Personal Narrative: My Knowledge Of Native Americans

Prior Knowledge of Native Americans When I was young and still living in the Philippines, my knowledge about Native Americans are almost to none. The only Indians I knew are the Indians from India. We never had any class lecture or topic about American Indians. In fact, at that time, I thought white Americans were the original settlers in the America, and I could not remember any class teachings contradicting this assumption. When I was younger, I always watched Peter Pan, and Tiger Lilly, the Native American, was one of my favorite character. Before, I did notice she wears different clothes from Wendy who’s wearing a typical European dress, so I thought she was from a tribe. However, I never knew she was a Native American. It was hard to explain my very limited knowledge about Indians when I was young since, even though I noticed the difference in clothes, I did not understand the historical conflict between European and American Indians. When I was taking American history at Diablo Valley College, I learned a lot about …show more content…
Wolves, elk, antelope, deer, rabbits, eagles, grizzly bears, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, clams, oysters, whales, and so on were part of their everyday lives. They enjoyed a rich, sustainable environment that one can only dream of. According to Margolin (1978), the Ohlone were hunters and gatherers that did “not see themselves as the undisputed lords of all creation” (p. 12). This was amazing. It was the complete opposite from what most people do believe then and up until now. We think that our environment was solely created to sustain us without any obligation to give back. Also, the Ohlone saw themselves as equal and sometimes inferior to some animals. In fact, they “worshipped animal spirits as gods, imitated animal motions in their dances, sought animal powers in their dreams, and even saw themselves as belonging to clans as their ancestors” (Margolin, 1978, p.