The Ceremony Tayo: Colonialism

White vs. Native Americans Knowing the fact that Native Americans were pushed toward the Middle West and had to settle down against their wills are depressing. When the first Europeans came to this remote land and decided to make it their home, I was not sure whether they could imagine that the whole land is dominated by “invaders” called by the Native Americans, including the native Hawaii. “From a Native Daughter” by Haunani-Kay Trask showed us how these Natives’ feelings are being overlooked and silenced by white historians who do not know their language and culture. The author questioned Western historians were “looking at them with Western eyes, thinking about them within Western philosophical contexts, categorizing them by Western indices,

Petalesharo’s writing reflected the treatment of Native Americans during the 1800s. Being a Native American himself, Petalesharo was able to give perspective on a point in history typically viewed from a white man’s opinion. The excerpt “Petalesharo” explains how the Native American was able “to prevent young women captured by other tribes from being sacrificed”, making Petalesharo well liked by the Americans (588). Petalesharo gave the “Speech of the Pawnee Chief” infront of Americans to convey the differences between Native Americans and Americans through emotion, logic, and credibility, which showed how the two groups will never be the same, but still can coexist in the world together.

He goes on to show how different white men and Native Americans are; by how they collect food by hunting, where they choose to live is not in the same place for long periods, and although white men have everything they did not have the right to take away liberty.

In Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown delivers the reader with a Native American history of the west. Providing the narrative with historical accounts and primary sources, Brown offers a unique view into the past. Brown’s book offers several fascinating accounts of Native American culture during the nineteenth century. The reader should analyze the aspects offered by Brown to understand how the author’s book provides a unique history of the Native American West. Brown’s thesis provides the reader with a unique narrative of Native American identity and history in the West.

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).

The usual Western way of coping with some concept or ritual that seems 'other' or strange, is to search for an equivalent that will familiarise and anaesthetise the shock that there are other ways to exist and interact. The myth of the “vanishing Indian” is thoroughly brought out in Source 2 of Morgan’s Ancient Society, where the author’s superior, keen tone to the description of Native Americans and how they were all “savages” and were incapable of adapting the concepts of modern American civilization. As a result, Morgan’s thoughts were that Americans would pervade Native American territories, expecting American Indians to fail to subside to their way of life and thus result in war between the two, eventually leading to the decimation of Native

His own journey ended this speculation that he, in fact, is a true Native American more than emo and his friends, more than anyone who calls themselves pure. This discovery might have happened over a long period of time with small individual connections to animals and people that might have seemed insignificant. But each of these animals; the fly, the cattle and the mountain lion, all exposed Tayo to see his own struggles that he is having. And in order for one in any situation face their problems head on, one must know them first, one must know what directly causes them to happen. This is exactly what does on his journey of self-opening, even though it is not planned he was able to see these struggles in each and every animal and living being.

In document four he says “If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place.” He’s saying that he is an Indian and no one should try and change who he is. In 1887, the Dawes act was passed, this forced Native Americans to be more like whites. It made them farm with whites and send their children off to American boarding schools. In the boarding schools, their children learned how to farm, do manual labor, and how to speak English.

Both sides of each party were fighting for something that they wanted for their people. Even though both things wanted were not the same, they still inspire both parties to aspire the savage actions that did occur. The white man did have a reason to do the things they did, which is okay since it was an act of self defense. But what they had done was push farther than they need too to prevent it from happening again. Which made the Indians strike back in their act of self defense.

The power of stories manifests itself in literature, film, and more generally life. Stories inspire, provide hope, and bring understanding. Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel Ceremony permeates the strength of stories. Ceremony follows the story of Tayo, a half white Native American plagued by the invasion of European culture, as well as his own past of war and loss. However, through the folk stories of his Laguna culture, as well as the advice he has been given to embrace his past, Tayo is able to see the world more clearly. He is also able to reconnect to the traditions of his ancestors through these stories, which in turn allows him to synthesize the events of his own life. The constantly evolving folk tales and recollections of Tayo’s experiences

On the other hand, as the story of Ceremony progresses, Tayo’s Native American cultural background affects his morality. In the beginning, during a conversation Tayo has with his uncle Josiah, the book states, He pointed his chin at the springs and around at the narrow canyon. “This is where we come from, see. This sand, this stone, these trees, the vines, all the wildflowers. This earth keeps us going.”

The Indian peoples, who by no fault of their own, were so blatantly exploited to the benefit and profit of an elite class is nothing new. The story of indentured servitude reinforces the narrative that anywhere there is a solution to efficiently solve a problem, no matter the expense, a certain sect of society will exploit it to their own gain. Throughout history, this has always been the case. From the despots of the Ancient world, to the kings and queens of the middle ages, to men such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, weaknesses in societies will always be systematically used to oppress. Viewing the film, this point is reinforced, extremely tragically, might

Because of the Industrial Revolution, many Europeans began to seek out other places and countries to colonize in and to find resources. In the 1760s natives from other lands were seen as individuals, thanks to Enlightenment thinking, and they were praised as individuals and seen as noble savages. Later, however in the 1910s the views of natives began to change and the natives began to be seen as uneducated primitives, a people who did not understand things as well as the “European mind.” During the Enlightenment, individualism was encouraged and so was the native culture of other people. William Smith (document 1) was a British soldier who was part of the troops that were able to get white prisoners back from primitive natives.

The White Scourge_ shows the pathology of a racial system that continues to produce both material poverty and poverty of spirit. The users ' mentality develops in such a way that everyone -- even those who

They truly wanted justice in the United States and most of the time, they were shot down. However, with this belief that the white men could soon be gone, they would do basically anything to get that. After the all, the white men were the ones holding the Indians back. In conclusion, this article has taught me that you can believe in something that may not be realistic. The Indians thought it was reasonable, but of course looking at it now from my point of view, I know that it was not.