BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Trending

'Still experiencing a cultural genocide'

  • Published
    13 May 2016
Share page
About sharing
tweeted photoImage source, Twitter/@kellorags
Image caption,

Some have posted photos showing their disdain for how Native American symbols are used by US sports

BBC Trending
What's popular and why

Did you know that Native Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 have higher rates of suicide than any other ethnicity , externalin America? Or that a quarter of Native American children live in povert, externaly? Or that Native American and Alaska Native women are, according to a government study, 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the USA, external?

These were some of the reasons that journalist Vincent Schilling, external, who is Akwesasne Mohawk and editor of the Indian Country Today Media Network, external, created the hashtag #NoIWontJustMoveOn. It has been used in more than 15,000 tweets.

No I Won't Just Move OnImage source, Twitter

Speaking exclusively to BBC Trending, Schilling said that although many people have some awareness of historic atrocities committed against his people, external, there is "extensive amount of misunderstanding toward the history of Native American and First Nations people."

He added that the residual effects of colonisation meant Native Americans have also experienced "cultural genocide".

"There are still a plethora of adult Native people that have experienced being taken from their families by force, shipped off to Native residential schools - where they were subjected to being beaten if they spoke their native languages or became victims of sexual assault by school officials or were left to die if they contracted a myriad of diseases."

Schilling, who was the journalist that broke the viral story of how nine Native American actors walked off the set of an Adam Sandler comedy saying that the film was "totally disrespectful" (Sandler called the incident a 'misunderstanding, external'), told Trending, "I also created (the hashtag) to show we are willing to stand together to tell the world we will heal at our own pace. We will move on, when we are ready - not at the rate that someone dictates to us."

Social media users used the trend to highlight several issues still facing their community. These included caricature perceptions of Native American culture, especially long-standing debates on the use of Native American mascots in sports.

No I Won't Just Move OnImage source, Twitter
Pochahontas tweet No I Won't Just Move OnImage source, Twitter

Many spoke of the high suicide rate , externalamong Native Indians in the US:

No I Won't Just Move On issues of suicideImage source, Twitter
Suicide tweetImage source, Twitter

The topic of forced assimilation was bought up several times, notably with the sharing of a meme, made from this image from the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center, external.

Tom TorlinoImage source, Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center
Image caption,

Navajo Indian, Tom Torlino before and three years after he started university in 1882

Schilling explains in an article , externalthat the 'before and after' composite photo of Navajo Indian Tom Torlino from his time at Carlisle Indian School, "is one of countless reasons why the Native community has embraced #NoIWontJustMoveOn."

The image on right of Torlino was, in the 1800s, thought to indicate that "with the proper education, Carlisle students could literally blend in with white society.", external

Blog by Megha Mohan, external

Next story: Doubts cast on teenager's 'lost city' discovery

Canadian Space Agency satellite images showing the lost Mayan cityImage source, Canadian Space Agency

Is the lost Mayan city "discovered" by a 15 year old actually a field of cannabis? READ MORE

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Watch as court rules on whether asylum seekers can be removed from Epping hotel

    • 29949 viewing30k viewing
  • Children to be offered chickenpox vaccine on NHS

    • Published
      1 hour ago
  • UK blocks Israeli government delegation from arms trade fair

    • Published
      19 minutes ago

More to explore

  • How a leaked phone call derailed the Thai PM's career - and the Shinawatra dynasty

    Thailand's suspended prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrives for a press conference in Bangkok on July 1, 2025. She can be seen smiling as she walks through a doorway in a dark green blazer which she is wearing over a white shirt and white and blue floral skirt.
  • What is chickenpox and how can I get my child vaccinated?

    A boy with chickenpox has used calamine lotion on his spots to reduce itching
  • Survivors of South Africa's horrific building fire now live in fear of guns

    A head and shoulders shot of Thobeka Biyela wearing a blue-and-white striped vest top. She is standing in front of her corrugated iron home.
  • 'India put us on the boat like captives - then threw us in the sea'

    Soyed Noor (centre) and some of the other refugees speak to the BBC via a video call from Myanmar
  • A 'joyful' girl and a boy who loved sports - Victims in Minneapolis shooting identified

    From left: Harper Moyski, 10, and Fletcher Merkel, 8. Harper is smiling at the camera with wind in her hair. Fletcher is leaning on a railing and wearing a red shirt while smiling
  • Weekly quiz: What food did Meghan reveal Harry doesn't like?

    Meghan Sussex smiles as she stands in a kitchen
  • George Clooney film praised as 'midlife crisis masterpiece'

    George Clooney and Amal Clooney attend the "Jay Kelly" red carpet during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 28, 2025 in Venice, Italy
  • Farming families finally get mains electricity after 50 years

    Shona and Scott Anderson stand next to their son T-jay Anderson. He is about 16 and wearing a blue top with short dark hair. She has ash blonde hair and has a blue flowery top on, Scott is wearing a cap, has a grey top and is about 40. Behind there is a stone wall and a Victorian house
  • The Druids Oak is 800 years old - can it help save tomorrow's forests?

    A large oak in a wood, its large branches propped up by supports. Leaves area burst of green on branches sweeping almost to the ground. The tree is surrounded by grassland and is protected by a wooden fence.
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Trump ends Secret Service protection for Harris

  2. 2

    UK blocks Israeli government delegation from arms trade fair

  3. 3

    Doctor arrested over posts about son's rape victim

  4. 4

    Thai court removes PM over leaked phone call with Cambodian leader

  5. 5

    Ministers didn't do cost review of council mergers

  6. 6

    Home Office set to pull 'balloon-craft' job at migrant detention centre

  7. 7

    George Clooney film praised as 'midlife crisis masterpiece'

  8. 8

    Ostapenko 'no education' comments terrible - Osaka

    • Attribution
      Sport
  9. 9

    MSP denies hiding camera in Scottish Parliament toilet

  10. 10

    Children to be offered chickenpox vaccine on NHS

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • The ups and downs of a 30-year marriage

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Marriage
  • Bewitching drama from Anne Rice

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Mayfair Witches
  • Lies, forgeries and fraud worth $86 million

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Great Art Fraud
  • A celebration of Britain's finest composers

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Great British Classics at the Proms
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.