Mary Crow Dog And Richard Erdoes 'Civilize Them With A Stick'

Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian tells the story of Indigenous people in Canada and the United States, it challenges the narrative on how Indigenous history is taught and explains why Indigenous people continue to feel frustrated. King’s seeks to educate the reader as he provides a detailed accounts of the horrific massacres Indigenous people endured, yet he simultaneously inserts humorous moments which balances out the depressing content and enhances his story. The books highlights the neglect and assimilation that Indigenous were subjected to and how their survival was seen as an inconvenience to western culture. King directs his message at a Euro-centric audience to offer an accurate explanation of Indigenous culture and

My rhetorical analysis evolves around the life changing assimilation of a Native American young man named Luther Standing Bear, and his views on why Indian Education Should Not Destroy Indian Culture. By breaking down the assimilation process and looking at the way it transformed the life of the Indian people, you will have the opportunity to take a look at the life of an Indian from Luther Bear’s perspective. After evaluating his viewpoint, you will be able to choose if you side with his opinion, or if you do not agree. Today the ordeal that Native American people had to go through so many years ago may be thought of as irrational and unnecessary, while others may believe it was highly necessary and a good example of the way people should

Silburn, Catherine. "Kill the Indian, Save the Man: The Genocidal Impact of American Indian Residential Schools." Radical Teacher.74 (2005): 41-2. Print.

A Native Americans identity is deeply rooted in his culture, “it’s a particular way one feels about oneself and one’s experiences as an American Indian or tribal person” (Horse 65). Without his Native American culture, a person can feel lost in the world, disconnected from everything. Throughout history, there have been moments where Native Americans were forced to lose part or all of their culture, of their identity. There was the termination era in the 1950’s and Indian boarding schools that both were ways to strip Native Americans of their culture. In Joy Harjo’s poem, The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window, the woman hanging experiences the termination era. In Sherman Alexie’s book, Reservation Blues, Junior Polatkin experiences the lasting effect boarding schools have on Indians. In LeAnne Howe’s book, Miko Kings, Lena learns that you can always come back from to your Native identity.

Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his

Marcus Garvey once said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” (Bro). Here, he proclaims the idea that in order to live a culture must be passed down from generation to generation, growing its roots. When two cultures were fighting for dominance in the U.S., the American government developed a plan to eradicate the First Nations’ roots, buying into the philosophy of Captain Richard H. Pratt when he stated that instead of killing all the Natives it would be of more use to “kill the Indian, and save the man” (“Kill”). Between the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the United States government used boarding schools to try to assimilate Native Americans into modern American culture;

The American desire to culturally assimilate Native American people into establishing American customs went down in history during the 1700s. Famous author Zitkala-Sa, tells her brave experience of Americanization as a child through a series of stories in “Impressions of an Indian Childhood.” Zitkala-Sa, described her journey into an American missionary where they cleansed her of her identity. In “Impressions of an Indian Childhood,” Zitkala-Sa uses imagery in order to convey the cruel nature of early American cultural transformation among Indian individuals.

For over one hundred years, the United States and Canadian Governments forced indigenous peoples of their land to abusive boarding schools, where children as young as the age of two, were ripped away from their families, in an attempt to terminate indigenous cultures from their land. These schools were the government's way of “killing the Indian, and save the man.” The governments of the United States and Canada similarly believed they could end the different cultural habits of the Indians, and help themselves by teaching them blue-collar, low paying jobs that were undesirable by white people. America should grant reparations to the survivors of their Indian Boarding Schools to

In the wake of a gruesome history of displacement and mutilation of sacred customs and beliefs, native adolescents struggle with cultural and internal identity crises. When European nations discovered an already inhabited territory, capturing, raping, and murdering tribal members, the peace and tranquility of native tribes were dismantled and smothered in colonialism destruction. Native Americans enabled and guided the settlers to thrive, explore, and prosper on the flourishing land, while they were gifted in return forced relocation, stripped of their long indigenous hair, plagued with disease, and required to learn and practice European customs.

“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” That was the motto of government established boarding schools for Native Americans on the western frontier. These schools were a cruel and dehumanizing attempt at assimilating native culture with that of the European white man. By enrolling Native American children in these schools, they were susceptible to new diseases brought from Europe, such as tuberculosis and the flu, which the natives had never encountered and resulted fatal. Little Indian boys who prided themselves in their long hair were forced to cut it off and exchanged their given names for “white” names. Since Indian children were forced to speak only English, some schools went so far as to punish whomever spoke in their native language. These schools had good intentions, they offered nursing, education, and more opportunities to grow in the new society than the Indians would otherwise ever receive, yet that gift was not requested by the native peoples. By killing off Native Americans, making them resign aspects of their culture, and forcing them to switch to the European language, government boarding schools completely replaced the culture of Indians by means of cruel and dehumanizing procedures.

Various federal government policies or actions have significantly impacted the daily lives of Native Americans today. One such action is one taken by President Grant in 1865 that required all American Indian to be taken away from their homes and families and be placed in boarding schools. This action was meant to separate American Indians from their culture. However, this action has greatly impacted the climate of schools and the education system towards American Indians. Many American Indian children continue to be belittled in school as there is a cultural bias that has existed against this native community for years (Martinez, 2014). Because of this cultural bias, many Native Americans continue to drop out of schools today.

The first issue at hand for the Native-Americans is poor academic achievement. It has been that…”the Native-American lives and education has been under the control of the federal and state governments” (McNamara & Burns, 2009, p. 135). This is due because the unfortunate

that they were kidnapped from their homes and forced in that environment is horrible. “Just

Popular culture has shaped our understanding and perception of Native American culture. From Disney to literature has given the picture of the “blood thirsty savage” of the beginning colonialism in the new world to the “Noble Savage,” a trait painted by non-native the West (Landsman and Lewis 184) and this has influenced many non native perceptions. What many outsiders do not see is the struggle Native American have on day to day bases. Each generation of Native American is on a struggle to keep their traditions alive, but to function in school and ultimately graduate.

The book “Lakota Woman,” is an autobiography that depicts Mary Crow Dog and Indians’ Lives. Because I only had a limited knowledge on Indians, the book was full of surprising incidents. Moreover, she starts out her story by describing how her Indian friends died in miserable and unjustifiable ways. After reading first few pages, I was able to tell that Indians were mistreated in the same manners as African-Americans by whites. The only facts that make it look worse are, Indians got their land stolen and prejudice and inequality for them still exists.