When one often wonders about the first "Americans", many seem to think about the European settlers who started from scratch on these lands and built their new lives here. But, rarely do many people talk about the Native Americans, the ones who were here in the very beginning. The Native Americans did not ask for these settlers to stumble across their land and stay but, with the British settlers holding the attitudes they possessed, they felt otherwise. The Native Americans lived a different lifestyle than the settlers which caused their cultures to clash. But, who's culture is the best? This similar scenario was present with the Irish and just like the Native Americans, both were considered "savages".
The Native Americans had not only a different lifestyle but, they also had different ways of confronting these settlers. Both sides did not want to change for the other which caused many reasonings for violence to be used. In fact, the Native Americans differed greatly from the settlers in also their physical appearance. Unlike the blond hair and white-skinned men that came onto their land, these tribes had a much darker skin color along with their straight hairstyles that were judged by these settlers. Also, even the way that the two sides harvested and prepared their meals determined what was civilized to the settlers and what was not along with the clothing that each tribe wore. Because of their drastic differences, the British settlers felt that these Native Americans needed to be educated and "transformed" into the European culture.
But, things did not go as planned. The Native Americans appreciated what they have accomplished as a society and therefore felt that the British settlers were invading their land. In their eyes, the settlers should be the ones trying to fit into Native American culture. At first, there was semi peace in that the Indians helped the settlers adjust to the new land but, soon after the British settlers felt that because they were setting up towns and having a "real" society, that the Native Americans should do the same. And so many of these motives ended in violence and murdered many, many lives.
Even today, there is an interest in these Native Americans because of how they stand out from many other cultures. In movies and television shows they are often portrayed as magical creatures and yet at the same time exhibit wild behaviors that the white culture would never show. Also, many sport teams use Native Americans as a mascot, not a human being. In schools there rarely is ever any discussion about the mass murders of these Native Americans which results in this fake perspective that many children and adults today have of them. I feel that this should be taught more at an earlier age and how trying to get someone to change their lifestyle for yours is completely wrong. If the United States is in fact the "melting-pot", why did the settlers not incorporate their lifestyles along with the Native Americans? Overall, the first Americans were brutally murdered, stripped of their land and culture and turned into mythical creatures who now represent mascots for sport teams.
It is very wrong to say that in television shows and movies today that the Native Americans do stick out and are often viewed at as magical creatures, but it is the truth, sadly. I also agree with the comment that in school systems today, sports teams use Native Americans as a mascot, not a human being. There are a few area teams around my area where I grew up and there mascot was the Shawnee Indians, this is one example that goes along here. This is also very wrong, Native Americans are human beings like us, there is nothing different but their skin color, is what I believe. I also agree with the comment made about at a young age kids should be taught the different views people have of each other and that it is wrong to think this way. Not all, but a lot of adults and kids will never change with their views about racialization, but hopefully things do get better and we treat everyone equally.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about how schools use Native Americans as mascots reminded me of my high school, Chieftains. Growing up in school no one ever explains to the students what their mascot means and where it came from. Your blog sparked my interest in, school mascots and if this a current debate in the US. While searching the web I found many websites that were dedicated to recommending the retirement of Indian Mascots. One I found interesting with many different articles attached was, http://www.aistm.org/1indexpage.htm.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part about this article was the reference to the differences in food culture between the British and the Native Americans. I am a Dietetics major, and I am currently studying food and culture and their effects on people nutrionally. This is a reciprocal to the nutrition of the food in the way that it creates a degree of racializtion between two inherently different cultures of people.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your point about how sports teams use Native Americans as a mascot. I also like your comment about the "melting pot". In high school we my teacher was from a cheroke tribe and absolutly hated the fact that cheif wahoo was the Cleveland Indians mascot. There are many groups that have attempted to get rid of that logo. Two days ago the Indians released a new logo that they will be using this year, however it is not necesarilly a permenant change. The new hat and article about the change is... http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2009/05/post_19.html
ReplyDeleteFrom these responses I'm actually really glad most of you guys commented about the mascot because last year in my American Culture Studies class, we spent most of the time talking about the issues with mascot. When I was younger I thought that if something was a mascot then they should be happy about it because it must be important to represent a team. But now as I've grown older and went through certain classes such as these, I realized how terrible it really is to have your race be a mascot. I'm Jewish so I could not even imagine having something like a Rabbi be something for a team let alone something people would dress up as without even understanding it's meaning. I also loved the links you guys posted because it's nice to see not only other people interested in this topic but that there are certain things that can be achieved if people get the word out to hopefully stop these racist mascots.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to consider the word "American" in its full context until I read your post. When I think of American I think of a collective group who reside in the US and are proud of that. I've heard someone once say that the US isn't a melting pot but more of a salad and each entity within the salad represent a different culture. To me that analogy better describes America because I don’t think that we blend like a melting pot but we coincide like a salad. Even regionally not all cultures reside in the same place equally so that area of the US would be considered a different type of salad. No two are the same. I appreciate the differences in culture and those alike because it shows any one from another country can come here and be apart of a society that is mixed with other cultures and that we learn and grow from each other.
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