Portland, Maine (AP) —Most Americans are aware of the atrocities that Native Americans endured after the arrival of European settlers: war, illness, and stolen land. However, they are not always taught the extent of indiscriminate killings.
Members of the Penobscot state of Maine produced an educational film about how European pioneers killed indigenous peoples during the British colonial era.
“It was a genocide,” said Dawn Neptune Adams, one of the three Penob Scott Nation members in the movie, called “Bounty.”
She said the point of effort was not to make Americans feel defensive or blamed. Filmmakers say they just want to keep this history from being overshadowed by promoting a more complete understanding of the country’s past.
At the heart of the project is a chilling declaration by Spencer Phipps, Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay District.
Published in November 1755, “this month” granted a “His Majesty’s Theme” license to kill Penobscot. The reward was about $ 12,000 for men’s scalp today, half that of women’s scalp. The amount was slightly less for the child. Settlers who killed indigenous peoples also received land in addition to money, expelling tribes from indigenous peoples’ lands and expanding their reach.
This declaration is well known to many Penobscots, as a copy of the document was on display at the Tribal Office on Indian Island, Maine.
“If every American knows the whole history of the country, it helps us get along and better understand each other, including the dark and unpleasant parts,” said Neptune Adams in the film. Co-director Morrian Dana said.
Both Europeans and Native Americans engaged in scalping, but when the government approved the effort with prize money, British settlers significantly expanded their practices, filmmakers said.
The first known colonial peeling order is from 1675. Only a few decades later, at the first Thanksgiving in 1621, pilgrims met with the Wampanoag people for the harvest festival. Thanksgiving. “
Overall, filmmakers said there were more than 70 incentive declarations encouraging white settlers to kill tribal members in what is now New England, and 50 government-approved declarations elsewhere in the country. Research found. They said the colonial government paid a bounty to the scalp of at least 375 indigenous peoples throughout New England between 1675 and 1760.
Professor Emerson Baker of Salem State University, who specializes in New England history, called the tribal education effort a “strong course modification.”
“Most people understand that Native Americans were here first and the settlers did their best to get them out of the land. They don’t know the extremes it took at all.” Said Baker. “Almost all Native American men, women, or children were sometimes considered a fair game and sometimes even considered by the government.”
In collaboration with the Massachusetts-based Upstander Project, filmmakers released “Bounty” during Native American Heritage Month in November.
Neptune Adams and Dana were filmed with Tim Shay and his family at the Old State House in Boston. This is the same place where the Governor of Phips’ scalping order was signed.
In Bounty, three participants explain that Penobscot’s nightmare is being chased through the woods and discuss the dehumanization and slaughter of their people.
“When we learn about people’s humanity, it affects how we treat our children, how we vote for public policy, and how I see people,” Dana said.
The short video comes with a 200-page learning guide for teachers. Several school districts, including Portland Public Schools in Maine’s largest city, have purchased video licenses and will use learning guides to assist in teaching.
Portland plans to comply with the 2001 law, which includes scalp blessings as an element of the curriculum and requires students to teach Native American-focused Wabanaki studies in Maine. Wabanaki Research Coordinator.
“Students and teachers will see the continued patience and resistance of Penobscot national citizens in the’bounty’,” Hopper said.
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