Native American Exploration Narrative

Wilderness as a settler-colonial construct that embodies prejudice--racism and sexism--and that continues to shape and engrave settler-colonial ideologies in our society’s mindset, it should be questioned as to how it has been so powerful a cultural enterprise. Stories are what empower cultural persistence and cultural identity. In particular, the United States has implemented the use of story to shape and construct its cultural ideologies and to marginalize and disempower women and Indigenous people so that white men can assume a position of supremacy. Within these stories, the heroes are often depicted as innocent--similar to anti-conquest in which the colonizer naturalizes his own presence while establishing his power over native peoples

The word hero may bring to mind images of spiderman or batman, but it doesn’t take a talented illustrator to create a hero. A heroic action is a sacrifice made in order to reach a higher level of society. In this sense, the age of exploration that began in the fifteen hundreds is classified as a heroic event. The explorers who paved the way to modern civilization opened opportunities for technology, increased diversity, and a stronger economy. The effect their voyages have had on the world today outweigh the mistakes they made along the way.

The Iroquois creation story is a renowned Native American myth written by a Tuscarora historian, David Cusick. He is also the author of David Cusick’s Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations, which is known to be the first Indian-written history printed in the English language (Radus). The Iroquois creation myth exists in twenty-five other versions. It describes how the world was created from the Native American perspective. It begins with a sky woman who falls down into the dark world. She is pregnant with twins. Sky woman lands on a turtles back, which ends up growing and becomes a part of island with time. The sky woman gives birth to twin boys, the good mind, and the bad mind. She dies when the bad mind decides to come out of her

“1491” Questions 1. Two scholars, Erikson and William Balée believe that almost all aspects of Native American life have been perceived wrong. Although some refuse to believe this, it has been proven to be the truth. Throughout Charles C. Mann’s article from The Atlantic, “1491”, he discusses three main points: how many things that are viewed as facts about the natives are actually not true, the dispute between the high and low counters, and the importance of the role disease played in the history of the Americas. When the term “Native American” is heard, the average person tends to often relate that to a savage hunter who tries to minimize their impact on their surrounding environment.

Anyone can read a history textbook assigned in class and understand the events in their minds, but understanding the emotion of the people who were there at the events are lost in blank monotone text. Being able to recite events dryly from your textbook is not knowing one’s history. In order to fully understand history, you have to be able to understand every aspect of the events. Every emotion, thought, and desire of the people who were there as the history was made. In order to tell history, you need to attach emotion to the words being expressed so that the reader can fully understand what happened. In this context, with the help of Dr. Herbert T. Hoover, Joseph Cash gathered fifty-eight oral stories from Native Americans who had faced oppression

Forming his argument, Brown provides the reader with the understanding that White Americans primarily wrote native histories. Continuing to make his thesis, he claims the narrative provides a Native American history of the west. Through their words and perspectives, he offers the reader a comprehensive history by developing the identity of the Native American (Brown, XXV). The thesis’ concept of identity is the most interesting aspect of the monograph. Brown’s view on identity offers the reader with insight into native culture and relations with the United States

Merrell’s article proves the point that the lives of the Native Americans drastically changed just as the Europeans had. In order to survive, the Native Americans and Europeans had to work for the greater good. Throughout the article, these ideas are explained in more detail and uncover that the Indians were put into a new world just as the Europeans were, whether they wanted change or

Science journalist, Charles C. Mann, had successfully achieved his argumentative purpose about the “Coming of Age in the Dawnland.” Mann’s overall purpose of writing this argumentative was to show readers that there’s more to than just being called or being stereotyped as a savage- a cynical being. These beings are stereotyped into being called Indians, or Native Americans (as they are shorthand names), but they would rather be identified by their own tribe name. Charles Mann had talked about only one person in general but others as well without naming them. Mann had talked about an Indian named Tisquantum, but he, himself, does not want to be recognized as one; to be more recognized as the “first and foremost as a citizen of Patuxet,”(Mann 24).

Now we have all heard about the story of Pocahontas, unfortunately many of the stories we were told growing up are not completely true. Camilla Townsend, the author of “Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma”, intends to inform its readers about the evolution of the many lies written and told by the Englishmen regarding their relationships with the Native America peoples that many of us have heard about today. However, Townsend has ineffectively given her readers information about the whole truth to the stories she has written about the many relationships of the English and Native Americans. Firstly, although Townsend claims to have done her research on the topic by reading all the documents written from this time period and beyond, she leaves

They later realized their error when encountered by many different Native American tribes throughout their journeys. What details help to show

Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.

A Wise European Perspective Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was born in 1490 in Jerez de la Frontera and passed away in 1558 (cite). He was second in command and treasurer in Narvaez’s Florida Expedition. Cabeza de Vaca writes a somewhat narrative of everything he experienced upon his arrival in the Americas. Cabeza de Vaca uses a first-person point of view to narrate his experiences sailing and meeting Native Americans. The author demonstrates how the Natives were not barbarians nor savages, by conveying the theme to help others in need.

In which case Ramon Perez is very much a hero. First off, when observed from a literary stance it’s difficult to not notice Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, or hero’s journey, template present in Perez’s writing. The monomyth template is as followed: “A boy

Once European men stepped foot onto what is now known as North America, the lives of the Native Americans were forever changed. The Indians suffered centuries of torment and ridicule from the settlers in America. Despite the reservations made for the Natives, there are still cultural issues occurring within America. In Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the tragic lives of Native Americans in modern society are depicted in a collection of short stories taking place in the Spokane Reservation in Washington state. Throughout the collection, a prominent and reoccurring melancholic theme of racism against Native Americans and their struggle to cope with such behavior from their counterpart in this modern day and age is shown.

Recently I have heard the Cherokee ledged of two wolves. In this story a grandfather tells his grandson that every one has two wolves inside them that are always in constant battle with each other. One from the light which represents hope, self esteem, courage and faith. The other is from the dark side which represents depression, fear, anger and guilt. The grandson asks the grandfather which one wins and the grandfather simply replies it is the one you feed. This past fall I finished my internship for my bachelor of education. It was an awful experience and it is through the lens of this story that I was able to start to come to terms with how I fell towards it. It helped me realize that by continuing to allow the negative memories of past to rule my life I was essentially killing all of the good and positive things about myself while feeding the monster that threated to pull me into a downward spin.