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.