A Seat At The Drum: Film Analysis

Ranging from the south Alleghenies mountain range all the way down to the south of Georgia and far west of Alabama, lived the Cherokee Indians. They were a powerful detached tribe of the Iroquoian family and were commonly called Tsaragi which translates into "cave people." This tribe was very prominent in what is now called the U.S, but over time has been split up or run out of their land because of social or political encounters with the new settlers from Europe. Despite the dispersion or the split amongst this tribe, they still obtained their core religious beliefs, practices and ceremonies. Their detailed belief system, fundamental beliefs, significant meanings, and their connection to song and dance make up their religious system. The early

Eventually, the Armed force stifled the Indians and constrained onto reservations, where they were permitted to administer themselves and keep up some of their conventions and culture. However, as white Americans pushed ever westbound, they clashed with Native Americans on their tribal grounds. A number of these white pioneers saw the proceeded with routine with regards to local customs as brutal and heinous. They trusted that union into standard white American culture was the main satisfactory destiny for Native Americans. This conviction was regularly framed in religious terms; many white Christians contended that lone by surrendering their profound customs and tolerating Christian authoritative opinion could the Indians be "spared" from the flames of hellfire. The constrained digestion of Native Americans was in this manner defended as being better for the Indians themselves. Numerous Native Americans, be that as it may, declined to acknowledge what the administration was giving them. They would not surrender their otherworldly convictions. They declined to figure out how to ranch, and they wanted to end up "socialized." To most individuals from white society, Native Americans were viewed as primitive, because the the fact that they didn 't meet society 's qualities and standards. For

Even though it has a more sympathetic connotation, it feeds the same image of the uncivilized native American, but in a soft way. The native man is represented as the “noble savage”, a wild man who is related to nature, and animals. He is not portrayed as a bad man, but he is just not good enough and not compatible to the American advanced and civilized world. He doesn’t belong to this modern life. He is from the past, and he must stay there. To sustain this idea of the wild man who doesn’t belong to this modern time, an image of a “vanishing” native American image starts to appear in the media. He is vanished because he has no place in this modern American word and he is uncappable to coexist with his advanced civilized peer, the white American. He disappears for no reason, and no clue, and if he didn’t vanish, he melts to become an American, in the white man way. These romanticized portrayals of Native Americans have consolidated stereotypes, what have created prejudice and social

The idea that identity can be measured, reduces the complexity of a person’s social identity to their biology and functions to shape race narratives in a way that leaves the indigenous people at a disadvantage. A continuous battle over sovereignty and claims to land continue today as many struggle with meeting the strict blood quantum regulations required.

In Philip J. Deloria’s book, Indians In Unexpected Places readers are provoked with questions. Why is there an Indian on an automobile? Why is she getting a manicure? Why is the young man in football apparel? Indians have been secluded into a stereotype of untamable and wild animals. However, Indians break the barriers of their traditional lives by being in more modern and “white” activities. They partake in “normal” activities to not only change their future, but to make their ancestors proud of their accomplishments. Through a variety of events in the early 1900’s, Deloria expands on what it means to be Native American by retelling their lives of, men grew from their reservation life, into competitive sports, the auto industry transformed how Native Americans traveled, and they also gained relevance in the fight to make themselves known in film, not always as a savage warrior, but also capable of love moving pictures.

The Benges’ moral theme makes Rachel Saint: A Star in the Jungle a great book to read because it teaches the difficult life lesson of pursuing the difficult tasks when it is apparent that it is necessary. Growing up in a modest Christian home, Rachel Saint taught her younger brothers all about Christ. Rachel knew from a young age that she wanted to become a missionary, specifically the Auca tribe. Being unaccepting of foreign people and extremely violent, the Aucas scared many missionaries away from their tribe. Rachel was being discouraged by her family and fellow missionaries. Nate, her younger brother, had a large influence on Rachel’s life. At the beginning of her journey,

Throughout Love Medicine Louise Erdrich used allusions to refer to different events that effected Native American culture and their life on the reservation. Vietnam, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and differrent laws surrounding the relocation of Natives were referenced in this piece. Erdrich used allusions to refer to childrens programs like Road Runner and Tarzan. She used Tarzan beating his chest to to convey the emotional prayer he was giving in the church and Howard Kashpaw’s evening televisions show to lead Lishpaw MOrrissey to some deep thoughts about life. However, the more prominate allusions were those that refered to the government deal to give the Native Americans back their land although their land wasnt the same as the one they got back. This helps the reader understand why the Natives have a general anamosity towards the government such as the time when Gerry Nanapush needed his friends to testify in court and they all fell through.

In the United States, there are 567 federally recognized Native American tribes. Of those, there are 326 reservations, which are considered Native American sovereign nations (history.com). To be a sovereign tribal nation by definition is “the concept of the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States. (Tribal Sovereignty in)” The beginning of the reservations started with the Treaty of Hopewell, a treaty made by the US. government in 1785 “placing the native Cherokees under the protection of a young United States and setting boundaries for their land (history.com).” From there was a landslide of broken promises. After hundreds of years, Native Americans finally have reservation borders that are

Jonathan’s family is from the Table Mountain Rancheria of California located in Fresno County, California. The Table Mountain Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Native American people from the Chukchansi band of Yokuts and the Monache tribe. Jonathan did not live on the reservation nor did his parents but his great-great grandparents did. Jonathan’s family composition consists of his parents, his siblings and his grandparents. Native American traditional family composition consists of extended family members made up of blood and non-blood relatives. The nuclear family consisted of a woman, her husband, and their children. Many tribes practiced polygamy, in which a man had two or more wives, while other tribes were monogamous. Jonathan’s tribe practiced monogamy. Native Americans developed societies with well-defined roles, responsibilities, religious rites, ceremonies, social behavior in which group involvement, support and consensus plays a major role. Traditions reflect a strong emphasis on group involvement and decision-making (Edwards & Edwards, 1980).

A person’s culture is their way of life. From a young age, we learn to act within the norms of our culture and to be truly ethnocentric. What if one day someone came into your life and told you everything you were doing your entire life was wrong and stupid? Brian Moore’s Black Robe, tells the story of Laforgue, a Jesuit priest from 17th Century Québec who travels to an unfamiliar land called New France. Laforgue’s goal is to convert Algonquin Native Americans into God fearing Christians. Laforgue faces many cultural misunderstandings with the Natives along his journey; he finds the most difficulties understanding the native’s concept of death, why they value dreams, and overcoming ethnocentrism.

The start of the chapter follows a story about a man who self identifies as a American Indian man who goes by “Standing Bear”. Garroutte defines what it is to be a self identified Indian by saying, “…anyone who does not satisfy the requirements specifically of legal definitions”(Garroutte, 82). These are people that live by the culture but do not for some reason meet the blood quota. Standing Bear along with his “tribe” the Deer clan, tried with their best efforts to be acknowledged by the government as an actual tribe but was denied the privilege of doing so. While anyone can essentially self-identify as any other race that does not mean they will be excepted or in the words of Garroutte, “it would be meaningful” and most are criticized for their choice. Most Indians see this as a form of Ethnic fraud, when a person “self-identifies” when it is covenant to them such as when money such as scholarships and benefits, as well as in some cases crimes can be easily “covered up”. Some people however, come from a pure place of wondering about their ancestry, Garroutte quotes Archie M. by saying, “folks who are looking and searching who don’t have the opportunity (to learn their tribal cultures from childhood)… They have a right (later in life to find)…those things” (Garroutte, 96). Some people are not considered Indians by the government but just simply want to know more about where they come from and learn the cultures and traditions of their “tribe”. Or like in chapters prior people are not considered Indian by the government but still live by their traditions. Over all, there are positives and negatives to

Religious stability within the development of individuals was warped during the forced assimilation due to the cult-like idea of Christianity being the superior religion throughout the assimilation era. Michael C. Coleman, author of Indian Children at School, speculates that the propaganda of the Christian religion to force and assimilate the natives into the white man’s religion was the first program to civilize Indian schoolchildren. (American Indian Children at School) As a matter of fact, before being forced into American schools, the first phase of assimilation was the act of immersing the Indians into Christianity. In addition to this, Michael C. Coleman also proposes the idea that Christianity could be labeled as a cult during 1790-1920

In the first section of Chapter 1 of Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras, the author Diana Eck discusses her personal experience from exploring the encounter of Bozeman and Banaras. The author raises many interesting questions in this section about religious differences, what it means to be of a certain religion, if the label of being a certain religion matters or defines oneself, what another culture or religion means to an individual of another religion, and how members of different religions view one another. Eck explains how she was raised as a Christian in Bozeman under an influence of the church, and during her college years, she travelled to Banaras in India and she experienced a challenge in her faith by observing

In the Salishan autobiography “Mourning Dove”, author Mourning Dove gives insight into how the culture of her people was ultimately altered during the late 1800’s; primarily caused by the catalyst that was the arrival and the integration of white values into their society. The main force that drove these transitions to occur stemmed from religion. Through the influence and encouragement of pastors, in this case, Father De Rouge, the Natives beliefs in their ancient customs gradually declined, as his determined efforts to spread the word of Christianity had reached the ears of the Native tribes (Mourning Dove, 26). Whether that be holding service in tipis or aiding the sick and needy. An example of this change regarding their beliefs could be

While Native American religions varied between one tribe to another ranging from monotheism to polytheism to a variety of others, they all shared an unwavering grip on their beliefs. They refused to forsake their ancestors’ beliefs and concede to new foreign ideologies. “For all these favors we thank the Great Spirit, and Him only” (Red Jacket 230), here Red Jacket implies their unrelenting refusal to convert to a new religion. They would not assimilate to the immigrants’ culture because they believed the day they loosened their grip on their beliefs is the day their own culture and dignity evaporated into thin air. Their refusal to change their religious ideals and beliefs stemmed from the fact that they were passed along to them from generation to generation, it is what they lived by, what helped them survive all these years, and change would only bring about destruction of all that is safe, familiar and unifying. “We worship in that way. It teaches us to be thankful for all the favors we receive; to love each other and to be united. We never quarrel about religion” (Red Jacket 231), the natives feared that introducing new principles would create rifts and endless quarrels between tribe members. Their beliefs also gave them their own special identity which separated them from other nations and they were immensely proud of