The explorers of the Americas were both fascinated and disgusted by the Native American way of living. The Indians had no structured set of rules or government and did not even have a ruler. Their society was free from social classes based on land ownership, which was common in the Old World. A common nickname for the Indians was the “noble savage,” which meant “the man of liberty living in the natural state” (Weatherford, 1988, p. 124). Although the word “chief” implies authority, each Indian was equal to one another and was spiritually tied to the land they lived upon.
The Cherokee had dressed like white people, learned the language of white people, and even made a government just like the U.S. Constitution, but the common man had found gold and farm land on their homeland so they were still going to be evicted. A letter from one of the Cherokees named Elias Boudinot had said,” look at our people! They are wretched! Look, my dear sir, around you, and see the progress vice and immorality have already made! See the misery!”
Hilary Weaver argues in her piece of writing; that identifying indigenous identity is complex, complicated, and hard to grasp when internalized oppression and colonization has turned Native Americans to criticize one another. Throughout the text, Weaver focuses on three main points which she calls, the three facets. Self-identification, community identification, and external identification are all important factors that make up Native American identity. The author uses a story she calls, “The Big game” to support her ideologies and arguments about the issue of identity. After reading the article, it’s important to realize that Native American’s must decide their own history and not leave that open for non-natives to write about.
During the time of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, one of the most unthought of acts gained so much support because of the way Jackson persuaded others. Jackson was able to institute the Indian Removal act by luring Americans in when he utilized special techniques called logical fallacies. Jackson has delivered numerous speeches that made Americans do preposterous things. Andrew Jackson was a man that chose his words with an abundance of thought. When going through this process, he made sure his listeners would unite and follow through with the action.
Modernity has been mainly characterized by its imperialistic policies and colonizing endeavors, which while creating the current legal organization of the world have largely marginalized the many indigenous groups who originally occupied the conquered lands (Andrews and Walton 600). Although post-modern societies have seen an increase in the awareness of these matters, American-Canadian author Thomas King has dedicated his work to throwing light on issues still not tackled. In his short story “Borders”, King tells the adventure of a Blackfoot mother and her child, who try to cross the border to the U.S. but refuse to declare their nationality. It is through his masterful choice of narrator and the careful depiction of the mother’s struggle to maintain her Blackfoot identity that the author conveys the many difficulties First Nations face in their effort to keep their heritages alive.
This displays the notion of the white society covering up the Indigenous culture. Towards the end, Harrison’s use of a short declarative sentence in, “We demand the right to make our
In Thomas King’s short story, “Borders”, he writes about the Canada-America border. Within the short story, the main character refuses to identify her citizenship even though she is from Blackfoot. Even though the story is being told through the young boy’s point of view, the main issue focuses on another character, the mother. When approached by guards on the border, the mother insists that she is a Blackfoot, which causes issues because her son is a minor and must stay on the Canadian side of the border.
Richard Mouw’s book, When the Kings Come Marching In: Isaiah and the New Jerusalem, provides a perspective of what heaven will look like. It is a Biblically correct, proposal of how we, as Christians, should perceive our heavenly destination. By following Isiah 60, a visual passage of heaven, the author portrays an idea and image of heaven through the descriptive writings of Isaiah. Mouw connotates, gives perspective and meaning to the phrases in Isaiah 60, with intent to give the readers a better understanding of the afterlife.
Native Americans in Canadian society are constantly fighting an uphill battle. After having their identity taken away in Residential Schools. The backlash of the Residential Schools haunts them today with Native American people struggling in today 's society. Native Americans make up five percent of the Canadian population, yet nearly a quarter of the murder victims. The haunting memories of Residential Schools haunt many Native Americans to this day.
The speech that was read by Chief Red Jacket to defend the religious beliefs of his people is a powerful piece of literature that is underrated. The speech describes the feelings that were caused by the religious intolerance from the Americans. Currently, the United States have started to appreciate the impacts of the Native Americans and other minorities in history. However, a piece of history that has been quite hidden is the religious intolerance of Native Americans. Chief Red Jacket utilizes repetition, pathos, and rhetorical questions to convince the Americans to tolerate the religion of the Native Americans.
Alienating and Suppressing the Wild Thomas King’s A Short History of Indians in Canada introduces the effects of colonialism and bias established on indigenous peoples’ reputation through satire. King’s play on major metaphors and animal depiction of indigenous people paints an image of an abhorrent and gruesome history. Through moments of humour, King makes references to racial profiling, stereotypes and mistreatment as historically true. Thomas King utilizes industrialization versus the natural world to incorporate the effects of colonialism and how representing indigenous people as birds made them the spectacle of the civilized world. The colonizer dominance and power imbalance is evident and demonstrated often in the short story through
In all the different tribes, none of the women are seen as less than the men, however in European culture at the time, the women were seen as weak and lesser beings. Gunn Allen tackles this issue using ethos logos and pathos by appealing to the readers through logic, emotion and her personal experiences. With Ethos Gunn Allen makes herself a credible source by mentioning that she is a “half breed American Indian woman. ”(83) making her story worth paying attention to rather than if it were a story by an outsider who truly has nothing to do with the American Indian women.
Resisting society’s dominant standards can be done in many ways. For instance, Jeannette Armstrong’s poem, “Indian Woman” demonstrates what Kim Anderson explains as an act of resistance. Armstrong presents this by recognizing the discrimination of First Nations women by challenging it as well as accepting her Native identity instead of conforming to Western beliefs. By doing so, the poem allows her to reclaim her voice and speak the truth for her and other First Nations women.
In Thomas King 's autobiographical novel, The Truth About Stories takes a narrative approach in telling the story of the Native American, as well as Thomas King 's. The stories within the book root from the obstacles that the Thomas King had to face during his years in high school and his post-university life. These stories are told in a matter that uses rhetorical devices such as personal anecdotes & comparisons. "You 'll Never Believe What Happened" Is Always a Great Way to Start is about the importance, potential, and dangers of stories, specifically those of creation stories and how they can shape a culture, with the aim to share King 's urgency for social change with his readers King 's informal tone, lighthearted jokes, and effort to make his writing follow the style of native oral tradition as closely as possible, all help the reader understand the type of narrative he believes would be most beneficial for the foundation of a society. His unique style allows for the use of personal anecdotes and requires that he breaks the proverbial fourth wall to communicate with the reader directly, to create the conversational feel of the oral tradition.
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).
