Personal Narrative: Native American Childhood Barriers

To gain a true understanding of Native Americans and their culture, historians must not only examine the trials and tribulations Indians endured in the past, but also the contemporary issues the group faces. Currently, physical illnesses, psychological disorders, economic instability, and negative stereotypes continue to plague Native American communities. Popular sayings, like “Indians will be Indians” and “noble savages,” continue to haunt the culture. The use of the stereotypical Indian or “uncivilized savage” in toys, books, cars, foods, and sports teams, demonstrates how the American society is unfortunately accustomed to the prevalent stereotypes against Native Americans. The

I believe the colonies and everyone living there should remain loyal to England. Many close people in my life agree with me, such as my husband, Sir William Johnson, a British official. My brother, Joseph Brant, a Native american who was with the British government. I belie the colonists will take our land, and England would never take our land. For example, some colonists pushed me out of my own house, forcing me to flee to Canada. So I have every reason to fear for my fellow Native American tribes.

If I were a plain’s Indian living in the 1900s my reservation would be the Choctaw reservation. I would explain to my grandkids that us as plains Indians we were great wanderers, travelers but we did not like farming. We were greatly known for being great warriors and fighters by using the tactic of gorilla warfare as a sneak attack. One of the many threats that happened to our culture, was the loss of our buffalo. We greatly depended on the buffalo for our food and clothes. Another threat was superior weapons we did not have enough. We also battled diseases. We did not have immunity to diseases and Alcoholism also came to play an important role in destroying our culture.

Growing up in a big Hmong family, I was never the right child to begin with. It was believed and practiced that boys are the one and only person that will carry on the family clan name to the next generation. Women on the other hand, were viewed the opposite compared to men. Women were expected to marry at a young age and leave their family behind to go live with their husband side of the family. Because of this, women were often not being supported in getting an education. Getting an education is a way harder and darker road for women compared to men. From my point of view as a kid in Laos, men have only a few roles which include going to school and farming. Women, however, have many roles from farming to cooking and if they are fortunate enough, schooling.

Growing up in America and having a parent from another country comes with many perks and stories. In case you haven't read the title or wondering which parent is from another country; My father is from a small island in Central America named Belize. To give you the brief history about Belize, Belize first inhabitants were the Mayans from the beginning of time until the fourteenth century due to them mysteriously declining in population. The Mayans had a huge roll in the Central American countries. This due to the fact that they developed the idea of hieroglyphics, which back then was the only fully known writing system of the pre-Columbian Americas-as well as for its mathematics, astronomical system, art, calendar, and architecture. By the

Growing up in Hawaii, the idea of community was always such a fundamental part of who I was. I have never looked at it from the perspective of how it benefited me rather how it benefitted everyone around me. Everything I have done from joining local clubs that enriched the Hawaiian culture to volunteering with the west Hawaii special olympics program have helped me become the person I am today. My family has had a huge role in making sure that I am involved with the community. They passed down their practices in paddling, environmental conservation of Kealakekua Bay and encouraging the people who need it the most.

I identify as Black. Growing up as a minority in America has shaped my identity by making me a creative, hard working, and understanding individual. By being Black in America I realized that there is this stigma that Black kids can’t excel in certain areas of education because the majority of our neighborhood and public schools lack the proper resources for us to do so. While this stigma holds truth, I refuse to let this stigma handicap me. Growing up with less resources allowed me to be creative. If there was something I did not have I was sure that I could create an equivalent to what I did not have by using materials that I did have.

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).

With a ticket in my hand, I would go to the place that holds a lot of memories. This location would be the Native American reservation that includes the miniscule towns Tsaile, Chinle, and Lukachukai in Arizona. Through many years my great grandma, grandma, and mother grew up on this Navajo reservation. On this vast land, there were many homes my family members lived in and national attractions.

Life as a Native American sucks. I realized this when I was a little kid. I’ve come to accept that what other people label or describes us as are true. I’m not happy to admit this they are right. My people don’t do anything to prove these people’s claims, or better known as stereotypes, about Native Americans wrong. Instead they do the complete opposite and just give these people all the reasons why they are right about how Native Americans are. I realized how my people being called as alcoholic, poor, and uneducated are all sadly true. For example, on New Year’s eve, my family had a big party which was suppose to be fun. It was suppose to be a good get-together family party, but as expected it wasn’t like that at all. My two uncles, named Adolph and Arnold, got into a very bloody fistfight with each other due to all of the drinking that they had. As a

Upon meeting me, not many people know that I am a first generation American. However, they are usually interested in the orgin of my last name. I am in fact Ukranian. Both my parents and my older sister were born in Ukraine. They immigrated to America in 1992 because of religious persecution that they were facing. After immigrated, they had three more children. I was the second child to be born in America in 1996. I have lived in Denver Colorado my entire life and I currenty am attending Regis University.

Growing up in an immigrant household in America, was difficult. I didn’t live, I learned to adapt. I learned to adapt to the fact that I did not look like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that my hair texture would never be like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that I was not as financially well off as my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that unlike other people who have families of four, I had a family of seven and numerous amounts of close relatives. That my parents, although lived in America for quite sometimes grew up in Nigeria, so English was not their first language so I adapted and changed myself in order to fit into societal standards. I learned to understand and interpret my parents’ native Igbo dialect but left that part of myself at home so that people will view me as the perfect American citizen.

Tradition is the customs or beliefs that has been pass on to generation to generation. Native American have their own tradition such as when they trade, it meant a welcome gift or a way to gain relationship. However, the European trade and their material goods had a negative impact on their lives because they slowly lost their identity. While Native Americans was adapting to the Europeans’ homes, they did not noticed that they are started to becoming them. For example, in chapter 3, All Stuff of Life, Calloway stated that; “Archaeologists excavating eighteenth-century sites in the eastern united states often find it difficult to determine whether a settlement was Indian or European on the basis of the material unearthed.” This shows that Indians

I was a fourth grader when my dad told me that we were moving to the Unites States, “land of wealth, excitement, and fabulous cities.” But there clearly was a mistake; I was brought to the middle of nowhere in the arid region of the Hopi Native American Reservation in Arizona. Our family’s migration to the United States was not a well-planned search for lucrative opportunity, international education, freedom, or happiness. Rather, it was a call to mission. Yet I struggled to accept it, because I thought that I was only forced to follow my parents. They always told me, “you came to Hopi for a reason too,” nevertheless "Yup, I know. I know," was my sarcastic response.

“Native Americans had it the worst of any group! There’s really nothing that can be done now… Seriously…what “struggles” do they face now anyway?” (F).