May 26, 2023
The podcast transcript is available below.
What's being called a modern day Indian Removal, the Wild Turkey Clan of the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians in Maryland are being forced off their land by the Charles County government – the very land that belongs to the Piscataway Conoy People and that the Band has taken care of for decades.
On this episode we speak with Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor on the harmful impacts of this removal and how people can get involved to end this eviction.
TAKE ACTION
Learn more on the Cedarville Band of the Piscataway Indians, Inc. website. Then, send a message to the Charles County Board of Commissioners. Tell them to stop the eviction.
WATCH THE VIDEO
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The video transcript is available here.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
00:00
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
We go back more than 10,000 years on the property and then to have that just snatched away from you after all your hard work. And for this, the government to come in and now say, Oh, we've decided we don't want you here anymore, please get out. You have 30 days to get out. My first reaction to that was to cry, to physically cry.
00:27
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
And then I got angry because I don't understand why they're doing this. And then, of course, I had to sit into I need to do what whatever I'm being asked to do.
00:47
Nehemiah Bester
You're listening the thinking Freely with the ACLU of Maryland, the show that talks about what's happening politically in Maryland from the courts, to the streets and everywhere in between. I'm your host, Nehemiah Bester.
01:04
Nehemiah Bester
Just the other day I was thinking about my childhood growing up and how we used to sing songs in elementary school. And I remembered this one song in particular that went something like, “this land is your land, this land is my land.” And I always thought it was a peculiar song and for some reason, even at that age I felt it did not apply to me. I identify as a Black man, and it's common knowledge why I felt that way as a kid given this country's past horrors in the name of white supremacy. But there was another strange element to this song being taught to children. I did some research and it's sung by a white man named Woody Guthrie. And if you've ever heard or sung this song yourself, you know that it's meant to be patriotic and unifying.
01:49
Nehemiah Bester
But in the process, it becomes colonial. It's one of those “God Bless America” anthems, and it's often those types of anthems that ignore what's right in front of them. As a song has been recognized by indigenous groups as problematic and an erasure of indigenous culture and land. Even if that wasn't Guthrie's intention. When we talk about Indigenous land seizure, many people will go back to U.S. President Andrew Jackson in his signing of the Indian Removal Act in May of 1830.
02:21
Nehemiah Bester
But if there's one thing that this country is good at, much like the lyrics to “This Land is Your Land” is that American history not only repeats, it often rhymes. The Wild Turkey Clan of the Citadel Band of Piscataway Indians in Maryland are being forced to experience a similar historic rhyme - but in the present day. They are currently being evicted by the Charles County government on the very land that belonged to the Piscataway Conoy people, and that the band has tended for decades.
02:53
Nehemiah Bester
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor is a born member of the Wild Turkey Clan, her grandmother Gladys Keeper of the Pipe was Clan Mother until her crossing over. Her Mother Joan is the current Clan Mother. She has spent most of her life providing services to the various Piscataway Communities and her work has involved serving with the National Congress of American Indians, Assistant Coordinator for the Prince Georges County Indian Education Program, and numerous other committees in Maryland to address the lack of recognition, indigenous inherent rights, self-government and policies that have adverse impact on Maryland's Indigenous communities. Our conversation was recorded at their historic cultural center which has been largely vacated due to the removal of their ancestral artifacts.
03:19
Nehemiah Bester
So first, I want to thank you for giving your time to share this story and space with me. On behalf of everyone at the ACLU of Maryland it's truly a pleasure to be here, so thank you. Before we get started, would you like to give some history about the land, yourself, and the Cedarville Band?
03:57
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Sure. Thank you. I would first like to introduce myself. I am Wild Turkey Clan. Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians. I serve as the tribal chair and the executive director for the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians Inc. My name is Natalie, Standingontherock Proctor. The land that we are talking about, actually, all of Maryland is Piscataway’s territory, but in particular the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indiansprobably about 200 years began to settle permanently in the area now known as Brandywine. But prior to that, it was known as Cedarville.
04:49
Nehemiah Bester
Thank you so much for that introduction Tribal Chairwoman. Can you briefly describe to me what this ongoing issue is? What's occurring?
04:59
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Yeah. So, first of all, let me give a little history. In 1979, the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians inquired to the General Service Administration about this particular site. At the because it's a prior NIKE site, which means not shoes, but base and the base had been abandoned and it had been abandoned for about ten years. So it was not being used at all. This was the perfect site as it is adjacent to Cedarville State Park, and it is a part of our traditional homeland. And so we reached out to the GSA in regards to what they would be doing with this property. And they said as of that time, there was no plans for the property. We asked if it would be okay if we were to take over the property for Indigenous purposes and that permission was given.
06:11
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
In 1988 Charles County then purchased the property and then the organization began to lease from Charles County. So we've been leasing this property from the county, what, 35, 40 years. But in January of 2023, we received an email late in the evening that we had 30 days to get off the property. Needless to say, I just went into shock. I don't know what's happening, what has happened, what has caused this. There's been no talk prior to this or anything of the kind, and it just sent us into a frenzy, of course. Trying to one, talk to the county commissioners to find out what has happened and two trying to move out of this space or within the 30 day time frame that they gave us. So this has been ongoing since January and we are trying with every bit of our being to negotiate, talk and whatever we need to do to try to maintain our presence on this land.
07:25
Nehemiah Bester
Thank you so much for sharing that. And I think it goes without saying that this is a terrible situation.
07:31
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Very, very, very bad. If you're able, can you share, your emotions, how you all are feeling in the midst of this, how are the other band members doing?
07:45
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
If you think about the longevity of just the present-day presence on this property. We go back more than 10,000 years on the property, but if we can just bring it up to the present day, we're nearing 50 years on the property and one can imagine how close we are to not the building, not so much the museum, but the land itself has great significance to us. It is our traditional homeland and the excitement of being able to come to this land, create this museum, create this Cultural Center, host hundreds of activities and programs and things, all of which have been open to the public schools, tours and the like. And then to have that just snatched away from you after all your hard work. We pay dues to ourselves and the like in order to repair this building, keep the grounds going. Everything has been on our own efforts to keep this building going for the past almost, again, 50 years. And for this, the government to come in and now say, Oh, we've decided we don't want you here anymore.
09:05
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Please get out. You have 30 days to get out. My first reaction to that was to cry. To physically cry. And then I got angry because I don't understand why they're doing this. And then, of course, I had to set into, I need to do what whatever I'm being asked to do. So, I speak for all clan and band members. This is very, very sad time and a hurtful time and reminds us of many, many years ago when our ancestors were pushed from one spot to the next, always having to make room for settlers coming to the new world.
09:48
Nehemiah Bester
Right so you bring up the historical context. And I think it's pretty clear that history has never looked kindly on the seizure of indigenous land. Right? So how do you think history will judge Charles County and its officials if this eviction continues?
10:06
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Well, I think that, let's say 300 years ago when settlers first started coming here, they if they supported indigenous people, there wasn't an outlet to do that. And so we were constantly dealing with the crown in England, number one, and then later on, of course, a established government here. But today, I believe that more people are really, really want the government to be transparent, want the government to be fair to its indigenous people.
10:40
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
They've had an opportunity to hear Indigenous people speak about past traumas and past historical wrongs and maybe this is something they didn't even understand or knew about, but now they do. And now they're saying no more of this, no more of this kind of treatment. So I, I am actually calling this a modern day Indian Removal, which was established and put into law in 1830, May of 1830. And so it's kind of a repeat of that 1830 law. And people do not want that. And we have had great support asking the county to take back this eviction notice and to move forward on actually returning the land to the band.
11:35
Nehemiah Bester
So sort of just like you mentioned, if, for people who might not be super familiar. Right. If you were to describe to someone who didn't know much about this, like why this land is so sacred and why it's so important, what would be your answer?
11:54
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
It's our homeland. It has always been our homeland, whether we feel let me say this. A lot of people move different places from place to place, state to state. Piscataway people have not moved. They've always been here. They are very connected to this land. And I think that's most important. Our ancestors are here, our even our ancestors from thousands of years ago. They're here and we want to stay in this area with them.
12:30
Nehemiah Bester
And something else I wanted to ask you, are there, you all have such deep rooted ties and history to this land. Are there any specific memories of your experiences at this cultural center that you'd like to share?
12:49
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
There are lots of memories here. My favorite memories are the ones that where we had, powwow means a gathering of the people, and prior to European contact, those people were just us. And we continue to have those gatherings and we would have food and dance and stay up half the night laughing and talking and telling stories and even comparing historical traumas as well, knowing that the entire east coast, we all have very similar stories and this was a part of helping us to heal from these traumas as well.
13:34
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
These were the best times to me, in my opinion. But out of all the activities and programs that we've done, I'm sure there are other memories that. But we've had numerous celebrations here, naming ceremony names, birthing ceremonies and the like to keep us together. And a tribe is just a huge family and we're broken down into clans and bands and whether we all live in the same area or not when it comes to ceremonial practices and things of that sort, we all come together to celebrate.
14:11
Nehemiah Bester
No, it's actually like incredibly beautiful to hear that you all like, actually like you take care of the land as it takes care of you. Like it's a completely a mutual relationship. I want to get back to something that I wanted to discuss if and if it's, if it's not too painful to mention. Are there any hopes or plans that you have for the land if this eviction stopped?
14:36
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Oh, definitely. Last year, we were working on connecting with other agriculturalists and to begin to plant on this land indigenous plants and to create an indigenous environment on this property. We were also looking at putting out some traditional wigwams. In our language it just means house, but the round dome type of homes where people could actually spend the night and enjoy various activities throughout the day so they could spend the night for one night or they could spend the entire weekend.
15:21
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
We were looking to put in traditional waterways where people could just sit in calmness and just relax, because this world is constantly having us hustle and bustle and a consumer driven society and we did not live like that. So we want to kind of restore society and bringing us back to nature, bringing us back to our natural surroundings and a more calm way of living.
15:52
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
And so when they came, when they would come here, they would get all of that experience and find a true way of indigenous living through these activities and programs that we would sponsor.
16:06
Nehemiah Bester
So Tribal Chairwoman we've talked a lot about the eviction and the removal aspect of it. But I wanted to actually directly, aside from the eviction itself and the removal part of it, in what other ways has this eviction affected you personally, as well as your other tribe, clan, and band members?
16:31
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Thank you so much for asking that question. I think when a lot of people think about the powwows and the music and all of those activities and programs that we've sponsored here, we fail to understand that we are now minus our staff, those who take care of administrative things, those who have taken care of the property. We have a food bank that we provide food for tribal members and the community at large, as well as clothes and any other thing that they need.
17:10
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
You can support by writing a letter to the county commissioners. You can also support on May 30th. We'll be having a rally coming. Come if you're in the local area, join us on the Charles County Administrator Building and stand with us in our opposition of this eviction. We also could use donations. Again, we've lost our staff and the cost, the legal cost of this and the costs of storing valuable and sacred items that were held in our museum.
17:20
Nehemiah Bester
Last thing I want to ask you, what is the final message you want to leave everyone with, whether it's on your heart, on your mind? What is the message that you want to leave people with?
17:49
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
First of all, I want to thank the ACLU so very much for taking our calls and for being here in support of us. Second of all, I would like to thank all of Maryland citizens who have already voiced their opinion and opposition to this eviction. Thank you very, very much. I think a lot of people have already been here.
18:24
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
They've already experienced the powwow. They've already experienced the museum and there are many, many memories from Charles County citizens, Prince George's citizens and the like who have really enjoyed their time here. And I think that they would feel to have this taken away from them would be a great loss. And it goes back to the time of the very beginning of settlers where Indigenous people were being shoved here and there.
19:02
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
There wasn't an opportunity to really get to have that connection that we could both share our ideas of life and the like. So we have been trying to promote that for many, many years now, and I think it would be a great loss. And once again, I want to thank the ACLU and Maryland citizens for your support.
19:17
Nehemiah Bester
Tribal Chairwoman, thank you so much for joining me today.
19:43
Tribal Chairwoman Natalie Standingontherock Proctor
Thank you for having me.
20:18
Nehemiah Bester
This has been another episode of Thinking Freely with the ACLU of Maryland. If you'd like to learn more about and support the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians, visit their website at piscatawayindians.com and be sure to follow us and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This show was recorded on Piscataway land. I'm Nehemiah Bester, the host and producer of Thinking Freely, until next time.
Produced and hosted by: Nehemiah Bester, communications strategist, ACLU of Maryland
This podcast was recorded on Piscataway land.
Thinking Freely, ACLU of Maryland's podcast, informs Marylanders about what's happening politically – from the courts to the streets – so they can get involved and realize a more equitable Maryland for all.
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