEOPLE ARE PUSHING OUTSIDE THE BOX. LET'S PHOTOGRAPH THEM AND DEFY CATEGORIZATION BY SHOVING THEM OUT OF THE BOX. THAT'S WHY YOU SEE THEM AT THE CORNERS. AND THEN THERE'S A RANGE OF PEOPLE, WHAT'S INTERESTING IS WHEN WE BRING PEOPLE -- WHEN OUR EDUCATORS BRING GROUPS INTO THE GALLERY AND THEY LOOK AT THIS WALL OF PHOTOGRAPHS, THEY ASK THEM, WELL, HOW MANY INDIANS DO YOU SEE ON THE WALL? AND DOES ANYBODY HAVE A SENSE OF LIKE HOW MANY PEOPLE, WHAT THE NUMBER WOULD BE? ANY WILD GUESSES? OUT OF 84, HOW MANY INDIANS ON THE WALL? OKAY, ACTUALLY BETWEEN THE FIRST -- EIGHT. EIGHT PEOPLE. AND THEN WE HAVE TO TELL THEM, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY ON THE WALL IS NATIVE, ACTUALLY. SO WE HAVE THIS IDEA OF THIS SELF VERSUS EXTERNAL DEFINITION, THE FACES, AND THEN WE WANTED TO FIRST INTRODUCE PEOPLE, JUST AS THEY ARE AND WHEN THEY WALK IN TO THE GALLERY, WE ALSO HAVE MOTION, LIKE YOU WALK THROUGH THESE TWO SCREENS, AND YOU CAN SEE YOURSELF IN THE SCREEN. YOU CAN SELF REFLECT ON WHO YOU ARE, WE WANTED PEOPLE TO THINK WHO ARE YOU WHEN YOU COME IN, WHO ARE YOU WHEN YOU COME OUT, HOW YOU THINK ABOUT YOURSELF. BUT THAT NOTION IS LIKE FIRST LET'S CONSIDER INTERNALLY AND THINK ABOUT WHAT IT'S LIKE EXTERNALLY, SO WE HAVE ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT WALL SOMETHING CALLED BODY AND SOUL, AND THAT GOES THROUGH THE -- THAT GOES THROUGH THE KINDS OF IDEAS OF WHAT WERE THE POLICIES FROM 1493 ONWARD OF RACIAL EXAMS DIANA IN THE 1930s TO DETERMINE BLOOD QUANTUM, THE IDEAS OF OGY AND PRIMITIVE VERSUS CIVILIZED BLOOD AND WHAT IS BLOOD, DOCUMENTATION AND ENROLLMENT AND FEDERAL GUIDELINES, AND THEN REACTIONS TO ALL OF THAT SO YOU SEE WE HAVE THE ARCHIVES, AND THE GREEN PANEL, THERE ARE THE CARL SELTZER STUDIES DONE BY SCIENTIFIC METHODS, THE PENCIL TEST, DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT THE PENCIL TEST IS? OKAY, SO THE PENCIL TEST IS VERY SCIENTIFIC, WHERE YOU PUT A PENCIL IN SOMEBODY'S HAIR AND IF IT COMES THROUGH THEN THEY HAVE INDIAN HAIR, IF IT'S GETS STUCK IT'S TOO TEXTURED SO THAT'S NOT INDIAN ENOUGH. AND THERE'S ANOTHER REALLY SCIENTIFIC TEST THAT WAS ALSO APPLIED TO DECIDE WHAT SCIENTIFICALLY QUANTUM PEOPLE HAVE, THE PAPER BAG TEST, IF YOU TAKE A PAPER BAG LIKE A LUNCH BAG, YOU PUT IT UP TO SOMEBODY'S SKIN, IF THEY WERE DARKER THEY ARE NOT REALLY THAT INDIAN, IF THEY ARE LIGHTER, YOU KNOW, SO IT'S LIKE THIS WAS -- SERIOUSLY, REALLY, THAT HAPPENED. OKAY? SO THAT FORMED THE BASIS OF WHAT THEY CALLED BLOOD QUANTUM. SOMETIMES IN FAMILIES WITH PHENOTYPE THEY WOULD DECIDE THIS. AND JAMES LUNA, LOUIS SAMUEL, A NATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA, INSTALLATION ARTIST, HE DECIDED TO REACT TO THIS BY DOING A PIECE AT THE SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF MAN AND LAID HIMSELF IN A MUSEUM AND CALLED HIMSELF THE ARTIFACT PIECE. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALKBACK ON THIS. ALSO THE SENSE OF I WAS TALKING ABOUT LIVING IN A NATIVE SPACE TAKES WORK OF DAY. THERE ARE ISSUES ABOUT ENVIRONMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL USE, WATER LINES, MINERAL LINES, RESOURCES, DEFORESTATION, WE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SENSIBILITY THAT THAT CONTEXT, PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN A NATIVE SPACE, ANYWHERE YOU GO IN THE AMERICAS IT HAS A NATIVE SPACE TO IT, EVEN IF YOU CAN'T SEE IT, YOU KNOW? AND THEN THIS IDEA OF ABOUT LANGUAGE AND PHILOSOPHIES AND HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH PHILOSOPHIES THAT ARE ANCIENT AND BRING THEM INTO THE PRESENT? WE WERE SHOWING TRADITIONAL OBJECTS LIKE MASKS, BASKETS, MOCCASINS OR HEADDRSES BUT THEN SHOWING THEM IN CONTEMPORARY MANIFESTATION, AND THE IDEA OF WHAT'S LANGUAGE? LANGUAGE IS IDEA, CONCEPTS. LANGUAGE IS A WAY YOU TRANSLATE A WAY OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD. IN THE LENAPI DELAWARE AND MOHAWK, SHOSHONE, WORDS ARE ACTIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN YOU SAY A CHAIR, IT'S -- THE WORD IS THAT WHICH FORMS AROUND THE BODY TO REST. IT'S ALL ACTIVE. IT'S ALL ACTIVATION. AND THEN THE SENSIBILITY, YES, WE HAD MOVEMENTS FROM THE 1970s FORWARD, THAT WAS -- WE WERE TRYING TO CONSIDER WHAT'S THE CONTEMPORARY TIME PERIOD, I WOULD SAY THAT'S THE CONTEMPORARY TIME PERIOD WHEN YOU'RE BREAKING OUT OF THINGS. SO THE MARCHES, POLICY CHANGES, I'M REALLY THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE THAT ONE OF THE MAIN AUTHORS OF ALMOST EVERY LEGISLATION THAT PASSED IN THE 1970s AND MOVING FORWARD UP THROUGH THE PRESENT DAY, SUZANNE ARCHO, HAS BEEN SELECTED TO RECEIVE A PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM. AND THE IDEA OF HARD CHOICES. EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT GAMING, IT CAN BE A BLESSING AND CURSE. CERTAINLY FOR PISCATAWAY, WE HAVE STATE RECOGNITION, NO RIGHTS WHATSOEVER TO GAMING, BUT OUR RECOGNITION WAS HELD UP IN THE STATE FOR 18 YEARS, PRECISELY BECAUSE THERE WAS WORRY THAT WE WOULD ENGAGE IN CASINO GAMBLING EVEN THOUGH WE DIDN'T HAVE THE FEDERAL RECOGNITION TO DO IT. SO THERE'S THAT ISSUE ALL THE AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE IN AN ERA OF SELF DETERMINATION, AT LEAST IN TERMS OF POLICY, THAT'S BEEN TRUE SINCE THE '70s, AND THIS NOTION OF SOVEREIGNTY AND RESPECTING THAT, AND NOW THE POINT IS THAT I THINK COMMUNITIES ARE REALLY IN A SENSE WHERE THERE'S THE LEGISLATION BUT WHAT'S THE IMPLEMENTATION AND THEN WHEN YOU GET THERE, WHAT'S THE DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY OF PEOPLE IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT, AND IN THEIR CIVI DEVELOPMENT, IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THAT ON. SO I THINK THAT THAT'S, IN MY VIEW, THAT'S A MASSIVE, MASSIVE CHALLENGE. SO I WANTED TO TALK ALSO ABOUT HOW THIS PARTICULAR -- DO I DO THE SLIDE AGAIN? ESCAPE, YEAH, I'VE GOT IT THIS TIME. I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT HOW THIS EXHIBITION THEN MOVES. OKAY. THIS EXHIBITION AND MY OWN WORK STARTED TO DEVELOP AND GETTING THIS IDEA ABOUT BEING AND BELONGING AND IDENTITY AND THE COMPLICATION OF IDENTITY, AND THEN ALSO ABOUT OVERCOMING SOME FEAR. PERSONAL FEAR, COMMUNITY FEAR. HOW ARE WE GOING TO REALLY ENGAGE? AND SO LIKE YOU SAW IN THE BEGINNINGS OF THAT EXHIBIT, YOU HAVE THE FACE WALL, ONE OF THE FACES IS THE FACE OF A DEAR FRIEND OF MINE, WHO CAME INTO TOWN WITH THE LONGEST WALK IN 1978, PENNY GAMBLE WILLIAMS, AND SHE IS A CHAPPAQUIDDICK WAMPANA FROM NEW ENGLAND, SHE'S ON THE WALL, SHE'S GORGEOUS, AND SHE'S LOOKING, SO SOMEBODY IN THE D.C. COMMUNITY CAME IN AND LOOKED AT THE PICTURE AND SAID, OKAY, YOU GOT THE PICTURE ON THE WALL, BUT NOWHERE ARE WE SEEING THE STORY ABOUT THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN/NATIVE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. WHERE IS THAT? IT'S A SECTION IN OUR LIVES, WE HAVE COMMUNITY SECTIONS, ONES ABOUT DOMINIQUA, THE CONOGA PEOPLE, YOU SEE IT TO A CERTAIN DEGREE IN THE WAY PEOPLE LOOK BUT WHERE IS THE DESCRIPTION? EVERYBODY WAS ABOUT NATIVE EXPERIENCE OR NATIVE WHITE RELATIONSHIPS, NATIVE EUROPEAN RELATIONS. WHAT ABOUT THIS OTHER HUGE EXPERIENCE? PENNY GOT A CALL AND CAME TO ME AND SAID, WELL, I WANT TO KNOW IF WE COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT BLACK INDIANS? WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THAT? I WAS LIKE, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND I THOUGHT, THIS IS IMPORTANT, BUT IT CAN BE VERY CONTROVERSIAL IN ESPECIALLY NATIVE COMMUNITIES ON THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD. THERE IS A LOT OF TRAUMA IN IT. THERE'S A LOT OF CONVERSATION IN IT, TALKING ABOUT AFRICAN ANCESTRY, AFRICAN RELATIONSHIPS, ON THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD IN PARTICULAR THE SOUTH, AND SO I THOUGHT ABOUT IT. I WAS LIKE, WOW, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. AND THEN I THOUGHT, WOW, THIS IS APPLYING TO ME AND THIS IS SCARY TO ME BECAUSE THERE'S GOING TO BE PEOPLE WHO REALLY, REALLY SO I TOLD PENNY, I'M REALLY BUSY. I TOLD HER, I'M REALLY BUSY AND I THINK YOU SHOULD GO TALK TO THIS PERSON. AND SHE DID. AND THEN THE PROJECT GOT ACCEPTED AND IT WAS ACCEPTED AND CHAMPIONED BY A COMANCHE COLLEAGUE OF MINE, FRED, THE BIGGEST TRICKSTER IN THE WORLD WHO CAME KNOCKING ON MY DOOR AND SAID, HEY, CAN YOU LOOK AT IT? AND I THOUGHT, I DON'T KNOW, I'M REALLY BUSY, BECAUSE I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN MY COMMUNITY, THEY ARE GOING TO FEEL SO UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS, AND OTHER COMMUNITIES ARE GOING TO FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS. I HAD TO THINK TO MYSELF AND LOOK AT MYSELF AND THINK, WHY? YOU KNOW, I ACTUALLY GREW UP IN NEW YORK, YOU KNOW, VERY SORT OF GROOVY, BROUGHT UP IN GREENWICH VILLAGE, I THOUGHT I WAS SO ENLIGHTENED AND THEN IT WAS CROSSING THIS RACE BOUNDARY AND I HAD TO THINK ABOUT IT AND LOOK CAREFULLY. I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, WHY DO WE DO THIS WORK? WE DO THIS WORK TO GO TO PLACES WHERE WE NEED TO GO, AND BRING IT ON. AND SO WITH THAT, I REALLY -- I DOVE RIGHT IN. AND I ASSEMBLED A GROUP OF PEOPLE TO START TO LOOK AT THIS ISSUE, AND I BROUGHT IN A HOPI SOCIOLOGY, ANGELA GONZALEZ, WHO IS REALLY INTERESTED IN IDENTITY ALSO WITH MY COLLEAGUE AT HARVARD. WE WERE STUDENTS TOGETHER, ROB COLLINS, WHO IS AFRICAN-CHOCTAW CORTEZ, LUMBI AND JEWISH. MY MOM IS JEWISH TOO, SO IT WAS LIKE MY SISTER. SHE CAME AND SHE WAS A GRAD STUDENT AT HARVARD ALSO AT THE TIME, AND FRED, AND THEN PENNY AND HER HUSBAND, AND WE DECIDED WE'RE GOING TO TAKE THIS, WE'RE GOING TO TAKE THIS ON BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF RACIAL -- ALL THE RACISM YOU SEE IN BROADER SOCIETIES IS THERE IN NATIVE COMMUNITIES, IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES, IF YOU SAY YOU'RE NATIVE CAN YOU STILL -- HOW IS THAT RELATIONSHIP TO BEING AFRICAN-AMERICAN, AND ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO KEEP COMING UP WITH THESE STORIES IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS AND AT THE SAME TIME WE WERE RIGHT IN THE MIDST OF A CASE WITH THE CHEROKEE FREEDMEN, PEOPLE WHO WERE THE DESCENDANTS, ENSLAVED BY CHEROKEE NATIONS BEING EXPELLED AND NOT CHEROKEE BY BLOOD BUT CHEROKEE, NOT REALLY CHEROKEE, BUT THEY NEVER DID QUANTUM DETERMINATIONS ON CHEROKEE/AFRICAN PEOPLE SO THERE WAS NO WAY FOR THEM TO HAVE CHEROKEE BLOOD. THERE WAS ALL OF THISION AND ALSO ALL OF T HE INTERMARRIAGE. IN THE WEST WE WERE SEEING CASES OF MUCH MORE INTERMARRIAGE BETWEEN NATIVE PEOPLE AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN LOCATIONS WHERE YOU HARDLY EVER SAW THE MIX BEFORE. SO IN MONTANA, IN THE SOUTHWEST, A LOT OF TIMES THIS WAS BECAUSE OF PEOPLE WHO HAD MET IN THE MILITARY, SO ALL OF A SUDDEN IN THE PAST PROBABLY LIKE 20 YEARS, OR SO, THERE WAS AN INCREASING NUMBER OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN/NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN IN AREAS WHERE PEOPLE WEREN'T SURE HOW TO DEAL WITH MIX MUCH AT ALL, AND THEN WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN MIXTURE, AND SO THAT WAS WHERE WE DECIDED THAT THIS WAS A FUNDAMENTAL BRIDGE TO CROSS, AND WE TEAMED UP WITH NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE, WITH JOHN FRANKLIN, A MAJOR PERSON IN THIS, AND WE DECIDED TO ENGAGE IN THIS PROJECT CALLED . AND EVERYBODY KEPT TALKING ABOUT THIS STORY. THAT HAD BEEN MEETINGS ABOUT THIS, CONFERENCES, I HEARD FOR YEARS PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THIS. JACK FORBES IS A SCHOLAR, PENNY HAD A RADIO SHOW, PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY, IN THE MOVEMENT, IT WAS REALLY PRESENT, BUT THERE HADN'T BEEN A WHOLE LOT OF SERIOUS EXAMINATION, AND WE FELT THAT THIS WAS -- WE KEPT BEING TOLD OVER AND OVER AGAIN THIS WAS ABOUT HEALING. THIS WAS SOMETHING WE HAD TO HEAL, SOMETHING WE HAD TO BRING OUT IN A MASSIVELY PUBLIC FORUM AND START TO TALK ABOUT IT AND LET FAMILIES TALK ABOUT IT. SO INDIVISIBLE EMERGED, AND WE CREATED IT AS A BANNER SHOW, A PUBLIC TRAVELING SHOW, AND THIS IS ONE OF OUR SIGNATURE IMAGES THAT FRED, WHO ACTUALLY PASSED AWAY UNEXPECTEDLY THREE WEEKS AFTER THE EXHIBIT OPENED, HE'S E, I WENT TO TALK TO A COMANCHE ELDER NAMED SAM WHO IN THIS IS DRAWER HAD THIS PHOTOGRAPH. THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS A FAMILY, IT'S A FAMILY. IT'S AN UNCLE AND AUNT, THEIR NIECE AND HER CHILDREN. IF YOU LOOK AT THE PHOTO, PEOPLE JUST LOOK HE PHOTO AND THOUGHT THIS IS SOME PEOPLE POSING WITH INDIANS. IT'S NOT. IT'S A FAMILY. AND SO THIS IDEA THAT, AGAIN, JUST LIKE WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT WITH INDIVISIBLE. THAT WE START OUT WITH IT GOING BACK ALL THE WAY TO THE 15th CENTURY, THE IDEA OF TAKING OVER THE ENTIRE HEMISPHERE, PUT FORWARD IN 1493, BEING ABLE TO CONQUER, CONVERT AND TAKE OVER THE PEOPLE, AND MELD THAT WITH SHERIFFRY, AND YOU HAVE THIS AFFECT WE'RE QUOTING FROM A SINGER WHO HAS A PHRASE IN A SONG CALLED "STOLEN PEOPLE." I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU -- THIS PHOTO, HAS ANY HEARD OF THE GREAT HISTORIAN JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN? YEAH, THIS IS HIS GRANDFATHER. ACTUALLY HIS FATHER, I THINK, BUCK FRANKLIN, WITH HIS OLDER BROTHER. AND SO THEY WERE CHICKASAW PEOPLE ALSO, SO THAT IDEA THAT REALLY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN -- OPEN THIS, OH, AND THEN I -- SORRY, I WAS BEING VERY AMBITIOUS WITH MY TECHNOLOGY. SO THIS SENSE ALSO THAT WE HAVE AFRICAN ROOTS, NATIVE ROOTS. YOU CAN'T QUITE SEE IT BUT THE MODES OF LIVING, GOING BACK TO, YOU KNOW, WHO IS BEING ENSLAVED AND COMING TO THE AMERICAS, THE WAY THEY ARE LIVING, THE WAY NATIVE PEOPLE ARE LIVING, YOU CAN KIND OF JUST -- I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN SLIDE IT DOWN FOR YOU TO SEE BUT THE TWO VILLAGES, ONE IS SULANI, ONE IS A NATIVE TOWN IN FLORIDA, WE HAVE THIS QUESTION ALL OF THESE WAYS OF LIVING, AND OF THE AFRICANS WHO WERE BROAD HERE FORCIBLY AND NATIVE PEOPLE WERE IN SO MANY WAYS, YOU KNOW, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER. AND THAT ALL OF THE OTHER OVERLAY OF RACIALISM, RACISM, ALL THESE ISSUES ARE COMING FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE. SO WE WANTED TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING AND BRING PEOPLE FORWARD IN THAT SENSIBILITY. SO I'M GOING TO -- I'M ACTUALLY JUST GOING TO -- OKAY, THIS IS GETTING A LITTLE COMPLICATED SO I'M GOING TO ACTUALLY JUST TALK THROUGH IT A LITTLE BIT MORE AND THEN I THINK WE'LL POST THE SLIDES. OH, OKAY. SO THERE'S ALSO THIS SENSE PEOPLE ARE COMING FROM THE SAME PLACES. THEY ARE ACTUALLY ENSLAVED TOGETHER. WE FOUND SLAVE RECORDS FROM LOUISIANA OF BOTH NATIVE PEOPLE AND AFRICAN PEOPLE ENSLAVED TOGETHER. IT WASN'T THE ONLY PLACE BUT IT WAS AN INTERESTING EARLY ONE. SO THIS EXPERIENCE, WE'RE AWARE THIS STORY BEGAN IN SLAVERY BECAUSE OF SLAVERY, BUT WE THOUGHT ABOUT IT A LOT AND SAID THIS IS ALSO A STORY ABOUT LOVE. IT'S A STORY BECAUSE VERY FREQUENTLY PEOPLE LOVED EACH OTHER AND THEY HAD CHILDREN TOGETHER, AND THEY CREATED FAMILIES, AND FOR ONE -- ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT REASONS, PEOPLE HAD TO EITHER SUBMERGE THE STORY OR DETAILS OF THE STORY GOT LOST. WE ENCOUNTER SO MANY PEOPLE ALL THE TIME WHO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE, YOU KNOW, OFTEN IT'S CHEROKEE, SOMEBODY IN THEIR FAMILY, A GRANDMOTHER, GREAT GRANDMOTHER, GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER, WHO IS NATIVE. WE WERE HEARING TOO MUCH DISMISSING, ESPECIALLY BY NATIVE PEOPLE, WHO HAD BECOME PROTECTIVE OF THEIR IDENTITY. I DON'T KNOW, BUT WE JUST HEARD ABOUT THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. JIMI HENDRIX, WE SAY DON HO FRANKLIN, AND THEN AWESOME THINGS LIKE GUMBO, YOU KNOW, REALLY DELICIOUS WONDERFUL THINGS LIKE THAT THAT COME OUT OF A VERY PAINFUL STORY BUT WE WANTED PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO RELATE TO THIS ON A HUMAN LEVEL, SO THIS EXHIBIT IT'S TRAVELED AROUND FOR THE PAST ALMOST SIX YEARS, ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES. WE THOUGHT IT WOULD MAYBE TRAVEL FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. IT'S BEEN EVERYWHERE. IT WAS -- MOHAMMED ALI WANTED IT FOR HIS 70th BIRTHDAY AND WE GOT A LETTER FROM HIS FAMILY SAYING THAT WAS PART OF WHAT HE WANTED TO CELEBRATE AS PART OF HIMSELF. MALCOLM X SHABAZZ CENTER, THAT WAS THE BEST E-MAIL, A PERSON WHO STUDIED MOVEMENT, I GOT A LETTER FROM MALCOLM X'S FAMILY. JIMI HENDRIX'S FAMILY, ABSOLUTELY THRILLED, AND SO MANY OTHER FAMILIES. IT STARTED AN ENTIRE PROCESS WHERE PEOPLE WERE STARTING TO GO TO PLACES WHERE THIS EXHIBIT IS, IT'S JUST A BANNER SHOW, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE THE ALSO PULLUP BANNERS YOU GET AT TRADE SHOWS, AND YOU CAN PULL THEM UP, 20 BANNERS, YOU STARTED TO SEE YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF PEOPLE HAVING THE FAMILY REUNIONS AROUND AND ALL GO, AND THEN IN COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY NATIVE COMMUNITIES, WHERE PEOPLE ARE LIKE, WE DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE READY, PLACES IN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA, IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT. I THINK WE'RE READY TO DEAL WITH THIS SO WE HAVE THE SHOW. AND THE CULTURAL CENTER WANTED THE SHOW, ONE OF THE PUEBLO GOVERNORS HAS A GRANDFATHER, AND SO WANTED TO USE IT, SO THAT'S THE WAY ABOUT USING EXHIBITIONS AS A WAY TO START A CIVIC CONVERSATION. WE WERE ALSO HEARING PEOPLE WE WEREN'T CONSIDERING TO EVEN RELATE TO IT AT ALL, PEOPLE OF ALL BACKGROUNDS, WHITE AMERICANS, INTERNATIONAL VISITORS FROM EUROPE, ASIA, COME THROUGH AND SAY, OH, YOU KNOW, I REALLY WONDER HOW IT IS ABOUT HOW -- ABOUT MY POSITION, AND ABOUT HOW I'M LOOKED AT FROM THE OUTSIDE, BECAUSE I LURK AROUND MY EXHIBITIONS AND LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY. I WANTED TO SHOW YOU A FILM THAT WENT ALONG WITH THIS. SO I'LL LET YOU PULL THAT UP, FOR INDIVISIBLE, IT'S A 10-MINUTE -- [ MUSIC ] >> THIS IS JUST BUT ONE COMPONENT OF NATIVE AMERICA. THIS IS JUST ONE COMPONENT OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN. AND NEITHER ONE OF THESE COMPONENTS ARE MEANT TO GET YOU TO CHANGE YOUR MIND, TO CHANGE THE WAY THAT YOU THINK, AND IT'S NOT TO TURN BLACK FOLK INTO INDIANS. IT IS TO GIVE YOU ONE PERSPECTIVE ON A COMPONENT OF NATIVE AMERICA AND A COMPONENT OF AFRICAN AMERICA AND ANOTHER STORY THAT YOU DON'T HEAR ABOUT WHICH IS THE COMPONENT OF BEING AMERICAN. >> FOR MANY YEARS PEOPLE WANTED US TO BE INVISIBLE, TO BLEND IN AND BE, YOU KNOW, BLACK AMERICANS, BE AFRICAN-AMERICANS, DON'T BE WHO YOU ARE. >> LET'S LOOK AT WHO THESE TELL THEIR STORIES. LET IT BEGIN TO HEARD ALL OVER. >> IT'S A QUESTION OF HELPING PEOPLE TO SEE WHAT'S ALWAYS BEEN VISIBLE. >> JOIN US, MIXED HERITAGE INDIVIDUALS, AS WE REVEAL OUR STORIES BEGINNING WITH THE QUESTION, WHO AM I? >> I AM AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND CHOCTAW. >> I AM GARIFUNA AND VERY PROVIDE. >> I'M AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND BUT I'M ALSO CHEROKEE,. >>> I'M AFRICAN WITH NATIVE ANCESTORS. >> I WANT TO SAY I'M WAMPANOAG. >> I HAVE EUROPEAN RELATIVES, NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIVES. >> WE DEFINE OURSELVES BASED ON EXPERIENCES AS DIVERSE AS WE WITH. >> I GREW UP IN MASHPEE AND THE BRONX. I GREW UP IN TWO STRONG CULTURES. >> THERE'S NOTHING SUCH THING AS THE CREEK RACE. THERE'S A NATIONALITY, THE MUSCOGEE NATION. >> I'VE NEVER TRIED TO SEEK ANYONE OUT BECAUSE I WASN'T SURE I WOULD BE ACCEPTED. >> I HAD STRONG ORIGINS AND STRONG CULTURE, WHEN I WALKED INTO THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT, ARE YOU WHITE OR BLACK, THAT WAS THE QUESTION. >> THE SHARED IDENTITIES ARE INDICATIVE OF FAMILY CHOICES, THEY TRANSCEND POLICY, TRANSCEND RACE. OUR SEARCH FOR IDENTITY AND ACCEPTANCE IS COMPLICATED BY THE RACIAL DYNAMICS OF THIS COUNTRY. WE CONTINUE TO FACE CONFLICT WITH WHITE AMERICANS, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, AND NATIVE AMERICANS. >> FOR INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE THOSE AFRICAN AND NATIVE HERITAGE, I THINK SOCIETY WANTS TO CODE THEM AS BLACK. >> THE CONCEPT OF THERE BEING A PROBLEM WITH MIXED, THE ISSUES WITH BLACKS AND INDIANS IN A VACUUM, IT WAS A BLACKS AND INDIANS LIVING IN A WHITE RACIST DOMINATED SOCIETY. >> FOR YEARS WHEN SOMEONE HAS ASKED ME ABOUT MY RACE, YOU KNOW, HOW I IDENTIFIED RACIALLY, I SIMPLY SAID AFRICAN-AMERICAN BECAUSE AGAIN SINCE IT'S NOT ON MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE, I JUST NEVER BOTHERED, INWARDLY I'M AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND NATIVE AND I'M REALLY PROUD OF THAT. >> WHEN I WAS YOUNGER WE LIVED IN AN ALL-WHITE TOWN, AND THERE WAS NO NATIVE. YOU WERE JUST BLACK. YOU HAD NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT. THAT'S WHAT IT WAS AND YOUR MOTHER RAISED YOU AS WAMPANOG. AT SCHOOL YOU WERE JUST BLACK. >> WE GET TREATED AS AFRICANS AND NOT NATIVE AMERICANS, SOMETIMES IT HURT BECAUSE WE KNOW WE'RE SENECA AND NARAGANSETT BUT THEY DON'T ACCEPT IT. NATIVE AMERICANS DON'T ACCEPT IT SOMETIMES, THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A BLACK INDIAN. >> THIS FIRM BELIEF FOR MANY NATIVE FOLKS THAT THERE AREN'T INDIANS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI, BECAUSE THEY DON'T LOOK LIKE US, THEY DON'T HAVE THE CULTURAL TRADITIONS WE DO. THEY DON'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE LIKE WE DO. IT'S REALLY A FAILURE I THINK TO RECOGNIZE THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY AND ITS IMPACT ON ALL OF US AS NATIVE PEOPLE. >> BEING CHEROKEE TO ME IS JUST BEING A SURVIVOR. I'M A DESCENDANT OF FREEDMEN, FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES, AND THAT'S DIFFERENT BECAUSE MY ANCESTORS WERE CHATEL, THEY WERE SLAVES. AND SO THAT LEGACY ALONE IS CLEARLY UNIQUE. TO ME, I'M A SURVIVOR. I GOT IT TWO-FOLD. ANCESTORS WERE ENSLAVED BY EURO AMERICANS, THEY SURVIVED, UP SLAVED BY NATIVE AMERICANS, THEY SURVIVED.> I CAN'T DENY EITHER SIDE. >> I'LL TELL YOU WHY, WHEN I HEAR THE NATIVE AMERICAN DRUM, IT MAKES THE BLOOD BOIL INSIDE MY ARMS. WHEN I HEAR THE AFRICAN DRUM IT ALSO MAKES THE BLOOD BOIL INSIDE OF ME. SO I'M BOTH, AND I'LL ALWAYS BE BOTH. >> RACE IS ALWAYS PLAYING SOME KIND OF ROLE IN WHO WE ARE TODAY AND HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE OTHER PEOPLE. WE HAVE TO GO BEYOND THAT. >> WHILE SOME OF OUR KNOW OUR FAMILY HISTORY, OTHERS STRUGGLE TO IDENTIFY WHO WE ARE AND WE CONNECT WITH THE MISSING PART OF OUR HERITAGE. >> AT TIMES, I'VE FELT JEALOUS OF PEOPLE WHO WERE NONNATIVE OR AT LEAST WHO WERE NATIVE WHO HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR HISTORY AND RELATIONS. I FEEL JEALOUS BECAUSE I LOOK AT FAMILY TREES I'VE DRAWN OUT AND CAN ONLY GO BACK TO MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER. >> WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER PASSED, MY FATHER WENT THROUGH HER RECORDS AND FOUND SOME THINGS ABOUT OIL. >> OIL AS WELL AS THE DOCUMENT FROM 1901 TO THE NATION. >> AND THEN MY DAD SPENT THE PAST TEN YEARS DOING RESEARCH ON OUR FAMILY FINDING OUT WHAT THAT MEANS, WHAT IN A NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE IS. >> WHEN I FOUND ONE DOCUMENT, IT WAS LIKE A WORLD OPENED TO ME. IT WAS VERY EXCITING, AND BY PURSUING RESEARCH I GOT A FULL PICTURE OF WHO I WAS AND FEEL MORE OF A WHOLE PERSON BECAUSE I KNOW MY HERITAGE IN DEPTH. >> I FEEL LIKE A PART OF ME HAS BEEN SHUT OFF. LIKE SOMEBODY SAID TO ME, YOU CAN'T USE YOUR MIDDLE NAME. AND NOW I'M BEING TOLD IT'S OKAY. SORRY. I'VE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT CALLING MYSELF A BLACK INDIAN. IT'S WHO I AM. >> ALL OF US SHARE A DESIRE TO BELONG, TO DEFINE OUR IDENTITY AND LIVE OUR SHARED HERITAGE WITHOUT JUDGMENT. >> IT'S REALLY ABOUT BEING PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE, AND CARRYING SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN SHARED WITH YOU AND BEING ABLE TO TELL IT. >> I THINK A SENSE OF BELONGING IS CRUCIAL TO ONE'S LIFE. >> I WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW THAT I'M ON A JOURNEY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY CULTURE, THIS PART OF MY CULTURE THAT FOR DIFFERENT REASONS HAS BEEN LOST. >> WE AND OTHERS LIKE US NEED TO BE ACCEPTED, AND HONORED AND RESPECTED BECAUSE WE ARE NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND WE ARE AFRICAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE. AND OUR COMBINED COMMUNITIES HAVE WONDERFULLY BUILT THIS COMMUNITY, THIS COUNTRY, AND WE ARE PART OF IT, AND OUR ANCESTORS ARE PART OF IT. >> WE STILL PRACTICE OUR SPIRITUALITY, YOU KNOW, THE SAME WAY OUR ANCESTORS DID. WE STILL PREPARE OUR FOOD THE SAME WAY OUR ANCESTORS DID. NOBODY WAS ABLE TO TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US, NOBODY. AS HARD AS THEY TRIED, THEY COULDN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US. >> THROUGH OUR MIXED HERITAGE, WE BRING A WEALTH OF GIFTS TO AMERICAN CULTURE. HEAR OUR VOICES. LISTEN TO OUR CONCERNS. UNDERSTAND OUR PERSPECTIVES. WELCOME WHO WE ARE. [ MUSIC ] >> BE WHO YOU ARE. BE PROUD. >> ALWAYS REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND GIVE BACK TO THAT PLACE. >> HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER AND HELP EACH OTHER OUT. >> ACCEPT OTHER PEOPLE FOR WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE. >> AS OPPOSED TO TRYING A RECREATE THIS IMPOSED NOTION OF WHO IS REAL AND WHO IS NOT. >> WE ALL EXIST IN THE WORLD TOGETHER AND HAVE TO RESPECT EACH OTHER DESPITE OUR DIFF [ MUSIC ] >> SO THIS HAS BEEN CIRCULATING, IT'S REALLY TRIGGERED A GREAT DEAL OF CONVERON, AND ALSO HAS -- NOW WE'RE GOING TO THIS NEXT LEVEL WHERE IS I'VE BEEN WORKING ON TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TELL A COMPREHENSIVE -- IT'S MOVED MORE TOWARD TELLING A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY THAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY IS AMERICAN HISTORY, THAT NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY IS AMERICAN HISTORY, THAT IT'S TOGETHER, IT'S NOT JUST EXTERNAL. I'VE BEEN WORKING ON RESEARCH ON ONE OF THE OTHER PERMANENT -- NEW PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS WE'RE CALLING "AMERICANS" WHICH BRINGS PEOPLE THROUGH THE IDEA ABOUT IMAGINARY INDIANS AND REAL INDIANS, LIKE POCAHONTAS, THANKSGIVING, THE BALLOTS OF LITTLE BIGHORN, TRAIL OF TEARS AND THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE GENOCIDE THAT TOOK PLACE BECAUSE OF THE GOLD RUSH. SO ONE OF THE THINGS LIKE I FOUND OUT THAT I DIDN'T KNOW WAS THAT THE TRAIL OF TEARS, WHICH WAS PART OF A BIGGER POLICY, REALLY HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THE CREATION OF THE -- INVENTION OF THE COTTON GIN AND THE NEED FOR COTTON GROWING AREAS, AND WHEN YOU INTERPOSE THE MAP FOR KING COTTON OVER THE AREAS WHERE THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES LIVED, CHEROKEE, CHOCTAW, SEMINOLE, CREEK, IT'S ALL COTTON, SO IT WAS LIKE THE REMOVAL OF PEOPLE FROM THE SOUTHEAST WAS TO EXPAND SLAVERY INTO COTTON AND CAUSED THE PEOPLE BEING SOLD DOWN THE RIVER INTO THE DEEP SOUTH. IT'S LIKE YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THESE. IT BLOWS MY MIND LIKE EVERY DAY. YOU JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT. WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND OURSELVES WITHOUT EACH OTHER. I THINK THAT THAT'S BEEN PART OF THE JOURNEY FOR ME. IT SOUNDS REALLY SIMPLE AND REALLY BASIC, BUT IT'S COMING TO THOSE LEVELS AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, HOW IS IT THAT WE CAN MAINTAIN THESE DISTINCT BEAUTIFUL IDENTITY SOVEREIGNTY AND BE PART OF A GLOBALIZED WORLD. WITH THAT I'M GOING TO CLOSE, AND OPEN FOR QUESTIONS. I THINK WE'VE GOT A LITTLE BIT. QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? >> THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR RESEARCH WITH US AND YOUR INTERESTS AND THIS EXHIBIT. WHERE IS IT NOW? >> I'M SORRY. COULD YOU REPEAT THAT? >> WHERE IS THIS EXHIBITION NOW? YOU SAID IT'S BEEN ON THE ROAD FOR SIX YEARS. CAN YOU TELL US WHERE IT CURRENTLY IS AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING? >> YEAH, I SHOULD HAVE LOOKED IT UP BEFORE I GOT HERE. IT'S IN SITES FOR THREE MONTHS AT A TIME. THERE ARE TWO CIRCULATING PLACES. IT'S STILL OPEN FOR BOOKINGS. AND THEN THERE'S ALSO AN EDITION IN SPANISH BECAUSE THERE WAS INTEREST, LIKE WE HAD A VISIT A SINGER WHO WAS VERY INTERESTED, IT'S REALLY COOL, YEAH, IT'S NOT HERE IN THE AREA THOUGH, I CAN TELL YOU THAT. BE SOMEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA RIGHT NOW. SO THERE'S A WHOLE LIST AND IT CHANGES, SOMETIMES I KEEP TRACK AND SOMETIMES I DON'T. BUT IT'S LISTED ON THE SMITHSONIAN TRAVEL EXHIBIT SERVICES, IT LISTS THE LOCATION. >> SO I HAVE A QUESTION, AND ALSO A COMMENT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR DILIGENCE AND YOUR EXTREMELY HARD WORK TO BRING THIS HISTORY TO US AS AMERICANS. I THINK THAT IF WE UNDERSTOOD AND KNEW MORE ABOUT OUR HISTORY, AS A PEOPLE, WE WOULD BE BETTER CITIZENS AND BETTER FOR OUR COMMUNITIES AND BETTER FOR OUR WORLD, AND I JUST THINK ABOUT LEARNING IN THE HISTORY BOOKS ALL ABOUT PLYMOUTH ROCK AND THE MAYFLOWER, BUT WE AS THE INTER-RELATED GROUP OF HUMAN BEINGS NEED TO UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE NUANCES AND INTRICACIES OF OUR HISTORY SO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT PART TO OUR KNOWLEDGE. THE OTHER PART, A QUESTION THAT I HAVE, TWO-FOLD. ONE IS ABOUT IDENTITY, AND I HAVE BEEN REALLY INTRIGUED BY SKIP GATES AND THE WORK HE'S DOING WITH GENETICS, AND HELPING DEFINE WHERE YOU COME FROM. FROM MANY STANCES, FROM YOUR OWN POSSIBLY FROM A GENETICS AND HEALTH PERSPECTIVE, SO I'M WONDERING HAVE YOU DELVED INTO THE GENETIC PERSPECTIVE OF UNDERSTANDING IDENTITY AND PART TWO HAS TO DO WITH THE MORE SOCIAL, HAVE YOU DELVED INTO THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCT OF RACE AND LOOKING AT THE SOCIETY AT LARGE FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE ON AMERICAN INDIANS AND OTHER CULTURES AS WELL. >> YES AND YES. GREAT COMMENT AND QUESTIONS. YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE GENETICS, WHEN WE WERE DOING "OUR LIVES" I STARTED WORK ON THAT IN 2002 TO DO THE CENTRAL AREAS, AND PROBABLY IF WE HAD DONE IT MAYBE JUST EVEN A COUPLE OF YEARS LATER, WE WOULD HAVE HAD A SECTION ON GENETICS. SO THE WHOLE IDEA OF DNA, DNA TESTING, AND WHAT THAT MEANS, SO THERE'S LIKE A WHOLE LIKE -- PROBABLY A HATE-HTE-LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT IN NATIVE COMMUNITIES BECAUSE THERE'S LIKE I WAS SHOWING THE RACIAL EXAMS THAT WERE DONE, PEOPLE GET VERY NERVOUS. I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU, YOU DEAL WITH THIS A LOT, RIGHT? ERVOUS ABOUT ANY SORT OF TAKING OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL, FROM THE BODY. THERE WAS A GENOME PROJECT, HUMAN GENOME PROJECT, MANY INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES LABELED IT THE VAMPIRE PROJECT. THEY WERE NOT CONSULTED. THEY WORRIED WHAT ARE YOU GOING IS THIS ANOTHER WAY OF EXTRACTING AND ARE YOU GOING TO CREATE A VIRUS TO KILL US? YOU GET THE WHOLE RANGE. PEOPLE ARE VERY NERVOUS ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF DNA GENERALLY. THAT SAID, IT'S NOT QUITE REFINED ENOUGH AT THIS POINT TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TRIBES YOU BELONG TO REALLY, LIKE UNLESS YOU CAN GET TO A SPECIFIC INDIVIDUAL RELATIVE OR SOMETHING, YOU CAN'T REALLY DO IT. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF -- KIM TOLBERT AT UC BERKELEY HAS BEEN DOING WORK ON THIS. I ORGANIZED A SYMPOSIUM A COUPLE YEARS AGO CALLED QUANTUM LEAPS, DOES INDIAN BLOOD STILL MATTER? AND SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE GENETIC PERSPECTIVE. AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE SO MUCH HISTORY IS LOST AND DETAILS ARE LOST, IT'S AN INTERESTING WAY TO FIND OUT, YOU KNOW, IS THERE ANY BACKGROUND, AND ANOTHER BIG CONTROVERSY AND LIKE WORRY FOR MANY NATIVE COMMUNITIES, THE WHOLE IDEA ABOUT ORIGINS, THE BERING STRAIT, AND A LOT OF THIS HAS TO DO WITH PEOPLE CONSTANTLY BEING ON THE DEFENSIVE, ARE YOU REALLY HERE, ARE YOU REAL AMERICANS, ARE YOU IMMIGRANTS LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, HOW DO YOU CLAIM LAND? MY THOUGHT IS GOSH, 10,000 YEARS, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S AN IMMIGRANT. I DON'T GO THERE. AT THE SAME TIME GENETICS IS REALLY -- IT'S REVEALING SOME REALLY INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT PEOPLE. SO WE'VE BEEN TALKING -- WE'VE BEEN SOUL SEARCHING ON THIS QUITE A BIT AT THE MUSEUM BECAUSE ON THE ONE HAND IT'S VERY CONTROVERSIAL FOR NATIVE CONSTITUENTS, WITH SOME PEOPLE BEING REALLY INTERESTED IN IT, AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, HOW ARE WE GOING TO CROSS THAT LINE, SO WE'VE BEEN INTERESTED IN THAT. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION, YEAH, COMPLETELY. "OUR LIVES" IS VERY MUCH ABOUT SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION, "INDIVISIBLE" AS WELL, WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, THE TREND, AND THAT'S WHY THE COMMUNITIES TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES IN TERMS OF WHO THEY ARE BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY LIVE IN THE WORLD. SOME PEOPLE DO TALK ABOUT IT AS BIOLOGICAL CERTAINLY, THEY TALK ABOUT GENETIC MEMORY. I DON'T WANT TO DISCOUNT THAT BUT IT'S JUST, YEAH, I THINK IT'S BEEN UNBELIEVABLY LIBERATING FOR MANY OF US TO THINK ABOUT THE NOTION THAT RACE IS A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION. IT DOESN'T DISCOUNT MEMBERSHIP SOVEREIGNTY CONNECTIONS. SO PEOPLE ARE NERVOUS ABOUT THAT BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN QUESTIONED SO MANY TIMES, NOT JUST QUESTIONED BUT HAD THEIR RIGHTS TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM. YOU KNOW, THAT'S PART OF WHAT I THINK INSTILLED A LOT OF RACIAL WORRIES IN MANY COMMUNITIES. IF YOU WERE SEEN TO -- LITERALLY, LIKE IN THE CHESAPEAKE REGION, RESERVATIONS WERE EITHER DISSOLVED OR THREATENED TO BE DISSOLVED BECAUSE THE IDEA WAS, OH, THEY ARE NOT LIKE THEIR NOBLE ANCESTORS, THEY HAVE RACIALLY DEGENERATED, MEANING AFRICAN-AMERICAN. YOU LITERALLY FIND THIS NOTION, THE LEGACY OF WALTER PLEKER'S RCIAL ACT IN 1924, OVERTURNED IN 1967, LUBBOCK VERSES VIRGINIA, ILLEGAL TO SAY YOU WERE INDIANS BECAUSE THEY WERE THOUGHT TO BE, YOU KNOW, TAINTED BY AFRICANS. IT WAS SICK FOR OUR COMMUNITIES, SICK FOR SOCIETY, AND THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO -- WE'RE STILL CLEANING IT OUT. >> THANKS FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND COMING HERE TOGETHER, A NICE TALK. MY QUESTION IS AROUND THIS INDIVISIBLE EXHIBIT, AND THIS INTERSECTION WITH NATIVE PEOPLES AND AFRICANS. WERE THERE ANY PARTICULAR NATIONS THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT HAD THIS CIRCUMSTANCE AND BECAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, COMING FROM A BLACK EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW, I GREW UP IN THAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW, MANY OF US COULD SPEAK OF ANCESTORS THAT WE, YOU KNOW, EITHER HEARD WAS MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS NATIVE AMERICAN, BUT THERE'S NO WAY TO KIND OF VALIDATE THAT, SO IT'S A PART OF THIS KIND OF FOLKLORE IN OUR COMMUNITIES IN TERMS OF WHERE WE COME FROM, SO IS THERE ANYTHING THERE? AND THEN ALSO TO KAY'S QUESTIONS ABOUT GENETICS, WHILE INFORMATIVE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THIS ISSUE OF TRUST, YOU KNOW, AND SO ONCE THIS INFORMATION IS DISCOVERED AND RELEASED, THERE'S THE ISSUE OF RANKING POPULATIONS BASED ON WHATEVER WE FIND OUT, RIGHT? SO HAVE YOU THOUGHT A BIT ABOUT THAT AS WELL? >> YEAH, GREAT QUESTIONS. GENERALLY CLASSICALLY, IN, IN TERMS OF WHAT NATIVE NATIONS WITH HAVE MORE INTERACTION WITH AFRICAN-AMERICANS, DEFINITELY. EVERYBODY SOUTH OF MAINE ON THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD, WHAT I'VE OBSERVED, PRETTY MUCH, YOU KNOW, LIKE YEAH. LIKE THAT'S IT. TRANSATLANTIC WORLD. SO JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY HAS THAT INTERACTION, INTERMARRIAGE IS PART OF THEIR EXPERIENCE. AND THEN ALSO AT THE SAME TIME AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES, VERY MANY OF THEM, I WOULD SAY ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY, AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN VERY LONG AGO, YOU KNOW, SO I OFTEN THINK -- I WORK WITH ORAL HISTORY TOO. I THINK ORAL HISTORY IS BETTER FOR GETTING A SENSE OF WHAT'S IMPORTANT THAN MAYBE EXACT DETAILS AT THE TIME, YOU KNOW? NOT THAT -- SOMETIMES PEOPLE -- THEY HAVE GOT IT ABSOLUTELY. YOU LOOK AT IT. OH MY GOD, YEAH, IT'S EXACTLY THERE. ON THIS DATE THAT HAPPENED, WOW! A LOT OF TIMES THOUGH IT'S MORE ABOUT WHAT'S IMPORTANT AND WHAT ARE THE VALUES YOU WANT TO PASS ON TO YOUR FAMILY, AND SO I IMPORTANT, AND I DON'T THINK THAT DELEGITIMATES ORAL HISTORY OR ORAL STORIES. SOMETIMES, YEAH, THERE MIGHT BE SOMEBODY LIKE FROM 1680, YOU KNOW, AND THEN THAT NOTION OF BRINGING THEM FORRD WITH A, MAYBE THEY WERE CHEROKEE BUT MAYBE THEY WEREN'T. MAYBE THEY WERE YUCHI. I WOULD SAY VERY COMMON THERE. A FRIEND OF MINE WHO IS FROM A DESERT, SOUTHWESTERN DESERT TRIBE BASED IN TUCSON, IT GOES JUST HAD A DNA TEST, AND SHE CALLED ME UP. SHE WAS LIKE, UM, SHE'S LIKE, I'M SHOWING 20% AFRICAN, AND SUBSARAHAN. SHE'S LIKE, OH MY GOD, LIKE HOW DID THIS -- SHE'S LIKE, I DON'T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED. WE STARTED TALKING ABOUT IT. AND IT TURNED OUT SHE, YOU KNOW, HAD A GRANDFATHER FROM VERACRUZ, MEXICO. THIS WAS SO COMPLETELY FAR OUT OF HER -- YOU KNOW, SO COMPLETELY FAR OUT, THAT SOUTHWESTERN, DESERT TRIBE, NATIVE WOMAN FROM ARIZONA HAD AFRICAN ANCESTRY THAT SHE -- THAT TURNED UP, AND SHE WAS LIKE -- WHO ARE YOU GOING TO CALL OF COURSE? CALL ME. OH, INDIVISIBLE. YOU'RE INDIVISIBLE TOO. IT'S VERY INTERESTING. THAT'S SHOWING UP A LOT FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE ONLY WHITE, THEY ARE NOT. THERE'S A GUY NAMED BRIAN SYKES, A GENETICIST OUT OF OXFORD, I HAD A CONVERSATION WITH HIM ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, AND HE WAS ASKING LIKE WHY ARE NATIVE PEOPLE SO WORRIED ABOUT GENETIC TESTING. AND SO WE WENT THROUGH IT. HE WAS WONDERING ABOUT DOING IT FOR THE CNA USA BOOK HE WROTE AND DECIDED HE WASN'T GOING TO PUSH IT BUT IN THAT BOOK IT ALSO SHOWS LIKE HOW BLENDED PEOPLE ARE. SO THAT'S ANOTHER ISSUE JUST EVEN PHYSICALLY, LIKE WE'RE ALL SO A PART OF EACH OTHER IN SO MANY WAYS. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TALK. IT'S SO FASCINATING. I COULD STAY HERE ALL DAY WITH YOU. I'M INTERESTED IN THIS NOTION OR SOCIOLOGICAL NOTION OF THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY. IF YOU COMPARE WHEN MY PARENTS CAME IN THE '60s, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WAS THIS DISTINCT NEED TO CLASSIFY PEOPLE AS BLACK OR WHITE. >> RIGHT. >> IRRESPECTIVE OF YOUR RACIAL BACKGROUND. NOW SCIENCE HAS GOTTEN US TO THE POINT WHERE WE HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO EXPLORE IDENTITY, THERE'S A GROWING ACCEPTANCE, WHICH FOR ME AS MULTI-RACIAL IS FASCINATING. I WONDERED WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE ON HOW WE'VE GOTTEN TO THE POINT AND WHAT THE EVOLUTION LOOKED LIKE AND WHAT HAS IMPACTED THAT? IT'S CERTAINLY BEYOND SCIENCE I WOULD IMAGINE. >> YEAH, IT IS. WELL, I THINK SCIENCE IS A HUGELY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN AND WHO ARE WE AS A SPECIES, BUT THEN WE ALSO HAVE THIS -- YOU KNOW, THE OTHER THING IS THAT THE U.S. IS PECULIAR, RIGHT? IT'S LKE WE'RE A PECULIAR INSTITUTION IN THE UNITED STATES. WE'VE WE'VE HAD THEM HISTORICALLY. WHAT'S PECULIAR IS THIS MOTION OF RACIAL PURITY. IT'S REALLY WEIRD, IT'S AN OUTLIAR IN THE REST OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. YEAH. >> IS THAT NOT LINKED TO COLONIAIZEATION, AND YOU SIGH IT IN IF THE CARIBBEAN, DISCOUNTING OR IGNORING THE OTHER PART OF YOUR RACIAL HISTORY BECAUSE IT'S BETTER? >> IT'S LINKED TO THE RACE PURITY ISSUE. IT'S PARTICULARLY SALIENT IN ANGLO COLONIZATION AND ENGLISH COLONIZATION. I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THAT, AND IT'S ON MY LIST TO FIGURE OUT, BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, TO COMPLICATE BY KIDS' LIVES MORE, THEY ARE HALF COLOMBIAN, SO IT'S LIKE LET'S JUST ADD IN SOMETHING ELSE, WHICH IS THEY ARE BILINGUAL, SPANISH, CARIBBEAN, PISCATAWAY, JEWISH, LET'S MAKE IT COMPLICATED. WHEN I WENT TO SOUTH AMERICA THE FIRST TIME I SAW PEOPLE WHO CLEARLY SPOKE THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE, IF THEY CUT THEIR HAIR AND CHANGED OUT OF THEIR TRADITIONAL CLOTHING THEY WERE NO LONGER INDIAN, THERE WERE MESTIZO MIX. I'M NOT SAYING BETTER OR WORSE. THERE'S ALL KINDS OF PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE WITH RACE, BUT IT WAS JUST SUDDENLY LIKE WOW, IN A DIFFERENT CULTURAL CONTEXT, RACE IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. AND I THINK IT ALSO HAS TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE LUBBOCK VERSUS VIRGINIA IN 1967, MAKING INTERMARRIAGE POSSIBLE, IT'S NOT JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE GOT MARRIED RECENTLY, PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS, IT COULD BE IN THE CASE OF PISCATAWAY FROM THE 1680s, YOU KNOW, THE EARLY 1700s OF DOCUMENTED MARRIAGES OR DOCUMENTED CHILDREN COMING OUT OF MIXED RACE UNIONS BUT YOU COULD TRACK FORWARD THEY WERE MARRYING PISCATAWAY INDIANS ON THE RESERVATION, AND THEN THE RACE LAWS GET PASSED SO SLAVERY IS FIXED, YOU KNOW, FROM LIKE 1720 ON WHERE YOU CAN'T REALLY GET OUT OF IT, AND SO BUT BEFORE THAT THERE WAS SOME -- PEOPLE COULD MOVE AROUND MORE. THAT'S ANOTHER THING. IT WASN'T ALWAYS -- IT WASN'T ALL INEVITABLE. IT DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THAT WAY. I THINK THAT'S WHAT'S OPENING IT UP AND THIS IDEA ABOUT INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSION, INDIVIDUAL CHOICE IS ANOTHER PIECE. SO IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHERE WE DEVELOP IT, MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE BEING VERY OVERT ABOUT WHO THEY ARE AND IT'S NOT JUST ONE OR THE OTHER. >> ONE LAST COMMENT ABOUT GENETICS. THERE'S NIH-FUNDED RESEARCHER WHO ACTUALLY I BELIEVE SHE IS AMERICAN INDIAN, BUT SHE HAS FOUND OTITIS B OR EAR INFECTIONS ARE GENETICALLY PRE-DISPOSED FOR AMERICAN INDIANS. AND SO SHE HAS DEVELOPED A VACCINE AS WELL, AND I THINK THAT THIS WHOLE THING WITH GENETICS IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT, KNOWING YOUR IDENTITY FROM A SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT BUT ALSO A HEALTH PERSPECTIVE AS WELL. >> YEAH, I THINK THAT'S VERY TRUE. I THINK WHAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE, THIS IS WHAT I THINK, I THINK THAT AS PEOPLE FEEL -- NOT JUST FEEL BUT REALLY OBSERVE THAT THEY ARE MORE IN CONTROL OF THEIR, YOU KNOW, PROPERTY OF THE BODY, OF THEIR OWN IDENTITY, OF THEIR OWN, YOU KNOW, SPACE AS IF THEY ARE NATIVE PEOPLE, AND THAT THAT IS ASSURED AND VIEWED FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, AND AS THERE ARE MORE AND MORE I THINK NATIVE PEOPLE IN THE FIELD, THEN WE MIGHT SEE A SHIFT. THAT'S JUST LIKE FOR EXAMPLE IN THE MUSEUM CASE, AND IN THE ACADEMY IN GENERAL THERE ARE MANY MORE NATIVE SCHOLARS, THERE'S A LEVEL OF COMPETENCE WHICH HAS BEEN GROWING AS PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO HAVE NOT ONLY A SAY BUT BE IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT AS THE RESEARCHER AND DECIDING WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THIS MATERIAL OR WHAT'S NOT. ON THE OTHER HAND WE STILL HAVE JUST HAPPENED, THE BLOOD CASE, ABOUT MATERIAL, LIKE PHYSICAL, BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL, THAT WAS BEING KEPT WITHOUT THE FULL SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENED, IT JUST RIPPLES OUT AND IT JUST IS LIKE, OH, SEE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO IT. I HAD A RESEARCHER CALL ME TO WANT TO DO STUFF WITH THE PISCATAWAY COMMUNITY, GENETIC TESTING FOR MENTAL ILLNESS. THIS IS NOT GOING TO WORK. I MEAN, I'M SORRY, YOU KNOW, SHE'S LIKE, BUT THIS COULD REALLY HELP. I SAID, NO, THIS IS A COMMUNITY THAT'S ALREADY HAD TO DUAL, BECAUSE OF EUGENICS, THEY ARE SOMEHOW DEFICIENT, THERE'S ALL KINDS OF GENETIC PROBLEMS, OR THAT THEY ARE PRIMITIVE OR THAT THEY HAVE ALL KINDS OF ISSUES, AND THIS HAS BEEN USED OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN AGAINST OUR COMMUNITY, UP TILL THE PRESENT DAY, IT'S AFFECTED RECOGNITION, AFFECTED ALL THESE THINGS. THIS IS NOT GOING TO FLY. SHE CALLED ME FIVE TIMES. I WAS LIKE, I'M SORRY, LIKE I CAN'T. I CAN'T DO THIS, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST NOT GOING TO WORK BECAUSE IT'S, YOU KNOW, I WISH IT COULD IN SOME WAYS, BECAUSE IT WOULD BE REALLY INTERESTING TO FIND OUT HOW THIS COULD BE HELPFUL, BUT THE RISKS, REAL AND PERCEIVED, THEY ARE TO GREAT AND WE'RE JUST NOT THERE. SO THAT'S MY KNOWLEDGE. [APPLAUSE] >> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. I'M CARL HILL WITH THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL POPULATIONS AND THE TRANSNTSB AMERICAN INDIAN ALASKA INDIAN, NATIVE HAWAIIAN SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP AND LIED TIKE TO PRESENT A CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATE TO DR. GABRIELLE TAYAC FROM THE OFFICE OF EQUITY, DIVERSE AND AND INCLUSION FOR COMING HERE AND STIMULATING A GREAT DIALOGUE AND DISCUSSION AND DELIVERING A FANTASTIC PRESENTATION. THANK YOU. [APPLAUSE] >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. [APPLAUSE] >> JUST TO CLOSE, A FEW CLOSING COMMENTS, JUST VERY -- THIS PRESENTATION WAS VERY RELEVANT FOR WHERE WE HAD HERE AT NIH, THINKING ABOUT DIVERSITY, SO TWO WEEKS AGO THERE WERE A NUMBER OF AWARDS PROVIDED TO THE INSTITUTIONS TO ENHANCE DIVERSITY IN THE BIOMEDICAL WORK FORCE. I LOOK IN THE AUDIENCE, THERE ARE QUITE A FEW OF US THAT ARE PASSIONATE AND COMMITTED TO ADDRESSING AND ELIMINATING HEALTH DISPARITIES, SO THIS WAS ON TARGET AND VERY RELEVANT FOR WHERE WE ARE, I CERTAINLY WANT TO THANK THE PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS THAT HAD PUT THIS TOGETHER, PARTICULARLY THE OFFICE OF EQY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION, AND ASHLEY WELLS. YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF EXCHANGE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF US MAY HAVE LEARNED THAT THERE'S A HIERARCHY, YOU KNOW, OF EXCHANGE, TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, OR TALKING ABOUT FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS, AND THEN THE HIGHEST, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSION OR EXCHANGE OF IDEAS, RIGHT? I FEEL LIKE WE WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THAT HERE WITH DR. TAYAC'S PRESENTATION WITH THIS MENTION OF SURVIVANCE AND PHILOSOPHY AND LANGUAGE AND SELF DETERMINATION AS A THOUGHT AND FEELING. IDENTITY, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THINKING ABOUT HEALTH DISPARITIES AND PERCEIVING STRESS, RIGHT, AND ENGAGING IN COPING BEHAVIOR AND HOW STRESS GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN. IDENTITY IS CENTRAL TO ALL OF THAT, WHAT WE'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT. AND THEN PEOPLE, RIGHT? IN THIS TRADITIONAL SENSE PEOPLE ARE THE LOWEST, YOU KNOW, BUT WHEN WE ARE INTERESTING DIVERSITY AND HEALTH DISPARITIES, PEOPLE ARE VERY, VERY IMPORTANT AND WE'VE HAD A CHANCE TO HEAR FROM -- HEAR ABOUT JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN AND HIS GREAT GRANDFATHER, BUCK FRANKLIN, AND FRED, WHO PASSED AWAY AFTER THE INDIVISIBLE EXHIBIT WAS RELEASED, AND THE IDEA OF BEING A CHANGE AGENT, RIGHT, THE EXHIBIT, THE PEOPLE THAT DEVELOPED THAT EXHIBIT ARE CHANGE AGENTS AND THAT'S WHAT WE REPRESENT HERE, GOING BACK TO OUR PLACES WHERE WE WORK AND LIVE, I CONGRATULATE US ALL REALLY IN COMING TO CELEBRATE A PRIORITY THAT I THINK IS BOTH PRIORITY FOR BOTH DIVERSITY TRAINING AND HEALTH DISPARITIES FEELINGS, AND THE GREAT PEOPLE OF NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE, SO I GIVE YOU ALL APPLAUSE. [APPLAUSE] [END OF PROGRAM]