Compare And Contrast Zitkala-Sa

According to Cronon, “Many European visitors were struck by what seemed to them the poverty of Indians who lived in the midst of a landscape endowed so astonishingly with abundance” (Cronon 33).European ideas about owning land as private property clashed with natives’ understanding

“Pressured by traders and threatened with military force, the Dakota were forced to cede nearly all their land in Minnesota and eastern Dakota in the 1851 treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota.” (65) Wazyatawin’s statement is bitter and negative, not to say that the Minnesota Historical Society’s isn’t, but hers is more so. Evidently Wazyatawin writes in a more aggressive manner to appeal to her strongly opinionated audience, and herself, in comparison the the slightly more modest version of this message as presented by the Minnesota Historical Society. Another aspect to consider is the word choice in the pieces, and how that affects the overall

He will invariably have a thin sexy wife with stringy hair, an IQ of 191, and a vocabulary in which even the prepositions have eleven syllables” (79). In this text, Deloria argues how anthropologists purposely contrast themselves from Indians on reservations with how they dress to show their overwhelming wealth and intelligence over Indians while also crudely mocking how anthropologists pretend to be hierarchical snobs. High school students would be intrigued with the sass Deloria uses in his writing. Another appropriate type of reading would be Native Americans’ personal narratives of their own experiences on colonization, American politics, cultural appropriation, and more. Dawnland Voices edited by Siobhan Senier, for instance, would be a spectacular reading for this proposed class since it includes intimate indigenous short stories, poems, and writings from the New England region.

John Grady Cole’s unfortunate experience illustrates the dangers of naïvely romanticizing violence, ruthlessness, and lawlessness through the American frontier, reminding American audiences, that those who seek an ostensibly better time, often get far worse than they ever dreamed of bargaining

In this article Chandler addressed a widely glorified view of the manifest destiny spread by common textbooks in circulation in the United States. Chandler describes how this propaganda like belief as such, “One’s opinion about this central aspect of American mythology depends heavily on one’s point of view”(Chandler 153). This statement illuminates the factual idea that the manifest destiny, like so many other american historical events, is told from one perspective, which leaves a huge portion of american history untold. Later on, Chandler narrows in on the idea that the commonly held view on the manifest destiny leaves out the impact this westward expansion had on the “original inhabitants of North America, as well as its ramifications today”(Chandler

Native Americans who emigrated from Europe perceived the Indians as a friendly society with whom they dwelt with in harmony. While Native Americans were largely intensive agriculturalists and entrepreneurial in nature, the Indians were hunters and gatherers who earned a livelihood predominantly as nomads. By the 19th century, irrefutable territories i.e. the areas around River Mississippi were under exclusive occupation by the Indians. At the time, different Indian tribes such as the Chickasaws, Creeks, and Cherokees had adapted a sedentary lifestyle and practiced small-scale agriculture. According to the proponents of removal, the Indians were to move westwards into forested lands in order to generate additional space for development through agricultural production (Memorial of the Cherokee Indians).

“The Sky Tree” reveals beliefs about nature, complex religious beliefs and strong social value. “The Sky Tree” shows animals being involved in everyday life. All the animals including, “Beaver, mink, muskrat brought up paw full of soil and placed on turtle 's back until they had made an island”(20).The earth was formed from the animals. “The Sky Tree” also shows complex religious beliefs. After Old Man decided to cut the tree to survive he “cut the tree, it

Throughout the seventeenth century, conflict between Europeans and Native Americans was rampant and constant. As more and more Europeans migrated to America, violence became increasingly consistent. This seemingly institutionalized pattern of conflict begs a question: Was conflict between Europeans and Native Americans inevitable? Kevin Kenny and Cynthia J. Van Zandt take opposing sides on the issue. Kevin Kenny asserts that William Penn’s vision for cordial relations with local Native Americans was destined for failure due to European colonists’ demands for privately owned land.

Now the first step, parting me from my mother, was taken, and all my belated tears availed nothing” (Zitkala-Sa pg.432) Society attempted to change Zitkala- Sa into a new generation and nationality. Returning from her education and time away, she saw her mother and wonders to herself, why she didn’t meet the standards of the newcomer’s adjustments. "Mother, why is not your house cemented? Do you have no interest in a more comfortable shelter?

The contrasts between the American West and East in the nineteenth century range from a new start to the adventure of the living in the Wild West. The east had become overcrowded and did not allow much opportunity for people of lesser wealth. “In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner gave a celebrated lecture, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” in which he argued that on the western frontier the distinctive qualities of American culture were forged: individual freedom, political democracy, and economic mobility. The West, he added, acted as a “safety

During the “Gilded Age” period of American history, development of the Trans-Mississippi west was crucial to fulfilling the American dream of manifest destiny and creating an identity which was distinctly American. Since the west is often associated with rugged pioneers and frontiersmen, there is an overarching idea of hardy American individualism. However, although these settlers were brave and helped to make America into what it is today, they heavily relied on federal support. It would not have been possible for white Americans to settle the Trans-Mississippi west without the US government removing Native Americans from their lands and placing them on reservations, offering land grants and incentives for people to move out west, and the

We are ‘settlers’. We take up land that belongs to us, American citizens, by paying the government price for it.” (Burton 238). This comment on a deeper context was the view and beliefs of American in 1848. Additionally, the social hierarchy is apparent and supports Alamar’s comment that there is inequality and prejudices within the U.S. government.

A view of Americans as a special, exceptional people because Americans had progressively taken over the West and conquered primitive societies was firmly established in the minds of Americans by frontier myth. One of problems is that the frontier myth is a story, and “all stories are partial; that is, in creating narrative coherence, they leave things out, and emphasize other things”. They are not necessarily false, but neither are they history. As the society evolved, the concept of the frontier is consequently redefined as a space of social and cultural interaction and replaced by the terms “contact zone” by Mary Louise Pratt in her 1992 book Imperial Eyes. Contact zones are “social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other.”

It is within this context of recent scholarly work that naturalism is seen in the novel Tracks , written by Native American author, Louise Erdrich. A characteristic of naturalism, determinism manifests itself in Tracks through depictions of the “brute”, quests for power and wealth, and the portrayals of deterioration and violence. Tracks is a novel about the on-going struggles Native Americans face in their efforts to preserve their land and culture. Set in North Dakota during the early part

Navinika Moon was a teen photographer and her aesthetic was the lush forest near her small town of Morganville. She went there almost daily to take pictures of the beautiful trees and their golden leaves. The crisp sound of their crunch beneath her feet sent shivers down her spine. She pulled out her camera and set up her tripod to take time lapse photos of the leaves falling. She grabbed her bag and nestled down against a large cedar tree, she then pulled out her sketchbook and started to sketch what she saw.