The Melting Pot “She can explain to me about shape-shifting, and I can explain to her about the airplane.” In the movie Thunder Heart this was said by the lead character Ray Levoi. This quote portrays one of the most important issues inside the Native American reservation. The poor cultural diffusion between the outsiders and reserve Natives. The outsiders have a very poor understanding about what Native American living is like, while the Natives have poor knowledge of how fast the world is expanding and progressing. This overlaps with a major urban planning issue which is cultural awareness and assimilation. The outcome of the poor knowledge on the opposite party creates a serious divide. If the parties do not attempt to learn the others
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The overall reasoning for this is the failure to overcome differences. This can be very well understood by looking at the two cultures. America is a culture which has always pushed forward attempting to escape rural living and modernize its cities. In the writing Off the Land by David Treuer he presents a story which talks about Native Americans in an objective light. In one of the passages a statement reflects Native culture very well “we should find and collect rather than modify and improve.” What this means is that Natives are not trying to conquer nature, but instead live alongside it. They do not want to alter the current natural balance. This lifestyle cannot be assimilated easily into the ever forward style of American culture. The polar opposite nature between these two lifestyles creates a lot of friction between people in the cultures. This friction was demonstrated in the Thunder Heart with much of the banter between Natives spiritual culture and the officers, as well as Ray’s inability to accept his ancestor’s heritage. Without the two parties understanding they need to accept each other and attempt to meet the needs of the other party, the two create an awful relationship. This relationship translates to further cultural dissimilation. This dissimilation furthers the impacts already made, making it harder to
The overall reasoning for this is the failure to overcome differences. This can be very well understood by looking at the two cultures. America is a culture which has always pushed forward attempting to escape rural living and modernize its cities. In the writing Off the Land by David Treuer he presents a story which talks about Native Americans in an objective light. In one of the passages a statement reflects Native culture very well “we should find and collect rather than modify and improve.” What this means is that Natives are not trying to conquer nature, but instead live alongside it. They do not want to alter the current natural balance. This lifestyle cannot be assimilated easily into the ever forward style of American culture. The polar opposite nature between these two lifestyles creates a lot of friction between people in the cultures. This friction was demonstrated in the Thunder Heart with much of the banter between Natives spiritual culture and the officers, as well as Ray’s inability to accept his ancestor’s heritage. Without the two parties understanding they need to accept each other and attempt to meet the needs of the other party, the two create an awful relationship. This relationship translates to further cultural dissimilation. This dissimilation furthers the impacts already made, making it harder to