Dominant narratives of American History are linear. Popular textbooks used in universities internationally unfold chronologically. They typically begin with Colonial America and end with modern times. Knowledge gleaned from one decade informs understanding of the next. Concluding paragraphs raise questions about future possibilities.
Similarly, "the" news, in its many platforms, focuses on the present. The tendency is to feature historical moments and developments within the context of commemoration. The presence of the past, the ways that historical events impact contemporary lives, is largely overlooked.
Native histories and news tell different stories. They unfold in the present as well as the past. One bleeds into the other. Together they present a 'different' past that remains unseen by 'American' society.
This paper renders the invisible visible. It draws from local and national indigenous news and explores feature stories as well as weekly columns. An example of the latter are the obituaries featuring in the Spirit World section of the Teton Times published on the Lakota Reservation. These 'death narratives' provide rich portraits of ordinary life that narrate the (trans)formative significance of historical events and the 'lateral trauma' plaguing Indian country. Lateral trauma, "when people who are victims of dominance, turn on each other, and themselves, rather than confront the system oppressing them," accounts for the 'enduring pain' that defines daily life and informs early deaths. Centering native narratives spotlights unseen histories that compel us to revisit and revise "American History."
