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Unlearning the Language of Conquest: Scholars Expose Anti-Indianism in America

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Four Arrows gathers together an impressive array of minds to, from several points of view, reveal the revisionist history and ongoing treachery of the hegemony of power in Western culture. Not just in America, but in the case of our European forefathers as well, there has been and is a systematic agenda of conquest, thievery, genocide and mind bending so pervasive that it goes unnoticed as if it were "normal", often even by those who are being conquered and exterminated. By exposing this pattern of treachery, "Unlearning" opens the door to understanding and, hopefully beginning to correct the effects of the lies we have been taught by our governments, churches and educational systems. The first step in overcoming a problem is to admit there is one and this book should go a long way toward facilitating that admission in anyone who reads it. Let's hope a lot of educators, clergy and government employees do so.

This is an important book, one that I wish every politician and policymaker and teacher would read. Four Arrows has gathered together a number of essays that speak to the damage that continues to be inflicted on America's Indigenous Peoples. The essays are well written, cogent, and enlightening, showing how deeply the language of conquest is embedded in our national literature and how it damages our citizenry. For, while the oppressed receive the greatest damage, the oppressor is also negatively affected. In trying to justify the actions that deny Indian citizens their rights, the majority utilizes every kind of lie: anything built on lies will eventually collapse. We must stop telling lies and live up to the treaties we made with the Indian Nations. We must insist on our courts meting out justice based on law, not on prejudice. We must unlearn the language of conquest.