Reel Injun

        In many films, Native Americans have developed certain stereotypes that are found to be untrue and in the 1990's people started to finally recognize them as more humanlike. In films including Reel Injun, Iron Eyes Cody, The Cowboy, and even cartoon shows including Pocahontas that all portray false stereotypes and representing them in all the wrong ways. In films like these, Native Americans appear to live on reservations and dressed in a warrior like outfit to evoke the daily style of an average Native. By the makings of these targeted films on the Native Americans, people have become very racist towards them making fun of their languages, clothing, where they live, etc. Dances With Wolves and Little Big Man were two of the first films to start the non stereotype and taking the time to learn the Native's culture. "The Natives were fleshed out as characters and allowed to be see as more complete people, they weren't just warriors, they weren't just peaceful"(Reel Injun). In Dances With Wolves Native's weren't seen as their usual selves but more humanlike and after this film were released they finally were excepted as regular people. Although the Native's weren't in the spotlight they thought of it as progress for finally getting recognition for who they actually are as a person. On of the main characters in Dances With Wolves known as Graham Greene had to learn the language of the Lakota. Films before this one, Native actors would make up the Native's languages giving people the wrong impression to what the languages really sounded like. Even when this movie came out there were still false recognition to some Native nations. As Russell Means says, "To treat my nation like we don't know how to fight...we the Lakota, who are responsible for first nation to ever militarily defeat the United States of America on the field of battle and the Lawrence on the plains have to teach us how to fight" (Reel Injun). Although Dances With Wolves showed people a different side to Native Americans, Means was offended when he saw his own nation being shown as a nation that didn't know how to fight. Like all Native nations they all need to know how to fight but by giving the audience a different prospective on their ability to do things.

       Flags of Our Fathers another stereotype was recognized to be known as another Native American stereotype. Adam Beach a character from the film produced in 2006 played a drunkin' Native. As Adam said, "Ira Hayes was consumed by alcohol. I myself can't even attempt to drink one in a crowd because there's another drunk Indian. I've always called myself a child of an alcoholic so throughout the film you watch it that's me, that's not acting"(Reel Injun). This film has given Natives a new characteristic that they get drunk and so they will usually not drink in front of crowds fearing the judgement they will get from others. The results that are shown from this film is the insecurity about their ability to do what they want without being judged so they tend to not do it. "We don't always have to make great representations of Native people, were not asking for that, were not asking to be nobles or righteous or good all the time, were asking to be human"(Reel Injun). It has progressed throughout the years that Indians are becoming for humanized now that films today are becoming more and more realistic. Mostly all of the things stated in movies on Native Americans they are mostly likely to be misleading to viewers watching it. Today as more movies get produced about Indians the more practical people get about Natives and how they are just like everyone else.
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The Ceremony Part Two

          A relationship can have different meanings to them whether it's a good one or not. In The Ceremony Tayo and his Aunt have an abnormal relationship with each other. Auntie being a controlling oldest daughter of her family tries to take care of her household while at the same time tries to be a motherly like figure to Tayo. Although Tayo and Auntie are family members and since Tayo is Native American and Auntie is a strong christian it causes some problems with their relationship. "Those who measured life by counting the crosses would not count her sacrifies for Rocky the way they counted her sacrifices for her dead sister's half-breed child"(Silko 27). Auntie being as christian as she says she is comes across not so christian like the way she acts with Tayo. As she says "half-breed child" she is de-humanizing Tayo and putting him in a dog or animal like form which explains how Auntie acts and speaks towards Tayo. Auntie is described as a problematic character that causes a lot of trouble throughout Tayo's life. When Tayo comes home from World War II Auntie tries to be loving and caring towards him. "... and he realized then she changed the beds as if Josiah and Rocky still slept there, tucking the dark wool blankets around the corners of the clean sheets, stuffing the pillows into starched white pillowcases she had ironed the day before"(Silko 28). This quote describes the relationship between Rocky and Auntie and comparing it to the relationship with her and Tayo's. By Auntie setting up the bed and making everything look perfect is a way of showing that her relationship with Tayo is good but in reality it's not so good on the inside. It's if the only way Auntie can control the way things look as perfect but can't do anything to get rid of the appearance of Tayo being present in her life. She's comparing Tayo as a stain in a shirt that can never be removed and having to deal with the consequences forever. "All that gossip about Josiah and about Little Sister, Girls around here have babies by white men all the time now, and nobody says anything. Men run around with with Mexicans, and even worse, and nothing is ever said"(Silko 30). This was shown as an example of transferred oppression. As in Auntie is getting so anger with the different cultured relationships growing around her that she's pushing her anger onto Tayo and targeting his Native American culture.

          When one chooses to go to war they have to deal with the consequences of wearing a certain uniform. They are given the privilege to be treated with respect by fighting for other's lives. When Tayo and his cousin Rocky were fighting in World War II they wore American uniforms. Everyone around them recognized them as regular American soldiers but didn't recognize that they both were Native Americans behind the uniforms. "The war was over, the uniform was gone. All of a sudden that man at the store waits on you last, makes you wait until all the white people bought what they wanted. And the white lady at the bus depot, she's real careful now not to touch your hand when she counts out your change"(Silko 39). When the war was over they weren't treated with the same respect they were treated while in the war. People didn't care about who they once were. When the uniforms weren't worn by them anymore they didn't get recognized the same. In Dance With Wolves First Lieutenant Dunbar wore a uniform when he faced the Sioux Nation and they acknowledged him in a different way than they would if he weren't wearing his uniform. "The first day in Oakland he and Rocky walked down the street together and a big Chrysler stopped in the street and an old white woman rolled down the window and said, "God bless you, God bless you," but it was the uniform, not them, she blessed"(Silko 38). The old women didn't notice the race in which the men were only the country that they represented and that changed the way she acknowledge them. It's interesting to observe the actions people make to an American soldier dressed in uniform to a regular American man or woman when roaming the streets because it would probably relate to when Tayo and Rocky got noticed. Today, people easily acknowledge soldiers dressed in uniform and treat them with more respect than a usual American. Recognizing and thanking those soldiers for what they achieve greatly is a heroic thing but at the same time should always give respect to the people who deserve it the most because of their race.  

The Ceremony

          Today, many go through a daily routine of trying to numb one's pain and emotions by doing something that's simply just blocks every memory from them for a certain amount of time. The effect that war gives on oneself comes off to be one of the most brutal and painful experiences one has ever dealt with.  Many veterans try to forget about these specific emotions they have towards the war and the experiences but tends to stick with them forever. It's hard to let go of what happened in the past especially when seeing one get killed right before their very eyes. The post traumatic stress and depression tends to appear in every living veteran. In the book The Ceremony written by Leslie Silko several examples are shown throughout the first couple of pages the biggest way to get rid of those thoughts is to drink. "No, they say  coffee is bad for you. He laughed, and Tayo smiled because Harley didn't use to like beer at all, and maybe this was something that was different about him now, after the war. He drank a lot of beer now"(Silko 18). Tayo and his childhood friend, Harley are veterans from World War II that have dealt with post traumatic stress for years. Tayo being a good friend that he always is to Harley tries to help Harley out with his addiction to alcohol from the outcome of the war. Before the war, Harley didn't use to like beer but since then the effect of him fighting in the war it left him with nothing but bad thoughts. "The sound of the rain got louder, pounding on the leaves, splashing into the ruts; it splattered on his head, and the sound echoed inside his skull"(Silko 11). This quote is an example of how often post traumatic stress can relate to the smallest of things. And how the thumping of rains drops can remind oneself about the bullets going off non stop. "It was all worse than he had ever dreamed: to have drifted all those months in white smoke, only to wake up again in the prison camp"(Silko 15). The white smoke was a western medicine made from plants that would help soldiers with their pain and help the process of their healing.

          Weather can change a mood in an instant such as raining can changes ones emotion to be sad or tired where as if it's sunny it make one feel happy and energetic. Different people act different ways according to the weather but every climate switches ones mood dramatically. In the book it starts off with a drought and how the dryness in Gallup Ceremonies has effected Tayo and all the rest of the people living there. The drought brings back the memories and flashbacks of fighting in the war and the reservation having a dry climate. "Jungle rain had no beginning or end; it grew like foliage from the sky, branching and arching to the earth, sometimes in solid thickets entangling the islands, and, other times, in tendrils of blue mist curling out of coastal clouds"(Silko 10). When rain pours after a drought its a happy thing. During a drought everything is very dry, dead, and yellow but when water comes it makes everything green and alive and turns the mood around. "...it was for dry air, dry as a hundred years squeezed out of yellow sand, air to dry out the oozing wounds of Rocky's leg, to let the torn flesh of broken bones breathe, to clear the sweat that filled Rocky's eyes"(Silko 10). The drought dried everything up. Although Rocky had died from the Japanese grenade the drought had helped him heal his wounds letting them dry up and letting his bones breathe. "...if they saw how weak Rocky had become, and came to crush his head with the butt of the rifle, then it would be the rain and the green all around that killed him"(Silko 10). Tayo had blamed the rain for the death of his friend Rocky and how the rain had made him sick and everyone else around him. Ever since Rocky's death in the rainfall Tayo has had a remembrance of the rain and the green nature surroundings that always triggers back to Rocky. Tayo's mood changes dramatically always coming back to a recognition to World War II.   

Analysis of Dances With Wolves #2

          After the movie Dances With Wolves came out in the 1990's, the whole Native nations had shown a different side to them to Americans that impressed them greatly and now have a completely different aspect towards them. Films that were produced before Dances With Wolves that had given Americans the wrong impression on Native Americans seeing them as "dumb" in movies but after watching Dances With Wolves they had a new prospective on them. Throughout the film there was a reoccurring theme that was shown in the simplest but the most significant scenes was pathos. Pathos defined to appeal to emotion in sensory images, music, etc. is shown through the landscape throughout First lieutenant Dunbar adventure in the native nation. The uplifting and lightening music when Two Socks kept following Dunbar and Dunbar eventually getting his name Dances With Wolves by the Natives it appealed to the audience that Dunbar had a special connection to that wolf. Towards the end of the film when Dunbar gets taken by the American soldiers Two Socks follows him but gets shot down by the soldiers while sorrow music fulfills the emotions in the audience. In the Native culture it was a ritual to dance around the fire which Dunbar wasn't used to and found quite unusual to him but since being around the Natives for a certain amount of time it eventually became a ritual to him as well. Pathos was present in this specific scene because the beauty of it all was so emotionally appealing. This film does a great job portraying the inspiration with beauty in nature. An example is shown in the scene where they come across thousands of buffalo roaming the landscape and a sigh of glory overcame their faces. Before this symbolic scene the hunters from the tribe had found buffalo that were killed by the Americans. During this time the Americans and all Native nations had a lot of mis communication especially when it came to the killing of animals. As they saw the skinned buffalo laying there in the fields they became angry that people would just leave these could of been useful buffalos but instead put them to waste. The buffaloes mean a lot to the Natives. There's no part of the buffalo that goes to waste using the fur for clothes, the bones for tools, the meat for food, etc.

          The transformation of Dunbar becoming a member of the Sioux Tribe was a slow but noticeable transition starting with when one of the members from the tribe found Dunbar's hat in the valley. Throughout the film there are several scenes after showing the trading between First Lieutenant Dunbar and the Wind In His Hair giving him his ceremonial of chest armor. Dunbar wearing his coat from his uniform traded the the jacket for the chest armor symbolizing the becoming of a powerful friendship. Towards the end of the film where Dunbar gets taken from the American soldiers he was fully dressed like an Native American and questioned them why he was dressed this way. After realizing his life belonged to the Sioux Tribe he then turned his back on his American soldiers helping the very last fight in the film. When getting an invite to stay the night, Dunbar catches Kicking bird(Stands With A Fist's Father) and his wife making love to one another and Dunbar eventually recognizing that making live to each other is part of the human nature. For a long time Americans thought Native's were so different and nothing like them at all from the films before Dances With Wolves. Since this movie has been out for over 10 years Americans have gave Native Americans a new prospective on who they are,  respecting them as human beings.

Analysis of Dances With Wolves

          In the film Dances With Wolves, First lieutenant John J. Dunbar, a soldier who was badly wounded in the American Civil War decided he wanted to do something more with his life. Dances With Wolves triggered back to the 1860's where a lot of soldiers including Dunbar struggled with severe post-traumatic stress caused by awful experiences seen throughout the war. In a scene shown in the film, First Lieutenant Dunbar was severely injured choosing to try and commit suicide rather than have his leg amputated. During that scene with Dunbar riding his horse, he did a christ pose spreading his arms out wide being an easy target to shoot at. He had sacrificed his life ending up surviving his suicide riding through the Confederate front line he was awarded bravery for his appearance as well as picking his own military base in which he can store his supplies and giving him personal shelter. After settling down in at his new post in the western frontier he began to rebuild the abandoned loft. During his time at the post he would observe his thoughts into a daily dairy. Dunbar started questioning why other soldiers weren't joining him but he unfortunately didn't know that the wagon driver by the name of Timmons who took him to the frontier was killed by the native americans who came across him on his way back to Fort Hays. He would write in his dairy the reasoning why soldiers weren't coming but with the death of Timmons there was no one to tell them where Dunbar was. No help from Major Fambrough for committing suicide after awarding Dunbar for his bravery it prevented the soldiers into not knowing where Dunbar was located.

       

          The Pawnee Indians known to dress in ceremonial clothing were a violent tribe scalping their enemies as a symbol showing that they conquered them in which they did when they killed Timmons. Shortly before the killing of Timmons, a Sioux member known as Wind in His Hair found Dunbar at his post in which he tried stealing Dunbar's horse several times. The Wind in His Hair informed the rest of his tribes that there was an American living on their land and stating the fact that Americans don't appreciate anything they do or what they wear. Dunbar finally decided to go find the Sioux Tribe dressing in his uniform symbolizing civilization and preparation to fight. On his journey through the lands he came upon this women alone and hurt. In this scene it shows pathos where he is saving a women and how it makes him heroic. Usually holding the flag like he did when finding the women was expressing the power and dominance he had over everyone else on that land. He rapped the women's arm in the flag ripping it into pieces symbolizing that this wounded women is more important than his country's flag. These specific scenes in Dances With Wolves each have their own significance for symbolizing something so small that viewers wouldn't recognize.

Native American Tribes

          The Cherokee Nation was established in the early 1450’s and every since then they have been recognized for their cultural and social developments. They’re usually found in the eastern and southeastern regions of the United States which were actually the first to inhabit the location before it became present day states including North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, etc. Growing several crops including corn, beans, squash, along with sunflowers and crafting baskets and pottery are frequent hobbies that members do to stay active. Also known to be the one of the largest tribes throughout the world the Cherokee tribe consists of around 288,000 members and are divided into 7 clans who live in permanent villages along rivers and streams. John Ross was the first elected principal chief to lead the Cherokee Nation as well as the senate, and a house of representative. The first women to ever get voted in to be chief of the Cherokee Nation was Wilma Mankiller, a women who who was the principal chief from 1985 to 1995. Back when World War ll was in session Wilma’s mom, dad, and her 10 siblings were forced off of their land by the United States Army along with 45 other families in the tribe. Before dying from stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer on April 6, 2010, Wilma was an author who wrote a book about her being the leader of her nation.

Cherokee Nation's symbol

Wilma Mankiller, first women Chief 

Cherokee Nation's flag

 





The Blackfoot Nation home to over 15,500 members are a well known tribe consisting of hunter-gatherers typically hunting buffalo and following them to wherever they would migrate to.  Although they might transfer to locations where buffalo are present, the Blackfoot Nation usually tend to stay in the northern plains. When it comes to harsh brutal seasons members of the Blackfoot tribe would separate into bands of 10 to 20 villages that have one chief that leads the group of 100 to 200 members. Each leader was handily picked to their ability of the success they had during war and their experiences with ceremonies along with how wealthy they are. In the summer, the Blackfoot nation would re gather into a big group again and conduct a ceremonial known as the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance is a time where the Blackfoot tribe gathers and celebrates rituals and warrior society, recognizing members of the tribe for their brave and courageous acts they did. The buffalo hunts led to supplying food for the ceremony. When the sun dance ceremony is over, the process continues separating into smaller groups and the hunting of buffaloes begin again. Becoming a member of the Blackfoot Nation in 1954, Earl Old Person was nominated to be a lifetime chief of the Blackfoot Nation in the year 1978. From 1964 to 2008 Old Person was a tribal chairman, and became a member of the Blackfoot Tribal Business Council in 1954. Earl has also become a memory for not just the tribe itself but the whole state of Montana who was awarded the hall a fame of Montana in 2007.

Earl Old Person, a lifetime chief and hall of fame of Montana

Blackfoot Nation's flag/symbol

Traditional Sun Dance

The Cheyenne tribe who is located in the Great Plains which is now known to be the states Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, etc. In the early 1830’s the tribe is split into two separate groups due to American relocation one becoming the northern Cheyenne living in Montana and the southern Cheyenne living in Oklahoma. The Northern Cheyenne tribe is known to have land that belong to them and having the right to do anything they want to it. Women and men obtain certain roles on a daily routine women typically staying home to cook and clean. Occasionally a woman will become a chief but that was usually taken on by a male. The dirty work was left for the men hunting, protecting, feeding, and defending their families. As many tribes are known for their good hunting ability, the Cheyenne tribe is known to care about freedom and the building of their relationship between them and the creation of the world. When the time came for ceremonies a main ritual men would often do was smoke out of a peace pipe as well as tell stories of their past. Like the Blackfoot tribe, the Cheyenne tribe would migrate to wherever the buffalo would go so the hunting would be easier.

Spiritual leaders of the Cheyenne River Sioux

Cheyenne Nation's flag

 

Cheyenne Nation's symbol

Containing three large groups, the Northern, Eastern, and Western Shoshone living in the Great Basin and Great Plains and all traditionally speak the Shoshoni language. Although they were hunter-gatherers they valued their dreams, visions, and a Creator more than anything. There are several traditional ceremony dances held throughout the year including the scalp dance which women tend to place a pole in the center and dance around it holding an enemy scalp. Also like the Blackfoot tribe, they have a sun dance that happens every summer and starting doing this during the reservation.  

Corbin Harney, a spiritual leader of Shoshone Nation

Eastern symbol of Shoshone Nation

 

Sacajawea a former member of the Shoshone Nation 

They call themselves “The People” in other words known as the Navajo Nation. They would trade their cotton goods and maize for buffalo meat and tools with the Pueblo people. After getting taught how to farm, storytelling, and new rituals by the Puebloans themselves that were soon to be recognized as all those things as well as hunt-gatherers and ceremonial people. Back in the day the Navajos migrated from Central Canada to the Southwest.  When the Spaniards traded sheeps and horses to the Navajo Nation they started to be well known weavers for making rugs and blankets. But they’re not known for just making those specific things what they are also known to make is fashionable clothings such as jewelry and clothes in which the Plains Indians favored them. They started moving westward because of the pressure coming from all the rest of the regions from different nations including the Comanches and the Utes. Today, they live in the four corner area with one of the largest tribal populations of around 300,000 members. Ben Shelly was elected both president and vice president of the Navajo Nation. He was president of Navajo for four years until he lost to former president Joe Shirley Jr in the 2014 elections.

Navajo Nation's symbol

Ben Shelly, former president and vice president for Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation's flag

Work Cited

Cherokee Nation-

"Cherokee - Forced From Their Homeland on the Trail of Tears." Cherokee - Forced From Their Homeland on the Trail of Tears. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

"Cherokee Nation Home." Cherokee Nation Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

"Wilma Mankiller." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

"Wilma Mankiller." Wilma Mankiller. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

Blackfoot Nation-

"Blackfoot Indian Nation - Real People of Montana." Blackfoot Indian Nation - Real People of Montana. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

"Earl Old Person." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

Cheyenne Nation-

"Cheyenne - Warriors of the Great Plains." Cheyenne - Warriors of the Great Plains. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"Cheyenne Tribe." The Cheyenne Tribe of Native American Indians. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

"Cheyenne Indian Fact Sheet." Facts for Kids: Cheyenne Indians (Cheyennes). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

Shoshone Nation-

"Shoshone Tribe of the Northwest - Information and History." Shoshone Tribe of the Northwest - Information and History. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"THE SHOSHONE INDIANS." Shoshone Indians. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

Navajo Nation-

"The Navajo Nation - Largest in the United States." The Navajo Nation - Largest in the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"Ben Shelly." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"Navajo Nation President Shelly: Thanksgiving Did Not Begin with the Pilgrims - Native News Online." Native News Online. N.p., 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

Death Penalty

       

  Should the death penalty be opposed? Today a lot of people consider the death penalty to be the last alternative instead, favor life in prison from past years of innocent people getting the death penalty when they shouldn't have. Going into a Pro and Con debate in class about whether or not the death penalty should be used or not is very controversial in the world today. There are many reasons to go back and forth considering giving the death penalty to the criminal or not. When it comes to the victims family it's very hard for them to recover from a loss of a loved one. Usually a victim's family will want to give the death penalty to the criminal to give closure to the family. If the criminal is sent to prison they are still alive to haunt the victim as well as the family. The death penalty should best be relevant to fit the crime of what they did to the victim. The criminals deserve a punishment that is equal to what they did. If the criminal had murdered an innocent person than they earn to get murdered as well to feel the pain the victim did when s/he was punished. After reading The Laramie Project the death penalty was not given to Aaron McKinney because of Matthew Shepard's mother's reasoning for letting Aaron have life in prison instead. That reason being was to let Aaron think about what he did to Matthew and to be grateful that Aaron can celebrate the things that Matthew could never celebrate again. Having the death penalty as an option for criminals who have murdered people in the past is a good alternative to have because of the families that have to deal with the pain of losing their family members. 

          There are many reasons why people in the world dislike the death penalty which is a good thing for the criminal but bad for the victim and for their families and friends. Some think it isn't fair to have the death penalty happen when a criminal has murdered a person instead thinking it's better to keep them in prison for life. The truth is, is the longer the criminal is alive and in prison the more awful and depressing their lives will be. When it comes the day where the criminals die they will be going to another prison which is hell. If they get the death penalty their lives on earth are fast and painless but by them having life in prison will give them longer pain than getting the death penalty. It's useless to give the death penalty to the people who had murdered others because it doesn't change the fact that the victim is gone and never to come back. Through all the anger and sorrow from the family and friends of the victims the only thing they can do is to forgive the criminal for doing such a horrible thing and move on with their lives. Whether or not the death penalty happens to criminals that have murdered another person at the end of the day they are going to live the rest of their lives in hell. If the death penalty is sentenced to a criminal they have a faster painful death than those who have to live a slow brutal life in prison.