https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VCXiQGevZQOSVEFUG8Gt7qhZJf4RJDnn/view
From my research, I learned that Native American issues are deliberately pushed down by our government. Additionally, the reason for concealing these issues are to uphold the narrative that America was built from nothing, rather than the genocide and stolen resources of Native Americans. These ideas impacted me because it made me see the loopholes that make this clear discrimination and genocide legal. I hope people will learn the deeper reason for the struggles that Natvie Americans face and have faced throughout history. It’s easy to judge someone based on their economic standing and blame it on not working hard enough or something along those lines. However, I hope that through this presentation, people will see that our current society thrives because of their struggles that still have consequences today. It’s clear once you see the amount of effort the government puts in to diminish their voices.
The people should be able to stand in soliditary with Native Americans no matter what, but this cannot happen unless the general public is educated beyond what is taught to us in school. The past still affects people today, and systems are made to not let certain people thrive. It’s gone as far as to causing a lack of ethnographic information in Euro-American records due to white historians not recording parts of history. The flawed representations of Native people and events in local town histories, and the failure to recognize the lineal descendants affect people’s lives and access to resources that were stolen from them.
I think I learned a lot about myself during my time at NNHS. Most importantly, I learned that being confident in myself is a benefit not only to me, but to my community. Also I realize that I have a lot of things in my control, but if something is out of my control then I shouldn’t let it bother me. That’s probably similar to advice I’d give future seniors- there are a lot of meaningful events that happen this year (although they’re not the most important of course). Some things might not go exactly your way, especially if they are not in your contorl, but I believe that everything happens for a reason. Take every failure as an experience, not as a setback.
Hey Ayesha, I think that your video was incredibly informational. I learned a lot about the boarding schools, and it was so saddening and horrible to learn about. I learned more about stereotypes, too. One thing it reminded me of is the fact that many schools today use a Native American person as their school ‘mascot’ which dehumanizes them. I agree with your call to action that encourages people to use their vote wisely!
Hi Ayesha! I think your topic is so important to address, as many Native Americans today face the consequences of generational trauma, and don’t even get recognition for the influences their fights have had on our lives today. Your video opened my eyes to many of the specific ways in which the government has deliberately tried to silence their voices, such as the boarding schools, and the ways in which certain stereotypes and generalizations have been created. Overall, great video!
Hi Ayesha 🙂
I also chose Love Medicine as my choice novel for this project! It was fun to compare the different approaches we took; I didn’t use the novel at all in my video essay, where you obviously did. I think that the cultural aspect to your question is super important. A community’s culture is what ultimately brings them together, and when some of that is lost, the unity to that community is lost as well. I thought your first point where you talked about Natives in the American school systems was really jarring. The comparison picture of the Native person in traditional clothing, transformed into clothing and a hairstyle that is Euro-centric was awful to see. Overall great job on this project, I love the depth!
I would also say that this year, I’ve had some serious growth in both my confidence and mentality. Your point about things being out of your control is something I live by; I also agree that everything happens for a reason. It’s how you choose to react or behave when something happens is ultimately what affects how you live in the long term. I was a very pessimistic person at the beginning of the year, but have learned that everything relies on perception. How you perceive a situation, whether it to be good or bad or in-between is what’s most important.
Hello Ayesha,
Thank you for this helpful, informational video on the issues Native Americans face. I did not really know much about the long term effects of oppression on the Natives since it is such an ignored problem. It does suck that the actions taken against Native Americans were mostly erased when recording history. You made an excellent point about knowing before judging as many people probably do not know that the past is what led to the current situation for Native Americans.
Ayesha,
I’m so glad you did your research on Native American culture. I’ve always been upset that we never read any books on Native Americans in school or that we didn’t get an elaborate unit in history on their history and culture. The way our government and country continually chooses to ignore the problems Native Americans face is truly horrible. I like how you started out your video with the aspects that have affected why Native American culture is so deeply unknown and how we as a country can help to resolve that issue.
Ayesha,
I know that we all were, or were supposed to, read There There, but I think your video did a great job of emphasizing past just what is shown in that book. The point that poverty isn’t the fault of those who are impoverished and that simply “working more” wouldn’t solve anything is also something really important. I thought that I would be covering that in my essay as well, but it turned out that I wasn’t able to fit that in because of the time, so it’s nice to see someone else doing it. Finally, I do agree that there are meaningful events everywhere senior year, so things shouldn’t be wasted, and people should always seek to learn from their experiences.
-Derek
HI Ayesha!
I think your video was super informative. I really liked how you brought in specific examples of race/stereotype-casting for Native Americans in past American media. It’s clear that many Americans (even those who mean well) see Natives as tokens of things such as savagery, colonization, the past, and exoticism, when in reality, they are an extremely misunderstood cultural group that still very much exist today. Thanks for your video!
Ayesha, I am yet again amazed by the attention to detail that was showcased in your project. While I knew the government had been discriminating against Native Americans in the past, I had assumed that it was better today. I’m glad I was able to learn about the ways that Native’s are still being persecuted in this country today, and how learning about their culture will help me be a better ally to them. Additionally, I completly agree that it is so much more fun to live life if you are confident, plus seeing the true nature of people makes life a lot more interesting, everyone should be more confident.
Hi Ayesha! With There There being my only real exposure to the Native American voice in literature during the entirety of the twelve years I’ve spent in public education, I think this fact certainly supports your point that Native American history has been largely suppressed by the federal government. As we’ve learned as a general theme throughout the course of the Voices Project, the absence or misconstruing of marginalized groups within media can have major ramifications, completely skewing the way in which those demographics are treated in society. I’m hopeful that with heightened demand for proper representation, we’ll find more popularity for books like Love Medicine and There There, but this does not make the long-standing effects of the trauma inflicted on the Native American community any more justifiable.