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Native american modern stereotypes
The treatment of Native Americans on reservations
Oppression of native Americans
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When Christopher Columbus stepped foot on the New Land on October 12, 1492, the White Man came in contact with people of entirely different values and cultures. From that moment, the Native American was exposed to the world. Because their lifestyle was so much unlike that of European descent, they were mostly portrayed negatively, simply because they were different. Native American stereotypes have developed that put our aborigines predecessors in the negative light. However, many New Englanders had experiences with Native Americans that allowed them to see their true potential in society. Many documents have been recorded that contain happenings with Native Americans from the moment they were discovered, and they are reflected by the manner that White Men chose to perceive these people that were so unlike themselves. After the encounter between these people who had not earlier known of one another’s existence, it was almost assured to end terribly. They certainly found each other strange at their first meeting. Native Americans were much underdressed compared to Europeans, and because of this Europeans viewed the Natives with pity and disgust rather than admiration. Europe’s cultural traditions, which mostly derived from the bible, caused people to believe that Natives were inferior because they were different. They used terms like “barbaric” and “heathen” to describe the Indians. “Europeans were culturally predisposed to see others as savages, while Native Americans were inclined to view strangers as gods” (Lepore). The first encounters of Europeans and North Americans were often brutal. The Europeans would kill, capture, and enslave them at first sight. Eventually, Europeans expected Natives to willingly subject themselves an... ... middle of paper ... ...Spirit and the Noble Savage." Blue Corn Comics -- Spirit and the Noble Savage. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. Cook-Lynn, Elizabeth. Why I Can’t Read Wallace Stegner. London: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996. Print. "John Burnett's Story of the Trail of Tears." John Burnett's Story of the Trail of Tears. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. Lepore, Jill. Encounters in the New World. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000. Print. Menken, Alan. “Savages.” Pocahontas. Disney, 1995. CD. Pocahontas. Dir. Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg. Perf. Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, and David Ogden Stiers. Buena Vista Pictures, 1995. Film. Rowlandson, Mary. A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration. Boston: Scholastic, 1682. Print. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Director. Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook. Perf. Matt Damon, James Cromwell, and Daniel Studi. DreamWorks Pictures, 2002. Film.
Local histories written in the nineteenth century are often neglected today. Yet from these accounts, one can see a pattern develop: the myth of Indian extinction, the superiority of White colonists and also to understand how American attitudes and values evolved. The myths were put forth for a reason according to Jean O’Brien. O’Brien explains how the process came to fruition in Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England. In the majority of local town histories, Indians are mentioned in passing, as a past that will never return. Indians were ancient, whereas English colonists brought modernity to New England. Jean O’Brien argues that local histories were the primary means by which white European Americans asserted
The article, “Native Reactions to the invasion of America”, is written by a well-known historian, James Axtell to inform the readers about the tragedy that took place in the Native American history. All through the article, Axtell summarizes the life of the Native Americans after Columbus acquainted America to the world. Axtell launches his essay by pointing out how Christopher Columbus’s image changed in the eyes of the public over the past century. In 1892, Columbus’s work and admirations overshadowed the tears and sorrows of the Native Americans. However, in 1992, Columbus’s undeserved limelight shifted to the Native Americans when the society rediscovered the history’s unheard voices and became much more evident about the horrific tragedy of the Natives Indians.
C., Wallace, Anthony F. Long, bitter trail Andrew Jackson and the Indians. Ed. Eric Foner. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. Print.
The removal of Indian tribes was one of the tragic times in America’s history. Native Americans endured hard times when immigrants came to the New World. Their land was stolen, people were treated poorly, tricked, harassed, bullied, and much more. The mistreatment was caused mostly by the white settlers, who wanted the Indians land. The Indians removal was pushed to benefit the settlers, which in turn, caused the Indians to be treated as less than a person and pushed off of their lands. MOREEE
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Taymor, Julie, dir. Titus. Prod. Jody Allen. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2000. Film. 25 Feb 2014.
Two-hundred years ago, there was a scientific study on the brains of Native Americans called the craniology and phrenology. The Europeans examined only indigenous people’s heads and were forbidden to use any European’s brains. The Europeans did three experiments, such as decapitating the tops of the heads and filling them with sand to see if their brains were smaller than blacks. The Europeans also looked at the bones and said that if the bones were in a certain way (such as natives cheek bones being up higher) the person was thought to be stupid. The last experiment the Europeans did to American Indians was that they had a small devise that they would put on the head and it would slice the brain open. There would be an award for retrieving a male’s brain that was five cents. By retrieving a woman’s brain the price would be three cents, and lastly a child’s brain which would be two cents. This is when the term redskin was invented (Poupart, 2014).
Reichardt, Kelly (Director), Raymond, John and Reichardt, Kelly (Writers), Williams, Michelle and Robinson, John (Performances). 2008. Oscilloscope Pictures, 2009. DVD
Native American Relations During the numerous years of colonization, the relationship between the English settlers and the Native Americans of the area was usually the same. Native Americans would initially consider the settlers to be allies, then as time passed, they would be engaged in wars with them in a struggle for control of the land. This process of friendship to enemies seemed to be the basic pattern in the majority of the colonies. When the English landed in Jamestown in 1607, the dominant tribe of the area was the Powhatan (which the English settlers named after the leader of the tribe, Powhatan).
The American version of history blames the Native people for their ‘savage ' nature, for their failure to adhere to the ‘civilized norms ' of property ownership and individual rights that Christian people hold, and for their ‘brutality ' in defending themselves against the onslaught of non-Indian settlers. The message to Native people is simple: "If only you had been more like us, things might have been different for you.”
Native Americans lived on the land that is now called America, but when white settlers started to take over the land, many lives of Native Americans were lost. Today, many people believe that the things that have been done and are being done right now, is an honor or an insult to the Natives. The choices that were made and being made were an insult to the Native Americans that live and used to live on this land, by being insulted by land policies, boardings schools and modern issues, all in which contain mistreatment of the Natives. The power that the settlers and the people who governed them had, overcame the power of the Natives so the settlers took advantage and changed the Natives way of life to the
American Beauty. Dir. Alan Ball. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Annette bening, and Thora Birch. DreamWorks SKG and Jinks/Cohen Company, 1999. DVD.
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Contrary to popular belief, discrimination of Native Americans in America still widely exist in the 21st century! So you may ask, why? Well, to answer that one question, I will give you 3 of the countless reasons why this unfortunate group of people are punished so harshly for little good reason. So now, let’s get into it, shall we!
The Native Americans or American Indians, once occupied all of the entire region of the United States. They were composed of many different groups, who speaked hundreds of languages and dialects. The Indians from the Southwest used to live in large built terraced communities and their way of sustain was from the agriculture where they planted squash, pumpkins, beans and corn crops. Trades between neighboring tribes were common, this brought in additional goods and also some raw materials such as gems, cooper. seashells and soapstone.To this day, movies and television continue the stereotype of Indians wearing feathered headdresses killing innocent white settlers. As they encountered the Europeans, automatically their material world was changed. The American Indians were amazed by the physical looks of the white settlers, their way of dressing and also by their language. The first Indian-White encounter was very peaceful and trade was their principal interaction. Tension and disputes were sometimes resolved by force but more often by negotiation or treaties. On the other hand, the Natives were described as strong and very innocent creatures awaiting for the first opportunity to be christianized. The Indians were called the “Noble Savages” by the settlers because they were cooperative people but sometimes, after having a few conflicts with them, they seem to behaved like animals. We should apprehend that the encounter with the settlers really amazed the natives, they were only used to interact with people from their own race and surroundings and all of this was like a new discovery for them as well as for the white immigrants. The relations between the English and the Virginian Indians was somewhat strong in a few ways. They were having marriages among them. For example, when Pocahontas married John Rolfe, many said it has a political implication to unite more settlers with the Indians to have a better relation between both groups. As for the Indians, their attitude was always friendly and full of curiosity when they saw the strange and light-skinned creatures from beyond the ocean. The colonists only survived with the help of the Indians when they first settler in Jamestown and Plymouth. In this areas, the Indians showed the colonists how to cultivate crops and gather seafood.The Indians changed their attitude from welcome to hostility when the strangers increased and encroached more and more on hunting and planting in the Natives’ grounds.