By addressing Pauline Johnson’s choice of clothing worn during her public poetry readings of “A Cry from an Indian Wife” and “As Red Man Die”, author Charlotte Grey highlights the underlining relationship between femininity and Indigenous assimilation through the magazine article “The Complicated Case of Pauline Johnson.” By analyzing Johnson’s elegant poetry performances and the perfection of the “Indian Princess costume”, Grey argues that Johnson’s “stage act inadvertently implied that an Indigenous woman could be effortlessly assimilated into the dominant society.”
Instead of pertaining to an analysis of the poem itself, this article develops a historiographical understanding of Johnson’s legacy and mark on Indigenous and Canadian history
Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”
This piece will argue that the dissociation of Indigenous women engaged in prostitution results in their shame, humiliation, and subjugation. As a result, the case of Pamela George will be used as an example to suggest that through colonization female Indigenous bodies have gone through intense shame and humiliation, in both life and death. Pamela Jean George was born of the Sakimay First Nation. On the morning of April 18th, 1995, she was found dead face down in a ditch west of the city of Regina. At the time of her death, she was only 28 years old and a mother of two young children.
The purpose of this paper is to address about the critical elements for the case study of Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes. Paul Frank is a fashion and lifestyle company based in the United States. On 9th September 2013, Paul Frank’s company and public relations organization, Red Light PR hosted a Native American culture-themed party with title ‘Dream Catchin’ that has offended many people and prompt controversial that provoked a case study. Two bloggers, Stefanie Beninger and June N.P. brought attention to the event through social media channels as the photos were posted on Facebook and Twitter. The reaction
Richard Henry Pratt states that “all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man” (Senier, 375). This terrifying idea is somewhat exemplified in Ramona. Despite Helen Hunt Jackson’s best intentions, Native American identity is sacrificed in order for Native American characters to survive or even be seen as human beings. Jackson sacrifices Ramona and Alessandro to appeal to a white audience. Native American identity should not have to be watered down or erased, especially in a novel advocating for Native American rights. I argue that “literary sugar-pilling”(Senier, 22) in the form of Jackson’s erasure of Native American identity can be just as racist and dehumanizing as the anti-Native American beliefs that Jackson was trying to dispel.
Deborah Miranda’s entire novel Bad Indians counters the view that Native Indians are and have been gone. Throughout the novel Miranda uses tools of domination as tools of agency. The whole structure of the novel seeks to undermine the dominant discourse in society by paralleling it to the California Mission projects. This and her use of other techniques throughout the novel re-situates the history of the native community as a whole which contrasts Miranda’s feelings and views in her present state. Rather than viewing her people’s history as destroyed and irreparable, she views her people’s history as a means of reinventing themselves to something different, possibly better. She challenges the discourse that I, her people, and many others share; the effects of colonization have completely erased the native communities. First she illustrates the dominant culture that exists and then counters it by using devices like metaphor to attest to the resilience and adaptability of the natives. Finally she objectifies herself to embrace a new view of her people on a personal and social level. Miranda uses her literary work as a tool of agency particularly in A Californian Indian in the Philadelphia Airport by using allusion, metaphor, and objectification to undermine the dominant culture that the Native American peoples are passive and have disappeared.
“A Red Girl’s Reasoning,” by Pauline Johnson is a story that explores the controversy of incompatible cultural values, specifically regarding marriage customs and traditions. This short story highlights cultural distinctions between Aboriginals and Europeans, by elevating European culture as superior and questioning the authenticity of Aboriginal conventions. Christine’s questions the cultural hierarchy in the Hudson Bay society and demonstrates her role as a transgressor to shrink the cultural imbalance between Aboriginal and European. Her ideals defy socially acceptable ideals, and she tests rigid boundaries
Taylor Sue, art critic, explains that the photographs immediately appear absurd and bring to light the offensive nature of the paperbacks towards native women. Red Star claims that “Native women in the arts, and native women in general are largely ignored. Just look at Hollywood movies! Any leading native characters are always men, and the female characters are one of two tropes: the frumpy old lady or the deerskin-clad, nearly mute sexual object whose only purpose is to serve as a bridge between the tribe and powerful white
She also talks about the Native feminist ethics, which brings understanding of the cultural perspectives of leadership under the spotlight. In this respect, I think understanding of Native women’s traditional gender functions, roles and responsibilities is crucial in perceiving Indigenous feminism. This is because I think in many tribal societies such as the Pashtun tribal societies in the northwestern FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) perceive gender roles and responsibilities as complementary. The FATA areas and the colonial government system were creation of the British colonizers. This example is very much relevant to the case of Native societies that were/are colonized in North America because the British colonial rulers applied the similar methods to control and regulate Pashtun tribes in the FATA areas. In comparison to the CFR Courts to implement the Code of Indian Offences in Canada, the colonizers introduced and enforced the FCR (Frontier Crimes Regulations) in the FATA areas on the Pakistani side of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In this colonial structure, the Political Agent system implemented the FCR in which, for example, because of one tribal individual the entire tribe was punished. Unfortunately, the FCR is still very much alive and is being used the way many colonial laws are currently implemented in Canada and
There's a whole difference on how the story's point of view and the reader's point of view. When you read a story there's two different people. There's two different culture identities and it influences other stories too. When you look back in the story An Indian Father's Plea you can see the difference about the stories we have read there are some comparison. And that's what makes it unique about that story and the other stories we've read.
The irritation and despair of Esther Belin’s Night Travel flows with the fearless attitude of Laura Da’s Vantage. Both of these women are Native American, but are from different tribes and regions of the country.Yet they both express their Native American spirit separately through their poems. Laura’s style in poetry includes elements of time, travel, history and place. As for Esther Belin, her work portrays the experience of a Native American living in urban Los Angeles. She attempts to bring Native Americans into mainstream American culture and receive recognition, as well as discussing issues regarding racism and isolation (Poetry FDN).
Also, the discovery of Richard Wright’s haikus was nothing short of a treasure of the saturation of Black life in a small form. As poets we all know (or should) that the study of our craft is like breathing, it keeps us alive. No matter the level of writing we feel that we may have achieved, we still must
I understand and am aware of the privilege and sexism that surround being a white woman, however, I lack the understanding of what it is like to be an Indigenous woman and how different life is experienced. I wanted to understand more about the treatment of Indigenous women, and how colonialism has had an impact on their lives. Colonialism has had an impact on legislation, violence directed towards Indigenous women, and feminist perspectives. Legislation plays a monumental role in the gendered discrimination of Indigenous women contributing to their systemic oppression. Acts such as the Gradual Enfranchisement Act, Indian Act and Bill C-31 are some of the main pieces of legislature that have negatively impacted the Indigenous population. Feminist perspectives have been dominated by Euro-centric ways of thinking violating traditional gender roles resulting in violence. Violence directed towards indigenous women has transpired into an epidemic allowing our government and society to dismiss, label, and blame Indigenous women for their abuse. While colonialism is applicable to a multitude of subjects, it is fundamental when discussing Indigenous identity when looking at the gendered oppression of Indigenous women through legislation, feminist perspectives and violence. These three things will demonstrate how colonialism has impacted the experiences of Indigenous women.
This short story is about a young Indian woman named Sumita, her impending arranged marriage and subsequent trip to America, which is symbolized by the color and type of her clothes. The author utilizes color symbolism to express the emotional changes that Sumita is going through and how she uses colors to keep her grounded with her Indian beliefs during her transition from girl to bride-to-be to an Indian-American to widow. There are many examples of colors that represent established Indian beliefs and religion are mentioned throughout the story.
To expand on the intricacy of the speaker’s life, symbolism is applied to showcase the oppression her ancestors etched on her quilt were facing for their “burnt umber pride” and “ochre gentleness” (39-40). Once again, the theme of absence is introduced as there is a sense of separation among the Native American culture as their innocent souls are forced onto reservations and taken away from their families. This prolonged cruelty and unjust treatment can be advocated when the speaker explains how her Meema “must have dreamed about Mama when the dancing was over: a lanky girl trailing after her father through his Oklahoma
Samuel Johnson's poetic theory for the purpose and forms of poetry thrives in Elizabeth Bishop's “Filling Station” and Robert Frost's “Once by the Pacific, with writing styles depicting truthful and fictional natural occurrences with images, blending poetic elements, and writing in natural language to fully develop themes through allusions and symbols. By first analyzing Samual Johnson's theory on forms and meanings of poetry Bishop and Frost are later able to validate Johnson's poetic theory of pleasurably seeing truth and logic with imagination, using all extensions of language, sound, and variety to naturally relate observations of history, life, or great events. In the “Filling Station,” Bishop writes in free verse, uses ironic paradox,