Highway of Tear is about the missing and murdered Indigenous women over a stretch of highway of the same name, the film talks about a few of the victims and interviews a few of their families about the experience they had with their grief and how little the authors investigated the cases and how they banded together to bring more notice to these crimes and put pressure on authorities to try harder and take this more seriously. The Highway of Tears is a large, cross-city stretch of Highway 16 in British Columbia, Canada, that has been the scene of several crimes against Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) since 1970. The corridor runs between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Due to a lack of car ownership and transportation caused by poverty, hitchhiking is frequently the only option for people who need to travel great distances for jobs, school, or medical care. One important aspect is the dearth of options for …show more content…
Another theme that Turquoise Rose touched on is tradition and sexism that can occur within a native community, the author examines this in Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism., “We know of the oppression of native women at the hands of non-natives, but what about inter- and intra-tribal racism and sexism among natives? Tribes have long experienced factionalism between those who cling to tradition and those who see change as the route to survival, whether tribal, familial, or personal”(Mihesuah Xv introduction). In the film, I think that can come from Harry’s brother and his reaction to turquoise and to the white store owner. He shows more traditional and sexist ideologies when Turquoise is coming to the store and he catcalls and harasses
Respect is shown to the laws and guidelines provided by their ancestors. Every morning Neena expresses to Ruby while she sits beneath the tree and connects to her spiritual ancestors, ‘Whitefellas call it meditation, but for us it’s remaking our spiritual connection to the country every day’. It is extremely important that there are people that are very close to their culture, so the tribe remembers their ways. Archie and Tjilpi are exceptional illustrations of...
In the story of Perma Red, we see one of the main characters, Charlie Kicking Woman struggle to associate with his people and lose touch with his native identity over time (Earling 267). We also see Louise’s character struggling to find her own identity when she thinks about leaving the reservation in the future. However, when she stays on the reservation and becomes more in touch with her roots she gr...
April was a fair-skinned Metis. She never felt that she fit in to either culture. “How was I going to pass for a white person when I had a Metis sister?” (p. 49). She believed that her Metis heritage led to nothing but bad choices and it would only damage her future. She believed that the white society was classy, rich and they were treated with more respect. The family she was born into was one of alcohol abuse, parties and neglect. She hated everything about her Metis background. Her sister Cheryl on the other hand, was happy to be who she was and proud to express herself as a Metis person. Cheryl would defend the Metis traditions under any circumstance. She tried convincing April of the importance of their culture, ancestry and history. Cheryl sent April many letters, assignments and essays written by Metis people in hopes of changing April’s thoughts
The denial of the idea of the “sun-dance” by her native friend demonstrates furthermore how Hilda creates a false impression of Native American’s culture and deviating from reality and what real Indian people
In the text “Seeing Red: American Indian Women Speaking about their Religious and Cultural Perspectives” by Inés Talamantez, the author discusses the role of ceremonies and ancestral spirituality in various Native American cultures, and elaborates on the injustices native women face because of their oppressors.
In the poem, “Sure you Can Ask Me A Personal Question” By Diane Burns. The theme of story is “ Dont form ideas of someone if you dont really know them”. I was influenced by the word choice and phrases in the story, such as NO which, the author brings up alot. In many lines the author will answer saying “No i'm not from Indian”, “No werent not extinct” and “No I dont know where you can get Navajo rugs real cheap”. The list of evidence clearly shows you how the questioner keeps making assumptions on things that many Native Americans did in their culture, without getting to know her fully. Throughout the story the author has perpetuated theme, because constantly you see comments or stereotypes thrown at the Native American girl. On the last two
The American-Indian documentary film is based on the historical eviction of the Native Americans from their homelands. The documentary is a five part series that span from the 17th to the 20th century beginning with the arrival of the Puritans, the tensions with the Native Americans and their eventual eviction from their homelands. Part III ‘Trail of Tears’ is about tribal debates on how the Cherokee people accepted the policy of assimilation into the Western lifestyle in order to keep their lands and safeguard the Cherokee nation but the white Americas discriminated them regarding them as savages. Their removal was part of Andrew Jackson’s policy to forcefully evict the Indians from the east of the Mississippi River to Oklahoma. The journey is referred to as the ‘Trail of
Within Lakota Woman, by Mary Crow Dog, a Lakota woman speaks of her story about growing up in the 60s and 70s and shares the details of the difficulties she and many other Native Americans had to face throughout this time period. Although Native Americans encountered numerous challenges throughout the mid twentieth century, they were not the only ethnic group which was discriminated against; African Americans and other minority groups also had to endure similar calamities. In order to try to gain equality and eliminate the discrimination they faced, such groups differed with their inclusion or exclusion of violence.
Sarah Vowell's empathetic feelings for the Cherokee is very touching. You definitely sense her high degree of care and interest about this topic. I felt that Vowell's main concerns revolved heavily around the unjust treatment toward the Cherokee, Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy that ultimately led to Trail of Tears, and how modern Americans (in general) thoughtlessly neglect this piece of history. I intend to expand on her concerns, while properly expressing my perspective on these issues, as well.
As Mother’s Day approaches, writer Penny Rudge salutes “Matriarchs [who] come in different guises but are instantly recognizable: forceful women, some well-intentioned, others less so, but all exerting an unstoppable authority over their clan” (Penny Rudge), thereby revealing the immense presence of women in the American family unit. A powerful example of a mother’s influence is illustrated in Native American society whereby women are called upon to confront daily problems associated with reservation life. The instinct for survival occurs almost at birth resulting in the development of women who transcend a culture predicated on gender bias. In Love Medicine, a twentieth century novel about two families who reside on the Indian reservation, Louise Erdrich tells the story of Marie Lazarre and Lulu Lamartine, two female characters quite different in nature, who are connected by their love and lust for Nector Kashpaw, head of the Chippewa tribe. Marie is a member of a family shunned by the residents of the reservation, and copes with the problems that arise as a result of a “childhood, / the antithesis of a Norman Rockwell-style Anglo-American idyll”(Susan Castillo), prompting her to search for stability and adopt a life of piety. Marie marries Nector Kashpaw, a one-time love interest of Lulu Lamartine, who relies on her sexual prowess to persevere, resulting in many liaisons with tribal council members that lead to the birth of her sons. Although each female character possibly hates and resents the other, Erdrich avoids the inevitable storyline by focusing on the different attributes of these characters, who unite and form a force that evidences the significance of survival, and the power of the feminine bond in Native Americ...
...the matter. People she got married to after her first husband died were all horrible to her and I would imagine because they looked down on her. Her children that were supposed to live well with other families were treated in a similar way where they were all not treated well and were slaves to them. It was interesting to see how much of her Indian culture has changed since she was a little girl. When she was younger, there were still Indian ceremonies and traditions that were followed closely, and as she got older, it seems like these traditions started to fade away because of the change of environment. Because of all the foreign people around them, they eventually stopped doing many of their old traditions. Their traditions are so different of that of an American tradition where I feel like people back then were probably ignorant and just saw Indians as savages.
The destructive nature of cultural collision is symbolized when Emily’s lover, Rose, kills herself because of “how fuckin’ hard it is to be an Indian in this country” (Highway 97). The suicide of Rose, which happened when Rose “went head-on” into a “big 18-wheeler...like a fly splat against a windshield” shows the brutality of cultural collision (Highway 97). The rape of Zhaboonigan is an indicator of the violence inflicted on Natives (especially Native women), and functions as a metaphor for the “intrusive, destructive impact of one society on another” (Nothof 2). Cultural collision results in a fragmented society, where the subdued struggle with their identity as a result of the violent colonization of the dominant
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
The Disney movies of Pocahontas tell a plot of a Native ¬American tribe and English colonists that fight for the land the Native Americans live on though war ultimately creating moderate peace. While keeping to their own sect, the imbalance of power between the two social groups is prevalent throughout much of the story. Walt Disney’s Pocahontas is more than a classic children’s movie. It is a thoughtful, well contrived narration that portrays a message that in order to fit in, you must be a certain race and born into a specific culture. Disney’s Pocahontas suggesting that the color of our skin shouldn’t matter when being accepted into social groups as well as the idea that arranged marriage should be rejected. Thus, treating people right could ultimately have a positive outcome and lastly, the film also suggests that family roles change without a mother figure.
For example, in the local school, stereotypes such as the image of the ‘wild man’ are consolidated by claiming that there was cannibalism among the indigenous people of the northwest coast (Soper-Jones 2009, 20; Robinson 2010, 68f.). Moreover, native people are still considered to be second-class citizens, which is pointed out by Lisamarie’s aunt Trudy, when she has been harassed by some white guys in a car: “[Y]ou’re a mouthy Indian, and everyone thinks we’re born sluts. Those guys would have said you were asking for it and got off scot-free”