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.