Throughout High School and even Middle School I can remember not learning a single thing over the Indian History or background. The closest thing to hearing or learning about Indians would be from video games and watching old movies. Since I have been reading “Everything You Wanted To Know About Indians But Were Afraid To Ask” it made me feel as if none of this information should be held back from High School education. The chapter that caught my attention the most so far was when they were speaking at the French convention and the Frenchman stood up and asked ” where are the real Indians?” with that statement being made it clearly states that Indian History is not being taught and that they are holding back the horrible way our ancestors treated the Indian’s.
I have took great attention to the way the Indians have their traditions and also how they are different from other tribes. In some tribes and societies they require a religious initiated, others are more focused on a set of values, beliefs and rituals that they live by in their everyday life. Indian religious practices were basically taken away from them by the federal government in 1883, and the government didn’t formally repeal some of them until 1978.
Sean
tkyle June 15, 2018
On top of that, I feel as if the question “Where are the real Indians?” was disrespectful and showed that those Indians did not match up to what the Frenchman expected Indians to be. This helps establish the fact that people are not really taught what real Indians in this day in age are like. The Frenchman were given the stereotypical idea of an Indian just like many other people outside of the Native American culture. This is why it is important for people to learn important facts about different cultures instead of trusting how the general public explains things. Taking courses like ours will help us to gain further knowledge and be able to decipher between different cultures. With this, we will be presented the opportunity to grasp the concepts of their various practices.