Alcatraz- Prison or Sanctuary?

Alcatraz Island is an interesting place, full of history. Alcatraz is the Island also knows as “the rock”. It is located 1.5 miles off of the coast of California. It was a federal prison until 1963 and was also equipped as a military base. That all changed though, when somewhere in the range of 80 Native Americans started an occupation of the Island. It lasted for 19 months. The Island is now a historic and national landmark, and is a top tourist destination for those visiting the San Francisco area. Most of the Natives were college students (at first) that went to school in San Francisco and wanted to start a rebellion that was similar to the ones going on around the country by other Natives.

Personally, I think that the most interesting thing about Alcatraz is the relationship and irony between Natives seeing the location for a federal prison to be the site for their “liberation” or freedom. It is intensely weird to think about. In what way does a prison promote these feelings of jubilation? They by their very definition are supposed to do exactly the opposite! So, this is why I find it very interesting that Natives today still visit Alcatraz as a historic landmark of something good for their people. Some even go apparently twice a year, on Thanksgiving and Columbus Day, the two times a year where non-Natives celebrate travesties done towards the Native people.

The other interesting part is that Natives don’t see Alcatraz as a victory; they see it as a failure in many ways. It was a success in the fact that it did gain national attention; it just didn’t hold the attention for very long. They also feel that no real good or change had come from the occupation; it was a silent protest, in many ways. Then, after it was all done, the story was told in a much different light than of a peaceful protest. It was told that the Natives were “destructive rebels” and other such things that were not told in a positive light, in the slightest. Of course, outsiders are always the ones that get blamed for things being crazy, or unruly, or they get accused by these critics who probably don’t know the whole story. It reminds me of the Civil Rights Movement, when many peaceful protesters had tear gas used on them, or were even shot. They were not doing anything accept meeting peacefully, but because they were not only the minority in numbers but also ethnicity they are seen as bad.

Alcatraz is a very interesting symbol for the US as a whole. There is an air of mystery based on the fact that it was a prison, and that a lot of interesting things and people were kept there. However, I think the most interesting part about Alcatraz is one of its least known facts, that for 19 months, it was occupied by Native protesters searching for their own identity and their place in life.  They were searching for sanctuary from the judgment, the hate, and the oppression they faced on a daily basis that is still present today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2TXvRpdDTw
This link goes to a youtube video that is a collage of all different pictures taken during the Native occupation of Alcatraz.

The Little Box We Never Fit Into

The little box we never fit into is the box you are forced to check on standardized tests. The one that makes you pick what ethnicity you are. There are always about 6 or 7 choices that are something like: Native American, Latino, White/Caucasian (What is Caucasian anyway?), Pacific Islander, African American/Black, Asian, and Other.

So, I looked up exactly what Caucasian was and according to the dictionary, it is: “relating to people who are light-skinned or of European origin “ and also “belonging to the light-skinned peoples of Europe, northern Africa, and western and southern Asia, formerly considered a distinct ethnic group”. Well that cleared things up considerably, didn’t it? So, if I am a light skinned person from Algeria, then I am Caucasian. What about if I am a light skinned person from South Africa? Am I Caucasian? Am I African? Or, do I go by the fact that I am technically a white African? Good Lord, how can any one person fit into this?

What if we don’t fit into the little box? What if we are more than one of these? What does it matter if we are Pacific Islander? What if we don’t want to be in the box? As a person whose ethnicity is 100% Irish, I know which box I am supposed to fill out. White. But, you know what? I always felt cheated. I wasn’t a person that was interesting, and got to pick one of the more complicated choices, I was the white girl. But, you know, I never really liked being called white. It doesn’t say anything about who you are or where you are from. The more interesting part is that if I feel this way, then how in the world must someone feel that is Chinese-American and Nigerian? Then what do you choose? What if you are from Iraq? You are from the continent of Asia, but would not always be considered “Asian”, you are Iraqi. Or what if you have dual citizenship from America and Canada? Does that still only qualify you as only white?

What is white? My skin tone is much peachier or even pink in color, certainly not just plain old white. White is boring, and non-interesting. White is the majority white is bland. You know what is much more interesting? Colors are much more interesting. But at the same time, Natives have been called red, Asians have been called yellow, and Africans black or brown. What is this obsession with color? And, why must we say what “color” we are on standardized tests? It is honestly infuriating to be pigeonholed into one tiny little box.  If I feel that way, then how in the world must the other people feel when they are forced to fill out the box? Humiliated/confused/proud/racist/baffled?

The dreaded standardized test.

This woman came up when I googled "Caucasian"

The apparent region where "Caucasians" hail from, notice that it is in ASIA!

 A Nigerian woman and an Asian American man. What box will their child fill out on the SAT?

"A Pacific Islander woman"  Whatever that really means. 

The Girl Who Relates Everything to Books

So, I am the girl that relates everything back to books, partly because I am a library science major, and thus am literally immersed in literature on a daily basis, but partly because I am one of the people that are constantly reminded of other things. I could be watching a movie and I will say to myself “oh, that character reminds me of the one in this book!” or something of the sort. But, after this long ramble, I just kept being reminded of books today in our class discussion. I think that today was one of our better discussions, simply because the whole class was there and was seemingly more willing to participate than usual. We were also talking about a lot of interesting topics, of course all relating to Native Americans.

The interesting thing is that I kept being reminded about Banned Books through the discussion. Banned books are something that are talked about quite frequently in the library world, due to the fact that we often have to deal with those who wish to ban the books, and that we have an entire week dedicated to celebrate banned books. The reason that today’s discussion reminded me of banned books is because banned books are often the forgotten, but never really gone. They are also often taught in schools, and the people who are banning them usually have never even read the book or if they have they miss the greater purpose the author was trying to portray. In many ways, as saddening as this sounds, banned books remind me of Native Americans.

Natives are often all but forgotten, although they are not in fact gone at all. (Is it sad that Natives are less prevalent and heard about now than they were when they were an almost extinct population? They really are never in the news, that’s the truth.) There are some 3 million Native people in just the US alone, but there must be millions more if you count the whole of just North America. So, why are they all but forgotten? (I think that that should actually be the new title of the course, because I’m pretty sure that we have more questions now, as time goes on, than ever.) Natives are also often taught about in school, albeit the information is usually much fabricated and usually about Pocahontas or Thanksgiving, with maybe a little Sacajawea thrown in for good measure. The people who are censoring/excluding/banning/segregating/ignorant about Natives are often the people that have never actually met a Native person in their lives. These are often the ignoramus type of people that would shout things such as “Go back to the reservation” or other convoluted things. They have no real sense of who Natives are, or the fact that they do not want to simply be categorized by a name that was made up by Christopher Columbus, in his own misguided adventurous way. An Indian is a person from the country of India, so why did the incorrect and often rude name stick? Anyway, in many ways I feel like Natives are the banned people of America. Still very much present, but no one seems to really know what to do with them. They are the outcasts, the mysterious, and the often celebrated for entirely the wrong reasons.

Now this is what we should be teaching in schools!

Some censored books

This is ironic considering Natives always have to carry identification and often how "Indian" they are is determined by how much Indian blood they have.

This so true but so sad.

This looks like a good source of information on Native Americans

Banned books, what are you so afraid of?

Then What?

So, after all of this talk about how Native Americans are disappearing, I decided to do a little research, because I was curious about if people were really exaggerating or if Natives were really not in the news. I was also intrigued when I read Hallie's blog about Natives being "missing". This got me into an investigative mode. So, I googled "Native Americans". The only things that came up were Wikipedia articles about Natives from the past. (We are seeing the whole Plains Indians with buffalo circa 1890 again.) Then there was a project from some person's elementary class about "the first thanksgiving" and how natives and the Pilgrims were friends. About 10 links down was a website with actual current information about Natives. It was the Indian Country Today Media Network, which of course I had never heard of. So now I am googling things I google. Thank God we live in a technological time or otherwise I would have had no information at all! So What I learned is that this website, Indian Country Today is actually a legitimate organization that is run FOR Natives BY Natives. They actually include indigenous peoples everywhere, not just in America and Canada. They include: " Canadian First Nations, South and Latin American Indigenous Peoples, Pacific Islanders, Australian Aboriginals and Indigenous Peoples in all corners of the world" according to the website. The more interesting part is that this organization was actually founded on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,  which is owned and operated by the Oneida Nation of New York. The newspaper was headquartered in Canastota, New York until 2011, when it was moved to New York City, also according to the newspaper. This is the poorest reservation of them all and one of the ones that we have specifically mentioned in class. I also seem to remember that this reservation is the same one where Crazy Horse was killed. This reservation, seemingly is an important place, because it keeps coming up in conversation. First with the fact that that is where the Lakota people were forced to go, then the monument to Crazy Horse, and now the only actual website I could find about current natives was started on the Pine Reservation. If this reservation is of such importance, why have I never heard of it before? I think it is one of the moments we have also been taking about in class, that it's not that it wasn't important, it was just that it wasn't taught to us. Maybe that's how the government want us to think about it? Maybe that's how the Natives feel? Just leave us alone... you have already done enough damage. I'm not sure, but it is something that I will be thinking about, that I can assure you of.

So basically, my googling of Native Americans really only gave me more questions then it answered (no surprise there, it seems to be a reoccurring theme these days, and with all Native studies for that matter). Now I honestly want a more concrete reason why we hear so little of Natives in the news. Yes, it may be easier, but is it right? Probably not. Maybe the reason that Native don't want to be apart of the mainstream is because of all of the injustices they just have had enough and want us to just leave them. But what if we can't, what if now that we know we feel like we just can't sit by and ignore them any longer? Then what?

Native Map (which I wouldn't be surprised if it was incorrect). Notice the natural resources depicted by the little images. I really like the tipis and the log homes that are depicted, as well,  and the totems that are going on up in Canada.

Yet we have huge monuments for generals of every war ever, and this great leader gets a hastily thrown together rock formation? I guess I should be happy he got some recogniton right? (sarcasm)

Not really sure how to feel about this one...

Typical Plains Indian depiction of what "real Indians" look like (apparently even today)

Newly Opened Eyes

     Over the weekend, I went shopping with Hallie and Janine at the Lehigh Valley Mall. We were there because Hallie had to do a simulation where she had to pretend to be a physically disabled person for her special ed class. While we were shopping I had started to notice that there were a lot of items of clothing that seemed to have a Native influence. Some of the most common foot wear for the winter are moccasins. Also many of the boots have a Pocahontas like vibe because they have fringe or turquoise beads on them. This get me thinking about our recent conversations in class about what a Native American "looks" like. Also many of the shirts I saw had feathers in them that we're vaguely Indian in nature. What does a Native person really look like? Do they wear moccasins and feathers? Why is out fashion so influenced by Indians considering there is no real Indian "look". That would be saying that a person had a European look, it really means nothing and is very confusing. Why are non native people so enthralled with the look of Indians? Even when I was little one of my favorite movies was Pocahontas, she was this noble, mysterious, exotic looking strong woman who seemingly was intelligent enough to have everything she wanted. She also "looked" Indian with her black hair, dark eyes, and her tan skin, which is what the typical stereotyped Indian looks like. No one ever thinks about how she seemingly learned English so quickly, or whether any of the situations or places were actually plausible. The real Pocahontas really didn't have all that great of a life. She was actually kidnapped and she was converted to being a Christian after much hardship. She, when given the chance actually did not return to her family or her home, and married a tobacco plantation owner. She was apparently somewhat of a celebrity and was even taken to England so that they could see what a "civilized" Indian looked like.
     Due to the fact that Hallie, Janine, and I were all getting stairs from various people while we were doing the simulation at the mall, this made me think about what it must feel like to be a Native person and go out in public and be stared at because you look different. It is no wonder why many Natives go through and identity crisis, or why some Natives just try to assimilate into the mainstream culture. For God's sake, Hallie was getting odd looks just because she was riding around in a wheelchair, how must Natives of the past felt when they were paraded in front of the settlers and they were mocked and ridiculed, I am sure. I felt judged, and I was only pushing Hallie in the wheelchair.
     Another point that I wanted to talk about is that it took until now, but I was finally offended by the book we are reading. In "Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong," By Paul Chaat Smith, there is a part where he basically goes on a rant that says something to the effect of: everyone who is interested in Indians is usually unintelligent, and the people that want to know more about Indians and/or talk to them is even more unintelligent. He then goes on to say that the smart people are the people that stay away from Indians, they go about their business by finding out at an early age that it is a dangerous place to be and a ticking time bomb. It's not that I disagree with the second part, about the people finding out early how it is easier, because trust me, I agree. There is a reason that the saying "ignorance is bliss" is so popular, because it is very true. Before this class, I really thought that I knew a good amount of information about Natives, and I called it a day. Now that I know better things are much harder. The part that I have a problem with is the part about being unintelligent if you try to learn more about Natives. While I understand what he is getting at, that it is such a touchy subject, one that has literally been going on since 1492 and before, it still makes me mad that he says it in this way. It's not even that I disagree, I think that he is right in what he says, I just wish that sometimes the truth was sometimes easier to hear.
     I titled this particular blog post Newly Opened Eyes because I feel like I really am experiencing more diversity this semester, largely through this class. I am finally weeing things that before I didn't know, or didn't want to know. 

 (How Natives are "supposed to look")

(When I found this picture it was titled "Navajo Chic". I wish I was kidding.)

   

Reel Injun

     So today in class, we watched a brief segment of the movie Reel Injun. I really felt like I connected with this movie especially now with all of the stereotypes we have been uncovering in class. It showed clips of modern day Indians, which I really liked. Then it also showed Natives from the past, and how they were portreyed and what they really looked like. I also really liked that the people in the movie explained that Crazy Horse was missnamed/not translated, as well as there are no real pictures of Crazy Horse. The ones that we see are most definitley a fake.

     I think that the excerpt of the book we had today really again spoke to breaking down stereotypes. It is true that even as Americans, all we learn about natives are the Plains Indians who were the exception, not the rule. I truly am horrified at how little I actually know about real Natives and especially Natives post 18th century. I mentioned in class that I felt really dumb. I don't think that I clarified why I feel this way. It's not as though I feel unintelligent, it's that I feel cheated out of knowledge. I knowingly participated in the systematic ignorance of modern day Native Americans. I feel like I should issue them an apology, hopefully it would be more heartfelt than the one the government issued. This class has literally shaken my very roots in my education. If all that I have been taught about Natives is a lie then what else has been a lie.

I also have the problem of blaming myself when I read this literature. I literally ask myself things like "why did we do this?" I feel like the reason that I think this is that at times I feel so un-American. I feel this way because I am a huge critic of not only our government but our culture as a whole. I literally need to stop assimilating myself with these settlers from long ago and stop feeling bad that I don't know a lot about Natives, because I am not only not alone in this, I am striving to become better and learn about modern day Natives. Hopefully that is enough and I can convince myself not to feel bad anymore.  I also am guilty of using the whole "we" versus "them" mentality. We of course are white people and Them are the Indians, which is totally messed up, of course. I'm not quite sure exactly why it is that it seems that even though I am obviously horrified at the atrocities that the settlers committed, why do I still count myself among their ranks? In class the other day, I said something to this effect, and I realized that if I was really going to assimilate with anyone during this time, it should be the Irish. My entire ancestry was not even thinking about coming over to the United States until the 19th century. I think the whole reason that we as a culture so over-identify ourselves by our "Americaness", is simply because it is ingrained in us since we were very young children. It is considered unpatriotic to be anything but extatic about being American, and relating to other Americans, apparently even past ones that were in fact, committing genocide. Wonderful, can't say how happy that makes me feel.

Stereotypes uncovered

I think that this is the first class that I have ever had that is both formal and informal at the same time. It is quite informal in nature, in the aspect that we all sit around in a circle, however very formal in the topics that we discuss. I really like that this class is all about Native Americans because I had never had a class that touched upon not only the historical significance of Natives but how other Americans assume there are no Natives left or if they are they are smoking a pipe on a reservation and saying "how". This is the first class that I have had that challenges everything that I thought I knew about Native Americans. We are all taught as children about thanksgiving and how the settlers and Natives were friends, the teachers never tell you the darker aspect of the story, that not only did the settlers strip them if their land, steal their women and children, and banish them to lands that the Indians had no experience with, they then proceeded to give them smallpox blankets, kill the buffalo that many tribes revered, and overall just decimate their culture and populations. So that is why I called this blog stereotypes uncovered because I feel that that is exactly what we are doing in this course, uncovering. Not only uncovering things about Natives, but things about our own ethnicities, ourselves as people, and uncovering the untruths and things we thought we knew. Personally I do not consider myself an ignorant person. I pay attention to world news, and am a registered voter. That being said, until this class I really was ignorant about the lives of native Americans post 18th century.