More handpicked essays just for you.
The importance of one’s cultural identity
How does culture impact identity
The importance of one’s cultural identity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The importance of one’s cultural identity
Diane Glancy explores the theme of distress as a result of being pressured into abandoning your culture in her poem “Without Title.” Silence is utilized to symbolize the absence of the Native American culture in the life of the speaker’s father. When the father migrates to the city “without a vision,” he begins losing his culture. This suggests he is letting go of what identifies him. Additionally, “when he [brings] home his horns and hides [the] mother [says] get rid of them.” Although the father strives to maintain his norms, he is being compelled to forget about what is significant to him. It is not until he loses his “power” that he finally lets go of his previous lifestyle. He struggles to hold on, bringing along his distress, until he
“Don’t say it's disgusting. Don’t say it’s disgusting” is what I think when I’m presented with foods I don’t like. We all face the challenge of keeping our inner thoughts to ourselves, and some of us are better than others. Poet Carolyn Kizer presents this idea in her poem “Bitch”. In her poem, Kizer uses a unique format and literary devices to effectively describe an interaction between former lovers.
As an outsider looking in we are transformed through an era where a young Indian boy grows up to become the man he is today, a medicine man. We are taken through his assimilation in to the modern white society, and as we look at this we are reminded, through Lame Deer, of the hardships that he went through, his experiences as a single individual and many important events that defined who he is. We also took a look into his later years as he grew up to be an elder and developed a natural calling to be a leader. It explains throughout that he clings to the lingering fact that he desperately holds onto what he assumes is little dignity he has left and the worth of the land that has been diminished through the destruction of white culture. Once we have a correlation between Lame Deer’s life stories, events that he endured, and overall perception of what went on we can then look at the accuracy of his claims in correlation to world events that occurred. We can also observe, though this book, the tremendous clarity and insight it provides us about natural medicines that were used during his time, and major cultural and tradition ceremonies that where conducted, which in turn provided Native American Indians with self-purpose and self-identity and a unique form of symbolize that can be traced back to their ancestors. Lame Deer stresses the importance in self-identification through these forms, in
The novel “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese demonstrates the many conflicts that indigenous people encounter on a daily basis. This includes things such as, the dangers they face and how they feel the need to flee to nature, where they feel the most safe. Another major issue they face is being stripped of their culture, and forcibly made to believe their culture is wrong and they are less of a human for being brought up that way, it makes them feel unworthy. Finally, when one is being criticised for a hobby they enjoy due to their indigenous upbringing, they make himself lose interest and stop the hobby as it makes them different and provokes torment. People who are trying
Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong somewhere? Do you know what it feels like to be told you don’t belong in the place of your birth? People experience this quite frequently, because they may not be the stereotypical American citizen, and are told and convinced they don’t belong in the only place they see as home. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Anzaldúa gives the reader an inside look at the struggles of an American citizen who experiences this in their life, due to their heritage. She uses rhetorical appeals to help get her messages across on the subliminal level and show her perspective’s importance. These rhetorical appeals deal with the emotion, logic and credibility of the statements made by the author. Anzaldúa
gain whilst simultaneously pressuring actual Native Americans to assimilate into western European society. This connects to the poem as a whole because it connects to the after effects of
The Impression of Life on her Works’ Leslie Marmon Silko for more than two decades has been enriching Native American literature through her poetry, novels, short stories, and essays. Her fertile imagination and vivid writing continues to impress both critics and readers alike. Influences in Silko's life are abundant in her work. She includes childhood memories, experiences with racism, Pueblo beliefs, family history, and traditional storytelling. Prominent in many of her works is the perspective of her mixed ethnicity. She explores ethnic identity and cultural values through her literature. Often the reader is taught about the lessons, values, and heritage of early cultures. Leslie Marmon grew up attaching herself, in memory and imagination, to the village and then to the land around it; and because this is Laguna land, many of the stories she grew up with were stories from the Keresan oral tradition, the stories of her father's people and their shared history. In her art as in her life, Silko has continued to maintain her identity with the story of the people of Kawaika, the People of the Beautiful Lake. The story of Laguna, like the biography of Silko and the fictional lives of her novels' protagonists, has always been a story of contact, departure, and recovery. “My father had wandered over all the hills and mesas around Laguna when he was a child; I started roaming those same mesas and hills when I was nine years old. At eleven I rode away on my horse, and explored places my father and uncle could not have reached on foot. I carried with me the feeling I'd acquired from listening to the old stories, that the land all around me was teeming with creatures that were related to human beings and to me.” ("Interior and Exterior Lan...
Change is one of the tallest hurdles we all must face growing up. We all must watch our relatives die or grow old, our pets do the same, change school or employment, and take responsibility for our own lives one way or another. Change is what shapes our personalities, it molds us as we journey through life, for some people, change is what breaks us. Watching everything you once knew as your reality wither away into nothing but memory and photographs is tough, and the most difficult part is continuing on with your life. In the novel Ceremony, author Leslie Silko explores how change impacted the entirety of Native American people, and the continual battle to keep up with an evolving world while still holding onto their past. Through Silko’s
In a desperate attempt to discover his true identity, the narrator decides to go back to Wisconsin. He was finally breaking free from captivity. The narrator was filling excitement and joy on his journey back home. He remembers every town and every stop. Additionally, he admires the natural beauty that fills the scenery. In contrast to the “beauty of captivity” (320), he felt on campus, this felt like freedom. No doubt, that the narrator is more in touch with nature and his Native American roots than the white civilized culture. Nevertheless, as he gets closer to home he feels afraid of not being accepted, he says “… afraid of being looked on as a stranger by my own people” (323). He felt like he would have to prove himself all over again, only this time it was to his own people. The closer the narrator got to his home, the happier he was feeling. “Everything seems to say, “Be happy! You are home now—you are free” (323). Although he felt as though he had found his true identity, he questioned it once more on the way to the lodge. The narrator thought, “If I am white I will not believe that story; if I am Indian, I will know that there is an old woman under the ice” (323). The moment he believed, there was a woman under the ice; He realized he had found his true identity, it was Native American. At that moment nothing but that night mattered, “[he], try hard to forget school and white people, and be one of these—my people.” (323). He
Boys in the Native American culture are pushed to be good runners, skilled hunters, and good warriors. When they achieve this they are considered men in their society. When they become too old to do all of this they become counselors of the village. Women are expected to raise children, make food, and take care of the children for a lifetime. There is no police force, government, or punishment in their culture. They do not need it. These r...
“What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” by Sherman Alexie gives readers a look at the life of homeless, easygoing, middle aged Native American, Jackson Jackson. The story, which is set in Seattle, describes the conditions that Jackson finds himself in. Alexie’s choice of motifs emphasizes the significance of cultural and historical references. With these concepts in mind, the reader is taken through a journey of self-realization. “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” narrates the internal struggle Jackson feels trying to figure out his personal identity as a Native American. The story chronicles situations that illustrate the common stereotypes about Natives. Through Jackson’s humble personality, the reader can grasp his true feeling towards White people, which
The author is pointing out that women will not be quiet about the struggles of native women. She states, "It's a disease to me, to be quiet, You see it in the communities, on the reserves, in families and stuff, where if somebody's abused, people
“Never Ever” is a poem written by Brenda Shaughnessy about employees working at a restaurant. Born japanese but raised in California, Brenda Shaughnessy is a 46 year old lady and author. Brenda attended the University of California, where she got her Bachelor’s Degree of the Arts in women’s studies and literature. No biographies about her that have been published to this day include information about her childhood, however after that, she has won many an award for her publishings. From watching an interview or two with her, she seems to be very passionate about what she does and does not do it solely for money.
Literary Deconstructivism (deconstruction theory) identifies the “undecidability” in a text's meaning (306). Jacques Derrida introduced this form of literary criticism to prove that a text's implied meaning may not be the only point of a text. While Balkin further explains that "deconstruction does not show that all texts are meaningless, but rather that they are overflowing with multiple and often conflicting meanings" (1). Therefore, the recognition of a text's interpretations should be closely examined. In the context of Leslie Marmom Silko’s Ceremony, most critics would argue that the author's main concern is the make readers aware of the Laguna Pueblo Indians' inferiority to white settlers. This conflict caused white settlers, the bourgeoisie, in reference to Marxism, to shape the social, economic, and political constraints in their society because they are in power. After analyzing the context of the text more carefully, it is also evident that the Laguna Pueblo Indians isolate and shape the thought process, identity and acceptance of those partially removed from their culture, particularly those of multi- and other racial ancestry, along with the people in relation with them. It shows that separation of classes take place due to unconscious cultural social order (cultural biases) and higher class versus lower class issues. It is primarily present in the Laguna Pueblo Indians' superiority and interactions with Laura - Tayo's mother, Tayo, and Night Swan.
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko emphasizes the vital role that storytelling plays within the Pueblo culture. She utilizes storytelling throughout her poem to generate a picture of the process that Native Americans used to pass on traditions and culture. Silko reveals the crucial function that storytelling serves in the Pueblo culture by using the literary element of point-of-view. By using first person point-of-view, the speaker expresses the crucial element, the importance language in a Native American society. The speaker, a Pueblo Indian, expresses their first-hand account of attempts from outside groups attempting to decimate the Pueblo culture by destroying its ceremonies.
The narrator, an indigenous woman, embodies the impact and legacy of colonization in Canada. She declares herself to be “damaged” and says that “I make it a policy not to talk to people unless absolutely necessary,” indicating she has experienced past trauma. What caused this trauma is not specified by the narrator, however it would be safe to assume that the trauma could be related to colonization. Trauma has found to be transgenerational, particularly in indigenous communities and for those affected by residential schools and the sixties scoop. Those who survived abuses at residential schools often inadvertently passed on trauma to their children. Due to unresolved issues, survivors fell into habits of destructive behaviour, such as drug