Map: Time-lapse of American seizure of indigenous land, 1776-1887.

I found out yesterday that I am 1/32nd Cherokee. I know nothing more—not if the coming-together was a happy one or otherwise. But, growing up in Colorado, I have as many always loved our Native American foremothers and forefathers, and the sadness of our American genocide should not be forgotten.

Still, we should use said sadness to be of benefit, and to create peace, starting now.

What challenges are we facing? “Highest rates of suicide, alcoholism, death due to alcohol, low birth weight outcomes, SIDS, deaths in general, and poverty than in any other demographic group.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_social_statistics_of_Native_Americans#Health_standards

Of course, much of the below represents French, Spanish, and Mexican seizure of indigenous land. For more, here.

“Between 1776 and 1887, the United States seized over 1.5 billion acres from America’s indigenous people by treaty and executive order.”

Info: this map is “based on the 1899 Bureau of American Ethnology “Source Maps”, so it skips over the 1900s to present day reservation borders. Not sure why the U of Georgia professors who compiled the data chose that, but you can find more info here:http://www.ehistory.org/about/