One woman’s work to broaden awareness of the true Native American Experience
THE OWNER OF EXCLUSIVE Collections Gallery in Solana Beach, Ruth-Ann Thom is no stranger to actively engrging IT community to share experiences and stories, though as a gallerist, it most often through the art and its creators she features in the gallery or on her YouTube series, Art of the City 7V. Laickily, her work which inchides traveling to discover and meet artists of all genres – offers a natural opportunity to explore her own heritate N ative American and member of the Rincon Band of Liseño Indians, as well as a means to connect with others who share that heritage nationwide. Now, Thom is embracing an even deeper setise of purpose and respotisibility to that history by taking an active role within the Native American Community here in San Dieg. As I get older, bring more involved with other tribes, grt to meet a kit of interesting women from all our Indian Country and really seeing the cultures, it made me realize that importance of not just preserving the culture, but telling the true story of the Americas so that people understand the story. she says. “Telling the true story of what happened here on this band is important to the future of us as human beings.
Sharing and ultimately honoring the actual experience of Native Americans and exposing the fallacies that have been repeated in history books for centuries is the primary al or Nomber’s National Native American Heritage Month proposed initially as just one day in 1915 and ultimately declared to an entire month by President George II W. Bush in 1900. Still, more than yours later, Thom acknowledges we have a long way to go for her people to be seen for who they really are – and were – as the first Americans. “People don’t understand that this was a thriving nation of 100 million people who haurtered and truded for the of years with people from all swer the world,” she explains We really haven’t successfully, as a nation, wrapped our heads around thal fact, and they almost don’t exist any longer. We’re the smallest minority group in the United States.
