In chapter one of his book Playing Indian, Philip Deloria discusses the history of Europeans assuming Indian identities for rituals and how this often displaced Native Americans. The concept of displacement of the Native Americans that Deloria explains mirrors the shift that Ira Hayes experiences as a Native American soldier in Clint Eastwood’s film Flags of Our Fathers. Though the time periods are extremely far apart, the sense of Native American displacement as the result of white Americans in the film echoes that in Deloria’s writing. Deloria points out the ways in which Europeans and in turn, colonists, viewed Native Americans in which they separated themselves from the perceived Other of the Native Americans.…
In the short story The Toughest Indian in the World, by Sherman Alexie, Alexie lives in the United States but is raised by the Indian culture his parents follow. Throughout the story the author shows the Indian culture’s influence on the characters and how different characters are affected by it. Through use of multiple literary devices, he shows the constant struggle for American-Indians that have to deal with the difficulties of mixing their family traditions in an environment that isn’t too accepting of them. In the very beginning of the story it is shown how Alexie’s father is affected by the combination of culture.…
In this chapter, Richter uses three stories to talk about how the Native Americans dealt with the bringing in of material items, and how they tried to bring Europeans into their world on their terms. The story of “Pocahontas” showed things were different in the aspect that the Native Americans never harmed the Europeans. They captured John Smith and some of his men, but their lives were never in danger. The Native Americans tried to find peace with the Europeans; however, they went and captured Pocahontas. Richter wrote that it might have been possible for the Native Americans to assimilate into European culture, and they might have been able to have the Europeans not tried to force the Native Americans into having the same culture as…
The intended audience of the article “ The Indians' Old World:Native Americans and the Coming of European”, are the general public and historians because the article shows how a lot of people give more importance of American history after Columbus rather than before Columbus and criticize how historians know much less history prior to arrival of columbus in 1492. For instance, the author Neal Salisbury states that “historians now recognize that Europeans arrived, not in a virgin land, but in one that was teeming with several million people (435)”. 2. The author’s main argument is that there was densely populated society before European arrival, how certain patterns and processes originated before and after contact with the Europeans.…
Axtell provides a more in depth view of the Indian-European relations basing it on his past lectures, articles, and essays. The book expands upon the interactions through viewing their communication, trade and gift giving, social and sexual partnering, and military clashes. It is through the four listed interactions that will help show the perspective of the two groups The book provides a viewpoint of why the wars were fought and how the Indians fought at a disadvantage. Axtell’s perspective displays a tit for tat mentality between the two groups with the colonists seeing the Indians as a hindrance towards progression.…
‘Fettered in the chains of idleness,’ they would rather starve than work, William Wood of Boston complained in 1634. Indians were squandering America’s resources. Under their irresponsible guardianship, the land had become ‘all spoil, rots,’ and was ‘marred for want of manuring, gathering, ordering, etc.’ Like the ‘foxes and wild beasts,’ Indians did nothing ‘but run over the grass.’ (39).…
All of the three films talked about the changes of the Indians’ life after the arrival of the Europeans in different levels or aspects. The differences lied in the Indians’ reactions or behavior, in regard to change, adaption, resistance and revitalization, when they confronted the outsiders. In the Cauldron of War, we could see huge impacts the Europeans brought on the various aspects of the Indians’ life. First of all, the fur trade introduced by the Europeans changed the Indians’ self-sufficient way of life into commercial function.…
The tribal memoir, Bad Indians by Deborah Miranda is an intricately written body of work that recounts the social and historical story of an entire peoples. The memoir’s use of several different mediums assists in exposing all aspects of Indian life including periods of subjugation through missionization and secularization. The period labeled as “Reinvention” focuses deeply on the wave of immense interest in the study of Indian culture by white men. Miranda includes in this period a section titled “Gonaway Tribe: Field Notes” which recounts the effort of ethnologist, J. P. Harrington to obtain the Indian language through the use of native informants. The use of the term “field notes” implies that the subjects being studied are only samples…
From the beginning Christians tried to push their beliefs on the Native Americans, even though it was no good their beliefs were all so strong and that it was natural. A Swedish Minister gave a great short speech of Christianity, afterwards the Indian orator shared some main aspects of their own religion. The good missionary was appalled and disgusted by the story and called them idle tales. The Indian replied “my brother, it seems your friends have not done you justice in your education; they have not well instructed you in the rules of common civility. You saw that we, who understand and practice those rules, believed all your stories; why do you refuse to believe ours?”…
Entry 11 History on the beginnings of English America offers a holistic review of the colonies of New England and Chesapeake. Particularly, it focuses on the period between 1607 and 1660 and draws interest on the motives and reasons behind the colonization of the New World by the English. I find the exploration of how the lives of the Indians are transformed following the Great Migration to North America during this period very interesting.…
The British settlers in Virginia had extensive brutal conflict with the local Powhatan Confederacy, complete with village raids and deadly attacks (Kennedy & Cohen 29). The conflict ended with the banishment of the Powhatans from Virginia in 1646 (Kennedy & Cohen 29). Unlike the British, however, Spanish settlers intermarried with the surviving natives instead of banishing them. As acclaimed historians David M. Kennedy & Lizabeth Cohen argue in their book, American Pageant, “the Spanish paid the Native Americans the high compliment of fusing with them through marriage and incorporating indigenous culture into their own, rather than shunning and eventually isolating the Indians as their English adversaries would do” (Kennedy & Cohen 21). Furthermore, by intermarrying surviving Indians with settlers, the whole new race of Mestizos was born, creating the multicultural blend of Old World and New that is embraced in Mexican society today (Kennedy & Cohen 20).…
The in-depth book, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma by Camilla Townsend not only vividly describes the interaction of The English and Natives so well but sets explicitly the stage of what might have occurred during the Seventeenth century. Author Townsend approached this striking era in history with a focus on the chronological life story of Pocahontas. Furthermore, Townsend commenced the shortcomings and advantages that Pocahontas alongside her father Powhatan, and even the English encountered. The English had the desire to acquire land and unfortunately, with that obligation, this significantly impacted the Powhatan Confederacy.…
In the 2005 book Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, Camilla Townsend describes the colonization of North America by the English of the 1600s and the complex relationships they led with the Native Americans. Although it seems that Pocahontas is to be the lead figure, Townsend shares details that set the groundwork of relations before Pocahontas was even thought of as an important figure in the peace effort between the Native Americans and the English in North America. Although it is impossible to know history’s exact events, Townsend pulled information from the direct journals, handwritten diaries, and scholarly articles written either by eyewitnesses or those that knew eyewitnesses of the time. In her writing, it is clear that the central…
In the chapter ‘Forget Columbus’ of the book ‘The Inconvenient Indian’, the author Thomas King writes about his point of view on the forgotten history of the Native Americans. He conveys about the tales made up about the natives and americans engraved in the history to mainly appeal to the white audience. The author starts the chapter by telling how insignificant was the discovery of the land of natives made by Columbus. According to him the only reason why he was given credit and recognized because his story as Columbus sailing the oceans, travelling across with interesting adventures and going through hardships with a letter to the Emperor of Indies by the King and Queen of Spain captured the imagination of the audience and met the expectations…
Native Americans have always been given the stereotype of "wild savages" by white settlers. The Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison gives a more caring, and human quality to the so-called "wild savages". Through Mary's narrative, the traditions of Native American, as well as the domestic roles of men and women are analyzed. Throughout her captivity, Mary mentions that she was treated with the utmost respect by her Indian family.…