Preview

Last Rites for Indian Dead

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
940 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Last Rites for Indian Dead
English 1A

“Last Rites for Indian Dead” Susan Shown Harjo in her essay titled, “Last Rites for Indian Dead” found in Chapter 9 of our textbook, argues that it is wrong to remove the remains of Native Americans for purposes of archeology, medicine or fortune-hunting. She would like to see national legislation passed to protect the burial remains of Native Americans. I found her argument very compelling. I agree with her for both personal and professional reasons: on a personal level because I believe that all human life is worthy of reverential treatment, and professionally from new insights I have reached in my studies as a Professor of English Literature.

First of all, even though I am not a Native American, I can sympathize with the feelings of desecration someone must feel upon learning that their relatives have been ‘dug up’ with no way of stopping the excavation. I know that I would not like to have my own family’s graves dug up, even in the name of science or research. I cannot think of a reason, short of requiring DNA evidence to solve a murder, which could justify that. I have always experienced feelings of peace and tranquility during my wanderings in public cemeteries. It gives me comfort to be able to visit my loved ones’ graves, to find the plots well-cared for with no evidence of tampering or ill treatment. How horrible it would be to visit my great grandparents’ graveside only to discover they had been dug up – because we are distant relatives of John Sutter-- and historians felt they might have something to learn from their graves.

I am not sure that the discovery of clues leading to information on culture and history could ever offer sufficient evidence to justify grave tampering. We do not allow that for our famous Americans. For example, I have traveled to Mount Vernon and Monticello and visited the homes and gravesites of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, two

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Case Study: Kennewick Man

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Given these findings it is my opinion that the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act does not apply and should not apply to such finds, unless scientific data can be provided that proves beyond doubt that the human remains are in fact genetically linked to the current known tribes of the America's. The public must be allowed to fully explore the full history of North America and all it's people, we would be doing a grave disservice to the U.S. people and the Indian nations by with holding greater scientific discoveries based solely on a loop hope in a law designed to protect grave sites predating 1492. Despite my decision I do respect the wishes of the tribes represented here today, but must disagree with your stance on Kennewick Man. You simply can not provide evidence to prove a link between your history and his…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In this paper I discuss what point Horace Miner was trying to make is his paper titled "Body Ritual among the Nacirema". Horace’s paper is about America but in the perspective that America is a tribe of third world country or such. I go through the individual topics, which mostly make fun of American’s vanity, and I describe what he is really talking about. I try to summaries Horace’s paper and put it in “American” terms.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The town ignored his offer." The entire sad but eye-opening article was in the Washington Times on September 29, 2007, titled "Black Cemetery Doubt Remains" by Richard G. Williams Jr. Mr. Williams is a Civil War historian.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Red earth white lies” by Vine Deloria is by all accounts and standards is a ground breaking book which brings into light the troubling picture of cultural bias against the native American Indians, their origin and historic traditions. In his own words he emphasizes the need of dialog between western science and tribal people and says “corrective measures must be taken to eliminate scientific misconceptions about Indians, their culture and their past”. He goes on to say “there needs to be a way that Indian traditions can contribute to the understanding of scientific beliefs at enough specific points so that the Indian traditions will be taken seriously as valid bodies…

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robertson stayed true to his objective and only shows slight bias. An unfair representation of the Native Americans was conveyed when Robertson called the Indians savages. Yet, he supported his claim by illustrating the Indian’s savage behaviors later in the text. While displaying the Indian’s savage behavior, he did not thoroughly examine their culture; and therefore, showed slight bias in his work. However, it does not diminish Robertson’s overall objectivity.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rixford Geometry Analysis

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The evidence found in this cemetery, ranging from the early 1800s to about 2002, allows us to make reasonable deductions about the surrounding area, the people that lived there, and major events that took place at the time these people were living. Based on the primary artifacts in the Rixford Cemetery, we can reason that most of the people in the area were rather poor families, a portion of which contained veterans. This small peek through the keyhole into the past allows us to draw conclusions about the immense room on the other…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tim O’Brien’s novel In the Lake of the Woods perpetually references the preceding atrocities that blemish American history. Within the chapters titled ‘Evidence’, scattered amongst the evidence accumulated for the fictional investigation into Kathy Wade’s disappearance, quotations from characters both authentic and fake exhibit the catalogue of concealed violence embedded in American history. Quotations reference the brutality in the battles of Lexington and Concord where the colonists were “as deplorable as the Indians for scalping and cutting the dead men’s auditory perceivers and nasal perceivers off” (262). Further references contained in the Evidence chapters regarding the Native Americans reiterate the words “exterminate” (260) and verbalize…

    • 243 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For native American Indians, this new opportunity for settlers proved even more costly, almost the entire culture was destroyed by either disease, famine, or murder. Many Natives believe that this culture war has never ended, even in today’s modern society. As History showed us, once these settlers colonized the Eastern portion of the New World, the Native were either killed, or had to move to the west, eventually living in their own settlements, known today as “Tribal Reservations”. Even today we as American’s believe that since we protect these Native American lands we were justified in our historical and in our own way oppressive actions.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Monument Analysis

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The location of a monument needs to be considered when memorializing an individual because it can add emphasis to their remembrance. However, building a monument in an eerie location can distract visitors and or take interest away from the audience. For example, the Christopher Columbus Monument in Riverside Park located in Easton, Pennsylvania (Source B) correctly honors the prolific…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mount Lykaion Essay

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It’s not a cemetery.” Ioannis Mylonopoulos, Professor of Archaeology at Columbia University, added that the skeleton may be from a later period and was simply buried at the site.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jeffersons Blood

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages

    family should be allowed to be buried in the family estate Monticello. Its been an ongoing…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Native Americans have always received the short end of the stick in history, when the colonialist came to what is now known as America, the people of the land where shown in a different light. They became the stories of terror and fear for the colonist to be afraid of, however this was not done in one night know this spans over a time of great explores and those who became American literalness, those who detailed history in documents and trades. Using works from John smith and William Bradford in their tales and encounters with Indians, the light and representation of the natives might become clear. Both authors had completely different experiences during their times in the new-found land.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Spirits For Sale

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Spirits for Sale is a moving film where the protagonist of the documentary, Annika Banfield, makes trip to the United States to find the rightful owner of the feather that was given to her when a Native American visited her in Sweden. Her mission to find the owner took her through many Native American communities from New Mexico to Texas, to South Dakota, which led her to understand in depth about how they were both proud and sad in preserving the Native American Culture. Spirits for Sale isn’t just a film about Native American culture, rather, it aims to tell the world the restoration and the constant fight Native Americans have to protect their culture. Anna Banfield “[s]incerely hope[s] that film can be used as tool to inform about traditional…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A cemetery in Naugatuck Connecticut was visited, the date of Birth, Date of Death, and Age at Death from 20 men and woman who died before 1920 were recorded. After this step was completed, the date of Birth, Date of Death, and Age at Death from 20 men and woman who died after 2001 were also recorded. Once this was completed, the information was copied over into excel, graphs were produced and interpreted.…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Thesis: Modern Native American traditions reflect the history of struggle, strife and triumph they experienced in history.…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays