What is the Connection Between "Indians" and Anti-Americanism?
On November 21, DAIS in cooperation with the GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig invited Native American artist and activist Johanna Cree Summers and expert on Native American literature and culture, James Mackay, to discuss the use of Native American narratives in current debates about migration, identity, and anti-Americanism. The event was moderated by the director of the State Art Collections Dresden / Ethnographic Collections Saxony (SKD/SES), Léontine Meijer-van Mensch. We welcomed around 50 guests to the event.
Dr. Frank Usbeck, curator of the SES’s America collection, started off the discussion with a brief history about the imagined similarities used to connect German history with the history of Native Americans in far-right discourses. He drew on Karl May’s work and the idea of the stereotypical Native American as a resistance fighter. He also addressed the phenomenon of “Indianthusiasm”, a curious enthusiasm for Native Americans in Europe, and how it contributed to the creation of German national identity.
James Mackay, Assistant Professor for American Literature at the European University of Cyprus, concentrated on the fluid definitions of indigenousness. He specifically focused on the rhetorical construct “The indigenous people couldn’t stop immigration and now they have to live on reservations” and how it is used in far-right politics in the US, Canada, and across Europe.
Finally, Johanna Cree Summers spoke about her experience as a Native American growing up in Germany and constantly being confronted with cultural prejudices.
