Kluge Fellow Joseph Genetin-Pilawa presents part of his larger study of the Indigenous histories of Washington, D.C. Genetin-Pilawa argues that far from the passive victims or violent interlopers depicted in much of the iconography of the capital, visiting Native diplomats and as well as residents in the 19th and 20th centuries engaged with the messages encoded on the urban landscape. In so doing, they challenged narratives of settler colonialism, claimed and reclaimed the space of the city, and shaped the development of the US capital as it evolved from a local village to a global metropolis. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6706

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