How have you reflected on your relationship with your last name? How have you committed to learning more about the historical foundations of the United States tied to genocide and slavery? Follow it back and you might find your line paved with gold, or beset with traps” (139). Halfway through the text, Orange claims, “If you were fortunate enough to be born into a family whose ancestors directly benefited from genocide and/or slavery, maybe you think the more you don’t know, the more innocent you can stay, which is a good incentive to not find out, to not look too deep, to walk carefully around the sleeping tiger. There, There provides much for us to think about in terms of the connection between history and personal experience. How does this passage relate to the depiction of Native communities in popular culture, especially as we reflect on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday celebrated in the US? In what ways does the passage relate to the ongoing erasure of Native stories? In the first few pages of There, There, Tommy Orange writes, “We’ve been defined by everyone else and continue to be slandered despite easy-to-look-up-on-the- internet facts about the realities of our histories and current state as a people” (7).
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