The Invisible Native American Essay - 936 Words

The Invisible Native American nbsp; When most people think of Indians, they think of the common stereotyped of the wild, yelling, half-naked savages seen on the television movies. With more modern movies like Dances with Wolves and some of the documentaries like How the West was Lost, some of these attitudes have changed. But the American public as a whole is still very ignorant of what it means to be a Native American-today, or historically. Whose fault it this? The public school system is one problem. When I was in school, if I wanted to learn anything of my heritage, I had to search it out myself. Trying to find the truth was difficult, if not at times impossible. Today it is not much better. It is a well-known†¦show more content†¦If there can be European Literature and Black Literature, there can also be Native American Literature. And there is, but it is difficult to find. There is a wealth of knowledge and literary genius just waiting to be read by thousands of inquiring minds. But there is also a lot of junk written by people who want to ride on the back of pretense and vanity, and they write anything without regard for the subject or the truth. nbsp; The best example of this is a book I read some time ago on the subject of historical Indian people. Although these same Native Americans were heroes to their people, they were not represented as heroes in this book. One chapter in particular exasperated me. It was about Crazy Horse, an outstanding military genius and a respected religious leader to the Lakota people. The book had a picture of what they claimed was Crazy Horse, and it said he signed a document that stated he was guilty of treason! The truth is, he never allowed his picture to be taken, nor did he trust the written word-let alone sign his mark to a paper he could not read. nbsp; Another problem is the unavailability of Native American literature. Several weeks ago, I went into a large bookstore. I saw an aisle devoted to United States History and another to Black History and Black American Literature. I could not find anything about Native American. When I asked if theShow MoreRelatedWomen During The Nineteenth Century : Women And The Trail Of Tears1676 Words   |  7 Pagescolor (African, Native-Indian) and lower class women who were forced to work under dire conditions were deemed â€Å"invisible† to this movement. Considering they did not fit the standards of race and class, their position as â€Å"women† or citizens was not fought for. Evidence of this issue lies in the document edited by Miriam Schneir â€Å"Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiment and Resolutions† and its failure to include ethnic women. To further address the reality of degradation that slave, native, and impoverishedRead MoreThe Brown Eyed / Blue Eyed Experiment 980 Words   |  4 Pages1. 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