Journal #2: Respond to Reel Injun
The movie Reel Injun talked about how the portrayal of native people in media cultures has evolved over time. It discussed how the people were portrayed as a whole, how the women were sexualized and degraded, and how, overall, there have been few media works that showed native life as it really is. There were examples of everything from showing the Native Americans as peaceful, religious people to them portrayed as savage murderers.
This movie was pretty eye-opening to me. I thought it was interesting how our perspective of the native cultures has changed over time, but almost none of them have provided real, inside examples of their lives. I think, in the beginning, we altered our perspective so much because we had to justify how we were treating them at the time. We weren’t exactly being fair to them as a people, so we decided to see them and portray them as uneducated, savage, cruel people.
Journal #4: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Theme Analysis
Theme: Remember the past and learn from it, but don’t let it control your life. Keep moving forward, and grow as a person.
Quote #1: “Ain’t no salmon left in our river. Just a school bus and a few hundred basketballs… every year our basketball team drives into the river and drowns… it’s tradition.”
Quote #2: “They smile for the photographer, and look back towards tradition.”
Quote #3: “I knew there were plenty of places I was supposed to be, but none were where I wanted to be.”
Analysis:
In these quotes, the overarching theme is trying to move past living by tradition and create a new way of life. For example, in “A Drug Called Tradition,” the two main characters in the stories try to relive their tribe’s past by using drugs and hallucinating about it. They end up learning to keep moving, and not get lost in their past or overwhelmed with their future. In “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” the main character has to retrieve his father’s ashes from Phoenix. He enlists the help of an old friend, and gets a glimpse into his past when gathering things from his father’s home. His friend helps him release his father’s memory, as well as a few other skeletons that haunt him from his past.
Journal #5: Comparing Texts
In the books The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and First Person, First Peoples, the stories about Native American resiliency are told firsthand. The authors of these stories are telling their personal tales of suffering, fighting back, and beating the stereotypes that come with being a Native American. The authors of these books, among other things, emphasize the ability of modern native people to overcome their history and move into the future, and why it’s so hard for others to overcome their skeletons.
In one of the essays in First Person, First Peoples, Marianne Chamberlain shares her story coming to Dartmouth and adjusting to the competitive, hostile environment. She came from the Sioux tribe, and her home culture seemed to be a polar opposite to Dartmouth life. She said, about her freshman year, “At Dartmouth, there wasn’t one place where I felt comfortable or at home. I felt trapped. To feel alive, my spirit must feel free. It seemed that Dartmouth handed me a key and told me to lock my spirit up.” She attests to feeling foreign and alone, even among her Native American friends who had, in her opinion, bastardized the traditional rituals of her people to fulfill their own wishes. Then, to top it off, she was sexually assaulted one night in her dorm. She didn’t feel safe anywhere, so she went home. She went to live with her aunt for a while, and while she was there her grandmother fell ill. Before she died, her grandmother told her she would always be with her in spirit, guiding and protecting her. With renewed faith, she returned to Dartmouth and finished her college career, no matter what the personal cost.
Ms. Chamberlain finished college at Dartmouth because she had to prove to herself and others that she could be stronger than her opposers, while keeping her faith and her family’s traditions. She finished college knowing that her mother could see through the “whitewash” and be proud of the woman she’d become.
In a story in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven called “A Drug Called Tradition”, the main characters want to go back to the lives their ancestors had, where brave men were warriors and honored. They did this through trying a new drug, and through it, experienced what they thought was being a “true Indian.”
“They all want to have their vision, to receive their true names, their adult names. That is the problem with Indians these days. They have the same names all their lives. Indians wear their names like a bad pair of shoes.”
They work to reconcile what they believe is to be a “real” Indian with the way modern native people live today.
Robert Bennett, another author in First Person, First Peoples, shared his story of resiliency too. He was born into a family that seemed to be convinced that Indian people couldn’t thrive in an English society. Because of this, his family never taught him much of his Lakota past. He grew up feeling like he was missing part of himself, the part of his past that should have helped define who he was, in his opinion. His grandmother never taught him the Lakota language, and every time he accomplished something great. she would exclaim, “And you’re Indian!” Despite the circumstances, Robert ended up graduating from Dartmouth College and joining a professional baseball team.
Throughout history, Native Americans have come back strong from some of the worst circumstances, whether it be fighting off English settlers, or fighting the stereotypes in modern society. They’ve proven over and over again that they can be strong and capable, while still keeping the traditions of their ancestors alive.
Journal 6: Reaction to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Emotional Reaction: The first thing this movie made me feel was angry. I felt really angry that our country started its growth, while completely forgetting the morals and beliefs that founded our country. The American settlers were doing almost what Britain was trying to do to them before they left the country. Then, I felt sad for the people the Americans victimized. I think I felt it the most when the kids started dying of whooping cough, because it made it apparent how bad the situation was getting.
I feel like the film was biased, but I can’t pinpoint one exact moment. I think it focused completely on every way the US government messed up and how it affected the Native Americans. It makes sense though, because that’s the point they were trying to make through this movie. I don’t think it could be used as a sole resource for information, but I do think it offers a unique insight into the minds of the Native Americans.
The movie Reel Injun talked about how the portrayal of native people in media cultures has evolved over time. It discussed how the people were portrayed as a whole, how the women were sexualized and degraded, and how, overall, there have been few media works that showed native life as it really is. There were examples of everything from showing the Native Americans as peaceful, religious people to them portrayed as savage murderers.
This movie was pretty eye-opening to me. I thought it was interesting how our perspective of the native cultures has changed over time, but almost none of them have provided real, inside examples of their lives. I think, in the beginning, we altered our perspective so much because we had to justify how we were treating them at the time. We weren’t exactly being fair to them as a people, so we decided to see them and portray them as uneducated, savage, cruel people.
Journal #4: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Theme Analysis
Theme: Remember the past and learn from it, but don’t let it control your life. Keep moving forward, and grow as a person.
Quote #1: “Ain’t no salmon left in our river. Just a school bus and a few hundred basketballs… every year our basketball team drives into the river and drowns… it’s tradition.”
Quote #2: “They smile for the photographer, and look back towards tradition.”
Quote #3: “I knew there were plenty of places I was supposed to be, but none were where I wanted to be.”
Analysis:
In these quotes, the overarching theme is trying to move past living by tradition and create a new way of life. For example, in “A Drug Called Tradition,” the two main characters in the stories try to relive their tribe’s past by using drugs and hallucinating about it. They end up learning to keep moving, and not get lost in their past or overwhelmed with their future. In “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” the main character has to retrieve his father’s ashes from Phoenix. He enlists the help of an old friend, and gets a glimpse into his past when gathering things from his father’s home. His friend helps him release his father’s memory, as well as a few other skeletons that haunt him from his past.
Journal #5: Comparing Texts
In the books The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and First Person, First Peoples, the stories about Native American resiliency are told firsthand. The authors of these stories are telling their personal tales of suffering, fighting back, and beating the stereotypes that come with being a Native American. The authors of these books, among other things, emphasize the ability of modern native people to overcome their history and move into the future, and why it’s so hard for others to overcome their skeletons.
In one of the essays in First Person, First Peoples, Marianne Chamberlain shares her story coming to Dartmouth and adjusting to the competitive, hostile environment. She came from the Sioux tribe, and her home culture seemed to be a polar opposite to Dartmouth life. She said, about her freshman year, “At Dartmouth, there wasn’t one place where I felt comfortable or at home. I felt trapped. To feel alive, my spirit must feel free. It seemed that Dartmouth handed me a key and told me to lock my spirit up.” She attests to feeling foreign and alone, even among her Native American friends who had, in her opinion, bastardized the traditional rituals of her people to fulfill their own wishes. Then, to top it off, she was sexually assaulted one night in her dorm. She didn’t feel safe anywhere, so she went home. She went to live with her aunt for a while, and while she was there her grandmother fell ill. Before she died, her grandmother told her she would always be with her in spirit, guiding and protecting her. With renewed faith, she returned to Dartmouth and finished her college career, no matter what the personal cost.
Ms. Chamberlain finished college at Dartmouth because she had to prove to herself and others that she could be stronger than her opposers, while keeping her faith and her family’s traditions. She finished college knowing that her mother could see through the “whitewash” and be proud of the woman she’d become.
In a story in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven called “A Drug Called Tradition”, the main characters want to go back to the lives their ancestors had, where brave men were warriors and honored. They did this through trying a new drug, and through it, experienced what they thought was being a “true Indian.”
“They all want to have their vision, to receive their true names, their adult names. That is the problem with Indians these days. They have the same names all their lives. Indians wear their names like a bad pair of shoes.”
They work to reconcile what they believe is to be a “real” Indian with the way modern native people live today.
Robert Bennett, another author in First Person, First Peoples, shared his story of resiliency too. He was born into a family that seemed to be convinced that Indian people couldn’t thrive in an English society. Because of this, his family never taught him much of his Lakota past. He grew up feeling like he was missing part of himself, the part of his past that should have helped define who he was, in his opinion. His grandmother never taught him the Lakota language, and every time he accomplished something great. she would exclaim, “And you’re Indian!” Despite the circumstances, Robert ended up graduating from Dartmouth College and joining a professional baseball team.
Throughout history, Native Americans have come back strong from some of the worst circumstances, whether it be fighting off English settlers, or fighting the stereotypes in modern society. They’ve proven over and over again that they can be strong and capable, while still keeping the traditions of their ancestors alive.
Journal 6: Reaction to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Emotional Reaction: The first thing this movie made me feel was angry. I felt really angry that our country started its growth, while completely forgetting the morals and beliefs that founded our country. The American settlers were doing almost what Britain was trying to do to them before they left the country. Then, I felt sad for the people the Americans victimized. I think I felt it the most when the kids started dying of whooping cough, because it made it apparent how bad the situation was getting.
I feel like the film was biased, but I can’t pinpoint one exact moment. I think it focused completely on every way the US government messed up and how it affected the Native Americans. It makes sense though, because that’s the point they were trying to make through this movie. I don’t think it could be used as a sole resource for information, but I do think it offers a unique insight into the minds of the Native Americans.