Project Relfection
For this project, we were learning about past and present treatment of the Native Americans. The essential question that we had been learning for was How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to a more enlightened understanding of history AND contemporary social, cultural and political realities? It may seem like a confusing question, but Ashley had broken it down into a few different sections. To begin with, we watch a documentary called Reel Injun which followed a Native American across the country to different Indian reservations and interviewing many Native Americans. One of the people that he interviewed was Sherman Alexie, a well-known Native author. We then read different chapters out of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven. All the stories that we read had numerous themes that we could write about in one of our journals. To teach us about the past, we were given some sections from Howard Zinn’s book, both chapter one and seven. He had introduced us to the Native American past. Columbus wasn’t the nice guy that we had grown to know. It was rather blunt in how it explained to us how Columbus was the beginning raider of villages. After we had read numerous texts and chapters, we had a seminar about all the readings that we had done.
For the whole project, one of the most significant lesson I’ve learned was the even Native Americans stereotype each other. An example that we read about was in Sherman Alexie’s book “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven”, a short story Indian Education mentioned the stereotypes that they faced. When the character was stereotyped as a drunk Indian because he had passed out after a strenuous basketball game. In the end, it had been diagnosed as diabetes but a Chicano teacher had run up and said, ““Hey. What’s that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They start drinking real young.” The teacher hadn’t asked him if he was okay, just immediately assumed. They also faced stereotyping in the Dartmouth essays, when Mary had been completely offended by her boss who had said, “Then one day the student supervisor on duty approached me and asked me the rumor he had heard about me was true. “They say you are an Indian.” I answered him honestly and told him, “Yes, I am an American Indian.” “Well, then, I better go hide all the liquor. We don’t want it to disappear or find you drinking on the job.” (Chamberlain pg. 158). The shame and embarrassment that she felt was so much that she almost left Dartmouth that night. But she decided to try to survive through the year. Throughout this project, my perspective had been challenged with some of the readings. In the Zinn chapters, I wasn’t sure what Columbus had been thinking until Howard Zinn had explained. Growing up, we learned how Columbus was a good man who traded with the Native Americans. I had slowly learned that he kill hundreds of “Indians” just for gold. But in the two chapters from Zinn’s book, we all learned that Columbus was a greedy man who didn’t really care who he killed as long he got some sort of payment. This project had challenged me in some places but it also made me uncomfortable during some of the class conversations. We had numerous conversations about how the Native Americans were treated, what they did, the fights that ensued over land and treaties created for peace. But we really had no idea what they really went through or are going through, we are almost an entire white class attempting to step into their shoes. Even though it was a weird feeling, I’m glad that we had been able to open our minds to thinking of other cultures.
For my seminar, I had gone the first day in the first group, so we weren’t as awake as I think Ashley had been hoping for a more excited crowd. But we did have a few ‘Ahh-haas’ during the seminar. Then a requirement for us was to watch another seminar to take notes on other ideas that people may have. A question that had come up often was” What if Columbus hadn’t found America but actually made it to Asia and India?” We couldn’t think of anything different, that somebody would have found America sometime, but they could have approached getting land another way. Without killing, threatening or going behind anyone’s back for gold. Another comment that I heard from the seminar that I watch was ‘European culture was trying to subjugate other countries to change to be like them. I was thinking that now America has been moving to other countries and ‘spreading the American dream.’ Americanization has been happening more often in other countries.
The essential question is: How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to a more enlightened understanding of history AND contemporary social, cultural and political realities?
With the examination of the multiple sources and different perspectives, we got a more rounded idea of what had happened to create America, starting with Columbus finding America and continuing on to pillaging and stealing. In the end of the two and a half weeks of learning, we have a better understanding of what has happened. Now I know that it wasn’t just the Native Americans fault, or just the settlers fault. Everyone had played a part in the creation and destruction of cultures. There was one question where we had to say who we thought started all of the fighting, and it was hard to decide. I believe that I went with it was the white people who created a spark which ignited the flame of all the fighting. For the cultural realities, the Dartmouth essays that we read had helped show two sides of a story; a Native American who hid his heritage and one who represented her people proudly. Maryanne Chamberlain had embraced her culture and was proud to be a Native. Robert Bennett, on the other hand, called himself an apple, red on the outside white on the inside. He didn’t find his culture until he was about twenty. With both the historical and recent readings that we did created a clearer understanding of the reasons why we were learning it.
For the whole project, one of the most significant lesson I’ve learned was the even Native Americans stereotype each other. An example that we read about was in Sherman Alexie’s book “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven”, a short story Indian Education mentioned the stereotypes that they faced. When the character was stereotyped as a drunk Indian because he had passed out after a strenuous basketball game. In the end, it had been diagnosed as diabetes but a Chicano teacher had run up and said, ““Hey. What’s that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They start drinking real young.” The teacher hadn’t asked him if he was okay, just immediately assumed. They also faced stereotyping in the Dartmouth essays, when Mary had been completely offended by her boss who had said, “Then one day the student supervisor on duty approached me and asked me the rumor he had heard about me was true. “They say you are an Indian.” I answered him honestly and told him, “Yes, I am an American Indian.” “Well, then, I better go hide all the liquor. We don’t want it to disappear or find you drinking on the job.” (Chamberlain pg. 158). The shame and embarrassment that she felt was so much that she almost left Dartmouth that night. But she decided to try to survive through the year. Throughout this project, my perspective had been challenged with some of the readings. In the Zinn chapters, I wasn’t sure what Columbus had been thinking until Howard Zinn had explained. Growing up, we learned how Columbus was a good man who traded with the Native Americans. I had slowly learned that he kill hundreds of “Indians” just for gold. But in the two chapters from Zinn’s book, we all learned that Columbus was a greedy man who didn’t really care who he killed as long he got some sort of payment. This project had challenged me in some places but it also made me uncomfortable during some of the class conversations. We had numerous conversations about how the Native Americans were treated, what they did, the fights that ensued over land and treaties created for peace. But we really had no idea what they really went through or are going through, we are almost an entire white class attempting to step into their shoes. Even though it was a weird feeling, I’m glad that we had been able to open our minds to thinking of other cultures.
For my seminar, I had gone the first day in the first group, so we weren’t as awake as I think Ashley had been hoping for a more excited crowd. But we did have a few ‘Ahh-haas’ during the seminar. Then a requirement for us was to watch another seminar to take notes on other ideas that people may have. A question that had come up often was” What if Columbus hadn’t found America but actually made it to Asia and India?” We couldn’t think of anything different, that somebody would have found America sometime, but they could have approached getting land another way. Without killing, threatening or going behind anyone’s back for gold. Another comment that I heard from the seminar that I watch was ‘European culture was trying to subjugate other countries to change to be like them. I was thinking that now America has been moving to other countries and ‘spreading the American dream.’ Americanization has been happening more often in other countries.
The essential question is: How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to a more enlightened understanding of history AND contemporary social, cultural and political realities?
With the examination of the multiple sources and different perspectives, we got a more rounded idea of what had happened to create America, starting with Columbus finding America and continuing on to pillaging and stealing. In the end of the two and a half weeks of learning, we have a better understanding of what has happened. Now I know that it wasn’t just the Native Americans fault, or just the settlers fault. Everyone had played a part in the creation and destruction of cultures. There was one question where we had to say who we thought started all of the fighting, and it was hard to decide. I believe that I went with it was the white people who created a spark which ignited the flame of all the fighting. For the cultural realities, the Dartmouth essays that we read had helped show two sides of a story; a Native American who hid his heritage and one who represented her people proudly. Maryanne Chamberlain had embraced her culture and was proud to be a Native. Robert Bennett, on the other hand, called himself an apple, red on the outside white on the inside. He didn’t find his culture until he was about twenty. With both the historical and recent readings that we did created a clearer understanding of the reasons why we were learning it.