Native American Historical Inquiry
Project Decription
This project allowed us to learn about U.S. history from the perspective of the Native Americans. We gained this knowledge through several readings and other activities. These readings included excerpts from Sherman Alexie’s Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, which consist of several fictional short stories that portray the struggles of the modern Indian, chapters from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, which show the historical struggles of the Native Americans, and two essays from Native American alumni who attended Dartmouth College. In addition to these readings, we also watched the movie Reel Indian, a film that shows how Hollywood portrays Native Americans vs. how they actually are and several journals on the readings and other topics. When we completed all of these different assignments, we compiled all of this learning in a seminar that acted as a final for the project.
Essential question
How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to a more enlightened understanding of history and contemporary social, cultural and political realities?
Response to The Essential Question
The seminar contributed to our understanding of historical and modern political, cultural, and social realities. It accomplished this awareness by using the sources of information we read to give us a multitude of perspectives. These sources gave us a more enlightened view of our country’s history by allowing us to view them through the eyes of a Native American. Though this project, we learned about the slaughter of Native American, by Columbus, by immigrants, and by men like Jefferson and Custard. We learned about events like the Trail of Tears, the Indian occupation of Alcatraz and the second battle at Wounded Knee. I understand now how many of the modern stereotypes of Native Americans have come from these incidents and how the media portrayed and portrays them. These events and events like them have led to the current hardships of the Native Americans, and I understand now why we feel we need to provide them and groups like them with the tools, such as affirmative action, to survive in this changed world. I also realize that we are doing the wrong thing to help. Instead of providing affirmative action, we should focus on improving the living standards on reservations, as most native people cannot benefit from affirmative action. Through this new historical lens, I have learned how horrible some of our countries mistakes have been, but I have also learned that there may be ways to correct them and prevent them in the future.
Images that Capture the Content We Learned
These images capture the real world struggles of some Indians and the misconceptions and stereotypes we have had of them historically.
Images from http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-common-misconceptions-about-native-americans.php
Journals
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