http://thekicc.org/equality1

The KICC invites you to click the link above to visit our website, to read the entire story with regular updates to our situation.

In summary -

The Manitowoc Public Library hosted an exhibit during the summer of 2022 that was a gross misrepresentation of our Native American peoples and the industrial boarding school experience. After some of the KICC team visited this exhibit we were inspired to create one of our own, to fix everything we saw wrong with the other one. (This is the video at the top of this page, part 1. You can view part 2 if you view it at the youtube link)

Upon presenting our exhibit to The Manitowoc Public Library with a request to host our Native American created exhibit to follow the one over the summer, we were denied. The only excuse given for the denial is that our exhibit "invalidates the other".

Since the initial contact and denial, the library's Executive Director and Program Manager have labeled our exhibit as the "opposing view" of OUR OWN personal experiences, and the only option they have offered us is a place in their diversity program as "the opposing view" if we book a meeting room. This would intentionally cut us off from the public mainstream library patrons who witnessed the exhibit on display over the summer.

The library's desire is to allow the gross misrepresentation of our Native people's experiences to stand as "OUR truth" as they presented it to the public this summer. This is a clear violation of our civil rights as Native American citizens of the United States and we seek to pursue this in federal court. To do so, we need your help!

Court cases are expensive, there are many fees involved. We have already secured a trusted and dedicated attorney but we need to raise the funding for the fees. Our goal is set at $3,000.

With the ability to take this case to federal court we will be able to set a precedent for all of our Native peoples going forward, and the protection of our right to speak our own truth, especially in a public place such as a public library.

The pieces you will find sold here in our online support store will go a long way in meeting our $3,000 goal while giving you an opportunity to help show your support wherever you are while spreading the word to others. These are an easy and inexpensive way to protest peacefully, make a statement in a safe way while enjoying the beauty of the KICC craft work however you wish to display it. These were created with versatility in mind.

So you're probably wondering why you should care about this cause? Maybe you don't understand the importance of the right to speak our own truth freely and without oppression?

90% of the problems Native Americans face today is a direct result of the boarding schools and the forced secrecy of our people while our oppressors told the world their version of our story and history, culture, and beyond. One of the quotes that stood out from that summer exhibit was the end of a caption under a photograph of a group of Native children dressed in Victorian Era clothing. It spoke underneath about how they were prepared to go home for a visit and went on to say that the boarding school experience "had a good outcome". Those children going home for a visit were being sent back to strangers who no longer knew them, unable to speak the language of their own families, so no way to communicate effectively, and dressed like "the enemy" who had stolen the children in the first place. Those children were used as weapons against their own people, sent back to assimilate the rest of the people of their tribes who were still restricted to reservation lands.

When the general public sees these photos with those kinds of captions, they walk away with that interpretation of the most horrific experiences in Native American history. When our Native peoples are in need of help and services to try to heal from the endless amounts of damage caused by those schools, there are few available if the rest of the world believes "it had a good outcome" aka no need for help or services. When Native peoples are forced silent about our own experiences those who tell our stories in our place tend to do so in the past tense, leading the world to believe we are extinct. Here's the thing about extinct people... social programs, healthcare, food programs, education, every possible need a person can have... those allowances are not considered or made for people who are believed to be extinct.

A simple Google search will offer many statistics about our Native American population. Whatever the statistic, you will notice quickly that the Native peoples across the US are on the bottom in everything, the worst off in everything, and yet most people have no idea this is happening. Why? Because of exactly what this library is doing now, and all the others who do it too.

This is our opportunity to put a stop to this, to give our peoples the voice we have have been fighting for and deserving of since colonization of North America began. With your help we can be the change we want to see and positively affect the lives of over 6 million people!

We thank you for your support and for shopping with The KICC!

Blessings to you all,

The KICC Team
Dawn, Delia, Amber & Rob

The KICC Civil Rights Legal Fight, Online Support Store

The KICC Online Support Store