Central to US history is the idea that Indigenous peoples were destined to vanish. It is a cherished national myth that the \u201cred\u201d race simply faded away, leaving empty land for inevitable occupation and development by white civilization. The classic image of \u201cthe Vanishing American\u201d illustrates this myth; it graced early twentieth-century novels and movie posters, including a film by the same name. In that image, a stereotypical, nineteenth-century plains \u201cIndian\u201d sits on horseback, facing west into the sun that sets on his epoch. The Indian\u2019s otherwise copper-colored body fades to white or disappears; these are the same outcome. After the Indian wars, white society assumed the Indian would finally die out and politicians tried to hurry things along. The US government mandated assimilation through education, child adoption, employment, and urban relocation programs designed to \u201ckill the Indian and save the man.\u201d US policy also defined the Indian out of existence by implementing the racial idea of diminishing \u201cIndian blood quantum.\u201d Such ideas continue to shape American thought, including the genome sciences.<\/p>\n
Join University of Alberta Indigenous Science and Technology Studies scholar, Kim TallBear (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), as she examines: 1) how older notions of race continue to influence genome scientists who study Indigenous populations today; and 2) the cultural politics involved in the marketing since the early 2000s of \u201cNative American DNA\u201d tests to an American public searching to appropriate Indigenous \u201cidentity.\u201d<\/p>\n