The Girl Who Sang To The Buffalo Character Analysis

In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. “Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition” (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will

“Indians are like the weather.” With his opening words Vine Deloria Jr. sets up the basis for the rest of his witty yet substantial manifesto, Custer Died for Your Sins. The book, which describes the struggles and misrepresentation of the American Indian people in 1960s American culture, is written in a style that changes from ironic and humorous satire to serious notions, then back again. Through energetic dialogue that engages the reader in a clever and articulate presentation, Deloria advocates the dismissal of old stereotypes and shows a viewpoint that allows the general public to gain a deeper understanding of what it is to be an American Indian.

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.

There are many reasons for this. First of all, people are often disrespectful to Native American religious symbols. Native Americans seem to be the only race that this happens to in this way. When there was an incident with disrespect to Notre Dame religious symbols by the Stanford University band, the offending party was punished severely. That doesn’t happen when it’s Native American religious symbols. Also, the stereotyped beliefs about Native Americans through the mascots often create treatment that pokes fun at their beliefs and traditions. One example of this is how Native American chiefs receive eagle feathers for good deeds. This is made fun of by fake “rituals” involving the mascots dancing around wearing feathered headdress. All of these thoughtless acts combine to anger the Native Americans and create a hostile environment towards them, especially when it is not happen to other races. Hostility towards a sole innocent group is extremely rude and inconsiderate. Why would we want this to continue?

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.

Native American culture originated in some parts North America. These countries are known as the United States of America and some parts of Canada. In the United States, there are 6.6 million Native Americans, which form about 2.0 percent of the population (Bureau, 2016). Europe had realized there were about 50 million people already living the “new world” and these people were called Native Americans. Native Americans were originally called Indians, but later through history they formed a new name. These people were called this because of them being native to the “new world” and the American part came after the colonist named the United States. Throughout history, Native Americans believed that using raw material in nature was the best way to provide for their people. Their culture thought no part of an animal should go to waste. They would eat the meat, use the skin for clothing, and make jewelry from the bones. Over the years a lot of their culture and customs were lost due to conforming with society. Their languages were referred to as “Indigenous Languages” because of them being extremely complicated and diverse. Some important factors that help understand the foundation of Native American culture are their rituals/practices, death ceremonies, holidays, family, and stereotypes.

Erasure. Imagine having almost every detail of your life – your beliefs, your family, your culture, and success – erased by those only focused on their own personal gain. That is what happened to Native Americans over the course of American history. Due to the settler colonialism that laid the foundation of our nation, many Native Americans became the victims of horrific abuse and discrimination. As “whiteness” became the ideal in society, Native Americans lost their voices and the ability to stand up for themselves. Through her memoir, Bad Indians, Deborah Miranda reveals the truth of the horrific pasts of California Native Americans, and gives her ancestors’ stories a chance to finally be heard. In the section “Old News”, Deborah Miranda writes poems from the “white man’s” perspective to show the violent racism committed against Native Americans, as well as the indifference of whites to this violence.

The book Neither Wolf nor Dog, written by Kent Nerburn is an attempt at bringing American Indians and non-Indians together. The point the author makes in the introduction, is that even though we are all different, we share a common place of residence, and that is mother earth. There are vast amounts of history regarding America and the land, but everyone’s past is “intertwined,” and we cannot deny this. This book is to connect the lives of very different people, instead of continuing the division we see in the country today. There are many important issues pointed out throughout the entirety of the book. The terms white supremacy, racism, and symbolic violence, are all pointed out as you read the story. Using these ideas and terms, a larger issue can be brought up, and that is that Native Americans were put into the shadows, and the country slowly became what it is now, filled with racism and white power. Other terms that arise throughout the reading are discrimination, skin-color privilege, and the 1887 Dawes Act. Together, the use of these terms shows the reader the adversity that Native Americans face and the importance of preserving cultures. Neither Wolf nor Dog is a powerful book that shows the unknown life of American Indians, and rids the myths and stereotypes, while pointing out important issues in America today.

Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation. This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within

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.

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

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.

Perpetuation of Native American Stereotypes in Children's Literature Caution should be used when selecting books including Native Americans, due to the lasting images that books and pictures provide to children. This paper will examine the portrayal of Native Americans in children's literature. I will discuss specific stereotypes that are present and should be avoided, as well as positive examples. I will also highlight evaluative criteria that will be useful in selecting appropriate materials for children and provide examples of good and bad books. Children will read many books as they grow up.

I do see the importance of needing to be recognized by tribe members because if he or she is acknowledged as one of them, that means that they have lived in their ways and practiced those customs. What Indian Americans want to do is preserve their culture and keep it going on to the next generation and so forth. Someone of the Indian American race who has adopted other cultural ways or abandoned his or her own culture won’t most likely preserve the culture.

The Native American culture has a variety of different worldviews compared to other cultural worldviews. They are heavy with their culture and are highly endorsed for it because of its complexity and their dedication towards it. In the fictional novel based on true events, The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo, written and narrated by two-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award, Kent Nerburn, Nerburn is on an adventure to help find peace in Native American elder, Dan’s, life that he has greatly endured, by searching for Yellowbird, who is Dan’s sister that has disappeared at a young age. Throughout the novel, Nerburn encounters many different Native American characters that played a role in discerning Native American worldviews. During Nerburns journey, his worldviews are challenged by Grover, a major Native American character in the novel.