Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell

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Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell

I enjoyed reading Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell because i find that many people today do not know a lot about the Native American culture and what they have been through. Their cultures history is not talked about as much the African American or Hispanic's are. Most Americans know about the hardships that the African American and Hispanics had to overcome to assimilate to the level that they are today. I think O'Nell is trying to talk about the history of the Native American culture because, she believes that the reason that their culture is not well-known because of the fact that they have chosen to keep living like their ancestors and not assimilate to the American culture.

It is not out of line to expect Native Americans to live like their ancestors, and I agree with the way that O'Nell made the government look like the wrongdoers. She talks like "indians" are just part of stories or like they have not kept up with the times. This book points out many of the problems for native americans by bringing out problems in identity, culture, and depression dealing with the Flathead Tribe in Montana. The book is divided into three parts to accomplish this. Part 1 is about the American government's policies that were put on the reservations and how it affected the culture of the Flathead Tribe attached to that reservation. This is the base for is to come in the next two parts, which talk about how lonliness an pity tie into the identity and depression.

O'Nell talks about how the indian culture is much more than the typical American may perceive. She talks about how storytelling in Flathead culture is very important and shows the reader many of these stories dealing with the "white man." One that really caught my attention that had to do with the identity of the Native American was the story about a chief that got pulled over by the cops for no reason al all. The story starts off with the Chief of the Flathead tribe driving his granddaughter around and getting pulled over. When he was pulled over he was issued a ticket, for not wearing a seat-belt. When he confronted the officer about how they are not allowed to pull people over for the sole fact of not being buckled in, the officer said that the vehicle "looked suspicious.

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