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Recommended: Theme of nature in literature
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.
In the novel Saga of the Sioux, there are many different types of conflicts. The main two are Man vs. Society and Man vs. Nature. “At midmorning, on August 23, the Santees attacked New Ulm- but the townspeople were ready for this” is an example of Man vs. Society because the Native Americans had to constantly battle with the Bluecoats and the settlers. Another example of Man vs. Society is “President Lincoln notified Sibley that he should ‘cause to be executed’ 39 of the 303” because it proves that even the government were harsh to the Native Americans. “Drought had struck in 1861 and returned in 1862” is an example of Man vs. Nature because the Native Americans had a hard time farming and surviving on the reservations they were given. Another example of Man vs Nature is “Since a blizzard was
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approaching, the dead Indians were left where they had fallen” because it shows that even after death, the Native Americans still couldn’t catch a break. The two main themes in Saga of the Sioux are how the Native Americans were treated bad and don’t give up- fight for your rights. “But four years after the treaty had been signed, white miners were violating the treaty” is an example of how Native Americans were treated badly because it shows that the government hadn’t enforced the treaty at all and let the miners come in and take their land. Another example of the Native American population getting treated bad would be “The scuffling went on for only a few seconds. Someone shouted a command, and then Private William Gentles, a soldier guard following behind them, thrust his bayonet deep into Crazy Horse’s abdomen” because it proves that the Natives were getting killed for no reason from the government and soldiers. An example of don’t give up-fight for your rights would be “The Indians knew they had given Three Stars a good fight, but they did not know until the next morning that they had whipped him” because every time the American Indians fought the Bluecoats they were either fighting for the broken treaties or their lands. “This time the white men must give something to the Indians” is another example of this theme because the Native Americans were insisting that the white men keep their side of the treaty this time and that they weren’t going to give in. Saga of the Sioux, like any other book, has an author’s point of view.
It is in third person. “If they had left him alone, he was going to put his gun down where he should.” This is an example of the soldiers being cruel to Black Coyote, who was deaf. An example of the government being unfair to them is “...the United States gave the Sioux the Black Hills forever and made it forbidden for white men to trespass.” This may sound like they were treating them equally, but it turned out to be only a false promise. “But four years after the treaty had been signed, white miners were violating the treaty,” is an example of the settlers being to the Native
Americans. Have you ever had your rights taken away or been mistreated based on your ethnicity? Why does our society downgrade people based on race or religion? What would you do if you were in a situation where if you defended yourself you would be killed or harshly punished? How are the Native Americans (Sioux) still struggling today, and what would their ancestors think of this? The novel Sage of the Sioux does an extraordinary job elaborating on the struggles of the Sioux in the past and still today.
Native Americans have been fighting till this day for freedom. Millions of Native Americans have lost their lives fighting for freedoms and their lands. So far, not much have been done to the Native Americans and they have not achieved everything they had hoped for. Most Native Americans are still living on reservations and government are doing little to help them. A book titled “Lakota Women” by Mary Crow Dog takes us into the lives of the Native Americans, her childhood, adulthood, and her experiences of being an Indian woman.
According to Tyler Troudt once said, “The past cannot be changed forgotten to edit or erased it can only be accepted.” In the book The Lakota Way, it is talking about all the old stories that no one talks about anymore. Some of the stories are about respect, honor, love, sacrifice, truth, bravery. Joseph M. Marshall III wrote this story so that young adults around the world and mainly the Lakota people know their culture, so they knew all the stories about the people long ago. What the author is writing about is all information that today’s generation will never know about the stories because most of the elder that even knew or know the stories have passed away or the young people just are not interested in listening to them anymore.
into the Native American way of life and some of the hardships that can befall the victims
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
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.
On December 29, 1890, the army decided to take away all of the Sioux weapons because they weren’t sure if they could trust those indians. Some people think a deaf man did this, but one man shot his gun, while the tribe was surrendering. Studies think that he didn’t understand the Chiefs surrender. The army then opened fire at the Sioux. There was over 300 indians that died, and one of them was their chief named Bigfoot. This is an example of how we didn’t treat Native Americans fairly, because if it was a deaf man then we probably should of talked it out before we killed all those innocent
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
“Over the Earth I come.” This is not a statement made in haste but a declaration of war, coming from the mouth of a Sioux warrior, a Dakota. They call him Crooked Lightning. That was the first and only true announcement about the planned uprising from the Dakota Nation. The Sioux Uprising of 1862 was appallingly deadly and destructive considering it may have been avoided if the United States had paid the Sioux their gold on time.
Lakota Woman Essay In Lakota Woman, Mary Crow Dog argues that in the 1970’s, the American Indian Movement used protests and militancy to improve their visibility in mainstream Anglo American society in an effort to secure sovereignty for all "full blood" American Indians in spite of generational gender, power, and financial conflicts on the reservations. When reading this book, one can see that this is indeed the case. The struggles these people underwent in their daily lives on the reservation eventually became too much, and the American Indian Movement was born. AIM, as we will see through several examples, made their case known to the people of the United States, and militancy ultimately became necessary in order to do so.
“Quantie’s weak body shuddered from a blast of cold wind. Still, the proud wife of the Cherokee chief John Ross wrapped a woolen blanket around her shoulders and grabbed the reins.” Leading the final group of Cherokee Indians from their home lands, Chief John Ross thought of an old story that was told by the chiefs before him, of a place where the earth and sky met in the west, this was the place where death awaits. He could not help but fear that this place of death was where his beloved people were being taken after years of persecution and injustice at the hands of white Americans, the proud Indian people were being forced to vacate their lands, leaving behind their homes, businesses and almost everything they owned while traveling to an unknown place and an uncertain future. The Cherokee Indians suffered terrible indignities, sickness and death while being removed to the Indian territories west of the Mississippi, even though they maintained their culture and traditions, rebuilt their numbers and improved their living conditions by developing their own government, economy and social structure, they were never able to return to their previous greatness or escape the injustices of the American people.
The daily life of the Cheyenne was vigorous and intense, but they seemed to pull through and live their lives in happiness. They were nomadic, and they had structure in their social life, and had a major conflict with the United States.
In our day and age where our youth are becoming more aware of the history of the country and the people who inhabit it, the culture of Native Americans has become more accessible and sparks an interest in many people young and old. Recent events, like the Dakota Access Pipeline, grab the attention of people, both protesters and supporters, as the Sioux tribe and their allies refuse to stay quiet and fight to protect their land and their water. Many Native people are unashamed of their heritage, proud of their culture and their ancestors. There is pride in being Native, and their connection with their culture may be just as important today as it was in the 1800’s and before, proving that the boarding school’s ultimate goal of complete Native assimilation to western culture has
Indian nations like the Cheyenne Tribe, the Choctaw tribe and the Navajo tribe are often overlooked, though they have been quite influential in our history as a continuously growing world. Modern culture and society cares nothing for the start of the tribes, nor their modern state, their help to our beginning and continuance, or to the modern culture and society of those indian tribes.
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
In the Book Saga of the Sioux there are two conflicts. Man vs. Nature and Man vs. Society. “Because they had so little land left, the Santee were forced to give up their traditional way of life and to learn how to farm like the white man.” Is a good example of Man vs. Society because the natives were forced to leave their land were forced to learn how to farm. They had to give up their land to farm. “The Fetterman Massacre made a profound impression upon the government” This means that The Fetterman massacre was the worst defeat the army had yet suffered in indian warfare. “Iron Horse jerked him off his pony and dragged him unmercifully before he could get loose.” This means that nature affected the nation and the native americans. “Their women and children were crying for food, and needed warm shelters” This means that nature was affecting the natives, women and children. They needed food and better shelter for the children.