More handpicked essays just for you.
The importance of one’s cultural identity
How does culture impact identity
The importance of one’s cultural identity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The importance of one’s cultural identity
Diane Glancy explores the theme of distress as a result of being pressured into abandoning your culture in her poem “Without Title.” Silence is utilized to symbolize the absence of the Native American culture in the life of the speaker’s father. When the father migrates to the city “without a vision,” he begins losing his culture. This suggests he is letting go of what identifies him. Additionally, “when he [brings] home his horns and hides [the] mother [says] get rid of them.” Although the father strives to maintain his norms, he is being compelled to forget about what is significant to him. It is not until he loses his “power” that he finally lets go of his previous lifestyle. He struggles to hold on, bringing along his distress, until he
The Essay, I have chosen to read from is ReReading America was An Indian Story by Roger Jack. The topic of this narrative explores the life of an Indian boy who grows up away from his father in the Pacific Northwest. Roger Jack describes the growing up of a young Indian boy to a man, who lives away from his father. Roger demonstrates values of the Indian culture and their morals through exploration of family ties and change in these specific ties. He also demonstrates that growing up away from one’s father doesn’t mean one can’t be successful in life, it only takes a proper role model, such as the author provides for the young boy.
“Don’t say it's disgusting. Don’t say it’s disgusting” is what I think when I’m presented with foods I don’t like. We all face the challenge of keeping our inner thoughts to ourselves, and some of us are better than others. Poet Carolyn Kizer presents this idea in her poem “Bitch”. In her poem, Kizer uses a unique format and literary devices to effectively describe an interaction between former lovers.
As an outsider looking in we are transformed through an era where a young Indian boy grows up to become the man he is today, a medicine man. We are taken through his assimilation in to the modern white society, and as we look at this we are reminded, through Lame Deer, of the hardships that he went through, his experiences as a single individual and many important events that defined who he is. We also took a look into his later years as he grew up to be an elder and developed a natural calling to be a leader. It explains throughout that he clings to the lingering fact that he desperately holds onto what he assumes is little dignity he has left and the worth of the land that has been diminished through the destruction of white culture. Once we have a correlation between Lame Deer’s life stories, events that he endured, and overall perception of what went on we can then look at the accuracy of his claims in correlation to world events that occurred. We can also observe, though this book, the tremendous clarity and insight it provides us about natural medicines that were used during his time, and major cultural and tradition ceremonies that where conducted, which in turn provided Native American Indians with self-purpose and self-identity and a unique form of symbolize that can be traced back to their ancestors. Lame Deer stresses the importance in self-identification through these forms, in
The author is pointing out that women will not be quiet about the struggles of native women. She states, "It's a disease to me, to be quiet, You see it in the communities, on the reserves, in families and stuff, where if somebody's abused, people
gain whilst simultaneously pressuring actual Native Americans to assimilate into western European society. This connects to the poem as a whole because it connects to the after effects of
As Christian Morgenstern once said, “Home is not where you live but where they understand you.” This statement seems to reflect the disposition of Susan Power’s mother in her memoir, Museum Indians. As a teen, she had left behind her life on the plains of the Dakotas and moved to Chicago, looking for somewhere she felt people actually understood her, a real home. Years later, the story follows the author, as a young girl, and her mother touring their hometown and their Native American heritage. Power soon realizes that her mother has never felt the comfort of a true home in either one of her “homes,” while she has always felt it in her city. Throughout the story, it becomes apparent how conflicted Power’s mother is between her old and new life
Boys in the Native American culture are pushed to be good runners, skilled hunters, and good warriors. When they achieve this they are considered men in their society. When they become too old to do all of this they become counselors of the village. Women are expected to raise children, make food, and take care of the children for a lifetime. There is no police force, government, or punishment in their culture. They do not need it. These r...
“What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” by Sherman Alexie gives readers a look at the life of homeless, easygoing, middle aged Native American, Jackson Jackson. The story, which is set in Seattle, describes the conditions that Jackson finds himself in. Alexie’s choice of motifs emphasizes the significance of cultural and historical references. With these concepts in mind, the reader is taken through a journey of self-realization. “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” narrates the internal struggle Jackson feels trying to figure out his personal identity as a Native American. The story chronicles situations that illustrate the common stereotypes about Natives. Through Jackson’s humble personality, the reader can grasp his true feeling towards White people, which
“Never Ever” is a poem written by Brenda Shaughnessy about employees working at a restaurant. Born japanese but raised in California, Brenda Shaughnessy is a 46 year old lady and author. Brenda attended the University of California, where she got her Bachelor’s Degree of the Arts in women’s studies and literature. No biographies about her that have been published to this day include information about her childhood, however after that, she has won many an award for her publishings. From watching an interview or two with her, she seems to be very passionate about what she does and does not do it solely for money.
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko emphasizes the vital role that storytelling plays within the Pueblo culture. She utilizes storytelling throughout her poem to generate a picture of the process that Native Americans used to pass on traditions and culture. Silko reveals the crucial function that storytelling serves in the Pueblo culture by using the literary element of point-of-view. By using first person point-of-view, the speaker expresses the crucial element, the importance language in a Native American society. The speaker, a Pueblo Indian, expresses their first-hand account of attempts from outside groups attempting to decimate the Pueblo culture by destroying its ceremonies.
Literary Deconstructivism (deconstruction theory) identifies the “undecidability” in a text's meaning (306). Jacques Derrida introduced this form of literary criticism to prove that a text's implied meaning may not be the only point of a text. While Balkin further explains that "deconstruction does not show that all texts are meaningless, but rather that they are overflowing with multiple and often conflicting meanings" (1). Therefore, the recognition of a text's interpretations should be closely examined. In the context of Leslie Marmom Silko’s Ceremony, most critics would argue that the author's main concern is the make readers aware of the Laguna Pueblo Indians' inferiority to white settlers. This conflict caused white settlers, the bourgeoisie, in reference to Marxism, to shape the social, economic, and political constraints in their society because they are in power. After analyzing the context of the text more carefully, it is also evident that the Laguna Pueblo Indians isolate and shape the thought process, identity and acceptance of those partially removed from their culture, particularly those of multi- and other racial ancestry, along with the people in relation with them. It shows that separation of classes take place due to unconscious cultural social order (cultural biases) and higher class versus lower class issues. It is primarily present in the Laguna Pueblo Indians' superiority and interactions with Laura - Tayo's mother, Tayo, and Night Swan.
In a desperate attempt to discover his true identity, the narrator decides to go back to Wisconsin. He was finally breaking free from captivity. The narrator was filling excitement and joy on his journey back home. He remembers every town and every stop. Additionally, he admires the natural beauty that fills the scenery. In contrast to the “beauty of captivity” (320), he felt on campus, this felt like freedom. No doubt, that the narrator is more in touch with nature and his Native American roots than the white civilized culture. Nevertheless, as he gets closer to home he feels afraid of not being accepted, he says “… afraid of being looked on as a stranger by my own people” (323). He felt like he would have to prove himself all over again, only this time it was to his own people. The closer the narrator got to his home, the happier he was feeling. “Everything seems to say, “Be happy! You are home now—you are free” (323). Although he felt as though he had found his true identity, he questioned it once more on the way to the lodge. The narrator thought, “If I am white I will not believe that story; if I am Indian, I will know that there is an old woman under the ice” (323). The moment he believed, there was a woman under the ice; He realized he had found his true identity, it was Native American. At that moment nothing but that night mattered, “[he], try hard to forget school and white people, and be one of these—my people.” (323). He
Native American children were physically and sexually abused at a school they were forced to attend after being stripped from their homes in America’s attempt to eliminate Native peoples culture. Many children were caught running away, and many children never understood what home really meant. Poet Louise Erdich is part Native American and wrote the poem “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” to uncover the issues of self-identity and home by letting a student who suffered in these schools speak. The poem follows Native American kids that were forced to attend Indian boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. By using imagery, allusion, and symbolism in “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways”, Louise Erdrich displays how repulsive Indian
The Impression of Life on her Works’ Leslie Marmon Silko for more than two decades has been enriching Native American literature through her poetry, novels, short stories, and essays. Her fertile imagination and vivid writing continues to impress both critics and readers alike. Influences in Silko's life are abundant in her work. She includes childhood memories, experiences with racism, Pueblo beliefs, family history, and traditional storytelling. Prominent in many of her works is the perspective of her mixed ethnicity. She explores ethnic identity and cultural values through her literature. Often the reader is taught about the lessons, values, and heritage of early cultures. Leslie Marmon grew up attaching herself, in memory and imagination, to the village and then to the land around it; and because this is Laguna land, many of the stories she grew up with were stories from the Keresan oral tradition, the stories of her father's people and their shared history. In her art as in her life, Silko has continued to maintain her identity with the story of the people of Kawaika, the People of the Beautiful Lake. The story of Laguna, like the biography of Silko and the fictional lives of her novels' protagonists, has always been a story of contact, departure, and recovery. “My father had wandered over all the hills and mesas around Laguna when he was a child; I started roaming those same mesas and hills when I was nine years old. At eleven I rode away on my horse, and explored places my father and uncle could not have reached on foot. I carried with me the feeling I'd acquired from listening to the old stories, that the land all around me was teeming with creatures that were related to human beings and to me.” ("Interior and Exterior Lan...
The narrator, an indigenous woman, embodies the impact and legacy of colonization in Canada. She declares herself to be “damaged” and says that “I make it a policy not to talk to people unless absolutely necessary,” indicating she has experienced past trauma. What caused this trauma is not specified by the narrator, however it would be safe to assume that the trauma could be related to colonization. Trauma has found to be transgenerational, particularly in indigenous communities and for those affected by residential schools and the sixties scoop. Those who survived abuses at residential schools often inadvertently passed on trauma to their children. Due to unresolved issues, survivors fell into habits of destructive behaviour, such as drug