Pueblo Ceremonial Dance No. 107 Analysis

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.

I came to a higher understanding of the importance of respecting someone’s culture and heritage after reading this week’s assignments. Unfortunately, the ignorance around us does not allow us to visualize the harm cause on Native Americans. For instance, I am no sports fan but have seen the logos and mascots of many teams in which American Indian’s figures and languages are used. It was not until today that I sympathize with many American Indians who are offended with those images and slangs. My ignorance was not as a participant in this behavior but of an individual unaware of the situation. In general, many of us are unaware of the dilemma that this issue presents but that is no excuse to help in promoting awareness.

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.

Navajo Code talkers were heros to our country and have waited years to be properly acknowledged for their heroic deeds. The unbreakable code based around the Navajo language and the language is one of the hardest to learn. The code had 411 terms that the Navajos turned words into military terms. The code was never broken even after the War. The Navajos life before the war consisting them never leaving there reservations. They were the largest Indian Reservation and the most recognized tribe in all of the United States of America. Children on those Reservation couldn’t speak their on language and when they were caught speaking the language they had their mouths washed out with soap. Much of the Navajos had never left the Reservation let alone

Smoke Signals is one of the most touching films of the 1990’s, based on Sherman Alexie’s short story, This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona. Although it is not a standard Western film, but one can learn much about American Indians’ life as it is a film created and acted by them. The indigenous characters of the film are not represented as the typical Western film’s American Indians, but the story represents indigenous life in a natural way, and gives a contemporary image to the viewer of them as the new generation American Indians, who grew up in Native American boarding schools, speak the English language well, and white people started to convert them into the Christian religion. The well-known stereotypes about their roots and lifestyle appear in a hidden, humorous way with the help of symbols that usually refers to their past; and do not appear in an easy, clear way, as it is hard to understand without any background information about Native Americans. In this paper I would like to search for the symbols of the film, analyse them, and try to understand the historical or even political background of these motifs, which pervades American Indian’s life, and can help us understand their spirituality that is deeply rooted in their culture.

One of the purposes of Bosque Redondo was that it would transform interned Native Americans, nullifying the danger they posed prior to placement on the reservation through a process of assimilation whereby the Navajos would become productive citizens. The ‘civilizing’ efforts of the U.S. military were ineffective on a fundamental level when dealing with the Navajos due to a lack of understanding of Navajo culture. The leadership in charge of Bosque Redondo failing to understand the facets of the culture that the ‘civilizing’ efforts were intended to modify, and futilely attempted to shoehorn Anglo-American institutions onto the Navajos. In contrast, earlier attempts made by Agent Dodge to aid the development prior to the placement of Navajos on Bosque Redondo proved to be notably more effective in harboring positive responses from the Navajos, being generally allowed to develop on their own terms with instruction rather than imprisoned on foreign land. Of all the external threats facing the Navajos, the attempts at Bosque Redondo regarding the ‘civilizing’ effects of the reservation were the most direct threat in the overwhelming of what was ‘Navajo’ through direct attempts at cultural erasure. The attempt to ‘civilize’ the Navajos had the effect of penetrating the most internal aspects of Navajo identity with the external

The Navajo Indian Tribe believes that it is disrespectful when someone points a finger at an object, or at someone. Their belief is that it is better to pucker their lips and nod their head toward the object. That is their way of displaying a ritual that is important to their cultural belief. If a nurse is trying to communicate with a Navajo Indian and he/she points to a communication board, then this shows disrespect according to their belief system. Another example from the Navajo tribe is that mothers allow their children to roam freely, whether it be in a hospital room, or the hallways. They actually encourage this behavior, not chastise the child because they feel this is their way of exploring their surroundings. It is important

From 1865 onward, Native American culture was greatly changed by the westward expansion of the united states. Government action effectively destroyed native culture. The US was not justified in its ruthless westward expansion because of the harm dealt to the native people and the change in the American economy.

There are 318.9 million people living in the United States and every citizen has the desire to fulfil their own American Dream. The traditional American Dream is a common concept known by all citizens but is viewed differently by each individual. Every American is different and believes they can be granted their dream or denied it. The American Dream means having the chance to live your dreams and committing yourself to the country that grants you so many opportunities. The American Dream is a reality; no matter who you are or what you do the dream never leaves. Some citizens struggle to accept that the dream is still there because of modern society and how it contributes to things such as financial instability.

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 Navajo are a Native American tribe, whose reservation land spreads over 14,000 square miles. Their homes, food, tools, clothing, and culture are not the same as ours. Yet they still have their similarities and differences.

In the beginning of the 20th century was the modernism era. It included amazing and famous painters, sculptors, draughtsmen, and printmakers. In this era an amazing artist was born called Henri Matisse. He was born in 31, December 1869 in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in Northern France. He was a painter, sculptor, drafts man, and printmaker. His mother was an amateur painter and his father was a corn merchant. He studied law from 1887 to 1891 and then decided to go to Paris, to become a painter. He drew some amazing paintings and all of them had a story behind it. He drew paintings to pass time. He painted his first masterpiece in 1897, it was called The Dinner Table.

In The working poor by David K shipler writes about the real poverty in America that many forget about.

I agree with your assessment of the paintings of Native American chiefs Charles Bird King and George Catlin. As you mentioned King painted his portrait of Keokuk Sac in his studio without having to travel and view the actual landscape and lifestyle of the Native Americans. I agree that Kings method calls into question the authenticity of the details of the portrait of Keokuk Sac. Also, Kings portrait shows little interaction between the artist and the subject. The methods of King directly contradict the methods of painting employed by artist George Catlin. George Catlin traveled to the west and studied the Native American culture to paint his portrait of Mah-To-Toh-Pa. Furthermore, Catlin showed his extensive interaction

In America, everything ranging from the clothes we wear to the hobbies we enjoy, all seem to revolve around money. The American Dream to me, is to be an American citizen, but also make a lot of money. In America, one has the ability to make more money than imaginable, all it takes is a little hard work. The American Dream is still very much accomplishable, but in modern America today, it is much more difficult to achieve than it used to be.