“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” (1970) by Dee Brown, should be read by all residents of the U.S.A. I reside on land stolen from the Utes, Paiutes, Shoshone, and Goshutes tribes.

There has been a concerted effort by political conservatives to ban such books from schools, in a feeble attempt to protect their childen from the truth. Books which set forth and examine the true history of this nation are disturbing, because they do not support the Great American Myth of superior white people making something out of nothing with their own bare, brave hands.

Do not believe the myths, even those in your own family. I grew up believing I was part Potawatomie, but in fact I am the descendant of genociders in Southern Pennsylvania. My sixth great-grandfather, Hans Michel Walck, arrived in Philadelphia in 1732. He acquired legal title to 250 acres of land, for his farm. His son, Michael Wallack, was known as an “Indian hunter and fighter,” that is, a killer.

“Bury My Heart” is a history of the American West, but the same genocidal tactics were used in the East. The consequences of genocide, removal, taking children from their families, and erasure of indigenous culture, are depression, anxiety, dismay, isolation, heavy restrictions on daily life, and often, depths of poverty.

It does no good to deny well-established historical facts. Ignorance is not bliss. Efforts to deny reality will fail. Resist the Great American Myth.