In An Indian Father’s Plea, culture strongly influences Wind-Wolf, the speaker’s son, in all aspects of his life. Wind-Wolf has been raised with certain values that have changed the way he interacts with others. Although others may not be accepting of him, he manages to make a friend who later abandons him because his mother states, “We don’t allow those kind of people in our house!” (Lake 78). Wind-Wolf’s experience with his white classmate’s culture urged him to assimilate into their customs and change his appearance because “Instead of being proud of his race, heritage, and culture, he feels ashamed.”
The article “Indian Mascots- You’re Out”, was published in the Los Angeles Times and written by Jack Shakely (37f, 42a). In his article, Shakely mostly focuses on the stereotypes involving Native American mascots. Jack Shakely writes about how the Indian Mascots are made out to be unintelligent or savages on the sports field. The author, also existing as a Native American, feels that the mascots are insulting to his people.
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.
These images have directly impacted the sub-conscience idea of an Indian, and are the reason many Natives struggle with re-defining their
“I don’t kill anybody. But I ride with killers, so that makes me a killer.” Zits contemplates, charging into the “Indian’s Camp”, in the book Flight by Sherman Alexie. Gus is an American Soldier fighting against the Native Americans in Kansas. Zits is able to invade and control Gus’s mind.
Jessica Hurdubei August 19, 2015 Mrs. Meredith AP Language & Composition Reading response to Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie Intro: The audience intended in the novel Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie , are most likely Native Americans or those who enjoy a good book with plot twists. This because the book is biased, favoring Native Americans, and Rock n Roll. Through the novel, many upsetting things occur on the Spokane Indian Rez. The tone of the novel is humorous and insensitive.
In his book the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie portrays a teenage boy, Arnold Spirit (junior) living in white man’s world, and he must struggle to overcome racism and stereotypes if he must achieve his dreams. In the book, Junior faces a myriad of misfortunes at his former school in ‘the rez’ (reservation), which occurs as he struggles to escape from racial and stereotypical expectations about Indians. For Junior he must weigh between accepting what is expected of him as an Indian or fight against those forces and proof his peers and teachers wrong. Therefore, from the time Junior is in school at reservation up to the time he decides to attend a neighboring school in Rearden, we see a teenager who is facing tough consequences for attempting to go against the racial stereotypes.
Changing perception of the Native American can be accomplished through media such as television and movies. Changing the roles played by Native Americans is one example of passively challenging these perceptions. Doing this confronts the stereotypes given, providing greater depth to their people than twenty years ago. The usual roles offered at the time were often one dimensional, the wise man, noble savage, or the Indian princes. If the actors or actresses are truly powerful like Chief Dan George in “The Outlaw Josey Wales”undoing a lot of the problems in a single role”(Diamond, 2010).
In the late 19th century of the United States, there was a push from western culture for the American agenda, which was to indoctrinate the Native Americans through any means necessary, to achieve their Manifest Destiny. This means that the Native Americans faced tragedies beyond imagination: massacre, disease, and assimilation. However, as described in James Welch’ historical fiction novel “Fools Crow”, Native Americans fought for their survival and cultural continuance despite the ultimate destruction. In the book “Fools Crow” the main character and narrator of the story is a young, Pikuni man by the name of Fools Crow and towards the end of the novel Fools Crow goes on a journey to meet a woman named Feather Woman who possesses this strange yellow skin.
Following Through Junior’s Perspective: An Analysis of Junior’s Narrative Voice Junior, the protagonist, in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a poor Indian boy looking for hope. Sherman Alexie, the author, relates to Junior. He personally lived on the Spokane Indian Reservation and knew what life is like growing up as an American Indiana. Alexie’s character’s verbal expressions are full of sarcasm and understatement. Although their lives differ, the author and the main character are connected by their mutual culture and background.
The story of the aboriginal Na’vi people shows a strong connection to our “nineteen-sixties counterculture, by way of environmentalism and current anti-war sentiment”. (David Denby, 2) The battle between the Na’vi and the humans reflect the period of 1940-1970, during which Native American Nationalism arose around the country due to unfair treatment of Native Americans by the whites; for example, Congress voted in 1953 to allow states to assert legal jurisdiction over Indian reservations without tribal consent, and the federal government sought to transfer federal Indian responsibilities for a dozen tribes. Avatar proves, at least fictionally, that indigenous people and newcomers can coexist, commenting on how Native Americans and whites can also live in peace. Fast forward to today, the modern audience watching Avatar can recognize its historical parallels.
We live in a society today who uses our weaknesses as a weapon to oppress us into conforming to what our society generally wants: to benefit ourselves from someone else’s loss. From the ability to hold power are others oppressed and treated with unjust, and at the same time, from the lack of information supplied are others being oppressed. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” revealed several things from the realities of the Native American reservations, to the distortions of what media and stories impose on our views towards race and Native Americans, as well as the information that we are being misinformed about. It shows how much we have fallen to our oppressors. All throughout the “Absolutely True Diary,” Arnold Spirt Junior,
Society and Oppression Society seems to think that being a Native American is just like being a Caucasian, it’s not. Arnold is a Native American teen who goes from a school on his reservation to an all white school. While there he meets new people and starts to see the world differently. He sees that despite the image people may put off, everyone has their own problems and feelings. A white girl named Penelope shows Arnold that anyone can be sad , money can't buy happiness, but poverty does not either, along with privilege does not make up for affection, yet even with affection they’re still problems, and finally that you may never know what you have until it’s gone, but you also won’t know what you’re missing unless you’ve had a taste.
Native Son is a book that depicts violent racial tension between blacks and whites during the 1930s. This eye-opening novel is written by Richard Wright. It centers around the life of a young, black man named Bigger Thomas. The story is composed of crimes committed by Bigger and the motives behind them. His motives are influenced by his thoughts, which result from the social pressure he experiences as an African American.
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).
