Compare Contrast Tready Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge

Treaty Signing at Medicine Lodge Creek is the title given to two different renderings by two different artists. At first glance, it is immediately clear that the pictures are very different. The work of John Taylor is presented in a way that appears sophisticated and from a trained artist. On the other hand, Howling Wolf’s drawing is less sophisticated and the artist is apparently untrained in art.

When looking at John Taylor's Treaty Signing at Medicine Lodge Creek, the content is clear. At a glance, it is clear that an agreement is being made and that it is significant. The artwork is representational and natural plants and human faces are seen. The form helps create this. This artwork is a sketch that probably was made using pen or pencil. While this is true, the faces in the art are unrecognizable and the natives are not accurately drawn.

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.

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

John Taylor’s work of art, Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge, may seem to be portraying very much alike affair, however, there are numerous differences from Howling Wolf’s work of genius, Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge. I believe that Taylor’s work tends to be more figurative as it represents the naturalistic of substance which can be distinguished clearly. Wolf’s art piece turned out to be more conceptual such that the objects expresses more on the non realistic. In addition, Taylor’s work can also be described as more of a sketch form possibly used by pen or pencil. On the other hand, Wolf's drawings are more of freedom of lines where it seems more of children's art work. The landscapes of these two are definitely differ from

The fascination with Native Americans has been a constant with outsiders since explorers first “discovered” the New World. The biggest surge in this fascination came in the mid-19th century when the Indian Wars were starting to come to an end and the belief that Native Americans were disappearing, walking into the sunset never to be seen again. This led to an increase in the collecting of anything Native American, from artifacts to stories to portraits. The inevitable outcome of this was that Native Americans, who were never considered very highly to begin with, where now moved into a category of scientific interest to be study. This scientific interest in Native Americans is what many museums and other institutions based their collections and exhibits on and is one of the issues that many Native Americans have with how both their people and their culture were, and to some extent still are, represented in these places.

In comparison to John Taylor’s Treaty Signing at Medicine Lodge Creek, created in October 1867, was made right after the treaty signing. However, there are other depictions, made almost a decade later. One prime example is Howling Wolf’s piece, made from 1875-1878. This art was a more abstract depiction, approaching on the whole meeting, rather than just a gathering. Howling Wolf’s piece shows a more ethnocentric approach, providing women with their backs facing away from the viewer, with a red stripe down the back of their head. On the other hand, Taylor’s piece resembles a more naturalistic and realistic event, showing the gathering of the different groups, and completing

Additionally, Royal gives clarification for Native Americans’ positive stereotypes. He explains, “ But this is far from modern concepts of ecology. Native Americans in fact overhunted deer and beaver even before the arrival of the white man, and did not seriously try to preserve the resources in the vicinity of their villages. As a result, the typical woodland village, having exhausted local soil and game, had to move on average every eight to 10 years” (Royal 47). Although the Native Americans did not destroy the environment like Europeans on such a large scale, they are not trying to protect the environment either. This opposes the stereotypes that Native Americans are model ecologists. Royal also examines the inhumane sides of Native American tribes. Royal reveals, “The

The first element we should talk about is plot; the plot structure for The Wolves is a variation. The two plot structures it is similar to the most are climatic and circular. In climatic plot structure the characteristics are few characters, few locations, late point of attack, and few plots. The Wolves share the characteristics of few characters, few locations (where they played their games), and a late point of attack (when number fourteen was killed). Circular plot structure characteristics are it ends where it began, and the expression of futility and meaninglessness of human effort. The Wolves also ended where it began (beginning of a soccer game).

I think John Taylor's intention was to strictly create the content or meaning. At a glance, it is clear that a signing and agreement is being made and that it is significant. However, the subject matter is not representational. The faces in the art are unrecognizable and the natives are not accurately drawn. His main goal was to create an artwork with accurate content but without accurate

Sherman Alexie's book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven was written using a multitude of literary devices to explain what it is like to be a native American. The novel Alexie has written is a combination of vignettes to show the life of Native American people through symbolism and other literary devices. In the vignette “The Fun House” Alexie uses various symbols to present and describe things in this vignette. It is in this vignette where Alexie brings the creek into the book. Alexie uses the Tshimakain creek as a symbol to express that you need to look within yourself to find the strength to change.

One thing that it looks at is land allotments that the Indians would receive for moving west. Many of the Indians would receive “320 acres if it was a single family selling or 640 acres to ninety chiefs in the Creek nation” . Many Native Americans took the agreement for these lands that were west of the Mississippi. But soon trouble started. Some of the land companies forced Indians to sell their land even if the Indians didn’t want to move west. Other companies would pay Indians to pretend they were someone else so the companies could claim the land of an Indian who didn’t want to move. Sometimes white settlers would come onto the land they had bought before the actually time they were allotted. During this process many people were cheated out of their land and received very little compensation for their moving west

For most of my life, the word “Native American” had immediately made me think of feathers, powwows, and a society uncorrupted by civilization. However, in watching the movie Smoke Signals, a movie that depicts the modern Native American culture, I learned many other things. For one, I learned that many of the customs that modern Native Americans have are very similar to my own. I also saw that the family life of the Native Americans in the film had many of the same problems that my family had undergone in the past years. This film was unlike any that I have ever seen; therefore, it reached me on a very personal level.

4b. There are several “lies” that are traditionally taught to American students about this subject. Textbooks include a portrait of full-dressed Europeans with half-naked Native Americans in the 1771 treaty by William Penn. This is a lie because textbook authors are trying to get away with saying that the Europeans were “civilized” and that the Indians were “primitive.” This is because of their eurocentrism that does not fool those who think a little deeper because Penn would have either died from heat exhaustion in August if that is when he made this treaty, but if he made it after Thanksgiving, the Indians would be suffering from frostbite. Either way, it is clear that this portrait included in textbooks is misleading and inaccurate. Textbook

Until fairly recently the popular culture of American literature and film did not attempt to study the true representations of Indians in North America. Instead they chose to concentrate on the romanticized/savage version of Native people: which is an idealistic view of a Native with long, beautiful flowing hair riding on a horse obsessed with chanting and praying to the savageness of a rowdy, wild Native causing unnecessary mayhem to the white people. This portrayal of Native people in mass media had led to the stereotyping of Natives, which in turn had ricocheted into real life. Not only do non-natives succumb to these ideals, but Natives do as well.