Mark Anthony Rolo

As an American Indian, I can’t think of anything more depressing than sitting around the dinner table tracing the legacy of a holiday that began with a questionable decision to save a band of starving pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.read more

On Monday, Oct. 13, schoolteachers across the nation should find the courage to speak the truth about the man who sailed the ocean blue in 1492.read more

It’s not time for black people to hit the mute button.

Progressive black critics of Sen. Barack Obama are facing a lot of criticism.read more

The Trail of Tears began 170 years ago this week. We should recall it not as an aberration but as a logical outgrowth of an inhumane policy.read more

Every year, I usually try to keep a low profile when Thanksgiving comes around. As an American Indian, one has to be careful about admitting to the guilty pleasures of enjoying a turkey feast. read more

My guest this week is Mark Anthony Rolo, a member of the Bad River Band of Ojibewe, and former head of the Native American Journalists Association. We discuss issues of race, diversity, and the media.read more

July 17, 2006

The 125th anniversary of Chief Sitting Bull's surrender is an opportune time to learn about one of our nation's Native heroes.read more

May 10, 2006

PLYMOUTH, Mass. - Two years after the Indians greeted the first European immigrants to this land that was new only to them, the good life may now be taking a turn for the worse as rumors spread about a proposed plan to send the English settlers back to their Old World.read more

December 21, 2005

The anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee is a sober reminder of our nation's bloody past.read more

October 5, 2005

There's only one reason to keep Columbus Day on the national calendar: not to continue honoring the sailor as a great explorer, but instead to remember him as a great exploiter.read more

February 15, 2005

The resignation of the top American Indian official in Washington is welcome news.read more

November 18, 2004

You might think that Indians won't be in a party mood come Turkey Day.

After all, given the historical record of how the "founders" of this country treated the first peoples of this land, it does not take much cultural sensitivity to understand why some Indians don't celebrate Thanksgiving.

But there are those (myself included) who choose to find something to be thankful about during this season.

We are still here.

After wiping out whole tribes or rounding up the rest of us like cattle onto reservation land, the federal government believed it would only be a matter of time before Indians -- as a race, as nations of people -- would soon disappear from the geographical and political landscape.read more

The top Native American at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dave Anderson, needs to immediately resign from his post. Anderson has neglected a major part of his job, and he seems more interested in maintaining the Bush administration's agenda of indifference than meeting the needs of Indian Country.read more

November 19, 2003

PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- One year ago when the newly arrived immigrants invited the Indians of this wooded coastal region over for a meal of thanks and appreciation for helping them to survive, some thought this was to be the beginning of a great friendship.read more