Summary: Burial Compounds

Though this class did discuss topics that I thought would be discussed in a class on Indians like Indian mascots and how anthropologists have treated Indians, the most surprising information I learned in this class was that there were mounds built by the Indians in Indiana. Prior to knowing about Angel Mounds, I thought I would have to travel to the Southwest to see any type of structure left by early Native Americans. It was interesting to learn what that the mound were built for many purposes and that you can tell by their different shapes what they were used for. In The Sacred Wisdom of the American Indians, there is an explanation on the different types of mounds. Burial mounds are either “conical or linear” and they “often contained more …show more content…
It was interesting to learn in Philip J. Deloria’s book, Indians in Unexpected Places, that the major push for sovereignty occurred in the twentieth century when the policy of inclusion, or “the demand for civil rights within American society” was not seen as the “most productive” avenue to justice (Deloria, 234-237). While Indians have always had sovereignty according to the United States Constitution, it was surprising to learn that they didn’t start to really enforce that policy until the twentieth century, according to Deloria. At the beginning of the class, I didn’t know that Congress had to treat Native American tribes on a nation-to-nation basis because of treaties, though I knew they were considered to be American citizens and became so in 1924. While this “super-citizenry” can seem to some people as an unfair advantage, actually it is completely legal according to treaties made with the Native Americans. It was interesting how the Native Americans have used the language of the Constitution to their advantage and built for themselves a level of autonomy. The treaties that were originally used as a form of colonialism and to take away the land from the Native Americans could now be used to protect their hunting and fishing rights. An example of this is the video we watched, Lighting the 7th Fire, we were able to see Native Americans fight for their spearfishing rights in action and the horrific way they were treated by protestors around the Lac du Flambeau. The racism that came out while the protestors were protesting was very troubling to me. I think it is important for people to understand the “super-citizenry” is a right that Native Americans have and that they only use it to protect their rights. Another example of tribes stepping up to protect their fishing rights is the Makah