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Images of the poem have been used for this blog to preserve its form.
![Image reads: Cultural Identity Theft: Immeasurable Suffering September 27, 1884 Zitkála-Šá Re: Notice of Data Breach NOTICE OF DATA BREACH recent cybersecurity attack Force Native Americans to assimilate into white American society[1] “I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braces,” she wrote unauthorized access to your personal information has occurred Then she realized the teachers who had taken her traditional clothing upon her arrival wanted to cut her hair, too. Proud of her long black hair and raised to associate short cuts with the shame of captured warriors, Zitkála-Šá snuck away from the other children. But the adults found her hiding place. They dragged the kicking child into another room and tied her to a chair.](https://newmexicohumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2_CulturalIdentityTheft1-web30-877x1024.jpg)
![Image reads: unauthorized access to your personal information has occurred, including your name children were given Anglo names. Their native languages and cultural practices were forbidden. NOTICE OF CULTURE BREACH UNAUTHORIZED CULTURAL APPROPRIATION HAS OCCURRED IN THE FORM OF HALLOWEEN ‘INDIAN’ COSTUMES AND ‘INDIAN’ SPORTS MASCOTS systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some personal information What you can do: Visit our resource page… protect current, former, and prospective You should always remain vigilant [even if we] offer… free identity protection Sincerely, Carlisle Indian Industrial School (Associates, Subsidiaries, and others) © 2021 Joshua K. Concha Sources Cited: 1. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/a-century-of-trauma-at-boarding-schools-for-native-american-children-in-the-united-states](https://newmexicohumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2_CulturalIdentityTheft2-web30-935x1024.jpg)
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DISCLAIMER:
Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this blog post/article does not necessarily represent those of the New Mexico Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
JOSHUA K. CONCHA
Joshua K. Concha is the current Poet Laureate of Taos, NM (2022-23). Most recently, his poetry appeared in the Ekphrastic Poetry Event organized by the SOMOS, Society of the Muse of the Southwest, and the Taos Arts Council (2019 & 2020). His work is also in the Winter 2016 issue of The Notebook: A Progressive Journal about Women and Girls with Rural and Small Town Roots and in the anthology 200 New Mexico Poems.