The Spirit of Suzan Shown Harjo
However, as someone who is not of a particular ethnic background that has been disadvantaged, to nearly the same extent as the Indigenous Peoples of 'the Americas' it is is hard to fathom what they have been through because of their race, and it is hard for the rest of us to see them as anything 'different' to how they have been portrayed in the media.
I am probably only one of many people who has spent many childhood years in front of the TV watching old Western movies which portrayed a whole 'race' of people in a certain manner: the women being 'easy pickings' for the 'white man', the men being 'insatiable', how they are supposed to look and dress (usually in the manner of the Plains Indians or Apaches) and how they are supposed to behave (especially when they go to war).
It took me many trips to the Library, and after reading many books borrowed from the Library, to know and understand that many tribal groups weren't like that at all (the Hopis and other Pueblo tribes are such examples of 'nations' that only had a little bit in common, if anything, with the Plains Indians).
Old habits still die hard - when I hear about 'the Indians', it is usually the image or stereotype of a Plains Indian, of a group of people that all have long hair, wearing war paint, feathers, talking slowly, riding horses etc, that still enters my mind. I still have to remind myself (and other people) that this is not always the case.
Here is a web page on the Native American Encyclopedia that talks about the portrayal of the Indigenous Peoples, with Dances with Wolves showing that there is another side to the equation (click here for more details). And there is another side to the whole 'Redskins' debate, this time presented from the point of view of a full-blooded Indian, who could understand how and why an actual white (or non-Indian person) would come to think what they do (click here) - what he says may just astound you.
(continued next post)
However, as someone who is not of a particular ethnic background that has been disadvantaged, to nearly the same extent as the Indigenous Peoples of 'the Americas' it is is hard to fathom what they have been through because of their race, and it is hard for the rest of us to see them as anything 'different' to how they have been portrayed in the media.
I am probably only one of many people who has spent many childhood years in front of the TV watching old Western movies which portrayed a whole 'race' of people in a certain manner: the women being 'easy pickings' for the 'white man', the men being 'insatiable', how they are supposed to look and dress (usually in the manner of the Plains Indians or Apaches) and how they are supposed to behave (especially when they go to war).
It took me many trips to the Library, and after reading many books borrowed from the Library, to know and understand that many tribal groups weren't like that at all (the Hopis and other Pueblo tribes are such examples of 'nations' that only had a little bit in common, if anything, with the Plains Indians).
Old habits still die hard - when I hear about 'the Indians', it is usually the image or stereotype of a Plains Indian, of a group of people that all have long hair, wearing war paint, feathers, talking slowly, riding horses etc, that still enters my mind. I still have to remind myself (and other people) that this is not always the case.
Here is a web page on the Native American Encyclopedia that talks about the portrayal of the Indigenous Peoples, with Dances with Wolves showing that there is another side to the equation (click here for more details). And there is another side to the whole 'Redskins' debate, this time presented from the point of view of a full-blooded Indian, who could understand how and why an actual white (or non-Indian person) would come to think what they do (click here) - what he says may just astound you.
(continued next post)
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What is your own take on this situation? How do you rise above the rot?