Native American Indian History Research Paper

What I have learned about American Indian Studies is that the amount of intelligence my ancestral forefathers’ had, has gone, and still goes unnoticed by the majority of the citizens of America. That American Indian History is a hush, hush subject of education that many times in my schooling, was overlooked. I was only taught about Natives when the history teacher was speaking of the ‘spectacular’ discovery by Christopher Columbus and that was it. I never knew that Indians across the nation suffer from similar health problems, including diabetes and high blood pressure or that Native Indians dietary habits changed dramatically because of the government issued food, which would cause many of these problems. Which leads up to my first theme of this essay; Native American Indian
Native American students and individuals still face similar circumstances till this day. Leading to the second theme of discussion, how Natives are portrayed in today’s society and the detrimental effects its has on the physiological and physical well-being of Native American Indians. Whether it is by symbolizing sports teams or being made fun of for their clothing and feathers. Authors; including Parris Butler’s article “The Only Good Indian…Racism, Stereotypes, and Discrimination,” Russell Thornton’s article “Who Owns Our Past? The Repatriation of Native American Human Remains and Cultural Objects,” and “In Whose Honor,” from Understanding Prejudice, all exemplify and give grave detail of modern day mockery of Natives in their face, and how they cope with the self-esteem blow. The third and final theme of this essay is Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), which emphasizes the importance of the protecting the environment and prolonging its lifespan for future