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Native American culture
Native american religious practice
Native American Cultural Assessment Project
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While white people and Native American people may live in close quarters their cultures and ways of life are in conflict. Life inside the reservation is very different from life around them because many Native American people still hold true to the daily rituals and ways of their ancestors while also attempting to adapt to modern life. This creates strife between the Native Americans who hold dear their deeply-rooted history and the white people who laugh in it’s face by using the Native American people and their traditions as mascots for sports teams or the butt of a joke. This tension is seen in Nerburn’s Novel “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” with a gap in ideology between Kent and Elder Dan. Throughout Nerbun’s “Neither Wolf Nor Dog,” Elder Dan makes …show more content…
Kent has spent lots of time around Native American people, and thinks that he understands them and their culture. While Dan seems very critical of Kent’s beliefs, he is usually trying to explain his own. An example of the differences of their different beliefs comes when they argue about parking garages and junk cars. When Dan explains the “Indian Way” of not letting anything go to waste, he says to Kent, “Just because you have everything scrubbed down and in-order doesn’t mean anything. What is bigger trash, a junk car or a parking ramp? We can tow the junk car away. The parking ramp has to be torn down with bulldozers and wrecking cranes” (Nerburn 76). Dan is frustrated with Kent’s comment about his messy yard, so he explains the Native American belief on the longevity of possession and how Native American people only see something as ‘junk’ when it does not pose a purpose to them. This is an attempt by Dan to clarify how Native American’s see things, and phrase it in a way Kent would understand. Dan could have easily ignored Kent in this situation, but because Dan wants to accept and work with Kent, Dan is patient and explains his beliefs. We also see this when Dan explains how Native American culture is often oversimplified when he says “[...] it makes me smile to see white people wearing Indian jewelry. Because to most of America, that’s all we are. Just jewelry on the American culture. It’s our job to be bright and colorful” (Nerburn 120). Dan is explaining to Kent how he is frustrated with Native American culture being reduced to the point where all they stand for to most people is a turquoise necklace around some white person’s neck. This is frustrating to Dan because his entire culture is being reduced to a material item or an icon. He explains this to Kent to show him how his culture is being
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
The novel “Through Black Spruce”, written by Joseph Boyden, details life of Native Culture and the corruption within its society. Will Bird and his niece Annie Bird alter narrations every chapter telling their individual stories of their struggles to remain pure in Native culture. Both characters experience a detachment from their roots and must learn to rely on each other for the livelihood of their culture. All characters in the novel show negative effects of being impacted by the white culture, seen through the use of drugs and alcohol leading to isolation from the community. Through detailed analysis of both Will and Annie’s narrative, their connections to their Native roots seem to be vanishing and the need to integrate the traditional
Perpetuation of Native American Stereotypes in Children's Literature Caution should be used when selecting books including Native Americans, due to the lasting images that books and pictures provide to children. This paper will examine the portrayal of Native Americans in children's literature. I will discuss specific stereotypes that are present and should be avoided, as well as positive examples. I will also highlight evaluative criteria that will be useful in selecting appropriate materials for children and provide examples of good and bad books. Children will read many books as they grow up.
culture appropriation. He wants to know if they gave away their Indian culture so that someone
The stress of this caused their once coveted friendship to wither and morph into an ill hatred. The English began a campaign of the demonization of Native Americans. The image of Native Americans was described in Red, White, & Black as friendly traders who shared a mutually beneficial relationship with one another. Evidently, a very different image started to appear when land disputes arose. The new illustration the English painted was that Native American people were “comparable to beasts” and “wild and savage people, that live like heards of deare in a forrest”. It was sudden change of heart between the two societies that supports Waterhouse’s claims of the changing relationship of the English and Native
As people, like myself, who aren’t oppressed for their skin color, culture, or religion, it’s hard to sometimes understand what it feels like to have someone appropriate their livelihood, more specifically, someone who is appropriating someone else’s culture. I imagine it, on a much smaller scale, to be like doing a group project, but one is doing all the work and the others take all the credit. The result would be one not receiving any of the rewards. People would call them “creative” and “hard-working”, when in reality, they just showed up and didn’t contribute anything at all. Amy Stretten’s “Appropriating Native American Imagery Honors No One” provides a multitude of resources that go along with her main point of why appropriating the Native
On his way to the reservation he stops at a trading post the final stop before arriving at the reservation. He examined the various Native American knick-knacks, trinkets, and at one point he tries on a headdress that. He goes on to questions whether any Native American would have these items in their home.
In contrast, Howling Wolf’s drawing is an illustration of the story being told of the events. He portrays the diversities within the Native-American culture, different tribes and sects and also depicts the symbol of water and its need to co-exist with life, trees, humanity. The illustration of a Native-American with bound hands from behind, while surrounding Anglo-Americans trying to corral a horse, is very telling of the perception the Native-Americans have about the events that occurred. It allows the viewer to conclude that this event was not deemed by the Native-American peoples as a peaceful treaty but instead as take over. The horse being corralled and tied symbolizes the controlling of their freedoms and all that that
In our current generation, the year 2016, one may think racism would be diminished but it has yet to be acknowledged. Most people would have thought discrimination ended with the time of slavery, but it continues to exist in indirect ways. When people think Native Americans, they think about how they were the true Americans and how they aided Columbus’s settlement into the Early Americas. Native Americans experience discrimination to this day, yet nothing has been said about the Indian’s existence and rights. In Kimberly Roppolo’s essay, “Symbolism, Racism, History, and Reality: The Real Problem with Indian Mascots,” constructs the reason and gives us an idea on why this type of racism still exists and why people continue to unknowingly discriminate
Cowboys and Indians is the popular game played by many children played as a game of heroes and villains. Natives are villainized in American pop culture due to the history being told by educational institutions across the nation. There are not many positive roles popular in the media about Native Americans. Many roles are even played by white people. The costume representation is not accurate either. The disrespect towards them is especially seem on Halloween, when people dress as Natives in cute and sexy ways that they think represent their culture. War paint, beads, feathers and headdresses are ceremonial accessories that represent their culture, it not a fun costume to wear. Only if they are being criticized and ridiculed, like they have been in the past. Racism has also been a huge problem when it comes to using creative names for sports teams, like the Redskins for example. Redskin is a derogatory and offensive term towards Native Americans and many white people do not see it as wrong due to the privilege they inherited throughout history. The disrespect towards them has grown and today it seems that if Natives were not getting ridiculed, they are for the most part ignored. The concerns that King describes in his book explains how the past has wired Americans to believing everything they have once learned. White people
In the poem, “Sure you Can Ask Me A Personal Question” By Diane Burns. The theme of story is “ Dont form ideas of someone if you dont really know them”. I was influenced by the word choice and phrases in the story, such as NO which, the author brings up alot. In many lines the author will answer saying “No i'm not from Indian”, “No werent not extinct” and “No I dont know where you can get Navajo rugs real cheap”. The list of evidence clearly shows you how the questioner keeps making assumptions on things that many Native Americans did in their culture, without getting to know her fully. Throughout the story the author has perpetuated theme, because constantly you see comments or stereotypes thrown at the Native American girl. On the last two
“The sheriff looked around to notice for the first time a forest stocked with Métis warriors, rifles cocked to their shoulders. I could hear the shock in the voices.” (Gault 208) The inclusion of the Native Indians in this story added an extra element of the western genre, turning this novel from a story about a young girl’s journey to how Abigail played a part in the conflict and rebellion. Native Indians play a large role in set up and the eventual solution in this narrative. Even as Abigail eventually works alongside the Métis, the division between Indians and the rest of society at the time is exhibited throughout the novel. Even within the band of outlaws that are a part of the Wild West Show there is a separation. The first instant readers are shown of this is when Abigail describes how “The Indians camped together without mingling too much with other troupe members. The Indian women lived in the Indian section of the show’s living areas, while the white women shooters camped together in their own section.” (Gault 116) The conflict involving Indians and land that takes place in this time, has created a rift between their community and the rest of society, with Indians either living on reservations or living in society, with limits. Even with this separation the outlaws are a more accepting group, with Bill Cody’s hiring of so many Indians in the Wild West Show being an initial problem as Abigail narrates “He had fought the government to be able to hire as many Indians as he needed, and altered their pay to justify getting them on the show.” (Gault 117) This incorporation in the novel of Bill Cody going the extra mile to include Indians in his show, demonstrates how essential Native Indians are to the western genre and how by having them present in the story it conforms to western
In “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Alexie creates a story that captures the common stereotypes of Native Americans. For instance, in the story the narrator states, “Who does have money on a reservation, except the cigarette and fireworks salespeople?” (Alexie). This quotation shows that the narrator addresses the idea that all Native Americans must own businesses that sell fireworks and/ or cigarettes in order to be successful. In this example, Victor is shown to not identify with the Native Americans because he does not pursue the same job opportunities as many Native Americans do. Victor's character is used as a contrast to the stereotypes that , there he represents reality. Another instance in which the author incorporates a stereotype about Native Americans is when Thomas-Builds-the-Fire first makes conversation with Victor. Thomas-Builds-the-Fire informs Victor about the news of Victor's ...
Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos...
For the characters in Angela Carter's “The Company of Wolves,” danger lurks in the the grey areas, the ambiguous spaces between opposites. The plethora of socially constructed binaries—male and female, passive and active, innocence and maturity, civilization and wilderness, man and wolf—have the ability to be harmful and restrictive, but perhaps more worryingly, they create an ill-defined middle ground between where the rules are vague and fluid, which allows for dishonesty and deception, and Carter foregrounds the resultant proliferation of untruths as the real peril. One vehicle for clear and honest communication, however, is the narrator's changing characterization of the