Native Arts Collaborative

On this day...

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DXRMe4Fmx/

On February 8, 1887, President Grover Cleveland signed the Dawes Act into law. The legislation divided tribal lands into individual allotments, stripped millions of acres from Native nations, and weakened tribal sovereignty. It was another attempt to assimilate Native people into American culture.

Land deemed “surplus” was sold to non-Native settlers, and many Native families lost their allotments due to taxes or fraud. The act led to the loss of roughly two-thirds of Native land by 1934 and created fractionated ownership that still complicates land use and jurisdiction today.

This one hits hard because it flips the script in the simplest way. Before English, before borders, before 1492 — the land already had voices, stories, and languages that carried whole worlds. 🪶

Indigenous languages weren’t “extras” — they were life itself: family, ceremony, knowledge, humor, survival. The fact that so many still exist today is resilience you can’t ignore.

Respect starts with remembering. And remembering starts with listening. ❤️🖤