A new book by the Rev. Dr. John Glenn Creel aims to redefine the public conversation around racial identity and the experiences of Southeastern Native American tribes, particularly in South Carolina.<\/p>\n
Titled \u201cThe Plight of Southeastern Native American Indian Tribes,\u201d the book introduces and defines the term \u201csystemic eracism,\u201d which Creel describes as \u201cany act or action that serves to minimize or eliminate an ethnic identity.\u201d Drawing on historical documents and his own life experiences as a Native American, Creel presents eracism as a persistent barrier to tribal recognition and cultural preservation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEracism is the common experience of Native Americans claiming their identity by checking the \u2018other\u2019 box on forms asking for race,\u201d Creel said. \u201cThen \u2018other\u2019 is ignored or left out of public records or historical references.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book includes examples such as census records where Native Americans were forced to identify as white or Black depending on skin tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father was not allowed to claim Native American as his race when he served in the military,\u201d Creel said.<\/p>\n
Creel\u2019s work focuses on educational documentation of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe of South Carolina (ENKTSC), as well as other state-recognized tribes. He plans to develop a curriculum for tribal history classes for both children and adults.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of the eracism is the absence of Native American history in public school curriculum,\u201d he said. \u201cSome of our children have been told they are extinct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Creel serves on the Board of the Council of South Carolina Chiefs and is actively involved in tribal affairs across the state. On Feb. 5, eight of the nine state-recognized tribes signed a tribal alliance agreement with the federally recognized Catawba Nation. Creel also sits on the board of the South Carolina Indian Development Council, which provides scholarships to card-holding members of state tribes.<\/p>\n
Locally, Creel serves on the board of the Dorchester Heritage Center, contributing to plans for a new museum along Highway 78 near Ridgeville. The center will feature exhibits about tribal history and an Edisto Natchez-Kusso Trail that invites the public to explore Native American history.<\/p>\n
Creel has spent his life serving Native communities as a pastor, medical doctor, tribal chief, public school teacher and coach in the Colleton County School System. With the release of his book on July 22, he adds \u201cauthor\u201d to that list.<\/p>\n
The book is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple Pay. Copies are also available at the Colleton County Museum. All proceeds support educational efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new book by the Rev. Dr. John Glenn Creel aims to redefine the public conversation around racial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[223,8570,88,3],"class_list":{"0":"post-8597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-community-news","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}