by Rich Wandschneider | Nov 2, 2020 | assimilation, Ibram X. Kendi, Indians in unexpected places, Philip J. Deloria, racism, Stamped from the Beginning
One of the first axioms of White-Indian relations I remember hearing from Alvin Josephy was that from the moment Europeans hit the North American shore, indigenous peoples had three choices: they could move away; they could become white; or they could die....
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 30, 2020 | Indians, Michael Gerson, original sin, slavery
In today’s Washington Post, long-time columnist Michael Gerson, a former George W. Bush speechwriter and consultant, labels President Trump a racist, and says that’s all you have to remember in the voting booth. He’s another of the staunch Republicans who is switching...
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 27, 2020 | Amos & Pearl Marsh, Great migration, Joseph Hilliard, La Grande, logging, Maxville, Wallowa County, Wallowa High School
I’ve heard about the Black loggers at Maxville for the 50 years I’ve lived in the Wallowas, and about Amos Marsh, the only pro football player ever to come out of Wallowa County, for as long. In recent years, I’ve watched my grandson and teammates in football and...
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 12, 2020 | Carib, Columbian Exchange, Columbus, Columbus Day, Doctrine of Discovery, Jim Crow, slavery
“Columbus Day” was first celebrated by Italian-Americans in San Francisco in 1869, and worked its way into a national holiday in 1937. Those of us who went to school in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and probably through the 1990s and are not of Italian heritage, remember...
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 8, 2020 | boarding schools, Canadian hockey, hockey, Ibram X. Kendi, Indian boarding schools, Indian Horse, Milkweed, Ojibwa, Richard Wagamese
The name—its explanation comes on the first pages of the book—pulls you into the story. The writing is measured and strong and beautiful—“The Old Ones say that our long straight hair comes from the waving grasses that thatch the edges of bays. Our feet and hands are...
