Editor’s Note: This article is part of Native News Online’s America 250: A Republic Built on Native Land initiative.
As Americans mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, “Here and Now” host Scott Tong on Friday interviewed Native News Online editor Levi Rickert about the significance of the nation’s founding document from a Native perspective.
During the conversation, Rickert reflected on a formative moment from his childhood. As an eighth-grade student, he was assigned to silently read the Declaration of Independence in his U.S. history class. When he reached the passage in which Thomas Jefferson described Native people as “merciless Indian Savages,” Rickert said he experienced an awakening that fundamentally changed his understanding of American history and the place of Native people within it.
Asked how he planned to spend the holiday weekend, Rickert said he would be reading Deb Haaland’s memoir and Regime Change, continuing his exploration of the history, politics, and policies that have shaped Native communities and the United States.
