“Never before has the perseverance of historical memory been more inspirational — or more necessary”

Following up on my NPR story about the Lakota Music Project, I write today for “Persuasion” online:

In South Dakota, Bishop Scott Bullock of Rapid City wrote [of Pete Hegseth’s insistence on the heroism of American soldiers who slaughtered Lakotas at Wounded Knee in 1890]: “If we deny our part in history we deepen the harm. We cannot lie about the past without perpetuating injustice and moral blindness. We acknowledge the government’s intent to honor its troops, yet we reject any narrative that erases the humanity of the victims or glorifies acts of violence.”

The ongoing discourse on Native America is ultimately a discourse about origins. What Lakota origins may have to do with American origins will remain a necessary puzzle demanding diligent attention. Not a puzzle is the Lakota preservation of a cultural inheritance at various moments threatened, distorted, or denied.

Never before in American history has the perseverance of cultural and historical memory been more inspirational — or more necessary.

To read the whole piece, click here.

To hear the NPR show, click here.