The Native Family Versus the Dominant Culture in "American Horse" by Louise Erdrich

Stuart Hall defines identity as an ‘already accomplished fact, which the new cultural practices then represent’. We should think instead of ‘identity as a ‘production’ which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation’ (Hall 1994 p.392). An individual’s sense of belonging to a particular group, thinking, feelings and behaviour can also be referred to as identity. One’s cultural image can construct identity; such features as hair, skin tone and height. History shapes our identity.

Though it does not come up in everyday thought, cultural identity is an idea that all humans possess. Abridged, cultural identity can be simply explained as the sharing of a similar culture by people of various ethnicities. However, cultural identity is more complex than that, defined by an individual’s values, beliefs, and ideas of moral behavior influenced by their culture. Furthermore, cultural identity is ever changing from individual to individual. This means that although two individuals may be of the same ethnicity, differences in circumstances may cause variations between the individuals’ personal beliefs. As a result of interracial interactions, multiculturalism has grown during the twenty-first century.

Their game meat was killed using either a snare, net, bow and arrow, or an atlatl (Ferguson, 1996). An atlatl consisted of a throwing stick with a separate dart, it functioned almost the same as a bow and arrow does (Roberts, 1996).

I believe that this book is a good representation of a multicultural text when basing it off Professor Boyd’s qualities. The book was written in the year

Identity is something that is found within that you have to find when you cross cultural differences domestically and internationally. In Eboo Patel's book Acts of Faith he uses a quote that shows how identity evolves over time. “The tradition you were born into was your home, Brother Wayne told me, but as Gandhi once wrote, it should be a home with the windows open so that the winds of other traditions can blow through and bring their unique oxygen. “It’s good to have wings,” he would say, “but you have to have roots, too”(Acts of Faith). This quote really shows that identity is something that is found at what you call your home and you keep your roots there. Your roots are your upbringing when you are young and your wings are when you leave the safety of home. This quote is also showing that the winds of other traditions bring unique oxygen which would be a new experience that help you sculpt your identity in the way you want it. Tradition is something that you will always remember but in order to truly find who you are you must cross domestic and international boundaries. When you cross these boundaries you learn about your identity because your wings have been used and your roots have been deepened. Another book read over the course really demonstrates this concept of identity being found within. This book is Citizen in this book it really shows cultures being crossed not necessarily internationally but domestically. I found a quote that states, “Perhaps the most insidious and least understood form of segregation is that of the

1. Paula Gunn Allen (“The Patriarchalization of Native American Tribes” has explained that she chose to write about Native American tribes to restore the “lost perspective” of people whose stories were “erased”. But what does her historical work have to do with gender, and contemporary understandings of the “place” of women in society? • Allen’s concept was about how Western traditions changed the Native American culture. Native Americans, before Western traditions, had women as Chief’s of a tribe.

In the article “A Healthy Balance: Religion, Identity, and Community in Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine” by Karla Sanders, argues that the Native American people are having a hard time finding themselves through the community, religion, and identity because of other traditions are becoming more prominent than theirs. Sanders relies on the article “Reading between Worlds: Narrativity in the fiction of Louise Erdrich” by Catherine Rainwater. Rainwater helps construct Sanders article by providing examples in the story. The examples Rainwater pinpoints helps clarify how Native Americans are dealing with the interference of another religion. Also, another article that Sander used to establish her article was “Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine: Loving

This paper will identify the ethnic identifications within individuals. Ethnicity is part of everyone’s identity development. Individuals may have one ethnicity or multiple, depending on their current location, homelands, generations, religion, environment, language/dialect, physical appearance, and more. A cultural individual is considered ethnic either by being first, second, or third generation. According to Phinney (1989), there are four stages of ethnic identity development: diffuse, foreclosed, moratorium, and achieved. They describe when an individual explores or does not explore their own ethnicity, and accepting clarification and understanding of ethnicity. An individual can be placed within these stages throughout their developing lives. It is important to recognize these stages within an individual to better apprehend their identity and where they perceive their own identity in their position.

When I think of the word “cultural identity”, I think of myself, and what makes up who I am as a person. My cultural identity influences everything about me, from the moment I wake up, to the minute I rest my head on my pillow at night. My culture influences the way I eat, speak, worship, and interact with people. However, I am not only affected by my own culture, but others’ culture as well. I am fortunate to have an extremely rich heritage, and I couldn’t be prouder of my cultural identity.

Ethnic identity is described as one’s sense of belonging to an ethnic group that is composed of ethnic awareness, self-identification, attitudes, and behaviors as a part of their membership. In America, there are many minorities, such as Latinos, Asians, and Blacks, who have a unique culture integrated within their ethnic group. However, society has been guilty of assimilating people into becoming more “American” rather than allowing them to express their culture. Through their own personal experiences, authors Amy Tan, Gloria Anzaldua, and Zora Neale Hurston advocate that the ability to find one’s ethnic identity is by seeking the importance and impact their past experiences mademakes in their lives.

According to several critics, an Indian American writer Louise Erdrich blend fiction and cultural identity of narration in traditional Euro-American narrative form, what leads to difficulties with perceiving and understanding her novels by common reader. Catherine Rainwater, in her essay “Reading Between Worlds,” argues, that because of Erdrich’s half-blooded nature, the constant cultural conflict along with the fictional element in the narratives of her novels “alienates” the reader from empathy and understanding of the Indians. However, in the article “The Trickster and World Maintenance,” critic Lawrence Gross expresses respect to Rainwater’s intelligent analysis of Erdrich’s novels but argues that he, as the Native Indian reader, does not

When reading The School Days of an Indian Girl by Zitkala-sa, it shows us a view of ethnic identity. By telling us how a little girl is in a home, away from her mother, while learning how to adapt to the new culture she’s in. In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, it shows us a different view of a man in another form of an ethnic identity. It shows us that the man is seen as a different person then who he really is, instead of a black man who isn’t seen as what he actually is. In Why I am A Pagan by Zitkala-sa, it used cultural identity by focusing on how the world lost the connection it was given thousands of years ago. How the world is not as one with nature as it should be. It’s as if the world is a person itself, who

The following paper will discuss two of the major dimensions of my cultural identity, and analyze the way in which my identity holds privileges, or has exposed me to oppression. Being that I am white, I have lived a life of privilege simply because of the color of my skin. I have been afforded opportunities, and lived a life free from persecution due to my skin color. I have also lived a life that has been impacted by oppression because of my female identity. This unique position between privilege and oppression is where I live my life.

Welcomes the cultural diversity and its starting point that no group has to lose their culture and own identity. The dominant culture has a consciousness of superiority over the dominated culture, showing attitudes of rejection, discrimination, and derogatory. Terms for what culture dominated in some cases sample submission or resignation as well as other are developing aggressive defensive behavior. The dominant culture believed to possess a privileged situation, accompanied by attitudes of superiority, legitimacy, and self- esteem. Waking up in the culture dominated ideas and feelings of marginalization, powerlessness, and self-contempt. In the article “Multiculturalism: Multiculturalism is closely associated with “identity politics,” “the politics of difference,” and “the politics of recognition,”. All of which share a commitment to revaluing disrespected identities and changing dominate patterns of representation and communication that marginalize certain groups (Young 1990, Taylor 1992, Gutmann 2003). Multiculturalism is also a matter of economic interests and political power; it demands remedies to economic and political disadvantages that people suffer as a result of their minority status. (Song, Sarah 2014)

Cultural identity is a part of the psychological self-concept that expresses an individual or group’s worldview and perceived cultural affiliations. The first step in finding a societal fit is to establish a cultural identity; this can be on an individual level and group level. Who am I? And where do I belong? These questions start to form in the human mind from an early age; it drives humans to explore their worldviews and how and where they fit in the world. Rosenfeld (1971) argued it is a deep-seated primal process that has ensured our continual survival. By finding others that think and act similarly we are offered some protection (Erickson, as cited in Carducci 2015). Erickson (as cited in Carducci, 2015) and Maslow (as cited in Mcleod 2007) argued that the need to belong is a basic building block of human development. Whatever the reason, the consensus is that humans have an intrinsic need to find a like-minded cultural group to belong to; this chosen affiliation is their cultural identity. A person may identify with more than one cultural