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Essay on native americans in american movies
Contrasting indigenous and american cultures
Native american culture analysis
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In 1991, the movie Dances with Wolves was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and won seven of them, one of them being Best Picture of the Year. This was originally a novel by Michael Blake in 1986 but became a movie in 1990 and was directed and produced by Kevin Costner and Jim Wilson. The main characters were Lieutenant John Dunbar (Kevin Costner), Stands With a Fist (Mary McDonnell), and Kicking Bird (Graham Greene). This movie was set in 1864 and told the story of a soldier named John Dunbar, who chose to live on a military post after almost ending his life in battle. He lived near the Sioux tribe, who was not welcoming of him at first because he was a US soldier. They soon accepted him as time went on and realized he wasn’t like the stereotypical
For example, it is very known that they live in teepees. They used these because they were easy to build and take down for hunting buffalo. NativeLanguages.org, which educates people on the different types of Native American houses, states, “Tepees are good houses for people who are always on the move. Plains Indians migrated frequently to follow the movements of the buffalo herds. An entire Plains Indian village could have their tepees packed up and ready to move within an hour” (Native American Houses 3). The movie showed them in teepees, and towards the end of the movie showed their abandoned area which the viewer can infer that they move around just like the article explained. They also showed the Sioux were very close to the bison when the whites left their remains behind, and when the herd of buffalo came onto their fortress. In fact, Bison were key to the Natives survival and were also what they believed to represent their spirit. Americanbison.edu, which is known to inform people about the significance of bison to Native Americans lives, states, “Critical to their survival, bison not only provided American Indians with food, shelter and tools, but a model on how to live. To American Indians, bisons also represent their spirit and remind them of how their lives were once lived, free and in harmony with nature. From beard to the tail, American Indian nations used every part of the bison. Because the bison provided many gifts—from teepees and clothing made from hides to soap from fat and tools made from bones—they were honored as relatives and paid tribute to through songs, dance and prayers” (American Bison 1). This makes scenes throughout the movie accurate, such as the scene where they are devastated when they see the rotting bison because the white settlers only used a minimal part of it. They used the bison for
The site played a significant role for the study of the strategic hunting method practiced by Native American. The native people hunted herds of bison by stampeding them over a 10- 18 metre high cliff. This hunting method required a superior knowledge of regional topography and bison behaviour. The carcasses of the bison killed were carved up by the native people and butchered in the butchering camp set up on the flats.
There are three parts in West’s book; the first part focuses on the sociological, ecological and economic relationships of the plains Indians, starting with the first establish culture of North America, the Clovis peoples. Going into extensive detail pertaining to early geology and ecology, West gives us a glimpse into what life on the early plains must have looked to early peoples. With vastly differing flora and fauna to what we know today, the early plains at the end of the first ice age, were a different place and lent itself to a diverse way of life. The Clovis peoples were accomplished hunters, focusing on the abundance of Pleistocene megafauna such as earlier, larger forms of bison. Though, little human remains were found, evidence of their s...
which eventually came true. General Custer was defeated, but this only prompted the U.S. government to send more troops. John Dunbar, a character in the film Dances with Wolves,
Print. Waldman, Carl. " Sioux." Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition.
This provides powerful insight into the role Bigfoot like creatures played in Native American cultures. Some tribes were not afraid of the creatures, considering them kind and helpful, while peacefully coexisting with them. Other tribes found them to be more violent and dangerous creatures. The fact that these tribes called the animals Stick Indians or Brush Indians seems to suggest that the creatures were simply other tribes they did not get along with opposed to a village of mythical creatures. Some examples of Bigfoot like creatures in Native American tribes include the Chiye – Tanka, the Lofa, the Maxemista, and the popular Sasquatch. The Chiye – Tanka was the Bigfoot like creature of the Sioux Indians (“Native American,” n.d.). This animal
In the Great Planes of America there was a tribe of Indians known as the Arapaho Indians. There is little documentation as to when or where they came from but it is known they were in many different places in the Midwest including Oklahoma, Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado. The Arapaho Indians were nomadic people who survived on hunting buffalo and gathering. This tribe was greatly changed when they were introduced to horses. The horses provided them a new way to hunt battle and travel. The horse became the symbol and center of Arapaho nomadic life: people traded for them, raided for them, defined wealth in terms of them and made life easier.
After struggling for five years to recover his niece, who is now a young woman, she is rescued by his own hands. Likewise, Dances with Wolves is a Western film directed and starring Kevin Costner. It is also situated during the American Civil War and tells the story of a soldier named John Dunbar that after a suicide attempt he involuntarily leads Union troops to a triumph. Then, by his request, he is sent to a remote outpost in the Indian frontier “before it’s gone”. There, the contact with the natives is eminent and thus it shows how through those contacts this soldier is transformed into another Indian that belongs to the Sioux tribe and who is now called Dances With Wolves.
In “Promise of the High Plains,” a flyer created in the 1800s, it states, “The finest timber West of the Great Wabash Valley” (The Railroaders) when trying to convince the people why to move west. This flyer shows that Americans were advertising the timber on the western land to convince more people to move. Buffalo was also a very important resource for the Native American culture and way of life. Buffalo was used for food, clothing, and housing. Not only were Buffalo used for survival, but they were also part of their religious rituals.
As Indians living in white culture, many problems and conflicts arise. Most Indians tend to suffer microaggressions, racism and most of all, danger to their culture. Their culture gets torn from them, and slowly, as if it was dream, many Indians become absorbed into white society, all the while trying to retain their Indian lifestyle. In Indian Father’s Plea by Robert Lake and Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, the idea that a dominant culture can pose many threats to a minority culture is shown by Wind-Wolf and Alexie.
The haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois, were a tribe of Indians who are mainly situated in the American Northeast as well as the Great Lakes region including southern Canada. They have a rich cultural heritage which includes how they lived and governed, what they believed in, and even a form of medicine. Their lives were permeated with religious practices such as the sun and healing rituals.
A number of factors led to the military's campaign against the Indians. Westward-bound settlers came into conflict with the nomadic tribes that claimed the buffalo plains as their homeland during the nineteenth century. To provide a measure of protection for these settlers, the Army established a series of frontier forts. The outbreak of the Civil War resulted in a withdrawal of the military from the western frontier. The Indians took advantage of the situation and aggressively exerted control over the Southern Plains. There was an outcry for the government to take action.
Native American Ritual Dancing “It has often been said that the North American Indians ‘dance out’ their religions” (Vecsey 51). There were two very important dances for the Sioux tribe, the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance. Both dances show the nature of Native American spirituality. The Ghost Dance and the Sun Dance were two very different dances, however both promote a sense of community.
The use of Native Americans as mascots or team names has developed an issue that has been drawing controversy in today’s society. The question that must be asked then is: Why do we as a society quietly permit such disrespectful and hurtful conduct towards Native Americans continue, without taking any affirmative action to restrict it? Having people who run around in war paint and headdresses whooping it up at the sport games doesn’t honor anyone’s culture. It just praises racism and encourages people to learn nothing about Native American culture making mascots and team names insulting.
The film starts with an elder Norman fishing in the “Big Blackfoot” river. Written by Mark Isham (who won the Academy Award for his work on River), the score is soft and sad. The camera focuses on the elder Norman’s aged hands, tying a fly to his fishing line, and he lyrically describes his past through voiceover (Spoken by Redford himself). These devices tell the viewer that Maclean’s past is something to be longed for, something great and not fully understood that has been lost forever.
Growing up I was the only one in my family with an olive skin tone who didn’t burn in the sun. Everyone always told me that I inherited my grandfather’s Cherokee Indian features. He never talked about his culture, so I have never associated myself with being Native American. Each Native American tribe has unique cultural beliefs and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation through storytelling. In my family, those traditions ended when my grandfather passed away. As an increasingly diverse country, it is important for nurses and health care providers to deliver culturally competent care. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Native American’s cultural beliefs related to end of life care and how health care providers can