It’s not that I wasn’t aware of American Indian history. When I used to teach my U.S. History course, the first lesson was always about pre-Colombian cultures. The problem was that I placed them neatly in a narrative versus diving deeply into their belief systems. It was a start, but in retrospect, woefully inadequate. I’d also never visited the National Museum of the American Indian to see how it presented American Indian history, or any American Indian museums for that matter.
It was my visit to Peru that exposed this blind spot. I was in awe at how much time and space were devoted to pre-Colombian cultures. In the five museums I visited, and from our guides, these native cultures were never clumped together, but each given separate space to explain who they were, what they believed, and what drove those beliefs. I was blind and now I see, so it’s time to explore.