“Our legacy is reflected in the diverse composition of our community, the breadth of our curriculum, the strength of our public service, and the depth of our commitment to freedom, equity, and reason. Each member of the Cornell community has a responsibility to honor this legacy and to support a more diverse and inclusive campus in which to work, study, teach, research and serve.”

— Cornell’s statement on diversity, from: www.cornell.edu/diversity/history/statement.cfm

A major problem of diversity at Cornell is how to include American Indians and American Indian Studies into the broad University community. American Indians are not simply another “ethnic minority” here at Cornell; instead, it should be remembered that American Indians are the indigenous people of this land. Thus, indigenous America is distinctly important, and should be understood in its relationship to “Euro-America” and all other “Americas.”

In American culture, the view (by neglect) is that American Indians either do not exist, or are otherwise irrelevant to the modern world. This concept manifests itself in a variety of areas ranging from the absence of American Indians in “American history” for most of the 19th Century and all of the 20th Century, to the ridiculous portrayals of American Indians historically in film, as Halloween costumes and the use of American Indians as mascots for sports teams. For us, this is not simply something that is perpetuated in a top down method by an amorphous “American society,” but is instead perpetuated by the actions of people on all levels, including very real institutions such as the University. It is because of this that Cornell has to this point failed in its honoring of diversity as encapsulated in the aforementioned extract.

American Indian Studies is taught separately from “American History,” and if it is a part of an American History curriculum, it is often very brief and erroneous. This lack of education about American Indians is systematic and extends from elementary school through universities. Most Americans (of any ethnic origin) are not able to discuss even the basic cultural characteristics of the indigenous people of their local areas; historically and currently, let alone other areas.

How many people from Boston know anything about the Massachusetts; from Brooklyn know anything about the Canarsie; from Philadelphia, about the Delaware; from Orlando, about the Seminoles; finally, how many Cornellians know anything about the Cayuga (whose land we are on)? Many of these indigenous peoples still exist in modern America. President Skorton, when you make public addresses at Cornell, can you at least mention that Cornell is on Cayuga land?

American Indian history is a fundamental part of American history. By separating indigenous history from American history we demonize, exoticize and romanticize indigenous peoples to the point where they are no longer real people. An understanding of modern indigenous history can only illuminate other areas of American history. Many people know about the Civil Rights movement, but an understanding of the Red Power movement is also vital in understanding the status of race relations in America. Many important pieces of legislation in the 20th Century have altered America and are vital in the comprehension of modern America. For example, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 granted protection to indigenous religious traditions, sacred sites and objects; thus allowing indigenous religions to be considered legitimate belief systems.

What good is Cornell’s broad curriculum if students do not leave Cornell with an understanding of people who may be radically different from themselves? Cornell should require students to step out of their comfort zones, both academically by mandating cross-cultural learning, and socially by encouraging cross cultural experiences. Cornell’s library system has one of the largest collections of American Indian related materials in the United States. However, does this mean that American Indians Studies is given a sufficiently prominent role in the academic setting of this university? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

We are concerned with the status that American Indians will have in Cornell’s future. There has been a dramatic decline in the past decade and a half in the number of classes offered through the American Indian Program. In 1993, 18 classes were offered in American Indian Studies; in 2009 there are fewer than 10 classes. While the number of students coming from “ethnic minorities” at Cornell has grown in recent years, the number of indigenous students has decreased on campus, despite the significant rise in the indigenous population in the country. This leads us to wonder why so many American Indian students choose not to come to Cornell.

A lack of awareness of and respect for indigeneity has led to various bias incidents at Akwe:kon. On April 1, 2008, members of a fraternity harassed residents of Akwe:kon by requesting to take pictures of our residents for a scavenger hunt. When we said that they could not, they then ran to the front of the building and took pictures of us through our windows. Though Travis Apgar, associate dean of students for fraternity and sorority affairs, looked into the incident, after over a month, the American Indian Program only received an “apology” from the student president of the fraternity who claimed that they are an organization of honor. We are disappointed by the fact that this issue was not taken more seriously and that almost two years later, nothing much has happened. We think that this is reflective of Cornell’s real commitment to diversity. Perhaps if Cornell cared more about encouraging students to learn about Native people, incidents like this would not occur.

We view the occurrence of incidents like this as evidence of the lack of understanding and respect for indigenous peoples. There is enough blame to go around as this is no single person or group of people’s failure. Really when you portray an entire continent’s worth of people as being little more than either a bunch of ignorant savages or a bunch of primitive tree huggers, it is understandable why people do not seek out knowledge and understanding of the people who truly call America their home.

We do not stand alone.

[Editor’s Note: This column is the second installment of a series exploring issues that impact multicultural and minority communities at Cornell. The series will run in The Sun this week.]

Alia Jones ’10, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the co-Chair of Native American Students at Cornell. She may be reached at arj24@cornell.edu. Samuel Rose ’10, a senior in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, is a member of Native American Students at Cornell and a resident adivsor for Akwe:kon. He may be reached at swr7@cornell.edu.