Friday, February 5, 2016

Native American impressions and recent experiences.

One of the reasons I chose this course was that I was always interested in Native American history. I always admired their way of living in harmony with the earth. Unfortunately, many American people have assumptions about Native Americans, some of which are not very pleasant. For instance, some people I have had conversations with in the past have had the impression that Indians were technologically challenged and felt it was good that Europeans arrived in North America to provide Indians the knowledge to progress. This viewpoint is clearly misinformed. This was proven by information provided in the Treuer book, “Atlas of Indian Nations”, that states the Iroquois had one of the most efficient farming systems in the world. The method of agriculture was very innovative in that the cornstalks had bean vines growing on them; underneath them, squash was grown in the shade. It was an integrated system that yielded much greater amounts than the methods of the Old World.

One event I found particularly interesting was the Long Walk of the Navajo. This was partially due to my trip to the Navajo territory in 2015. I stayed a night in the breathtaking Monument Valley. When experiencing the quiet peacefulness of the desert valley, I never would have suspected the violent history of the region. The US Army killed Navajo civilians and burning their crops until the year 1863, when the Navajo surrendered. The Navajo were placed on the Bosque Redondo Reservation with the Apache, a tribe they were at war with. Needless to say, this caused problems. In addition to this, the reservation land was not feasible for agriculture. The Navajo eventually managed to negotiate terms to be allowed to settle back on their homeland in 1868. However, the land allowed to them was a smaller area.

Now looking back at my trip to the Southwest, I feel a sense of sadness and respect. Sadness, obviously because of the atrocities that were committed against the Native Americans; but also respect for their tenacity to endure and coexist despite the wrongs that were committed against them. In my opinion they should be repatriated for the war crimes that were victims of.


5 comments:

  1. I understand your post! I grew up on the West Coast, surrounded by the history of the California Indians and through my travels have always ended up on or surrounded by tribal areas. I would stand in awe of the colors, landscape and culture of all these tribes and want to be apart of that calming place. But then, as usual, life hits you over the head with a book and you are forced to see what that culture had to endure and recover from. I wonder if my drive to learn the food, read the stories, but never really ask questions part of the problem? Did I assume to much when I thought that all I needed to know is what I read in my high school history class and what Tom told me in the smoke shop when I was only 18?

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  2. Hi Harish. Like you I also decided to take this course to learn a little more about Native American history. I must admit before taking this course I knew very little about Native Americans, most of what I knew was from early education and I can barely remember any of that as that was years ago! I also found it interesting to find out how much the Native Americans taught the early settlers. I was surprised to learn that the Native Americans had some of the best farming techniques of their time. I was also surprised to learn that the Native Americans gave the early colonies ideas in how to govern. Our founding fathers learned these governmental ideologies and used them when forming the United States. I am sure as I continue with this course I will learn of even more things that Native Americans taught us.

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  3. This makes me want to talk about food. The Three Sisters are actually one thing you can find across the nation and across tribes. The idea of integrated farming, corn, beans and squash/pumpkin was used in the NE, SE, and SW. I believe it's on the Sacagawea coin.
    Also the Navajo Long Walk, it's purported this is where Fry Bread was perfected. Fry Bread is embraced by many ideas and shunned by others are a reminder of being forced to live on government rations. I love it myself. It only needs 4 ingredients if you want to make it some time.

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  4. I have always lived on the East Coast, so with that being said where I live in NY we have quite a bit of history about the Indians where I am from. Also I have spoken of having some sort of Native Indian in me I do not know from what tribe but I think it’s interesting. I also agree with a lot of the other comments that I have only known little from school and my grandmother. That and I have always been told never to give Indian fire water I always was confused about that until I hit the age of what alcohol is! I really wish there was a way that our government wasn’t so greedy because Native American beliefs could have impacted our whole life experiences.

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  5. This is interesting, especially in light of information available on the Native American tribes of the Southeast. Many of these tribes, for example Cherokee and Choctaw actually welcomed the European technology and adopted it into their ways of life. This acceptance of technology contributed significantly to the assimilation initiatives forced on Native Americans during first contact periods.

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