This resource was created by Cindy Sellhorst, in collaboration with Lynn Bowder, as part of ESU2's Mastering the Arts project. This project is a four year initiative focused on integrating arts into the core curriculum through teacher education and experiential learning.
American folklore is full of stories drawn from settler-colonial histories. Within that broad arena, tales of paranormal violence, battles with Indigenous ghosts, and “demonic” Natives continue to be popular story devices even today. These stories thus serve as effective tools for promoting certain ideas about Indigenous peoples, their resistance to colonial conquest, and their place in modern life. This episode takes a look at some of the first instances of authors using the trope of the “Native Burial Ground” in their fictional horror stories. Unsurprisingly, these tales of woe have real-life origins, collaborators, and consequences.
Music:
Holizna Radio, “I Love Myself More Than Anyone Else”
Sound Bites:
Horror Studio 1, episode: “3 TRUE SCARY Native American/Indian Burial Ground Ghost Stories”
Exploring With Cody, episode: “HAUNTED INDIAN BURIAL GROUNDS SWAMP AT NIGHT!”
Moe Sargi, “SOMETHING GRABBED ME IN THE HAUNTED NATIVE BURIAL GROUND ft OMARGOSHTV”
Special thank you to Horror Studio, Exploring with Cody, and Moe Sargi for allowing me to include some of their audio in this episode. Thank you, too, to Holizna Radio for graciously letting me use some of his wonderful music for this episode.
This entire project is in collaboration with The Pedagogy Lab. I wish to specially thank The Pedagogy Lab for the opportunity to work with them and my wonderful cohort. Lastly, I would also like to thank Ronald Young for his sound and technical expertise putting these episodes together.