In Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, many people take pictures of the sacred Indian Sun Dance. This urge to take pictures proves that many whites view Indians as a source of entertainment or as a curiosity. To begin with, a family pulls over to take pictures and gawk at a Sun Dance on private property. The Indians confront the family and their only reply is “I thought it was a powwow or something… I was going to take some pictures of your little powwow, but I didn't” (King 152-153). To the family, the sacred Indian dance is an attraction like a geyser at Yellowstone National Park. Their first instinct is to whip out their camera. If it was a geyser this would make sense, but it is a private dance on assumed private land. The white people would never pull up to a stranger's house and take pictures of them having sex through a window. They understand that sex is private and sacred but not the Sun Dance. To them it is a form of entertainment for tourists, something to marvel at. However, this is clearly not the case here. The man in the car ever degrades their sacred dance as a little powwow. He is rude to the Indians because they have …show more content…
Karen respectfully asks Eli if whites can go and he says they can. However, her first instinct is “I'll borrow my father's camera” (225). Even though she is trying to be respectful and considerate she automatically assumes that she can take pictures. After she thinks about it she agrees, “well I guess that makes sense” (225). If she was a passionate photographer she could have figured out a respectful way to get permission to take pictures. An example would be asking the elders something like: I think your Sun Dance is a magical ceremony, may I take a picture or two for my scrapbook? Or even better, just go without taking pictures out of respect. If she really wanted to capture the memory she could write a journal about it or draw something quietly out of the way of the
Sixteen years after premiering as Disney’s thirty-third animated film, Pocahontas still incites excitement and wonder within those who wish for nothing more than to be a Disney princess. As Disney’s most notable attempt at political correctness, Pocahontas was created to entertain while attempting to maintain authenticity in regards to historical accuracy and in its fairness of depicting Native American culture. Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, the author of “Disney’s ‘Politically Correct’ Pocahontas”, feels the movie not only failed at being historically accurate but that it fell far short of being politically correct. The article, which appeared in the Fall, 1995 issue of Cineaste, contends the Disney production was duty bound in preserving the integrity of the Pocahontas legend and being both multiculturally and socially inoffensive. However, if being politically correct and constantly factual within any version of media made for entertainment were the standard, we would be left with documentaries and non-fiction. Artistic license allows for a literal account of events to become an engaging, accessible production.
iv-v) Works Cited Berkhoffer, Robert F. 'The White Man's Indian. Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, New York: 1978. Dowd, Frances Smardo. "Evaluating Children's Portraying Native American and Asian Cultures". Childhood Education; (68 Summer 92), pp.
In chapter six of her book Making the White Man 's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies, Ange Aliess explores the topic of how Western have begun to change recently. The changes that she references in the film Dances With Wolves are also present in the film Winter in the Blood as well as in the 1491s shorts, even though the 1491s are a comedy group and not a Western genre. Aleiss describes the ways in which Native Americans reacted to Native portrayals in the film Dances With Wolves, and they tended to see the film’s better sides in contrast with critics. In Winter in the Blood, there are many stereotypes that are explored in ways that make the characters seem more real and less stereotypical as the backstories are revealed, despite
“Pocahontas” was turned into a romance story, that painted a perfect picture of American Colonization and avoided the gruesome details of history to keep the film highly entertaining. It remains only accurate for specific details that the film provided that happened to be the historically similar. Although the film is not historically valuable it teaches other lessons to younger generations. It teaches younger generations the importance of cultural tolerance, and respect for other races. It teaches children that although people can come from different backgrounds they can learn to live together for a peace and
Respect is shown to the laws and guidelines provided by their ancestors. Every morning Neena expresses to Ruby while she sits beneath the tree and connects to her spiritual ancestors, ‘Whitefellas call it meditation, but for us it’s remaking our spiritual connection to the country every day’. It is extremely important that there are people that are very close to their culture, so the tribe remembers their ways. Archie and Tjilpi are exceptional illustrations of...
The identity of the modern Native American is not found in simple language or description. Neither does a badge or collection of eagle feathers determine Native American identity. As Alexie demonstrates through the character of Dr. Mather and Wilson, pony-tails and store bought drums are mere materialistic symbols and stereotypes: they have no real value or respect for the history behind a person’s cultural heritage. Hanging out in Indian bars is insufficient. The identity of the Native American is formed in a context of opposition and resistance, of irreversible historical travesty, and of inescapable conflict. Given the complex and lengthy history of U.S. atrocities against the Indians, and the equally violent aggressions of Indians against whites, bloodshed and animosity were the basis original Indian- U.S. relations. The original brutality these relations cannot be underestimated; nor the intricate series of laws and Acts passed throughout the ninteeth and twentieth centuries for the destruction of Indian culture and heritage. Yet, as Alexie argues, the forces of hatred cannot be exclusively emphasized in determining the identity of the Native American.
Many people do not realize that Indian people are around us everyday. They could be our neighbors, our bus driver, or anyone that we see on a daily bases. In Thomas King’s essay “You’re not the Indian I Had in Mind,” and his video “I’m not the Indian You Had in Mind,” he exemplifies the stereotype that many people make about Indians. King mentions in his essay that people always would say to him, “you’re not the Indian I had in mind,” because he did not look like the stereotypical Indian. Through King’s essay and video, I have been educated about this stereotype that I was unaware of. Since I now have an understanding of how unrealistic this stereotype is, I now can educate friends and family members on this issue.
Neil Diamond reveals the truth behind the Native stereotypes and the effects it left on the Natives. He begins by showing how Hollywood generalizes the Natives from the clothing they wore, like feathers
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
Thomas King uses an oral story-telling style of writing mingled with western narrative in his article “You’re Not the Indian I Had in Mind” to explain that Indians are not on the brink of extinction. Through this article in the Racism, Colonialism, and Indigeneity in Canada textbook, King also brings some focus to the topic of what it means to be “Indian” through the eyes of an actual Aboriginal versus how Aboriginals are viewed by other races of people. With his unique style of writing, King is able to bring the reader into the situations he describes because he writes about it like a story he is telling.
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
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King is a Canadian novel featuring Native Americans in the midst of their traditions in accordance with the rulers of the modern world in the book, the Whites. Several characters are seen to engulf in a battle with discrimination in an attempt to stay united as a community and find continued happiness in their Native identities. In Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King, the author states that discrimination negatively affects happiness, which leads to the questioning of one’s confidence that in turn has a negative effect in their search for identity. Although this novel’s characters forgo several acts of discrimination, Robinson Crusoe’s Friday discovery of home, Lionel’s realization of his identity,
According to Deloria, there are many misconceptions pertaining to the Indians. He amusingly tells of the common White practice of ...
Author and Indian Activist, Vine Deloria makes compelling statements in chapters one and five of his Indiana Manifesto, “Custer Died for Your Sins.” Although published in 1969 this work lays important historic ground work for understanding the plight of the Indian in the United States. Written during the turbulent civil rights movement, Deloria makes interesting comparisons to the Black struggle for equal rights in the United States. He condemns the contemporary views toward Indians widely help by Whites and argues that Indians are wrongly seen through the historic lens of a pipe smoking, bow and arrow wielding savage. Deloria forcefully views the oppressors and conquerors of the Indian mainly as the United States federal government and Christian missionaries. The author’s overall thesis is that Whites view Indians the way they want to see them which is not based in reality. The resulting behavior of Whites towards Indians shows its affects in the false perception in law and culture.