The WFPL and area libraries welcome Dina Gilio-Whitaker, the coauthor of “All The Real Indians Died Off”: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans to talk about the wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed generations. Gilio-Whitaker will talk about how historical narrative myths like “Columbus Discovered America,” “Indians Were Savage and Warlike,” and many others are rooted in fears and prejudice of European settlers and in the larger political agendas of a setter state aimed at acquiring Indigenous land tied to narratives or erasure and disappearance.
Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes descendent) is a prominent scholar, educator, journalist, and author in American Indian studies. She co-authored along with Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz the popular book “All the Real Indians Died Off” and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (Beacon Press, 2016), and is an adjunct professor of American Indian Studies at California State University at San Marcos. As the Policy Director and Senior Research Associate at the Center for World Indigenous Studies, Dina has worked with Indigenous governments in the US and beyond for many years helping them to formulate policy strategies and work cooperatively with federal and state governments and in other collaborative organizational partnerships.