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Discrimination and oppression of Native Americans
Injustices to Native Americans over the years
Stereotypes about native Americans
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As Indians living in white culture, many problems and conflicts arise. Most Indians tend to suffer microaggressions, racism and most of all, danger to their culture. Their culture gets torn from them, and slowly, as if it was dream, many Indians become absorbed into white society, all the while trying to retain their Indian lifestyle. In Indian Father’s Plea by Robert Lake and Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, the idea that a dominant culture can pose many threats to a minority culture is shown by Wind-Wolf and Alexie. Wind-Wolf, a young, innocent Indian boy is struggling to fit in while being torn apart between white culture and Indian culture. Having recently transferred to a new school, Wind-Wolf is trying to adapt to the new culture while …show more content…
He’s been made fun of for his race, laughed at for his name, and even been refused to play with the white kids, all because he’s Indian. A clear example of discrimination is when Wind-Wolf’s friend’s mother forbad her son from playing with Wind-Wolf. She described Wind-Wolf as, “Indians and we are white, and I don’t want my kids growing up with your kind of people”(Lake 3). The mother clearly doesn’t respect Indians and looks down on them as people who don't deserve to be on the same level as whites. She imagines Indians as a danger to her son and fear they’ll make bad influences on him. To make matters worse, the teacher had trouble pronouncing Wind-Wolf’s name as she, “wanted to call him Wind, insisting that Wolf must be his middle name”(Lake 3). This shows that the white culture is unfamiliar with Indian culture which is why they thought Wind-Wolf was a strange name, when in Indian society, Wind-Wolf is a significant and powerful name. Based on this, Wind-Wolf suffers from institutionalized oppression because everyone around him doesn’t recognize how important his culture, rituals, and heritage are. They disrespect his self-identity as an Indian and slowly, Wind-Wolf starts to betray his own culture by, “refusing to sing native songs, play with Indian artifacts, learn his native language, or participate in sacred ceremonies”(Lake 4). He can’t grasp onto the fact anymore that he is a descendent of Native Americans and that the white culture is pulling him away from his heritage. It’s distancing himself from his culture as he’s doing everything like a white person would. Wind-Wolf, with no wrongdoings, “is taught between two worlds...torn between two distinct cultures”(Lake 3). He’s always down on himself because he just wants to belong. His education and social life are affected by this, leading to a weakening
In “An Indian Fathers Plea” written by Robert Lake , Wind- Wolf tries to become part of the American Culture when “he came home crying and said he wanted to have his haircut” (Lake 75- 79) just so he can fit in with his American peers. This text is a good example of how Wind- Wolf is trying to become a part of American Culture when really he is part of the Indian Culture. If Wind- Wolf would embrace being Indian he would be not just immersed in the American Culture by the time he graduates from that school,
Texas Indians were very unique in their culture and way of life. The Texas Indians had a unique social order; physical appearance, acquired subsistence in many different ways, and had many unique cultural practice. As a result, many historians study the native Indians in Texas with awe and amazement. With a deep and interesting analysis of the Texas Indians, historians can understand the people; and their way of life. Based on the text, “La Relacion” which was written by Alvar Nunez de Vaca, an analysis of said subject can be conducted.
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
Looking back on the Native American time period, I've come to a realization that the way all of them adapted to life with how they lived was much different then than how things are today. Going from the way they talked, how they dressed, how education was done, to how they live everyday, etc. I think it's all somewhat different with how people are today in those categories. But some of those things that the Native Americans were used to doing everyday, were being forced to change by different kinds of people. The Native American experience was a genocide act.
The United States is the largest immigrant receiving country in the world. A number of people with different cultures are moving to the United States every day. Therefore, American culture is a diverse mix of customs and traditions from almost every region of the world. However, any culture with the value of the traditions and beliefs can be greatly weakened when introduced to a new and overpowering culture. It happens quite frequently to families that move to a new city or country with different lifestyles. As a result, the children of these families grow up to not care as much about their original culture 's traditions as the older generations do. As we know, Native Americans, who are indigenous peoples of the United States, account for less
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
Celebrating your own race can be a beautiful thing, but when you’re placed in a position where you are the minority, it can bring about mental anguish and feelings of abandonment. The young Indian boy struggled to belong, but he could never bridge that gap because he would always look different. “It is terrible to have to feel inferior; to have to read reports of intelligence tests, and learn that one’s race is behind” (157). Even the white media has convinced the Indian boy that his own race is somehow less superior just because they have different cultural backgrounds. These accusations are absolutely absurd, nevertheless, the young Indian boy feels deeply estranged in this judgmental society. “We just don’t seem to fit in anywhere-certainly not among the whites, and not among the older people” (158). The boy feels like he cannot relate to anybody. He is lost in a world of loneliness. The boy finds relief when he returns home to visit his family on the reservation. He finally rediscovers his true self and realizes he cannot “be ashamed of his own people when he knows they have dreams as beautiful as white snow on a tall pine” (159). The boy once again feels like he is part of something special and no longer made to feel like an outcast. It is a terrible thing that our society is so judgmental that a minority can only feel accepted by his own family. Not only do we exclude people from different races...
According to Deloria, there are many misconceptions pertaining to the Indians. He amusingly tells of the common White practice of ...
In the small town I live in known as Coshocton Ohio 96.9% of the population are of Caucasian origin. A very small part of the population has Native American origins at 0.03%. In this discussion I will discuss the health practices, disparities, and influences of this group. I will also explain how awareness of these perceptions can influence the care I provide for a person of this ethnicity.
The National Museum of the American Indian is an active and visible component of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. It carries one of the world's greatest collection of Native artifacts, photographs, and historical records expanding from the Western Hemisphere and so on. The museum is located in the financial district of downtown Manhattan, Bowling green to be exact, the building is huge and the area surrounding it even on a chilly day looks nice.
After looking through the texts assigned for this unit as well as some popular discussions about how Native Americans are represented in the media, I believe that our views as a society as a whole have become more accepting and kind in the ways that we portray members of other ethnic groups including Native Americans. I think that we have come a long way from viewing Native Americans only as savages and that we are beginning to tap into the deeply spiritual nature that should be represented in the depiction of Native American cultures. I think that there is a lot more awareness in society now as far as how we view people of other cultures. However, we do tend to portray people how are currently threats to us in a more negative light than other
The Native American tribe called the Mandan, self-named Numakiki, or “tattooed people,” lived in North Dakota, where it still lives. The Mandan lived along the Missouri River in towns with 12-100 earth lodges which could hold several families. For food the Mandan hunted and farmed. Their history was an interesting time. The religion of the Mandan was similar to many Native American tribes at the time.
Native Americans have historically had extreme difficulty with alcohol. Nearly 12% of Native American deaths are alcohol-related, with traffic accidents, liver disease, homicide and suicide being the most frequent causes of death. In his work, Native American author Sherman Alexie writes about both alcoholism and Native American life, within and outside of the reservation. In “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock”, part of the larger collection of short stories entitled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the narrator maps his troubled relationship with his father and his father’s alcoholism, while Alexie explores the modern Native American search for
I learned a plethora of points of Native American culture over the course of my project. I learned that Native American art will always have some type of meaning or function. I learned that Native American culture is very complex due to the numerous branches that provides different views of how they see the world. The time I spent with the Native American helped the process a great deal, since I was able to get more personal views into their culture. My core qualities that I found in myself was dedication and time management. I dedicated my time by doing research and implementing my project with the students. I managed my time by making sure I got the right amount of hours for my practicum; while also visit the sites that focused on my project.
During the time spent in the course this year, I've gained so much knowledge about the First Nations culture. In the beginning of the course, I barely knew anything, with the information I have received it has opened me to the truth of my own culture, and the First Nations people's culture. It has been disappointing to find out that the information I was taught in elementary school about the First Nations people was false, and how much of it was just stereotyped. An important concept I learnt throughout the course is, the danger of a single story. This is because, I realized having only one viewpoint to a story can extremely limit the ideas we are able to obtain from it. Residential schools are extremely important in First Nations people's cultures past, as that is the cause of what almost took away their whole culture.