Laurie Bacigalupi
Journal Blog
Professor Nesberg
06/2016
Before taking this class and learning the
material I have thus far, I did not know much about the Native communities. My
views and knowledge have expanded tremendously from just the first two modules.
Before this class my knowledge expanded as far as a Disney movie on Native
American Indians. I now understand the real story behind Pocahontas, cultural
sensitivity and Native communities in the present day.
After reading Treuer, Everything You
Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask, I learned the real story
behind Pocahontas. First, Pocahontas did not marry John Smith rather a planter
John Rolfe (treuer p.35). She did however, help John smith escape before he was
executed by her tribe. I also was surprised that she was only a teenager at the
time.
After watching the assigned videos, I have
learned about cultural sensitivity and the importance behind it. With cultural
appropriation I think it is important to be aware of this because we do this
without understanding its religious and cultural significance and can change
its true meaning.
I have learned about how Native
communities live in the present day. Oren Lyons talks about Indian rules,
taking for example the rules of his community. He was appointed chief by The
Great Peace Maker. The Peace maker had set rules estimated about 1000 years ago
to the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga and the Seneca. As a chief you council
for the welfare of the people, and they should be foremost in your mind (Oren
Lyons). In terms of adaption there were conflicts between the 6 nation chiefs
and the Politian’s. In 1776 a treaty was formed and peace was made. However as
Oren explains, that light went down as time went on. Native communities
appreciate Mother Nature and do the best to preserve it in order for the future
generations to enjoy it for years to come.
WORKS CITED
Nabokov, Peter, ed. Native American
Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations From Prophecy to the Present,
1492-2000. Revised ed. New York: Penguin Group, 1999. Print.
Oren Lyons the Faithkeeper. Prod. Bill
Moyers. Moyers, 1991. Film.
http://library.esc.edu/login?url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=16071&xtid=6775
Treuer, Anton. Everything You Wanted to
Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask. St. Paul: Borealis Books, 2012.
Print.
The Pocahontas story is in fact an interesting one. The fact that she was basically kidnapped for helping out somebody that was going to be killed is amazing. Furthermore, when they went to negotiate for her release the captures disregarded the deal with the Indians (which shows why Native Americans could not trust). I wonder what the living relatives feel of that story...from both sides.
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