COLLOQUY

THE QUESTION

RESPONSES

BACKGROUND

Rigoberta Menchú's story is the story of indigenous peoples of the Americas; the forcible taking of land and subsistence by others for their material gain. Her story tells the truth of a contemporary Maya, and other Native Americans, who are trying to resolve the events of the past (most of which have yet to be recognized and believed by mainstream society and academia). Her story is about the history of the fledgling and current United States, as a statement of the wars waged against indigenous people for the cause of capitalism, which of course, needs resources and people to exploit in order to function.

Looking at the book, I, Rigoberta Menchú, is about looking at America, about class struggle, and about how hard it is to recognize the enormous facts of history and current political events. For example, the Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876) is a historical icon in the American memory. However, it was not until the turn of the century (when the Lakota were considered to be sufficiently subjugated), that Americans would even begin to look at it. Additionally, history has yet to fully accept and consider the Lakota eyewitness to this battle.

As a collective, as intellectuals, and as human beings, we need to examine U.S. political policies of the past and the present. To do so means believing what seems unbelievable: stories of genocide, torture, rape, and mass emigration to flee an unlivable situation; whether eastern bands fleeing to the Plains and the Great Lakes, or Mayas fleeing to the garment factories of Los Angeles.

-- Annie Ross, Professor, Institute of American Indian Arts (posted 1/20, 10:50 a.m., E.S.T.)

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