Abstract This paper presents an examination of the wilderness area of the Continental Divide Trail and takes at look at its history, modern threats to its ecological systems, and efforts that are being made to preserve it.
From the Paper "The Continental Divide Trail is controversial because its construction has touched on issues that were present back in the days of the Old West: it impedes on the territories of some Native American tribes, it has the potential to exploit or destroy delicate ecosystems and animal species that live along the trail, and it paves a path over virgin terrain for white yuppies to exploit previously uninhabited lands. As we will see in this paper, these current events are directly related to the historic settlement of the Old West. "
Abstract This paper discusses American history from 1607 to 1877. The paper answers a variety of questions pertaining to the coming of Europeans to the continent and how it changed the Indian society. The paper also points out the pressures that the Indians faced soon after the American War of Independence.
From the Paper "The American Indians are a group of diverse people of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean islands who in many respects resemble the Mongoloid people of Asia, which has a led to their classification as a subtype of the Mongoloid race. However their physical diversity and the possession of certain features not common among Mongoloids suggests other origins. The ensuing section of the essay will deal with a few relevant issues of the American Indians with respect to the coming of the Europeans in the continent."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the damages caused to First Nations families by residential schools even though the government at that time felt it was the right thing to do.
From the Paper "The government felt that by sending First Nations people to residential schools they were bettering themselves for the future ahead of them. They felt that their way, "the Indian way", of life was of a lesser quality than that of the European way of life and education. They wanted to make them equal to the white man. The federal government began to play a role in the development and administration of the residential school systems as early as 1874, done mainly to meet its obligation, under the Indian Act, to provide an education and lifestyle for the Aboriginal people."
Abstract This paper examines the story of Shawnee chief and military leader Tecumsheh of the native people of North America. The author looks at how this leader impacted his community and the role that he played in the Indian resistance during the time. The paper also looks at his rise to power and contributions.
From the Paper "The story of Shawnee chief and military leader Tecumseh is one that is all too common in its combination of tragedy, courage, and unimaginable loss, a story told dozens of times as the native peoples of North America sought to maintain their culture and save their live while fighting against forces with what would prove time and again to be overwhelmingly superior weapons. This paper examines the role that Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa played in organizing Indian resistance to white rule in the Ohio River valley and in seeking to create intertribal alliances and the factors that lead to their defeat and Tecumseh's death."
Tags: leader, military, India, America, allinace, defeat
Abstract This paper of shows the difference between the movies Pow Wow Highway and Evolution's End?: The Clear Cut Facts- one fiction and one documentary - and how each one attempts to get its message across in an alternative form. It also shows how the use of movies has increased as a political tool for marginalized groups in society. The Native Americans population is the focus of this paper.
Abstract This paper analyzes a study done of the Glenrose Cannery Site in the 1970s. The various excavations at the site between 1969 and 1973 are discussed in detail, and the results are analysed and evaluated.
From the paper:
"The analysis of fish, pollen, shellfish, mammalian and avian remains and artifacts from the site were studied to find "the origins of the densely populated culturally complex, maritime adaptation of the Pacific Northwest Coast", and ?the origin of the Locarna Bach and Marpole phases in the last millenium B.C.? (Matson, 1976) Little is known about this and views range from Asiatio origins to local development. (Matson, 1976) ?Thus is was hoped that the investigation of the Glenrose midden would shed some light on the origins of the unique Northwest Coast pattern by detailing the subsistence strategies related to pre-Locarno material on the edge of the Fraser Delta.?
Abstract This paper examines the conversion of Native Americans during the colonial period, primarily in the 16th and 17th centuries. The author delineates the conversion methods of the Spanish, the French, and the English, as well as the resistance movements on the part of the Native Americans. The essence of the paper lies in analyzing the effects of conversion, and how the groups interacted with each other.
From the Paper "It is not often that one thinks of any European nation as uncultured or backward, but it takes only a single look towards the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the conquest of North America to see that perhaps the conquered were more forward moving, at least spiritually, than their conquerors. Though thought to be savage and primitive, the natives of North America had long since developed coherent religious systems, as intricate as those of the Europeans - even bearing similarities to them. Christianity and its various forms, however, proved to be a much less understanding opponent to the Native Americans, who hardly expected to be opposed in the first place. Along with the "discovery" of the New World came an onslaught of attempts towards conversion."
Abstract This essay explores two ways prevalent in the 20th century of preservation of the Native American culture: imperialist nostalgia and salvage ethnography, both of which are a reconstruction of the Native American culture from a Western viewpoint. The essay concludes that while the preservation accomplished was not faithful to the culture it strove to conserve, it did succeed in providing a vehicle for its remembrance, leading to the Native Americans' preservation of their own culture.
From the Paper "The dust kicked up in the frenzy of Western expansion and manifest destiny has settled and is finally beginning to clear. Now, in light of a new civilized nation, questions are being raised as to just what was stamped out in the process. This is not the first time these questions have been raised; in fact, such concerns existed even while the damage was being done. They were answered by voices overwhelmed with guilt and thus resulted in the salvage collecting and imperialist nostalgia whose births followed queue to that of our nation."
Abstract This paper is an in-depth exploration of the Hopi Tribe of northern Arizona and the Yanomami Tribe of Brazil and Venezuela. The author contrasts and compares both of these peoples and illustrates the differences, as well as the many similarities between these two cultures that are located so far apart. Some of the topics covered are their individual histories, descendants, culture, patterns of living, religion, the role of their respective governments in their ability to maintain their respective homelands and the role of that agriculture plays in both societies.
From the Paper "The life at the Hopi villages revolves around their religious calendar. The calendar is divided on the basis of the visits of the "Kachinas". The Kachinas are believed to be the ancestral spirits which arrive after the winter and leave at the time when the summer season is at its peak. To recognize and celebrate their stay, colorful ceremonies and dances are arranged in the village plazas. It is believed that such ceremonies are going to benefit the people, plants, animal and spirit life of the tribe. When these Kachinas finally depart from the tribe, stamped images of the Kachinas are given as spiritual gifts. The Katsinam, who perform the public dances, are sacred to the Hopi people, as are the carved Kachinas which have been ceremonially sanctified. The religion is something of prime importance in the Hopi culture."
Extensive bibliography but no footnotes, or endnotes.
An analysis of the essay "Stereotyping" from "We Talk, You Listen" by Sioux scholar, Vine Deloria addressing the issue of stereotyping of Native Americans in the media and entertainment arenas.
Abstract This paper looks at the issue of stereotyping of Native Americans in the entertainment world - mainly in Hollywood movies. It looks at how other minority group have also been treated - Hispanics and African Americans and compares these attitudes. It explains how dangerous these stereotypes are and how easily they enter the subconscious.
From the Paper "Stereotypes once dominated the public's perception of the Native American. Deloria gives examples of the portrayals of Native Americans in Westerns, World II films, and documentaries. Native Americans were once depicted as strange, having little or no speech, or living in unending poverty. In order to dissect Deloria's arguments into its basic parts, the Toulmin method will be used to see how the arguments are justified. Toulmin described six elements to forming an argument: claims, grounds, warrants, backing, qualifiers and rebuttals ? the sequence of which is artificial (Toulmin 25). Thus the first claim that Deloria makes is that "Movie Indians" had completely blocked out the idea of realistic Native Americans. Since Western movies were very popular, they dominated the public's perception of Native Americans. To support the claim, Deloria's ground is that the actors, Jay Silverheels and Ed Ames, portrayed unrealistic Native American characters. The warrant is that stereotypes do not portray real representations of minorities. Since ?warrants are not self-validating,? further supporting considerations (backings) are used (Toulmin 58). The backing of Deloria's warrant is that the motion pictures portrayed stereotypes of minorities. The rebuttal is that unless the minority groups fight to discontinue the stereotyping, the media's version predominates. Deloria presented the examples of two minority groups that fought against stereotyping which resulted in more realistic portrayals of their race. He writes that Italians suppressed the mobster images in The Untouchables, and Blacks were able to have more realistic images of themselves by actors such as Cosby and Poitier (Deloria 33). The qualifier indicates the strength of the claim. The qualifier for this claim is ?completely.? Realistic Native Americans "have been completely covered up by movie Indians" (Deloria 33).'
Tags: native, american, indian, minority, bias, prejudice, hollywood, movie
Abstract This paper, written in first person, begins with how the writer's knowledge of Native American's unfair treatment was opaque. It then discusses the Natives' first traces in America, and gradually works up to how their lives and culture has changed over the past hundred years to the present day.
From the Paper "Growing up in the sheltered environment in which I live, I was not aware of many things that occurred outside my microcosm. I was deprived from the "real" world, incognizant of the fact that there are millions of people suffering for different reasons. Some suffer from physical illness, while others suffer because of their self-induced mistakes. I hated being so unaware of what was happening in my world. A few years ago my views opened up. It was like a blindfold had been tilted and now I could see light. Things were coming into light. Before this time I was only taught the "good" aspects, never even learning the "bad" side. A great example of this is my knowledge of Native Americans. I was always taught how Native Americans and the white man's relationship was peaceful and harmonious. How they were treated just like everything else, not knowing of their wounded past. I was always deprived from the truth. I never knew about the bloody wars which resulted in millions of casualties or the land stolen from right under the Indians? feet. I never knew about the hardships endured or the government's approval to remove Indians from their land. Nevertheless, the Native Americans have survived this ill treatment. Although the relocating of Native American's land may have resulted in everlasting pain, location could never destroy their culture."
Abstract This paper looks at the discoveries of archaeologists of the first civilization in the Louisiana area. It discusses the geography of the time, the history of investigation, influences from other cultures, ceremonial findings and material culture that have been discovered by archaeologists.
From the Paper "It is thought that man first arrived in Louisiana around 10,000 B.C. The delta of the Mississippi River began to form around 5,000 B.C., and man did not arrive in present day Jefferson Parish until about 500 B.C. The pre-history of human habitation in the delta region can be divided into five major cultural periods: Tchefuncte, Marksville, Troyville, Coles Creek, and the Plaquemine Period. In the lower Mississippi valley, all cultural activity on a Hopewellian horizon is historically subsumed under the term "Marksville". Beginning somewhere around 100 B.C., the resident Tchefuncte cultural system began to spread around the lower Mississippi valley. The Marksville Period overlaps with the end of the Tchefuncte spanning from around 200 B.C. to around 100 A.D. The Marksville culture spread into Louisiana from the Ohio Valley bringing primitive agriculture. The cultural changes are best seen in ceramics, which closely represent certain Hopewellian pottery of the Illinois valley, and mortuary practices, such as burial mounds. These cultural changes are from which the Marksville culture came to light. The time frame of the culture is 100B.C. to A.D. 400. The Troyville period succeeded the Marksville period from about A.D. 500 to about A.D. 1100. The Troyville culture is somewhat indistinctly defined and represents a transition between the Marksville Period and the later Coles Creek and Plaquemine Periods."
This paper presents a carefully prepared analysis of the book "Exterminate Them: Written Accounts of the Murder, Rape and Enslavement of Native Americans during the California Gold Rush", by Clifford E. Trafzer and Joel R. Hyer.
540 words (approx. 2.2 pages), 0 sources, 2002, $ 19.95
Abstract The writer of this paper uses this book to identify and analyze the book's subject matter, which is the treatment of Native Americans in California, from the time the white men arrived, until the state was firmly taken over by them. The paper also discusses the author's main aim which is to link the subject of torture and genocide when it comes to Native Americans. The final aspect that is addressed is whether or not the writer of this paper believed the author was successful in his attempt to convey his points.
From the Paper "Throughout American history, students are taught about the Native American plight. Many times, people believe that the way it is presented is a sugar coated version of the real events. In "Exterminate Them: Written Accounts of the Murder, Rape and Enslavement of Native Americans during the California Gold Rush, By Clifford E. Trafzer and Joel R. Hyer, the reader gets a targeted realistic overview of what the author believes was a straight genocide approach in an attempt to rid the state of California of the Native Americans who were here long before white man entered the nation".
Abstract This paper examines the history and folklore behind the creation story of the Chiricahua Apache. The creation story is presented to the reader, and is referenced throughout the paper. The history of the Apache is discussed, including where and how they lived, their connection to the land and how the creation story would influence their day-to-day decisions. According to this paper, their religion was central to all aspects of their lives, their behavior and means of survival. Their interaction with the white population, whether violent, or friendly, can all be traced back to their belief in their own creation story.
From the Paper "By the beginning of the 17th century the Chiricahua Apache had achieved, from what can be determined from the archaeological record, a relatively settled way of life. They grew corn as well as other crops such as beans ? although there were certainly still semi-nomadic groups. Their joint dependence on agriculture and nomadic food collection and herding may have been due to the sporadic nature of rainfall in the Southwest. Nomadicism is a rational response during a year in which there is not enough rainfall."
Tags: ritual, kamalapukwia, sakarakaamche, amjakupooka, water, ancestors, land
An insight into the Native American religious system. The paper discusses six bases of religion and shows how religion has influenced the people and societies who support it.
Abstract Since the beginning of time religion has played an important part in people's lives. How people worship can be as varied as the lands they live in. The Native American Indians are a group that have many beliefs and rituals. This paper discusses how their religion is based on spirits and the belief of a higher power and that the ceremonies they perform can range from ones concerning harvest and giving thanks to Ghost Dances and Death rituals.
From the Paper "The Indians believe in Spirits and the supernatural. The Hopi Indians describe Spirits as a being that ?may have greater than human powers (Geertz).? They feel these powers can be evil or be able to accomplished great things. They believe kachinas are powerful because they can make it rain. A kachina is a powerful supernatural being, or one who possesses the being during a religious ceremony. The Hopi also believe that there are those who are invisible and help them with knowledge. They consider these spirits to have superhuman strength. Some such spirits which perform many feats in their tales are the Old Spider Woman and her grandsons, and the Sun god. The Hopi ask each being to help them in their lives using their own special gifts (Geertz)."
