Session 30: Parashat Devarim
Speech to President Calvin Coolidge, Ruth Muskrat, December 13, 1923
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Parashat Devarim is the opening portion of the Torah’s final book, Deuteronomy. Moses begins a speech that will continue through the entire book, preparing the Israelites to enter the land of Israel. Moses’ speech is full of accounts that contradict earlier passages of the Torah, reframing the narrative so that it will remain useful as the Israelites transition to a new way of life in the land God has promised.
Reframing shared narratives is an important way in which democratic societies evolve with the times and reshape themselves to meet the needs of their citizens in an ever-changing world. In a speech to Calvin Cooolidge in 1923, Native American poet and activist Ruth Muskrat reframed the received narrative of Native Americans and the United States to make a case for welcoming Native Americans to participate fully in modern American society without sacrificing their own way of life.
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