Indian Culture In Mary Crow Dog's Lakota Woman

In Lakota Woman, it tells a story about Mary Crow Dog who faces challenges with the Sioux tribe, and how she has a difficult time with her finding her identity and cultural background as a Sioux woman. Mary Crow Dog struggles with the identity of an Indian woman because of the domestic roles women had to play in the Native American culture. As a woman, Mary did not like how the white society would bring evilness to their Indian culture, and how the women would struggle to find their personal strength and remain loyal to their traditions. The novel discusses the issues that Indians faced with the relationship they have with the white society. The Indians were viewed as savages and didn’t have any human values, the Indians were stripped from …show more content…
Mary had so much aggression and fought for herself of whom she was because was attacked by white people. Being forced to go to boarding school made Mary questioning her identity and this lead her to be involved with the American Indian Movement. Mary became furious of who she was because “being an iyeska, a half-blood, being looked down upon by whites and full- bloods alike .” As a young child, she had so many questions about herself. For example, why was her skin light or if tanning her body would make her have real skin like the Indians? “The general rule is that whoever thinks, sings, acts, and speaks Indian is a skin, a full-blood, and thinks like a white man is a half-blood or breed, no matter how Indian he looks .” In order to become a full- blooded Indian, you had to listen and do what was asked of you to do; they were known to have a humble …show more content…
The movement changed Mary’s perspective on the life of who she was, and she acknowledged the fact that she too was an Indian woman. “The Ghost Dance was a religion of love, but the whites misunderstood it, looking upon it as the signal for a great Indian uprising which their bad consciences told them was sure to come.” “The whites were afraid, and the agents called in the army to put this new religion down .” Mary wanted to live a comfortable lifestyle and practice any old tradition beliefs. As a part of her religion, she wanted to be respected, and she wanted her Indian culture to remain a part of her life, but they were restricted by the white