Native American Observation

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.

In the late 1800 's into the 1900 's and beyond Native American Indians, fought in pursuit of protecting their land. However, years passed and Native Americans were stripped away from their homes and forced to be in reservation camps where many face problems related to health, poverty and alcoholism. The reservations served as a way to segregate Native Americans and today, there are approximately 560 federally recognized Native American Tribes in the United States. (Rose,”The history of Native American Indians”) The Absolute True Diary of A Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie, tells the story of Arnold, a Native American teenage boy who struggles with life and takes it day by day. In the book death is often interpreted as a time to

In this excerpt from a work of satire, Dr. Rayna Green proposes the establishment of a “Museum of the Plains White Person” and goes on to explain how, where, and why it should be built and what the museum will include. Dr. Green wrote this speech so that white people could experience the disrespect the Native Americans receive when they are talked about.

American Indian culture has been rewritten by the European Colonists that came over to take what wasn’t theirs. These few pictures have depicted to me what their culture is all about. The meaningful relationships, the stories that would be told for lifetimes to come. These people have gone through a lifetime of struggle and hatred from Europeans, and even after all their suffering and torture the Europeans still rewrote the history books. The books very rarely touch upon subjects like native American philosophy or beliefs. People lack a great amount of knowledge about these people, and they are a massive part of this country’s history. Now, we can go through and depict this artifacts by their meanings and signs.

The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians written by Anthony F.C. Wallace is the story of the Native Americans being forced to move west in America in the 19th century. Wallace begins by introducing the desire for Native American land in the U.S. and ends with the aftermath of the Removal Policy and the legacy that still lives today. The book is organized into four chapters; The Changing Worlds of the Native Americans, The Conflict over Federal Indian Policy, The Removal Act, and The Trail of Tears. Though the book is brief, it is a great overview of the event. It is a simple read, as he has intended it to be “mainly for students of history and others primarily interested in this historical event” (preface viii). Wallace claims

In the third grade, I was asked to draw a picture related to Thanksgiving for a drawing contest to win a Toys R Us coupon. I remember the only knowledge I had of Thanksgiving was what my grade school teachers had taught me: the Pilgrims, people who wore tall, black hats shared a joyous meal with Indians, who were known as wild people who wore togas around their waist and feathers on their heads. Being a ignorant little boy, I drew what I thought Indians had to do to catch the turkeys as my picture; I drew an Indian man with a bow shooting an arrow right through the body of a turkey. With that picture, I won the contest. This thought of Indians in togas stayed with me until 9th grade when my world history teacher taught the class about the effects

Native Americans were greatly affected by the expansion of the United States during the 1800s. As the U.S. moved west, they stole large amounts of Native American land by settling the land and killing the Natives who once lived there. Also during this time, their culture was being taken from them due to assimilation. While United States citizens were expanding into the west, many Native American lives were lost. They were also responsible for destroying a major food and supply source for Native Americans.

Native Americans are the indigenous people of the United States, they have an extensive rich history, and stories of sorrow and bravery. Within the lower 48 states are the Great Plains American tribes, these tribes live in a region where there are few trees with valleys and rolling hills. This is where the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma as well as many other tribes resides in. With quite a dearth tribe, their highest population being 3,522 present day, but although they weren’t large they are known for their abounding cultural tradition and past. The Ponca tribe of Oklahoma had a mixed culture of the Middle Mississippi and Plains people. They were Siouan speakers, or the Dhegiha, which also included the Ohama, Osage, Quapaw, and Kansa tribes. The

Ceremony and rituals have played a vital and essential role in Native American culture for a long time. Often referred to as “religion,” most Native Americans did not think their spirituality, ceremonies, and rituals as “religion,” the same way that Christians do. Instead, their beliefs and practices form an integral and seamless part of their being. Like other aboriginal people around the world, their beliefs were heavily influenced by their ways of getting food, – from hunting to agriculture. They also did ceremonies and rituals that gave power to conquer the difficulties of life, as wells as events and milestones, such as puberty, marriage, and death. Over the years, practices and ceremonies changed with tribes '

The Eastern Woodland Indians lived in a lifestyle that was greatly affected by their area of living. The food they ate, the clothes they wore, and the kind of homes they lived in were all a result of where they lived. The environment that the Eastern Woodland Indians lived in was filled with trees, animals, plants, rivers, lakes, and wildlife. Some of the tribes that lived in the Eastern Woodlands area were the Mohicans, Iroquois, Powhatan, Mohawks .

Janet Spector’s book What The Awl Means is a break-way writing that reflects on many relevant issues within archeology during the twentieth century. She addresses the academic issues within archeology specifically when learning about Native Americans. Through in-depth reports on archeological sites and artifacts Spector, introduces a new form of archeological review. She introduces her primary intensions to replace orthodox archeological methods, by integrating Native American voices into her project. But, Spector’s specific motives to dismantle the ignorance people hold towards Native American specifically in archeology, is ineffective. Spector gives effective judgment when expressing her internal

I thought it was interesting how far the diseases had spread and how greatly it impacted the native Americans as a society. It was interesting how the diseases spread farther then the Europeans had even gone, through being spread from native to native. Personally, the illustrations used in the video to demonstrate the spread of the diseases was quite informative and entertaining, and helped clearly show how they spread. I also thought it was fascinating that when they landed at Plymouth, they used the ghost towns left by civilizations who had died out from the diseases; and that many civilizations that shared the same fate were lost to

The Living-dead is our closest link to the spiritual world. The Living-dead can be protectors for families and warn them of up and coming trouble. The Living-dead is still considered a part of the family that they were in when they were fully human. That being said the living dead are not fully treated like family. It is said that the living dead should not come around too often or humans will resent them the relationship between humans and the living dead is just supposed to be an occasional meeting. Humans are also supposed to offer food to The-living dead and show hospitality or else illness and other misfortunes might appear and could be connected to the anger and rage from the living-dead feeling unwelcomed. The Living-dead become fully dead and become spirits once the last living person on earth who knew them

We have all learned about Native Americans in some form or another. From the first Thanksgiving to Columbus's voyage to the new world. But, it truly seemed from that point on, that Native Americans somehow disappear from our history classes. That's more than 300 years of history that just vanished and cease to exist from that point on. Recently I have learned about some of the numerous events that happened in those 300 years. Over time, Native Americans were forced to flee or cede the land that they have hunted, gathered, and lived on for countless years. Through treaties, acts, and battles, they found themselves on reservations

In the book Cave Rock: Climbers, Courts, and A Washoe Indian Sacred Place, the authors Matthew S. Makley and Michael J. Makley describe the history of legal dispute between a small Nevada Native American tribe, called Washoe, and non-Native climbers, over the use of Cave Rock. For a countless generation of Washoes, Cave Rock was the center of a great spiritual significance. The site use was strictly restricted to the Shamans, the most powerful traditional Indian doctors. The doctors do not explain what they do in the rock, but the Washoes claim that what the Shamans do up in the rock has “something to do with power involving extremely secretive and sacred rites” (10). While the rest of Washoe tribes have avoided trespassing the site, the Native doctors used the Cave to connect with powerful forces (11). However, the Washoes were shocked when the first highway tunnel was blasted into the rock in 1931, and then again a second tunnel in 1957 (20). The Washoe believed that the Spirit of Cave Rock will haunt those involved in the destruction. Undeniably, the construction was delayed by over two months from the original completion date due to several accidents on site (21-22).