Last set of Presentations

I think that all of the presentations were well did. I got to see how creative our class is and how we all have learned a lot about cowboys and Indians throughout this class. In someway all westerns are tied together, either in an idea of a character, plot, or even same scenerio.

Group class presentations

Today aside from our group, Emily and Erika presented. The movie that they watched was Tombstone. It was about the Earp brothers and how they moved to Tombstone to better themselves and basically take over the town and profit from it. They have a run in with the cowboys that already live there and there is a shoot out.
It was basically the typical western but it seemed to have moved at a fast pace. It was kind of like our movie in ways too, Unforgiven.

Group meeting 2

Sunday my group and I met at the library to finish up our presentation. We polished up our information and also did our powerpoint. We went through what each of us would say while presenting.

Movie project meeting

Today we met for the first time in our group. We discussed our dates that we are meeting and what we plan to put in the presentation. We are getting things worked out!

Unforgiven- Movie project

My partners and I haven't met yet for our discussions about the movie. All we have is the movie. I watched the movie and it's awesome! Even though I didn't expect for it to be, because I thought it was just going to have Clint Eastwood and he was going to be the main physical purpose of the movie. Unlike the good, the Bad and the Ugly, I think that his character was more rough and tough. Great movie and and unexpected ending.

paper three topic...

I really don't know what I am going to do this paper on. I was thinking about writing about Victors journey and what he accomplished without really knowing that he was going to..... I don't know. I thought it may be too broad. I also had wanted to write about the appearance of fire BUT I think their are too many instances that could be mentioned and I don't really know which ones are the most important. Sooo..... It's still up in the air!

Churchhill Review( Got the syllabus confused and did the Iowa interview first!)

This article was kind of interesting. It allowed me to see the films that Native Americans have been a part of and the roles that they have been given in movies. I read about how the Indians were not able direct for a period of time. That's sad. With that said I am getting pretty tired of Westerns and the same basic plot line....

Sherman Alexie's Iowa Interview

This interview was funny and very entertaining. Sherman Alexie started off the interview a bit stiff and straight to the pint but after a few questions you could tell that he was beginning to become more comfortable with the interview and talking to this stranger.

Though it was lengthy, it was interesting to see his views. I agree with him when he said that he didn't think that it was right for non-Indians to write about Indians. Especially if they hadn't lived or experienced life living like the Indians.

At the end of the interview, he made a statement about being rich because he was able to buy so many books that he hadn't had time to read them. This shows that he values the little things in life that most of us take for granted.

Alexie also stated that he could forget about the family that he has that still has to struggle and have the hardships that have been placed on the Indians for years but he doesn't. i believe that he doesn't just go on with life because It's where he comes from and he must not forget that because it is what got him to where he is today, all of his experiences.

"This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona" by Sherman Alexie

This reading was about an Indian named Victor, who was on a journey to collect the ashes of his deceased father, who had moved from the reservation where he and his family resided and moved to Phoenix.

Victor didn't have all of the money to make the trip to bring the ashes back, so he got 100 dollars from the council and his childhood friend Thomas volunteered to give him the rest as long as he could come along.

Thomas was someone who no one wanted to be bothered with because he told stories and acted weird. Really it seemed like he had a spiritual gift that no one understood. He was able to feel things before they happened. I think that the people were afraid of knowing the truth or about themselves and the world that they lived in.

But Thomas and victor collected the ashes and his father's money and truck and went back to the reservation.

Victor stated that he couldn't be friends with Thomas because of who he was. I was kind of sad for Thomas because even though he showed himself to be a genuine good friend but that didn't count because of how he acted and his status in the reservation.

Edrich: Fleur

This story starts off weird and ended even more weird. I was confused for the most part but I finally was able to put it all together..... Here is what happened from my understanding.

Fleur is about a woman who is said to be married to the waterman, Misshepeshu. She is known for drowning twice and also for when the men who try to revive her end up dead. She moved from her town because of the talk that was going around about her, and no one wanted to be around her because they were afraid for their lives.

She ended up working in a Butcher's shop with four men and a young girl. The men were all fascinated by her, but not by her beauty alone but because she could play cards. the only person that noticed that she was odd was the young girl. She noticed that she had odd features like the green dress that clung to her body, her sharp teeth, and that she didn't have any toes.

One night Fleur beat all of the men in a card game and they ended up getting drunk and mad. They went after her. Chasing her out of the young girl's sight.

The next morning Fleur is gone and the town ends up in a horrible tornado that destroys just about everything and leaves three of the men missing. They were later found in hiding dead and stiff.

Fleur lived and moved back to Lake Turcot, where she came from. No one bothered to mess with her, even when she had a son. He was of penny color with blue eyes. The people wondered who fathered the child. Fleur liked that everyone wondered about her and her child and let them continue to wonder.

the Poems of Wendy Rose

Wendy Rose is a writer who expresses her thoughts and feelings through in depth writings. This also made it kinda hard to understand the full meaning of what she is trying to get across. i had to continue to go back and analyze what I was reading. There was a poem that i read that reminded me of Note to a Culture Vulture. She expressed the thoughts of whites using Indians and wanting their knowledge for their own benefits.

"Truganinny"

Wendy Rose writes a poem about a native Australian woman, who is elderly. She is the last of her people and have seen many of them die. She knows that she has come to a point inn her life where she is about to die and everyone around her is waiting for that day to come also. She says, "Already they come; even as I breathe they are waiting for me to finish my dying."


This poem reminds me of the older Native Americans, who too has to witness the death of their people. Also the suffering many years of humiliation and defeat.

Notes to a culture Vulture

Louis describes how to Whites saw that the Indians were truly connected to the land and thus making them want to be like them and have that connection as well. The white wanted to acquire as much knowledge as they could about the Native people and their ways of life so that they could write about them. By doing so they would become well-known writers.

How to Write the Great American Indian Novel

Sherman Alexie writes a poem about how Native Americans and the whites are depicted in novels.

The Indians all have distinct features and are not fully Indian but half-breed. He goes on and states that the white man is fascinated by the Indian woman and the white woman wants the Indian man.

He mentions many other stereotypes that have been given like the Indian man being a warrior and the Indian woman being a healer.

What it all boils down to is that in the Novel "all the white people will be Indians and all of the Indians will be ghosts." The Indians will no longer exist and the white man will possess all of the spirits of the Indians.

Crimes Against Humanity

This reading really opened my eyes to all of the ways that Native Americans have been demoralized and made fun of just because they can be. I didn't know that there were so many names of teams and schools that were named after of referring to the Native Americans.

When the writer began calling out other groups of people and putting them in the Native Americans place, it should have been a wake up call for everyone.

It's not right for us to single out the Native Americans. It's not "honoring them" if you don't know anything about what they really stand for or represent. We are just feeding into the stereotypes that have been placed upon them which is unfair.

It's sad that how the young Native Americans were taken from their homes and what they only know and placed with a non Native American family. This was done without a trace of where they originally came from, in an attempt to "Americanize them".

It's just awful and the last few sentences really sums it all up.

"Know that it causes real pain and real suffering to real people. Know that it threatens our very survival. And know that this is just as much a crime against humanity as anything the Nazis ever did. It is likely the indigenous people of the United States will never demand that those guilty of such criminal activity be punished for their deeds. But the least we have to expect - indeed to demand­is that such practices finally be brought to a halt."

Cowboy: The New Yorker

This reading was about a cowboy, who was caught in the yard of an old man (Sumbitch) and his sister. They hired him to work with them on their families ranch. throughout the years, the old man and the cowboy became close and worked together tending to the land and horses.

Once the old lady died, it was just the two of them and they continued to work hand in hand with each other. The cowboy eventually told him how he ended up at their ranch, which was he had just been paroled out of jail for robbing and shooting the store owner.

The old man got sick and was sent to a hospital where he stayed. he wasn't able to remember who the cowboy was at this point either. This was the end of their relationship. the authorities kicked the cowboy off of the land that belonged to the old man so that they could use it for their benefit.

The cowboy rode off on one of the horses to find work elsewhere.

This reading reiterated the fact that just because a person has a past doesn't mean that they are all bad news. And there are some people who are willing to give them a chance.

Brokeback Mountain

This read was about two young guys, Jack and Ennis. They met at this mountain where they were to look after the sheep of a herder for a summer. During this time they both became very close.

One night after being together for so long, they became intimate with each other. From that day on they continued to have an intimate relationship. When it was at the end of the summer, they both parted their separate ways. They both got married and had children.

After four years they reunited and from the time that they seen each other, they were all over each other. Ennis' wife Alma saw that them kissing and all over each other. This cause her suspicions to rise.

After this reuniting, they continued to see each other throughout the years. Both of them really wanted to be with each other but they couldn't because of the treatment they would get, or even death.

Ennis was really afraid of getting caught because of the stories that he had heard about gays and how he had seen a gay couple treated in his surrounding area. He witnessed the brutal murder of one of the gays that lived around him.

Ennis had called jack one day, after he hadn't heard from him and discovered that Jack had been in an accident. He had died and was cremated.

Ennis went to Jack's parent's house to get his ashes so that he could spread them on Brokeback Mountain as he had requested his wife to do but his parents wouldn't let him have the ashes. Ennis also discovered that Jack's "accident" maybe wasn't that at all. In reality someone had discovered he was a homosexual and killed him.

This reading had a sad ending. Because of the morals and teachings of the world, Jack and Ennis were not able to be together. All Ennis had was the memories.

I have witnessed many people who couldn't be with who they wanted to be with because of the morals that their families held or just the simple fact they weren't ready to be out in the open about their sexuality.

Cormac Reading

This reading was very descriptive and gruesome. The two characters were survivors of an Indian massacre of I guess Mexicans in a surrounding area. The Indians left the people scalped and tormented.

The section where it describes the hanging of the infants was very disturbing. It let me see a side of the Indians that showed that they didn't care if they harmed the innocent or guilty.

The two characters didn't seem to be very fond of each other, but they were just depending on each other for survival I guess.

There was a section that Sproule and Kid were wondering and seeing all of the dead people and they both ended up in a church. I thought this was interesting that all of the victims ran to the church for protection from the Indians but were obviously not protected from the Indians. They were still murdered and left to be buzzard food.

Throughout the story Spoule's arm got worse, the nastiest and most descriptive section was when the author described how it had swell and was leaking pus and had worms! EEWWWWW!

When Sproule and Kid ended up with the family in the wagon, I got lost at this point. I didn't know what happened to Sproule after the was asleep and the next thing i knew Kid was taken and the reading didn't mention him anymore. Did he die or get left?

The Good, the Bad,and the Ugly final parts

The end of the movie was AWESOME. The war scene was very interesting. Blondie and The Ugly "enlisted" as soldiers fighting for the Union. I didn't understand why they blew up the bridge at first. It stopped the war though! When the two crossed over the water into the grave, I knew that when the Ugly tried to leave Blondie that there wasn't going to be a peaceful ending.

I knew that all three of the main men were going to end up dualing over the money. It was intesting how the director made it a three person shot out instead of two, as they are traditionally done. It left a feeling of uncertainty and it was needed during this part because it wrapped the ties between all three characters up.

I thought it was neat how they left the two on the same note as in the beginning, The Ugly being hung and Blondie shooting him down.

The Good, the Bad,and the Ugly pt 3

Tuco and Blondie are captured by the Union Soldiers(I think). Coincidentally the Bad is apart of this army. I knew that they would all end up together. The bad torchers Tuco to get answers about the gold and the grave, he plans to kill him after getting the info but that doesn't happen because he escapes by killing his overseer(gruesome murder) The bad then takes Blondie and they become a partnership. It ends up that Blondie and Tuco come back together and kills all of the men following the Bad, but some how the Bad escapes. I thought that they were out of trouble at this point but they end up getting recaptured by Union soldiers!

The Good, the Bad,and the Ugly part 2

The majority of this part was spent with the Ugly chasing after the Good, trying to get him back for leaving him in the dessert. When he finally gets the Good, he almost lets him die of starvation until he is in need of him to him what grave the gold is hidden in. I knew that they were not going to let the good guy die so quickly in the move!

When the Good and the Ugly arrive at a religious hospital, the Ugly sees that his brother is there and a very religious man. The two of them are like night and day! I thought it was interesting when the Ugly told his brother that he took the easy way out and wasn't brave enough to do what he did, which was being a thief....WOW.

“Frayling Chases Spaghetti Westerns”

Notes that I took while listening:

Leones Films in 1960's were referred to as spaghetti westerns

Why westerns in Italy
*First saw Hollywood westerns in 1930's
*Represented freedom
*Made westerns b/c Hollywood stopped
*Liked and made westerns with a lot of action and less talking

didn't like some traditional ideologies of westerns
*John Wayne/ Crusading element
*Took visuals and concepts and put them with different ideologies

Modern heroes started with Fist Full of Dollars character played my Clint Eastwood
*Identify with hero because of his personality and style not because of his morals

Characters are realistic and scenes are dusty and grimy(lived in)

Once Upon a Time in the West
*Showed casting against type
*Unlike other westerns
*An American actor shot child in clod blood(Henry F.)
*Shows really bad guys by the morality of them

Some actors are dubbed because they are international people playing the characters
*Americans do hear Clint Eastwood's voice
*Dubbing was done really poorly
*Sound is at least 40% of the movie

Music
*Western movies are really about movies
*Choosing right composers is essential
*Italian folk instruments/rock
*Youthful not looked into classical or traditional
*Concrete sounds
* Experimenting with sound (silence)
* All sounds are music

Once Upon a Time in the West

This movie is a remix of all westerns in a cynical way.
*Hollywood Western

Shane and High Noon
* Two movies that this one has reference to.
*Story scenes are almost identical of have a similar feeling
*High Noon opening( Gun shooters waiting on the train that slowly arrives)
*Shane's scene with the boy and the gun

Music and Image
*Gives distinctive atmosphere when actor respond well to the music
*Songs that are played when characters enter are like their "theme songs"

Dual(Traditional)
*Westerns usually at opposite ends but eventually walk around and circle each other

Beginning of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

From the beginning, the movie was pretty self explanatory. It showed the three characters that were playing the Good guy, the bad buy and the ugly guy. I kind of got confused at the scene when I guess the bad guy went and killed the two men who told him the information. I am guessing that all of them are going to be a part of the big crime that is probably going to happen. The funniet scene was when the good guy left the fugitive tied up in the middle of no where. I believe it's going to be a really interesting movie.

5 Quotes....

Charlot


1. "No, no; his course is destruction; he spoils what the spirit who gave us this country made beautiful."
**Pretty much sums up what the Indians thought the white mad came to do.

2. "To take and to lie should be burnt on his forehead, as he burns the sides of my stolen horses with his own name."
** The white man did both of these without remorse, which makes it easier for the Indians to want to retaliate.

3. "Pay him money!"
** Key point: The Indians were told they had to pay to live on THEIR own land that was stolen from them.... hard to grasp but

4. "We owe him nothing, but he owes us more than he will pay, yet says there is a God."
**Giving them spots on reservations isn't enough for the suffering that they endured. It would've been hard for me to be treated in the same way or in any harsh manner by someone who is supposedly spiritual or trying to convert me into a religion that they are not practicing well themselves.

5. "His crimes are left untold"
**The Indians have been left in the past with their harsh conditions and the white man goes on living freely, prospering off of the crimes that he has committed.

Essay Topics...

I really don't know where to start with what I want to write about.

My first subject that I would want to write about is something to do with the christianization of the Indians or something in that ball park.

Maybe something involving the depiction of native Americans in movies and how they have been made out to be fools. perticularly in the movie Searchers.

I was also interested in the more educated Indians like Charlot and talking or exploring their upbringings and how they addapted soo well.

Readings on John Wayne

On John Wayne was a bit confusing to me. I followed the beginning of it very well. the author was stating that the role of the characters in a specific John Wayne movie should be reversed. John Wayne should have been the victim to the attack of an Indian instead of vice versa.

The Idea of John Waynes obsession with western Expansion was also mentioned. This means that He along with other western cowboys wanted to take as much land as possible. Not even considering the people that were hurt in the path of that.

About John Wayne was just basically a summary of his life and his achievements. It didn't suprise me to see that he had three unsuccessful marriages. due to his strong committment to his films( which he was NOT acting but being himself), it seemed like he had very little time for a personal life, and expecially not a family. He has accomplished many great things in his days, I wonder if he was trully happy with himself regardless of the accomplishments that he made. I bet he was because he was playing who he really was in the films. He didn't have the hassle of becoming someone he wasn't or "getting into character" which had to have made things much easier.

John Wayne Interview

At the opening of this interview, I was a little amused at the answers that John Wayne responded with. From the jump I could tell that he was set in his ways and old fashioned. It's very obvious that he is closed minded from the comments that he made about gays, blacks, and Indians.

Even though I didn't agree with over half of the things that he said about blacks, but it's HIS opinion. It angered me about the things that he said about slavery, and the comparison, "It's just a fact of life, like the kid who gets infantile paralysis and has to wear braces so he can't play football with the rest of us" was total BS and hot even a comparison at all.

Also the statements that he made about Indians were even worse! I understand that he doesn't feel bad personally for the harsh treatment of the Indians, but at least have sympathy for the taking of their land. He makes everything seem as though it's a government issue and that it has nothing to do with him.

he himself is a self absorbed old fool. I And for him to not have sympathy for people who have been mistreated just because they are different, makes him even worse than those who did they injustices themselves. And he speaks about how Hollywood is out for money and for themselves. It is most definitely not perfect but it's way more diverse than it was when he was in his prime years.

The Searchers is... interesting but I am not a fan of John Wayne.

Eco "How to Play Indians"

This reading was a guide that listed about 28 characteristics that all Indians have and to play one, this is how you must act. They were all the stereotypical Indian behaviors that are portrayed in movies, like The Searcher. As like in the beginning of the Searchers, there was a stereotype displayed. It showed that the Indians had made a fire to let the whites know that they were approaching. Also the Indians sent only one man to spy on the white family as stated in the movie.

It's awful how hollywood keeps portraying and contually make the Indian look as though they are dumb and unhuman. It's so crazy that i haven't read anything that correctly protrays the Indians, or even seen or heard about how the Indians trully are.

About John Wayne

What do I know about him?

I really don't know too much about John Wayne. to start I knwo that he was born Marion Robert Morrison. John Wayne was a famous actor that played in many western movies. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and his slow voice. He has earned many awards and recognition for his roles that he have played.

What do I expect from his movies?

I expect to see John Wayne playing the role of a typical cowboy. Coming to the rescue of a damsil in destress or someone in need of help. As the typical Cowboy movie, I expect to see gun battles on horses.

The Lone Ranger

First thoughts about it was that.... OMG a black and white show.... This is going to be boring. But as I watched, I put all of the stereotypical acting and lack of wow factor to the side.

The Lone Ranger is a ranger from Texas in the West. He gallops about undoing wrongs of the country with the aid of Tonto. He is his Indian sidekick, who was also devoted to fighting crime. he seems to be the Lone Rangers unequal partner and the stereotypical Indian as mentioned by Alexie. The Lone Ranger always said "Hi-yo, Silver, away!" to his horse. After awhile it kinda gets annoying!

After seeing this episode, I understand why as a child growing up Alexie was confused by the misrepresentation of Indians. It's hard to find yourself when all you see is the wrong impressions of who you are supposed to be by societies definition. I definitely know this from experience, being a black girl and not fitting into the stereotypes are the average ghetto girl as society portrays us to be. It was hard to find myself and be who I wanted to be and not what was expected of me to be.

I Hated Tonto (Still Do)

Alexie describes Indian films and states that he loves all of them, even the bad ones. Throughout the reading, he pants the picture that Indians are played by non-Indians, and it's okay. He states that Indians became so numb to the possibility of dissent and accepted their own lowered expectations because that is all that was seen in the films. But he realized and became embarrassed as he became older over the stereotypes that were displayed in movies, especially "Powwow Highway." He also realizes that he wanted to be the stereotypical Indian but was nothing like what was being portrayed and that's why he hated Tonto because he was a real Indian playing an Indian.

This reading was a little hard to understand until the end when Alexie ties everything together.

Last group discussion/ group mix

Some paper topics that were discussed in our group's last meeting were:
1. The difference between Deadwood Dick and the Unknown and how heroes are pretrayed in early readings that made room for the later heroes of today.
2. The many elements of fairytale that existed in the novel.
3. The unneeded characters role in the novel.

In our mix group discussions I was able to get some of the highlights of each story.

Jesse James:
1. Outsider
2. Showed no emotions
3. Everyone was out for the rewards and not for the common good of the people

California Joe:
1. Rich and involved in gold
2. Fought against Indians
3. Was murdered at the end of the novel on his porch

Deadwood Dick/Calamity Jane (last chapters)

Friday in class the group that I am apart of discussed the actions of the charaters and the strange things that appeared in the novel. my hypothesis was that the Unknown was really Deadwood Dick and it was proven correct. I was glad to see that the characters were few in number at the end. This allowed all of them to be tied in together somehow. I noticed at the end that Poker Jack wasn't as bad as I thought he was. He actually turned out to save the life of two of the few people that survived the Indian raid. The ending turned out to be very good. The innocent survived and the rest perished.

Strange Things in Dime Novel: Deadwood Dick/Calamity Jane

1. Main characters are not a mojor part of the story line
2. Dwarf- No place in the story
3. Red chief's actions regarding his daughter
*Worried about keeping his word
4. Weird use of language that is hard to read and follow
5. Scattered story plot with a variety of characters

Deadwood Dick's Doom, or Calamity's Jane Last Adventure part 2

At the end of chapter 6, there appeared a new character who's identity was unknown. Throughout this next section of reading, he appears more often, "saving" those who are in distress. It's kind of ironic that all of the villains are armed with either knives or guns and he has nothing.... besides a stern deep voice that captures every one's attention. Despite this, he still seems to have the people afraid.

This point brought about great thought for me. It seems like he symbolizes the "fear of the unknown" that the whites experienced upon first settling in the Americas. They weren't afraid of the Indians but afraid of not knowing who they were and what they were capable of. This is the same with this dark character.

The Red Chief has become one of my least favorite characters. I was rooting for him in the beginning. I sympathized that he had lost all that he had and also was forced out of the land that was given to him in return. But that was short lived after he gave in to the dwarf and agreed to let him harm the innocent Indian girl. I was relieved when the unknown man appeared and saved the child from the dwarf.

For this novel to be titled Deadwood Dick's Doom, there is sure a lack of Deadwood Dick. This leads me to believe that he is the unknown character. He saved the Indian girl in the beginning and rescued the black man and Vergie, so I suspect that it's him. I guess I will have to wait and see in the chapters to come!

Deadwood Dick's Doom, or Calamity's Jane Last Adventure

My first thought Reading the first few pages were, where is Deadwood or Calamity?

The Novel started off fairly quick with the first few pages being background information, that was much needed to explain the quick happenings throughout the story. Even though it's a quick read, the language that the ruffians used was very hard for me to understand. It made the novel a harder one to read and follow during those parts.

When Vergie and Nic entered Death Notch, their discovery that the next stage wouldn't be leaving for another week for Helena. let me know that they were going to have a long week!

A few character Impressions.

Deadwood Dick:
My first impression of him was that he is a like a hero, who rescues the weak. I just knew he was going to rescue Vergie and Nic as he did the little Indian girl. But to my surprise he lost the battle with Piute Dave and was thrown in quicksand. The good guys are always suppose to win!

Calamity Jane:
She seemed to be an ionic figure also as Deadwood Dick was. It's only fit for the two heroes to fall in love. But to her dismay, she wasn't able to reunite with Deadwood Dick. Being such a hard figure who was seen as strong and powerful, for her to cry and show emotions let me know that she has a soft side.

The Demon Dwarf:
He is a very loony character! Just as the Indian chief Red Hatchett, he despises and wants to seek revenge against all palefaces. I found it interesting that he Chief offered his daughter to a paleface, even thought she could possible carry on his legacy. This was done in exchanged for revenge on all palefaces, but it just seemed a little weird!

This novel so far has a lot of loose ends that have been left hanging. The more I read the more confusing the plot seems to get because of all of the character who have different things that they are involved in.....
There is Vergie and Nic, who are stuck and are being harassed the whole time they are there. And then the aspect of Vergie being taken in the night.
Which leads to a mystery person... another character to keep up with!
The Inn people.. who are too great in number to name.
Deadwood Dick who just appears out of no where.
Calamity James who does the same.
The Indian aspect of it all and the Dwarf seeking revenge.

Charlot and American Indians and American Identities

Everything Charlot said was true. I sympathized with his greatly. He had to be a brave and intelligent man to know the doings of the whites and to speak out against them. He proves the whites wrong who call them savages because savages don't have morals and values, as the Indians showed the early settlers by showing them hospitality even though they came only to take. The Flatheads were a people of compromise. They abide by the reservations laws or peacefully resisted if they did not agree.

Charlot states that "To take and to lie should be burnt on his forehead" as he refers to the whites. This was a powerful statement and sums up the whites because all they did was lie about treaties and take the land, cattle, and possessions of the Indians and then request them to pay to live on these reservations. Not only did they take the physical things but they also took the history and traditions of the Indians. Their souls and spirits were taken along with the land that was given to them. The Indians harvested and were one with the earth, as mentioned in American Indians and American Identities. The whites wanted to take that away from them but wanted the Indians to show them how to become this was themselves. They didn't want to be Indians but wanted to have the knowledge and bond that they held about nature without giving credit to them.

Throughout this horrible journey, the Indians voices have never been fully heard and their stories have gone untold. They have been put in the past and only the whites stories about gaining the land that wasn't theirs have been told.

Baum

Baum suggests that all of the Indians should be killed off. He defends this statement by saying that they are a broken people with nothing left, not even there dignity, so they should not "suffer" a miserable like. He goes on to say that they will be forgotten in history because it will be overshadowed by the gain of the American people.

How disrespectful was that?! It's horrible for anyone to think of another human as less than themselves but he has taken this insult to another level. He describes them as broken but neglects to tell why they are this way and that they have fought back against the early settlers. Everything was stripped from the Indians because of greed without any consideration.

Calling the Indians "untamable creatures" set the tone of the editorial. The Indians are seen as animal-like, being that they are "supposedly" wild and vicious. Fearing for their safety, the only way to survive is to kill all of the Indians.

Baum ends his second editorial with the quote, "When the whites win a fight, it is a victory, and when the Indians win it, it is a massacre." This quote suggests that the whites believe that they have the right to control and kill the Indians because they are inferior beings who needs to be conquered and civilised. When the Indians retaliate against the whites for taking what was never theirs to in the first place, it's not acceptable and they are suppose to be severely punished and murdered. This is another idea that was held that led to shameful events for Americans today to look back on.

Helen Hunt Jackson

In a Century of Dishonor, the United State demonstrated their lack of consideration for the Indian tribes that they encountered. The Poncas were peaceful and seemed to comply with what the Americans wanted. Even though they handled themselves in this manner, this still didn't stop the Poncas from being victimized. It seems as though they were treated worse than those who revolted. Because the U.S. knew that the y could basically run over the Poncas, they didn't see them as a threat and did what ever they wanted to them rather than being thankful and trying to negotiate with them.

I was deeply sadden at the thought of these innocent HUMANS being hunted down and killed because of their culture. No one deserves to be treated this way, especially if they are willing to hear what the U.S. had to say. I could just imagine the sad and starving faces of these innocent women and children. Scared without anywhere to run because they were being hunted in all directions.

This nation has done some of the most cruel things imaginable to become one of the most powerful nations. If I had to steal and cheat to get something.... I don't want it!

Noble Savage

Wikipedia defines the term Noble Savage as the concept of the natural man, unencumbered by either civilizatio or divine revelation.

In this entry, There was a section that describes Charles Dickens article out of his magazine Household Words, called "Noble Savage." In this article he expressed his ignorance and cruelty towards Indians. He described them as nasty and uncivilized. Without knowing the background of the Indian people, he made many assumptions. Today people still do the same thing. He really jsust focused on houw they looked and their different customs that he was not too familiar with.

It kills me to hear what these writers have to say about certain people. They are certainly not practicing what they preach. These settlers and observers were determined to convert the Indians into "civilized christians", when they are from being that themselves. Christians don't judge, Christians don't kill, Christians don't hurt, Christians don't steal. Someone needs to read their Bible a little more often! LOL. Those are the basic teachings of Chirstianity.

Zitkala Sa

Wow... what a powerful read. From the beginning I got the sense that this little Indian girl was someone who would grow into someone who accomplishes many great things. Zitkala Sa's mother was a woman of great strength also. when Sa tells of the story of walking to the water with her mother and seeing her in great sadness, her response reminded me of my protectiveness of my mother and her feelings. This allowed me to see that even though Indians had been demoralized by the early palefaces, that they are just like any other group of people.

Also Kitkala Sa's mother's decision to allow her to go with the missionaries showed that she was brave and looking towards the future of her child. Knowing that this was the only way that her child would be able to function the the society to come, she put her trust issues to the side. In correlation to the parent's of today, college is seen in this same way. Even though parents don't want to let their children go off into the world, they know that it is the only way that the child will learn how to function in the real world without their help.

Love this exertion, great introduction to knowing about the life of the Indian people and how they understood the doings of the palefaces.