Abstract The paper explains that Jack Weatherford began to examine the history of the Native American as he discovered that many agricultural products would not have been produced in farming without the knowledge that Indians gave those in the new world. The paper describes how Weatherford further stipulates that it is through these advances in agriculture that the United States has remained a strong contender in the global market ,and that without the influences of the Native Americans on the early settlers those new to America would not have survived. The paper analyzes how, through his work, "Indian Givers: How Indians of the Americas Transformed the World", Volume I, Weatherford brings an insight to a people that most individuals have been negligent in understanding. The paper concludes that it is Weatherford's purpose to demonstrate that Native Americans have been a misrepresented and forgotten people when the history of North America is discussed.
Abstract This paper discusses treatment of Native Americans? rights to their sacred sites under US Constitutional law. Three law journal articles are reviewed and utilized to form a thesis promoting the concept of communal religious rights. Historical background is provided also.
From the Paper "The first clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America states: ?Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.?[1] However, throughout U.S. history, the federal government has deliberately restricted and prohibited the religious practices of North America's indigenous Native Americans. Rather than confront this severe blight on the country's human rights record, the various branches of the Euro-cultured U.S. government gloss over past transgressions of First Amendment rights, even as they attempt to justify new violations of Native Americans? religious rights."
From the Paper "The subject of this paper is the process by which history is manipulated. The thesis of this paper is that even learned history is subject to manipulation of a sort, the same manipulation of dominant cultural interpretation that permeates taught history. A case in point is the historical record of General George Armstrong Custer, the Sioux Nation, and the Battle at Little Big Horn.
During the winter of 1875-1876, the Army tried to collect all the Indians quickly. The Indians in Montana were out hunting, however, because the winter was so severe that the reservation needed more food. Whether the Indians knew the Army wanted them back or not, they did not respond to the Army's attempts. Consequently, the Army went after them. Custer, who was in charge, expected to find a small group, but he discovered..."
From the Paper "From the first pages of Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes' El Indio, it is made clear that the men who brought modernization to the area are men who seek their own enrichment and men who do not care about the poor people. The first words out of their mouths are lies: "The white man explained: his masters had a few things to sell that might please the villagers; they were studying the countryside and, incidentally, sought a few curative herbs" (15). But when the men are alone, the truth is revealed with respect to their true intentions in the village: "I have questioned the old one carefully; he tells me there are no mines around here; as to the cache of gold, he insists he never heard tell of it; and that he knows nothing at all of gilded idols" (19).
One remarkable incident in the book typifies the impact of modernization and the nature of the abuse of power on the part of..."
Abstract This paper explains how traditions must change over time to remain relevant and shows how Leslie Marmon Silko illustrates the importance of oral tradition and language with Tayo's story in her novel, "Ceremony". It examines how Native Americans believe that when people speak, they exchange spirits and the addition of human breath transforms sounds into words and gives them life. The living word then becomes a part of each individual who hears it which is why oral tradition is so important to them. It compares Auntie and Josiah and how they view tradition and people outside their race and how Silko uses Auntie to represent people who blindly follow the traditions of the past while not believing in the spirit behind them.
From the Paper "Oral tradition includes many different forms including "letters, anecdotes, gossip, jokes, poems, legends, family stories, crafted stories"that must be included for a person to become self-knowing, to create community and even to comprehend the evil, the witchery, which disrupts community? (Brown). Silko uses many of these forms in Ceremony. The novel, as a whole, is an example of a crafted story. The different components of the novel are also important parts of the oral tradition. Grandma "liked to sit by her stove and gossip about the people who were talking about their family" (Silko 89). As she gossiped, she carried on that tradition. The story of Tayo is also a good example of Silko using the oral tradition, because it is an example of a family story."
Abstract The paper examines how David Stannard, in his book "American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World" describes the European settlement in America as the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world, focusing on how the native Indian population were all but wiped out by white settlement. It evaluates how the author's thesis is that the perpetrators of the American holocaust based their actions on the same Christian ideology as those of the Nazi holocaust. It looks at how Stannard uses a variety of historical evidence to argue his thesis including newspapers, Congressional records and the journal entries of European settlers. It also analyzes how the author makes a strong argument for his case and how he makes a distinct the bias against the white settlers, with their actions seeming to be emphasized more than is necessary and them being presented as racist.
From the Paper "While the research is thorough, it does appear that Stannard is biased towards presenting the Indian population as better than the white people. In the first part of the book, Stannard describes the rich culture and the attitude of the native Indians. Stannard argues that they are a kind and generous people. This includes the argument that the Indian population were probably open to working with the white people, but were not given the opportunity. Stannard provides anecdotes to make this point. This includes stories such as one where a tribe low on food met another tribe without food. The first tribe shared their goods with the second tribe. By using such anecdotes, the author suggests that the Indians are the better people. This anecdote also compares the Indians with the white settlers. The Indians were able to accept another tribe as their own people, while the Americans were biased against those with differences. This is a common argument the author makes, often referring to the white settlers as racist."
Abstract This paper discusses Anthony F.C. Wallace's book "The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca" which tells the story of the Seneca Native American tribe of the Iroquois Nation and deals mainly with the Seneca prophet named Handsome Lake and the religion he created. The paper covers details about the religion, as described in the book, which functions like a church, as well as the history of the Seneca tribe and their move away from their traditions.
From the Paper "The remainder of the book goes on to discuss more about Handsome Lake's reformation and religion, while he continues to have visions and begin preaching his Gospel. Handsome Lake died in 1815, but his followers continued to worship his religion which included a "daily life of temperance, peace, land retention, acculturation, and domestic morality" (Wallace 263), which Handsome Lake himself lived and practiced. He saw the wisdom of schooling the Seneca children, and learning to farm and keep domestic animals like the white settlers surrounding their reservations. The sad part of this is; the Seneca gave up their lifestyle to the white ways, which may have been inevitable, but still changed their way of life forever. They could never go back to hunting in the forest and living peacefully in their wilderness, their lives were forever intertwined with the white man and his ways."
Abstract Shows how the author's intent to destroy myths surrounding Indians is simplistic and incorrect. Discusses the impact of the over-generalizations of white society on modern Native Americans and the failure of the reservation system and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
From the Paper "The major purpose of Vine Deloria's 1969 book Custer Died For Your Sins is to destroy the myths surrounding Indians (as Native Americans were called at that time). Deloria particularly attacks the myth of Indians as "noble savages" as not only incorrect ..."
Abstract This paper examines how "Ishi in Two Worlds" tells the tale of an Indian man who was accustomed to living a traditional way of life and then was thrust into the full brunt of modern American civilization by a cruel accident. It looks at how it is the story of a man who dwelled in two worlds, how he spent most of his life in the ways and sphere of the Yahi Indians, and how, after his tribe's eradication, he was forced to live in contemporary civilization, specifically in the context of the modern American university among well-meaning anthropologists who wished to study and learn from him.
From the Paper "Ishi's tale is thus at once fascinating and uncomfortable to hear, as the reader finds him or herself a witness to Indian histories, languages and narratives that would otherwise have been lost, yet also a fly-on-the-wall observer to the personal struggle of an essentially private individual, forced to cope with a civilization he never knew existed, a civilization that has overtaken his own even though it is not necessarily superior to the Yahi's ways. At least the anthropologist under whose care Ishi found himself had some of the current postmodern or tolerant mindset of today. They wished to learn about his culture with an open mind, rather than try to change him or to condemn the Yahi practices. Still, the solitude of Ishi's final years amongst White men and women makes his struggle even painful for a 21st century reader to acknowledge."
An analysis of Louise Erdrich's tale of characters linked in confusing extended family relationships who seek meaningful connection through tribal kinship.
Abstract Louise Erdrich uses her disjointed multiple narrative style to represent the similarly fragmented lives of her Native American characters whose home lives and family values cannot be expected to be what mainstream America would consider "normal" because their native traditions are no longer intact. Everything that their ancestors once stood for has been destroyed. The original natives of this continent, are now outsiders, alienated from the value systems established by the newcomers in their own homeland.
From the Paper "Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine is "a collection of interrelated short stories" ("Voices from the Gaps") with different narrators, about a group of Native Americans who are connected in confusing extended family relationships. As critics point out, telling stories in this disjointed way is part of the Anishinabe oral tradition in which characters evolve in stories told episodically over time (Stokes). Love Medicine centers around four Anishinabe* families, and although the Morrissey"s, Lamartines, Kashpaws and Pillagers don"t always get along, the underlying connectedness of the separate individuals is vital to these stories. In Louise Erdrich's world of dispossessed, alienated Native Americans, boundaries between families and kinship ties are often obscured and connections need to be discovered. For Erdrich's characters, biological ties and nuclear families are less important than tribal kinship."
Abstract The paper presents the opinions of several theorists analyzing how the media is controlled by a dominant race and how the media is used to portray that group's ideology. The paper details how the media's portrayal of Native Americans has changed over the decades. It shows how the shift in media representation of Native Americans is due to a shift in media ownership and pressure from minority groups to be included in a positive way.
From the Paper "The portrayal of Native Americans has changed significantly since the turn of the century, with the most significant changes occurring in the 1980s. In the 1950s "Indians" were portrayed as the aggressors who committed some unthinkable act, without reason or provocation, to some nice white folks who were just minding their own business. They were the bad guys and a hero was sent to avenge the act and bring about "justice". The 1960s and 1970s brought about the Native American as a victim."
This paper discusses the background, detail and the aftermath of the foreceful eviction of the Cherokee tribe from its ancestoral lands in 1838, an event known as the "Trail of Tears."
Abstract The paper introduces the Cherokee - one of the largest tribes of Native Americans in the United States. It shows how their survival is a tribute to their remarkable resistance since in the harsh winter of 1838 and 1839, the entire Cherokee tribe was threatened with extinction during an event that is known as ?The Trail of Tears.? The paper examines one of the darkest moments in American history, when the Federal troops under the orders of the United States government forcibly evicted the entire Cherokee tribe from their ancestral lands in Georgia to Oklahoma during a cruel 1000 mile forced journey. Out of a total of 16,000 Cherokee people, over 4000 men, women, and children died of hunger, disease, and exposure to the elements on the trail. The paper discusses how "The Trail of Tears" symbolizes the callousness with which the United States government treated the Native Americans due to greed and prejudice inherent in human nature. It covers the background, events and aftermath of the "Trail of Tears."
From the Paper "The Cherokee tribe bravely suffered their ordeal on the Trail of Tears setting to work in their new home. They built homes, schools and churches. They set up a government and named their capital "Tahlequah" that is still the cultural center of the Cherokees and the source of documented evidence of their history. The Indians were on the way of recovery from their ordeal when another devastating event intervened: The American Civil War. The Cherokees aligned themselves with the Confederacy since the South had promised that when the war was over they would be permitted to form their own state. After having supported the British during the American War of Independence, the Cherokee had again chosen the wrong side. So when the North won the Civil War, the Indians, were duly penalized. Most of their lands guaranteed by previous treaties were taken from them and their sad plight continued."
Abstract Discusses her rise to power in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma to Principal Chief. Her early impoverished life. Growing interest in tribal politics. Involvement with Naive Americans in San Francisco. How she helped bring self-sufficiency to her people and helped raise the status of women. Her contribution to the feminist movement in general.
From the Paper "The history of the women's rights movement is littered with trailblazers who led the way before women believed they would achieve equal rights with men in society. From the suffragettes of the early twentieth century to the "girlpower" divas of the new millennium, women have struggled to carve out a voice and message of their own. Significant strides have been made towards gender-equality in the past century, with the right to vote and the right to have an abortion signifying important milestones in the women's movement. And though the news is mostly good, there nevertheless remains a wide gulf in the way women and men are treated in our society. This fact is compounded by the deterioration of the feminist movement from its peak in the nineteen-sixties. As young women look to the new millennium, it is important that they identify leaders to emula..."
Abstract Louise Erdrich's "Love Medicine" follows the lives of several Native American families through five decades, with the main theme of the novel being the struggle between continuity and change. The paper shows that despite the novel's focus on the women in the novel, the brothers Eli and Nector Kashpaw have great symbolic weight as embodiments of the tendency toward preservation and change.
From the Paper "Eli, on the other hand, was "the old bachelor of the family" and his only child was the wild, wayward June whom he adopted (8). Unlike Nector, Eli did not participate in propagating the tribe. He often sought solitude in the woods and this choice could have no issue except for June, who died. June's sons, who repeat the modern/traditional dichotomy of Nector and Eli also fail in these roles as June had failed in the role of mother. King -- who married a white woman and moved away -- was a weak man of no character whose modernity did nothing for the tribe and less for himself. Lipsha had traditional gifts but lost them when he cut corners and botched the love spell."
Abstract Limerick's book is a work of synthesis designed to suggest a new, comprehensive ground on which the history of the American West, often fragmented into many different branches, can be approached afresh. The paper discusses Limerick's view that, contrary to popular thinking based on the ideas by Frederick Jackson Turner that the American Frontier closed officially in 1890, the 'settling of the west' experience was not an exclusively European domain. The book reminds the reader of the Indians, Hispanics, Asians and women whose involvement in the Western history was not a minor matter.
From the Paper "As Limerick notes in discussing current events that may have an impact on further shaping the West, every historian operates from a presentist context and it was a mistake for historians to ignore the fact that Turner's presentism exerted a particularly limiting force on his thesis. If historians today look at the continuities and common themes of Western history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, rather than adhering to the artificial 1890 watershed imposed by Turner's thesis, they will certainly, even if they do not accept every aspect of Limerick's own thesis, develop a means of viewing Western history in a comprehensive fashion."
Tags: savage, wilderness, cattlemen, Native, American
