The book, Lakota Woman, written by Mary Crow Dog, gave the reader a personal view of the feelings shared by most Indians living in the United States during this present day. The book dealt with the time period of Crow Dog’s life along with some references to past events. Crow Dog attempted to explain the hostility felt towards the white men in the United States by the surviving Indian population. She used her own life as an example in many instances to give the reader a personal perspective. The main point in writing this book was to present the reader with the Indian viewpoint on how they were treated and what the effects of that treatment has done to their people over the years.…
Mines, Patrick, Beneath the Underdog: Race, Religion, and the Trail of Tears, American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Summer, 2001), pp. 453-479…
In the short story “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, the narrator’s life parallels Alexie’s in many ways. The narrator of this story is a boy named Victor who lives on a reservation with his two parents. Like Victor, Alexie grew up on a reservation in the state of Washington. Both boys were teased and bullied by their fellow classmates and initially decided to go to school outside of their reservation for greater educational opportunities.…
Violence, poverty, and overcoming adversity as an Indian who grow up in a reservation and goes to a school 22 miles away from the reservation. This story is about a 14 year old boy who was born with too much hydrocephalus. Junior grow up on a reservation in Wellpinit. Junior has been beat up, made fun of, and has been even called a traitor because he left the reservation to go to a white school called Rearden high school outside of the rez. Even at Rearden junior was bullied because he was an Indian and the people at Rearden considered him dangerous so they verbally made fun of him. Junior has learned a lot throughout the novel like: standing up for himself, and that the people in the rez have given up, and that if you let people in to your…
In the book The Absolutely True Story of a Part - Time Indian by Sherman Alexie The main character Junior has to deal with many obstacles that take a tool on him throughout the book. One of the obstacles that Junior faces is the loss and depression from losing two family members. Another obstacle is that Junior has to leave his home reservation school and go to an all white school can Reardan. The final obstacle that Junior faces is that he has a brighter future and smarter than most kids on his reservation.…
The Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie is a novel about the violence and chaos caused by the destruction of the Native American identity. In the book, Native Americans strive to figure out who they are while violence continues to grow around them. Native Americans are angry with white people because they are tired of being oppressed. Whites are angry with Native Americans because they no longer want them. And in this ferocious, never-ending cycle of anger and violence, the Indian Killer is created. To some people, the Indian killer is an Indian who is killing innocent white people out of revenge. To others, the Indian Killer kills Indians by causing violence against…
There are two books that are particularly important for students learning about Native Americans to read, Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria and “All the Real Indians Died Off” and 20 Other Myths about Native Americans by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker. But before even reading the books, its vital to understand who the authors are. What their backgrounds are, who they wrote the book for and why, and arguably the most important: their authority to be writing the books. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to fully understand a book, since an author ingrains pieces of themselves into everything they write.…
“The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian” (PTI) is a novel written by Sherman Alexie. The novel follows a Native-American teenage boy named Arnold who lives on a reservation that has to suffer through the troubles of being the only Indian teenager in an all white school at Reardan. The challenges that confronted him when he started at Reardan seemed menacing, but through his personal spirit and courage he was able to achieve success at the school. Some of Arnold’s successes include his triumph in the Varsity basketball team as their “secret weapon”, his academic efforts and his charismatic persona which helped him blend into the all white school.…
The argument that whether American Indians should be fully integrated into the American society or that it is best to continue to maintain and support American Indians staying on their reservation has been an important dispute for many years. The place of Indians in American society may be seen as one aspect of the question of the integration of minority groups into the social system. Only by maintenance of freedom for cultural variation can a heterogeneous society keep conflict at a minimum. In my opinion, in the long run, integration is the best way to go. Not only is it human nature to feel belonging in a greater society regardless of origin, but it also promotes multiculturalism in America. A way of incorporating American Indians…
One book that I read excerpts out of was the History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan by Andrew J. Blackbird. This book was written a very long time ago in 1887. I chose this book because it was written by a Native American and I thought it would give a very good untainted perspective about the true history of the West Michigan Indian tribes. In this book there was a lot to be said about Indians being mistreated by white men. The author quotes, “From this time hence my father lost all confidence in white men, whatever the position or profession of the white man might be, whether a priest,…
Leaving the reservation can affect individual love ones and can impact the future. In the story The Absolute True diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, a boy named Junior is born with cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull. As a result of being born with cerebral, “I ended up with forty-two teeth. The typical human has thirty-two right? But i had forty-two… My brain left me nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other… My hands and feet were huge… And my skull was enormous” (3). Also, Junior was smarter than every kid in his school. After throwing a book and accidentally hitting Mr.P, he says, “You have to leave this reservation… Forever… The only thing you kids are being taught is how to give up… all these kids have given up……
The authors point out the many misconceptions and outright lies being offered in children’s literature. In this story written by Ann Rinaldi we follow the experiences of a young girl who is staying in the Carlisle Indian School Grounds. This girls name and experiences are made up and do not fit with the written accounts of real Native Americans who were held there. In the children’s literature book, the characters are brought to the school and treated reasonably well. There is no indication that they were “kidnapped” (Reese et All, 114) and being assimilated.…
The article discusses an incident that happened at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center where students and their chaperones from American Horse School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota were insulted and verbally harassed during a minor-league hockey game. Robert Cook, the author of the article, details his discontent of this account and goes on to describe how Native Americans are not alone with being the victims of hate and vindictiveness. Furthermore, that it has more of a deeper impact on children as it affects their self-esteem and overall outlook on diversity. Robert…
The narrator is a small, disfigured, and disproportionate child who is nicknamed Junior. The book’s main theme is about education in Native American youth. Aside from the page by page cartoons and the enthusiasm on adolescent youth humor, the book is essentially about the transformation that Junior undergoes by switching from a Spokane Native American Reservational school to a private caucasian “White” school. There is a particular chapter where Junior is still at the Indian public school, Wellpinit. Junior is given a textbook in class and his jaw drops at the name he finds in it. His mother’s first and maiden last name are Sharpied on the front inside of the cover. In short, Junior goes balistic and throws the book at the teacher, thus creating a series of events that inspire Junior to reach the decision that he must change schools to survive. Before he transfers schools though, the teacher he threw the book at comes to meet Junior on his front porch. He and Junior have a long discussion, but in the end “Mr. P” tells junior “Son…You’re going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation” (Alexie, 2007). Junior should not have to transfer schools and go through hell for being Indian. Throughout “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (Alexie, 2007), Junior is ridiculed and neglected for being Native American not only by his peers, but his teachers as well. There is a quote that makes one quiver and is much too vulgar to state in an educational composition, which happens to be a true statement that was said to the…
When exploring both the historical oppression of Native Americans and the race’s current challenges, historians can recognize how Indians are living with the remnants of their past. The United States growth as a nation was at the expense of Native Americans, who suffered through genocide, dislocation, and violence from the white man. The historical trauma Native Americans endured has a cumulative emotional and psychological toll, which the ethnicity experiences today. For many tribes, their history is an obstacle for prospective changes and advancement. In the future, to assist Indians in surmounting the trials and tribulations they face, American citizens must spread awareness of the challenges of life on an Indian reservation and aide the group. The United States must finally disregard the stereotypical image of Indians and instead allow Native Americans to win the battle to maintain their cultural identity and traditions. With determination and resilience, in the future, Native Americans can break through the historical barriers of oppression and enjoy financial, familial, and cultural…