This week of NAS5 was shocking, but informative. I learned of the many horrors in Native American history that my past history courses have neglected to point out to me. For example, I never really knew about the details behind the massacre at Wounded Knee, especially from the Native American standpoint. Also, I did not know much about the American Indian Movement until I read "We AIM Not to Please" by Mary Brave Bird. Her writing was so powerful and I found this reading much easier to identify with than the other readings, just because it is one of the more recent works that we've dealt with. One of the quotes that really stuck out for me was on page 114 in the reader, in which Bill Kunstler stated, "You hate those most whom you have injured most." I find this quote extremely disheartening because this mindset allows the cycle of hate to continue. No wonder the Native Americans grew so distrustful over time, after all the broken treaties, the violence, exploitation, and destruction of their cultures.
What happened to Native American tribes was essentially genocide, and I hadn't thought about it in that sense before. In my mind, I had associated the word "genocide" with the Jews and the Holocaust, but not the Native Americans. However, when I saw that picture of the mass grave at Wounded Knee, the terrible realization finally sank in. The history of the Native American Indians is one that has been pushed beneath the surface and we need to acknowledge this fact.
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The fact that the Americans committed genocide is terrible and what makes it worse is that the United States refuses to admit that they committed genocide. Until the U.S. admits that it did commit genocide, it will never make an actual effort to stop the genocides that are happening around the world in places like Uganda. America has such power and yet our government continually make excuses for why we cant help these ailing countries and yet we make up reasons to invade countries like Iraq because it benefits us.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this week of class was shocking to me, and I am embarassed to how blinded I was by the tragedies that the Native Americans were put through. I would have never previously thought of the actions against Native American's in a light as extreme as calling it genocide until I heard the story from the Native American side. I agree with Hardeep in the fact that it is disgusting that we give Germany such a negative light for the persecution of Jews; however, we had essentially the same situation occuring right on our own land. The pictures and readings of this week were real eye-openers.
ReplyDeleteWhile I had known of the atrocities that were committed against the native Americans, I did not fathom the extent of which such events occurred. This week definitely illustrated to me that what did occur was nothing short of genocide, and as you stated very reminiscent of the scenes from WW2 in which the Nazis committed genocide against the Jews. I agree with the points you made.
ReplyDeleteSince this week was a real eye opener to the truths about the past treatment toward natives, especially with the idea of genocide, I definately was disgusted in how government has tried to hide it. In my opinion, and not to be misunderstood because I am highly patriotic and come from a military family, the American flag representation of freedom is very skewed in dealing with AIM. With the massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, I think that people had the mindset that freedom meant freedom to kill the free.
ReplyDeleteI also liked Mary Brave Bird's "We AIM Not to Please" because it just has this great tone. I feel like she is someone that isn't "BS-ing" the readers. She is informative and straight-forward.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you brought up your past history classes. I feel that most of our history books are skewed. Well at least maybe the U.S history that we read in elementary or middle school. It always seems to portray the U.S. as the "good guys" but we just have to admit that sometimes we are not.
It's very shocking and sad for us to be learning about the horrors of these events, but it definitely is good for us to be informed and understand it. :)
Likewise, I had also associated genocide with the "Jews" and the "holocaust," which is why it was very shocking to learn about the unimaginable truths about another group. It's pretty hard to fully understand what native group or a minority group must be experiencing if it weren't for the history books and written text by native writers. Writers like Mary Brave Bird, Winnemucca, and Thompson are very effective at providing details about the Native American's experience and for that it is a very powerful weapon at speaking out and reaching the audience/readers.
ReplyDeleteIt is weird that history seems to "leave out" most American Indian history. We hear about slavery, no? Do we not consider that as genocide? How do we cope culturally with some histories but neglect others?
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