That’s Awkward: You’ve Mentioned Native Americans Without Mentioning Their Current Conditions The Need for Awareness “We’re not part of the conversation, rural America is not part of the conversation, especially not Indians ‘cause they don’t even know the destructive things out there half the time,” declares a Native resident living on the Pine Ridge Reservation within Jacek Kropinski’s short documentary, The Oglala Sioux of Pine Ridge Reservation (Kropinski, 2015). Kropinski’s documentary details the third-world living conditions of Pine Ridge Reservation within South Dakota that will strike an empathetic chord with most of its viewers. Jamie Turninghory, a thirteen year-old resident living on the reservation, lets the people watching know that, “my dreams are to have a better life and to not be on the Res” (Kropinski, 2015). As the video showcases exactly what America associates with extreme poverty experienced in lesser-developed countries through alarming statistics that create an urgency to respond, we see exactly why Jamie Turninghory holds the dream of escaping the reservation. Pine Ridge reservation currently experiences a 90% unemployment rate, along with an alcoholism rate of 85% that mirrors the unemployment rate. Approximately 92% of its residents live below the poverty line which leads to a series of social problems. The effect of this poverty level allows for a pathway to gangs, drugs, and dropping out of school. The dropout rate is over 70%, as eighth grade graduates have to travel as far as 20 to 30 miles to get to a high school. The teacher turnover rate is 800% the national U.S. average because the reservation cannot recruit teachers due to the lack of housing. The reservation estimates that they need about 1... ... middle of paper ... ...eoples as uncivilized and potentially violent in hopes of promoting the view that the forced separations of Native peoples from their lands and the murderous practices that pursued were inevitable as part of the hegemonic system (Carleton, 2011, p.111). Currently, social studies standards often take on a tone of detachment, focusing on political actions and court rulings rather than examining how these actions consequently affected the lives of Native Americans (Shear, 2015, p.88). This serves to disillusion students on the affairs of Native American conditions, keeping Native Americans locked in history and in the hindsight of American people. By furthering their frameworks, I will illustrate how these colonial discourses negatively impacted Native Americans in their fight for civil liberties and continue to negatively impact them today in their fight for awareness.
Tulalip tribe is Indian tribe admitted by federal government, which is located on the Tulalip reservation in the mid-Puget Sound area bordered on the east by Interstate 5 and the city of Marysville. Tulalip tribe is a place where government allow the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skyimish, and other allied bands living in. the Tulalip tribe’s land cover 22,000 acres. The Tulalip tribe has abundant nature resources to supply their people’s normal life such as “marine waters, tidelands, fresh water creeks and lakes, wetlands, forests and developable land” ( who we are). Also, they have their unique language to communicate with their people which is Lushootseed –Coastal Salish. Because the traditional language should be extend, they have one master language
Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation. This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within himself.
His name is Wautheeweela. It means Bright Horn, referring to horns on a deer. He is ten years old, and ready to make his journey to prove his manhood. He and other boys from his Shawnee tribe have been physically toughened and taught to be independent since an age of around six. In winters, they have had to break the ice to jump into the freezing river to continue their daily routine of learning to survive with Nature and its elements. Now will be his test of endurance. He is sent into the woods with a bow and arrow and told not to come back until he had shot something to eat. His face is blackened with charcoal, a sign to all who saw him that he is on his quest and cannot be helped. He would not end up like his friend, Little Wildcat Alford, who went two days alone in the woods without food, and became to weak too shoot, but did manage to kill a quail and return as a man (Wallace, 1970). Bright Horn was better then that, mentally and physically, and has waited for this day to come. Face blackened and weapon in hand, he heads out of his tribe's settlement. He must be smart. He walks along the creek with many bends, the Conodoguinet, until the sun reaches the land. Now he rests on the bank, throwing pebbles into the creek, watching little fish swim around with no apparent direction what so ever. He waits until nightfall to move inland a little bit, to scout out a spot where animals might come to the creek. He sets himself up against a tree and falls asleep. He awakes with a crackling of a twig. A full moon is shining, creating many eerie shadows on the ground. He waits patiently to see what is approaching. He sees a reflection of an eye, a greenish glow coming from it. It is deer comin...
Talking Back to Civilization: Indian Voices from the Progressive Era edited by Frederick E. Hoxie is a book which begins with an introduction into the life of Charles Eastman and a brief overview of the history of Native Americans and their fight for justice and equal rights, it then continues by describing the different ways and avenues of speaking for Indian rights and what the activists did. This leads logically into the primary sources which “talk back” to the society which had overrun their own. The primary sources immerse the reader into another way of thinking and cause them to realize what our societal growth and even foundation has caused to those who were the true natives. The primary sources also expand on the main themes of the book which are outlines in the introduction. They are first and most importantly talking back to the “pale faces”, Indian education, religion, American Indian policy, the image of the Indians presented in America. The other chapters in the book further expanded on these ideas. These themes will be further discussed in the following chapters along with a review of this
Hooks, Gregory, and Chad Smith. “The Treadmill of Destruction: National Sacrifice Areas and Native Americans.” American Sociological Review 69.4 (2004): 558-575. EBSCO Host. Web. 01 December, 2009.
Who really are the Cheyenne Indians? According to historians, they were Indian people who became nomadic and moved to the Great Plains in the 18th century (Berkin 366). Another tribe, the Souix, developed the name of "people of a different language" for the Cheyenne. Some people said that the Cheyenne did not exist until the mid-1600s or at least this is when the earliest known records were found. They are one of the most famous and prominent Plains tribes, too.
advantage of the rich black soil for farming. Corn was their main source of food,
Native Americans have felt distress from societal and governmental interactions for hundreds of years. American Indian protests against these pressures date back to the colonial period. Broken treaties, removal policies, acculturation, and assimilation have scarred the indigenous societies of the United States. These policies and the continued oppression of the native communities produced an atmosphere of heightened tension. Governmental pressure for assimilation and their apparent aim to destroy cultures, communities, and identities through policies gave the native people a reason to fight. The unanticipated consequence was the subsequent creation of a pan-American Indian identity of the 1960s. These factors combined with poverty, racism, and prolonged discrimination fueled a resentment that had been present in Indian communities for many years. In 1968, the formation of the American Indian Movement took place to tackle the situation and position of Native Americans in society. This movement gave way to a series of radical protests, which were designed to draw awareness to the concerns of American Indians and to compel the federal government to act on their behalf. The movement’s major events were the occupation of Alcatraz, Mount Rushmore, The Trail of Broken Treaties, and Wounded Knee II. These AIM efforts in the 1960s and 1970s era of protest contained many sociological theories that helped and hindered the Native Americans success. The Governments continued repression of the Native Americans assisted in the more radicalized approach of the American Indian Movement. Radical tactics combined with media attention stained the AIM and their effectiveness. Native militancy became a repertoire of action along with adopted strategies from the Civil Rights Movement. In this essay, I will explain the formation of AIM and their major events, while revealing that this identity based social movement’s radical approach led to a harsher governmentally repressive counter movement that ultimately influenced the movements decline.
Through Laws, treaties and proclamations it becomes clear of the transfer of power between Native Americas and colonizing powers within the US and Canada. One significant treaty was Treaty NO. 9 in which Native Americans gave up their aboriginal title and land for money, hunting right, entrance into the christian school system and a Canadian flag presented to the Chief. The treaties described define the cascading effect of how western powers came into control of land at which Native Americans resided in. Specifically converging on the using Native Americans “elites” to influence other Native Americans into adopting western cultural beliefs, overshadowing the diverse Native American cultural practices. The overshadowing and belittling of Native American culture is not only expressed through the several treaties presented to Native Americans across history but also through real life accounts of Native American children adopted into the western school system. This sections places into the prospective the monopolization of Native American land and
It appears that rather than highlight the atrocities committed against Native Americans, historians chose to ignore them perhaps out of shame or guilt. Historians often appear to minimize the contribution of Native Americans in the colonies’ path to development. According to Salisbury, Native Americans “Were not static isolates lying outside the ebb and flow of human history” (29). Native peoples, while not as advanced as European societies, where evolving through innovations in agriculture and trade.
Native American’s place in United States history is not as simple as the story of innocent peace loving people forced off their lands by racist white Americans in a never-ending quest to quench their thirst for more land. Accordingly, attempts to simplify the indigenous experience to nothing more than victims of white aggression during the colonial period, and beyond, does an injustice to Native American history. As a result, historians hoping to shed light on the true history of native people during this period have brought new perceptive to the role Indians played in their own history. Consequently, the theme of power and whom controlled it over the course of Native American/European contact is being presented in new ways. Examining the evolving
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
Sandefur, G. (n.d.). American Indian reservations: The first underclass areas? Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc121f.pdf
All men are created equal (Declaration of Independence). Yet, the Native Americans continue their fight for decades since colonization. There is a constant struggle to urge for equality from William Apess in his 1833 essay, An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man. In modern day, the fight continues after his lifetime. Equality and freedom is the goal for most Native Americans. Although securing the rights of the Native Americans are progressing, it is slow. Therefore, the inequality continues at a faster pace, as opposed to major changes that would impact the Native Americans positively. Throughout history, they are exploited for their land and natural resources and severely underfunded. As a matter of fact, the common theme seems to be that the Native Americans are continuously suppressed by the “superior race”, which showcases the prevalent thoughts in America. William Apess and
The Sioux Nation have had to live through many hard times, and are still having to face similar challenges. The death rate of heart disease is twice the national average. Hypothermia kills many elderly each year. Roughly sixty percent of their homes are inefficient without water, electricity, and insulation. Ninety-seven of the people living in the Pine Ridge Reservation live far below the poverty line. Saga of the Sioux highlights many conflicts, themes, and purposes that these American Indians have had to go through.