I am Wanda Jean Lord (Cherokee/Choctaw), founder of the Native American nonprofit HOOP – Honoring Our Own Power. Since 1997, HOOP has strengthened indigenous initiatives. Our vision respects indigenous tribes, people and communities regarding their rights, culture and sovereignty as indigenous people in any area where HOOP provides services and offers support. Our mission is to strengthen indigenous initiatives through education, communication, projects and networking. Today, Native people and friends share HOOP’s efforts on our Web site.

The importance of changing the lack of accuracy in education about indigenous tribal communities, people and issues in the United States cannot be overstated. In a land where public education most often ignores entirely or teaches from myth-understanding rather than from a factual basis about tribal nations it is no wonder that whether a kindergartener or a doctoral candidate most people’s knowledge of Indian country and of contemporary indigenous issues is non-existent, colored by fantasy, and sometimes racist and harmful.

The impacts are almost too many to list – in our own communities the impacts of invisibility or “myth-information” that passes for “common knowledge” among our neighbors may contribute to the astoundingly high rates of suicide among Native youth. They certainly contribute to the inordinate amount of education tribal leaders and Native organizations must provide in order to partner with neighboring entities.

The lack of accuracy most certainly contributes to the creation of often highly educated mainstream decision makers who have never received any practical knowledge from their studies regarding tribes, their governmental status, and social, economic or other issues.

At HOOP, we’ve recently created two videos. “Increasing Indigenous Visibility” illustrates that hundreds of thousands of tribal peoples reside in the states now known as New England. Another, “Indigenous Invisibility,” was made possible by HOOP’s collaboration with PBS’ “The American Experience,” Reel Native Project. With a small PBS stipend and the generosity of many Native volunteers and organizations, the film addresses the fact that the state of Rhode Island could not have existed were it not for the generosity of the Narragansett Tribe and wonders if the state’s actions today are much different from the colonial actions authorized by imperial England in 1663. It can be viewed online.

-Wanda Jean Lord
Founder HOOP –
Honoring Our Own Power
Newport, R.I.