Maggid & Persecution of Native Americans

Haggadah Section: -- Exodus Story

Use this piece in tandem with the telling of the Exodus story. Think about the connection between the Jewish story of Exodus from Egypt to more contemporary examples of persecution and forced migration. How did the formation of the territory now known as the United States depend upon the forced migration of people already residing on the land?

The Hebrews’ Exodus from Egypt is a climactic moment in the Passover story. After suffering for generations as slaves in Egypt, the Hebrews cross the Sea of Reeds and head into the desert with only matzah, the bread of affliction. Led by Miriam and Moses, the community seeks its freedom from slavery, oppression, and violence by wandering in the desert for forty years. Though this is a long struggle, the Hebrews’ persistence leads them to the Promised Land.

More contemporary examples demonstrate that forced migrations are not a thing of the past. In 1863 and ’64, the United States government forcibly removed the Navajo Nation from its ancestral homeland in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. Prior to this forced move, the US Army went to war with the Navajo and Apache tribes, destroying much of their community. The US Army, led by Kit Carson, then forced 8,500 Navajo people to march 400 miles to their internment in Bosque Redondo, a forty square-mile area. This is now known as the Navajo Long Walk.

Over 200 people died after walking through the harsh winter for two months. Many more perished after arriving in the barren Bosque Redondo reservation, where disease, crop failure, and poor irrigation made survival almost impossible. The Navajos also had their own “bread of affliction.” They were given meager rations of only flour and coffee beans, but because the coffee beans were unfamiliar to this community, they tried to boil them and starved.

After the Navajo were recognized as a sovereign nation under the Treaty of 1868, they returned to their homeland on the Arizona- New Mexico border (one of very few tribes who were allowed to do so). Though their lands were greatly reduced by the US Army and government, the Navajo worked hard to take care of their livestock and rebuild their community.

Can you draw parallels between the Jewish Exodus from Egypt and the Navajo Long Walk? What are the key similarities and differences between these histories? What do you know about the long-term effects of forced migration and persecution on contemporary American Indian communities?

As we observe Passover to commemorate the hardships of our ancestors, how can we act in solidarity with American Indian communities’ histories of persecution, forced migration, and genocide? 

Source:  
JSNAP Passover Haggadah Insert
Edit Clip
A Haggadah for Justice
HA
Haggadot
Table of contents
    Introduction
  • Human Rights Quote
  • Introduction
  • Human Trafficking Today
  • Introduction
  • Freedom - by Emory Douglas
  • March on Washington, 1963
  • "Седер на Песах". авторка Зоя Черкаська-Ннаді
  • #MyKeshetSeder
  • WHO SITS WITH US AT OUR SEDER??
    • Commentary / Readings
  • Praise the Contrary and Its Defenders
  • Four Cups of Wine: Social Justice Readings for Your Seder
  • Then they came
  • Poetry - Reading The Haggadah Backwards
  • The Brutality of Corrective Rape
  • Liberation in God's Image. Progressive Islam as an Islamic Humanism
  • The Ten Plagues of Domestic Poverty
  • The Banana on the Seder Plate: A Ritual to Reflect the Refugee Crisis
  • Reflection Questions/Preguntas Para Reflexionar
    • Bareich
  • Social Justice Blessing
  • The Third Cup: Transformation
  • Pour Out Your Wrath
    • -- Ten Plagues
  • Heschel Quote
  • Ten Modern Plagues
  • Gentrification: "It's Not About Race...”
  • LGBT Stats
  • Ten Plagues Facing Refugees in the U.S. and Worldwide
    • Human Rights Prayer
      • Yachatz
    • Breaking the matzah - hunger
    • Let All Who are Hungry, Come and Eat—A Reading for The Passover Seder - A Supplement from AJWS
    • Matzah
      • Maggid - Beginning
    • Child Labor in the Cocoa Fields
    • Adding Fair Trade Chocolate to the Seder Plate
    • Rabbis Organizing Rabbis Immigration Seder Ritual
    • The Thesis Statement of the Haggadah
    • Tomato on the Seder Plate
      • -- Four Questions
    • 4 Questions
    • The 5th Question
    • Ask the Fifth Question
    • The Four Questions: What Questions Must We Ask Tonight?
    • Four Questions Through the Lens of Food Justice
    • Four Questions: Human Trafficking
    • Four Questions: Worker's Rights
      • -- Four Children
    • 5th Question
    • Four Children Through the Lens of Food Justice
    • The Four Children: A Racial Justice Haggadah Insert
    • An anti-racist passover resource
      • -- Exodus Story
    • Social Justice - Modern Slavery
    • Maggid & Persecution of Native Americans
    • Heschel on Selma
    • Stand With Refugees This Passover
    • Ruby Bridges
    • Justice For All
    • The Statue of Liberty Reimagined
    • Bread and Roses
      • -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
    • Dayenu intro
    • What Does 'Dayenu' Mean Today?
    • Miriam's Cup - Winona LaDuke, Native American Activist
    • Being LGBTQ and Enough: A Queer Dayeinu
    • Dayenu
      • Rachtzah
    • Rachtzah: A Deeper Washing
      • Motzi-Matzah
    • Dissatisfied...
      • Maror
    • Rights for All Workers
    • Maror
      • Hallel
    • Hallel Prayer for Children of Pilgrims, Slaves & Native American Peoples
      • Songs
    • L'Internationale
    • A Social Justice Commentary on Chad Gadya
    • Inspired to create
      your own Haggadah?

      Make your own Haggadah and share with other Seder lovers around the world

      Have an idea
      for a clip?

      People like you bring their creativity to Haggadot.com when they share their ideas in a clip

      Support Us
      with your donation

      Help us build moments of meaning and connection through
      home-based Jewish rituals.

      OUR TOP CONTRIBUTORS

      contributor image
      Esther Kustanowitz
      4 Haggadahs38 Clips
      contributor image
      JQ International
      1 Haggadah40 Clips
      contributor image
      MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
      5 Haggadahs109 Clips
      contributor image
      18Doors
      1 Haggadah13 Clips
      contributor image
      JewishBoston
      1 Haggadah78 Clips
      contributor image
      Truah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
      1 Haggadah36 Clips
      contributor image
      American Jewish World Service
      1 Haggadah44 Clips
      contributor image
      JewBelong
      3 Haggadahs57 Clips
      contributor image
      Repair the World
      12 Clips
      contributor image
      HIAS
      5 Haggadahs48 Clips
      contributor image
      Be'chol Lashon
      2 Haggadahs27 Clips
      contributor image
      PJ Library
      1 Haggadah17 Clips
      contributor image
      Jewish World Watch
      3 Haggadahs42 Clips
      contributor image
      Secular Synagogue
      10 Clips
      contributor image
      SVIVAH
      1 Haggadah9 Clips
      contributor image
      The Blue Dove Foundation
      12 Clips
      contributor image
      ReformJudaism.org
      24 Clips
      contributor image
      Jewish Emergent Network
      1 Haggadah22 Clips

      Passover Guide

      Hosting your first Passover Seder? Not sure what food to serve? Curious to
      know more about the holiday? Explore our Passover 101 Guide for answers
      to all of your questions.

      Haggadot

      Haggadot.com by Recustom, is a free resource for all backgrounds and experiences. Consider making a donation to help support the continuation of this free platform.

      Copyright © 2024 Custom and Craft Jewish Rituals Inc, dba Recustom, dba Haggadot.com.
      All Rights Reserved. 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. EIN: 82-4765805.