Obama Fails to Mention Native Americans in Speech

By Broadside Contributor Nanette Yandell

President Barack Obama’s inaugural address signaled a coming era of positive change for this country. Obama exemplifies a leadership and an awareness that could potentially bring many different cultural groups together. However, Obama talked about the country’s history as though it began when the Europeans arrived on the Eastern shores.

When referring to those who earned and worked for the greatness of the U.S., he said, “For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life... For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.” Obama described our ancestors as the most recent settlers and explorers of the U.S.

A well-respected leader, Obama is seen as a lighthouse of hope in the U.S. and across the world. His position gave him an opportunity to mention Native Americans, the indigenous people of this land. He had ample opportunity to avoid the exclusion of the history and existence of these people.

When speaking of the U.S. as a newly formed, unified state, Obama left something out: there were already people living on this land. There were farms, communities and a variety of cultures already present. The Europeans murdered thousands of people in order to claim this land and all the resources here. The only mention of bloodshed in the entire speech is in this line: “In the year of America’s birth... patriots huddled... snow was stained with blood.”

This nation was built on unity, resourcefulness and perseverance long before European settlers set out and conquered this land. The birth of “America” is an illusive social construct of a government system established for the freedom and future of light-skinned Europeans. I am hopeful that Obama will lead this country in a positive direction, and I appreciate that we finally have a president that is not afraid to discuss the role of history in shaping the U.S. I hope his term will also address the needs and concerns of the oldest cultural group in the U.S.