On May 22, 1888, Charlotte Thorpe gave birth to Jacobus (Jim) Franciscus Thorpe and his twin brother, Charles, on an Indian reservation near modern-day Prague, Oklahoma. His Native American roots trace back to chief Black Hawk of the Sac and Fox tribe. His Native American name was Wa-tho-huk, which means “Bright Path.” As a child, he experienced many hardships and struggles. Despite those circumstances, he grew up to be the world’s greatest athlete and play six sports and star in the Olympics. Unfortunately, the Olympics didn’t work out the way he planned. Later in life, he battled health, marriage, and child issues. Undeterred by his struggles, the story of Jim Thorpe’s life is a triumphant yet tragic account of a man who overcame the impossible and the impassible to become the greatest athlete in the history of the world.
Jim had a rough childhood. His mother and father had 11 children, six of which died at an early age. He had a very close relationship with his brother; they did everything together. They hunted, fished, played sports, and rode horses, and when pneumonia took the life of young Charles; Jim was heartbroken. Due to his death, Jim fell into a depression. He lost interest in athletics and his schooling, and constantly ran away from school. In 1898, his father, who was of European descent, sent him to Haskell Indian Junior College; a government managed boarding school located about 300 miles away from home in Lawrence, Kansas. This school took in young Native Americans and tried to “civilize” them. Jim was not permitted to speak his native Sac and Fox language and was forced to let go of his Indian traditions. Jim still held dear to his heritage despite these circumstances. It was here where he first wa...
... middle of paper ...
...ble and the impassible to become the greatest athlete in the history of the world. His legacy will live on forever. The Olympic committee has restored his medals to the Thorpe family, and his records have been validated again. Unfortunately, Jim was not around when this happened. He is buried in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, a town in which was named after him. Although he had people constantly try to rip his heritage from him, he still clung tightly to his traditions. "I am no more proud of my career as an athlete than I am of the fact that I am a direct descendant of that noble warrior [Chief Black Hawk]." – Jim Thorpe.
Works Cited
http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/a/Jim-Thorpe.htm
Jim Thorpe: Original All-American
Native American Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe: "There's no such thing as can't"
World Book Encyclopedia 2013
James Cleveland Owens otherwise known as “Jesse” was an Olympic long jumper and sprinter whose speed and inspirational defiance of Hitler shocked the world. The 1936 Olympics were held in Berlin and Adolf Hitler of the Nazi party believed that these Olympic Games would showcase the great skill of the Aryan (Caucasian) race, and the last person he would expect to show him up would be an African-American man (Barnes 1). With sixty-six U.S. Olympic contestants competing in the Games, the American race was really put on the spot in front of Hitler, the most powerful man in the world (Smith 1). Jesse Owens was one of these men, and while being laughed at by Hitler during his one hundred meter sprint against six other Caucasian sprinters, he won by a landslide. With that victory and his other three Olympic gold medals the Owens name was able to be remembered and looked up to for eternity. Jessie Owens is such a great athlete and individual because he defied Adolf Hitler, achieved more than expected of himself, and broke records with ease.
Talking Back to Civilization , edited by Frederick E. Hoxie, is a compilation of excerpts from speeches, articles, and texts written by various American Indian authors and scholars from the 1890s to the 1920s. As a whole, the pieces provide a rough testimony of the American Indian during a period when conflict over land and resources, cultural stereotypes, and national policies caused tensions between Native American Indians and Euro-American reformers. This paper will attempt to sum up the plight of the American Indian during this period in American history.
“Quantie’s weak body shuddered from a blast of cold wind. Still, the proud wife of the Cherokee chief John Ross wrapped a woolen blanket around her shoulders and grabbed the reins.” Leading the final group of Cherokee Indians from their home lands, Chief John Ross thought of an old story that was told by the chiefs before him, of a place where the earth and sky met in the west, this was the place where death awaits. He could not help but fear that this place of death was where his beloved people were being taken after years of persecution and injustice at the hands of white Americans, the proud Indian people were being forced to vacate their lands, leaving behind their homes, businesses and almost everything they owned while traveling to an unknown place and an uncertain future. The Cherokee Indians suffered terrible indignities, sickness and death while being removed to the Indian territories west of the Mississippi, even though they maintained their culture and traditions, rebuilt their numbers and improved their living conditions by developing their own government, economy and social structure, they were never able to return to their previous greatness or escape the injustices of the American people.
Culture has the power and ability to give someone spiritual and emotional distinction which shapes one's identity. Without culture, society would be less and less diverse. Culture is what gives this earth warmth and color that expands across miles and miles. The author of “The School Days of an Indian Girl”, Zitkala Sa, incorporates the ideals of Native American culture into her writing. Similarly, Sherman Alexie sheds light onto the hardships he struggled through growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven in a chapter titled “Indian Education”.
Jim Burden’s early years follows the structure of the idealized childhood of the American West, one where he can run freely in the country and is surrounded by the natural world. However, prejudices are still prevalent in his community, and have a noticeable effect on its inhabitants as they mature. From a young age, members of the Black Hawk, Nebraska community are instilled with the idea that daughters
This school was significant because it changed the way they lived for the rest of their lives. The boarding school’s mission was to help Native Americans adjust to American culture by influencing upon their children white lifestyles, or what was close to it. However, this did not seem to help Native Americans. Many of the children weren’t welcomed back home because some of them could no longer remember the life they used to lead and were therefore thought of as a shame to all Native Americans and their heritage. Many came back not knowing how to speak their native tongue, or even not knowing their tribes’ rituals. In some ways, the Americans did accomplish what they set out to do, they did change many Native Americans, but there were cases in which they didn’t. Some students disobeyed the rules and continued to speak their native tongue and practice rituals in secret in school. This was resistance inside the school, and resistance also happened outside of the school. However, if children were caught disobeying the rules they were punished. Some parents were angry that they weren’t allowed to see their kids when they wanted, so few would resist allowing their children to go back after breaks. Others would run away with their children and families, though this was a tough choice to
While “Shoeless” Joseph Jefferson Jackson may not have been given the same advantages that other ball-players of the time were given, valuable resources, an education, and the favor of the Major League Baseball Association, he nonetheless managed to apply his experiences as a lower middle class American to become a great baseball player. “Shoeless'” life experiences demonstrate not only the clichéd “rags to riches” ideal in many a fair tale, but also the fact that one's experiences early in life can drastically impact an individual's adult life. Regardless of his tarnished reputation in major league baseball, Joe was commemorated after his death in December of 1951 with the typical memorials for any baseball great, ballparks, statues, museums and the like.
To understand Jackson’s book and why it was written, however, one must first fully comprehend the context of the time period it was published in and understand what was being done to and about Native Americans in the 19th century. From the Native American point of view, the frontier, which settlers viewed as an economic opportunity, was nothin...
"Black History in America: Athletes." Black History in America: Athletes. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Experience changes one’s outlook on the world. Growing up on an Indian Reservation is a tough thing to do. Everyone is poor, and almost every adult is drunk and unhappy. Junior’s father suffers from alcoholism.
The original purpose of Native American boarding schools was to assimilate the members of the First Nations towards a better life, based on the Social Darwinistic belief that Indians were a lesser race than the white man. Through these boarding schools and the “altruistic missionary spirit of one of the foremost Christian races of the world” it was the hope that the process of civilizing and uplifting the Indians out of their savagery to be accelerated (“Government” 56). They believed that the schools were put in place for the children of Native American descent to be educated in the practice of personal hygiene, social cleanliness, and industrial work so that as a race they might rise to the higher level of the purity of the immigrated Americans (“Government” 57). This justification implies that the purpose of the boar...
In Philip J. Deloria’s Athletic chapter from his book “Indians in unexpected places” he talks about his grandfather’s connection to sports. He goes into further detail about how his grandfather’s place in sports is similar to other Native Americans. Native Americans used sports as a way to find their place in a new society. Sports was also used to strengthen the community. “Many Indian communities responded by drawing webs of kingship and unity ever tighter, trying to keep sport stars humble” (113). Athletics was now being used to bring all of the community, especially in times when it seemed divided. Sports also disproved the “Vanishing Indian” idea because society saw Native Americans playing in these sports and saw that they still existed.
The history of sports goes back since ancient times. It has been a useful way for people to explore nature and their environment. Sports include different activities and games such as football, soccer, basketball, and etc. to express their skills and talents. Also, sports are a way to relax and have fun; but are sports all our African Americans rely on? The dream to become future sports stars. The reason why Gates begins his essay with an anecdote is to show and compare how many african-american athletes were at work today and how little the chances of African-Americans becoming athletes are compared to being a lawyer, dentist, or even a doctor. African-Americans assume that they are born athletes and it’s because the school system doesn’t teach them reality and educate them to undertake more realistic goals for careers.
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
Although the work is 40 years old, “Custer Died for Your Sins” is still relevant and valuable in explaining the history and problems that Indians face in the United States. Deloria’s book reveals the White view of Indians as false compared to the reality of how Indians are in real life. The forceful intrusion of the U.S. Government and Christian missionaries have had the most oppressing and damaging affect on Indians. There is hope in Delorias words though. He believes that as more tribes become more politically active and capable, they will be able to become more economically independent for future generations. He feels much hope in the 1960’s generation of college age Indians returning to take ownership of their tribes problems and build a better future for their children.