Tiya Miles — Toward Living Memory

On Being with Krista Tippett

On Being Studios

Sociology, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Krista Tippett, Arts, Culture, On Being, Society, Society & Culture, Science, Social Sciences

4.7 • 10.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2012

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For Black History Month: a MacArthur “genius” who’s unearthing an especially painful chapter of the American experience — the intersecting history of African-Americans and Native Americans, and the little-known narratives that Cherokee landowners held black slaves. Even with history this difficult, Tiya Miles shows us the possibility of stretching the canvas of the past wide enough to hold both hard truths and healing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In our families as in society, there are stories we hear, and stories we don't hear.
0:06.1	And we've all had the experience of discovering knowledge of the past that shifts our
0:10.3	very sense of ourselves.
0:12.4	In this spirit, Taya Miles is helping shape the emerging field of public history.
0:17.9	The particular focus of her research is as divisive in American memory as any.
0:22.7	The conjoined stories as she puts it, of African Americans and Native Americans.
0:27.8	Specifically, she's bringing to light a painful chapter of the American experience where
0:32.5	Cherokee landowners held black slaves.
0:35.5	Still, she shows us a model for unearthing history, even this difficult, in a way that
0:41.3	also reveals tools for its healing.
0:44.6	If I didn't see light in the story, I could not tell it.
0:48.0	I think about stretching the story back as far back in time as we can find evidence to
0:54.1	support it, and stretching the story forward to think about what's the future going to
0:58.2	be like for our descendants now, and I don't just mean dozens of black people, Native
1:02.8	people.
1:03.8	I mean, all of us now.
1:04.8	What's that future going to be like?
1:07.6	Toward living memory, I'm Christa Tippett.
1:10.5	This is on being from APM American Public Media.
1:20.5	Tyomiles is a professor of history at the University of Michigan.
1:24.0	The MacArthur Foundation gave her a genius grant in 2011.
1:28.3	In her award-winning research and writing, Tyomiles has uncovered stories nearly lost
	...

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