By Alexandra Brewer | Arts & Life Intern
Long before Waco became a city on the map, its land was home to the Wichita tribe — a history often left untold in Texas classrooms and public life. On Monday afternoon, Derek Ross, an indigenous scholar and a member of the Wichita-affiliated tribes, brought that legacy front and center at Baylor University with a presentation on Native identity, tradition and resilience.
“I would say that about 90% of people who live in Waco don’t even know that Waco is an Indian tribe,” Ross said.
Drawing on personal stories, Ross connected national themes of erasure and resilience to his own family, emphasizing how much remains unknown in the public understanding of Native history. He explained that the loss of Native languages across the United States was not the fault of the people themselves but the result of systemic efforts to erase their culture.
“The reason that Native American people across the United States don’t speak their language is not their fault,” he said. “Even me — I don’t speak my language fluently because there was a limited number of people who could speak. My grandma was fluent. But that generation, they were told you can’t speak your language.”
Ross also discussed the painful history of displacement his people have faced.
“In August of 1859, the tribe was forcibly removed to what is now Oklahoma,” he said.
He stressed that this removal was part of a broader pattern of erasure of Native Americans from public history.
“If you talk to people who are not indigenous, you won’t often hear the word ‘genocide’ or ‘forced removal,’” he said. “It wasn’t disease that killed the Indians. It was genocide. It was murder.”
Ross noted that U.S. government policies in the 1800s and 1900s restricted Native peoples from practicing their culture and speaking their languages, often sending children to boarding schools where their hair was cut.
He said he is working with linguists and cultural organizations across the U.S. to support revitalization projects.
After discussing those revitalization efforts, Ross led the audience in a rendition of “Amazing Grace” in the Wichita language.
Attendees emphasized the value of hearing firsthand accounts of Native American history and culture, noting that events like this provide insights often missing from textbooks and classrooms.
“It’s important to listen to these stories because we’re never going to know about this history if we don’t come to these events and learn about new things,” Mission freshman Madaline Rocha said.
