Wilma Mankiller

Watching Wilma Mankiller was very interesting and eye opening. It touched on many things that we learned in this course. Before watching the video, her name -- Mankiller-- already spoke volumes. Although she is not known to many, including myself (before this video of course), Mankiller has done so much for American society. She is an example how Native Americans contribute to the United States but are often not known.

What fascinates me the most about this woman is that she was the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. This information was dear to me because of the Cherokee blood that I have. As a leader, she did all that she can to improve the lives of Cherokee. She impacted areas that included health sysytems as well as education. Not only did she find ways to improve the imperfections within her Nation, she also stood for women and Native American rights around the U.S. In the video, Mankiller also touches on the relationship between the Native Americans and the United States government and how the government broke many treaties that were in place and other issues that greatly affect the Native American community. She goes on to discuss the beliefs that Americans have about the Native Americans and the stereotypes portrayed due to the media. Mankiller didn’t understand why many Americans knew so little about Native American culture and history and go based on those stereotypes. Mankiller continues by discussing the similarities and differences between tribes, tribal governments, and the importance of passing down history to the next generation. 

I enjoyed watching and learning from Wilma Mankiller. She was very inspiring and played a major role in the Cherokee Nation. To me, it’s no surprised that many Americans know very little about Native American culture. If it wasn’t for this course, my views would still be where they once were regarding the First Peoples. Therefore, I am happy that I took this course because I am now more conscious of Native American history, culture, and their heritage.

Module 3 Resource

The the resource I chose to examine was Bureau of IndianAffairs- Native American and Law Frequent Questions. I thought this would be interesting to view being that perhaps there are some questions that I have that will be answered in this resource. What I really liked about this resource is that it lists various questions that people may generally have and gives in-depth answers to them. The questions are geared towards the government side of tribal affairs which also caught my interest because I am still a little confused about the relationship between the U.S. government and the Native Tribes that are still in existence today. 

One of the questions that caught my attention was about federally recognized tribes:

“What is a federally recognized tribe?

A federally recognized tribe is an American Indian or Alaska Native tribal entity that is recognized as having a government-to-government relationship with the United States, with the responsibilities, powers, limitations, and obligations attached to that designation, and is eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Furthermore, federally recognized tribes are recognized as possessing certain inherent rights of self-government (i.e., tribal sovereignty) and are entitled to receive certain federal benefits, services, and protections because of their special relationship with the United States.  At present, there are 566 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages.”

What I was curious about (and if anyone knows, feel free to answer) is, are there tribes here that are not federally recognized? How does that affect them? I think it’s interesting that people that were here way before us have to recognized by a government that was created by others, not them.

Another question-answer that stood out to me was:

“Must all American Indians and Alaska Natives live on reservations?

No.  American Indians and Alaska Natives live and work anywhere in the United States (and the world) just as other citizens do.  Many leave their reservations, communities or villages for the same reasons as do other Americans who move to urban centers:  to seek education and employment.  Over one-half of the total U.S. American Indian and Alaska Native population now live away from their tribal lands.  However, most return home to visit relatives; attend family gatherings and celebrations; participate in religious, cultural, or community activities; work for their tribal governments; operate businesses; vote in tribal elections or run for tribal office; retire; or to be buried.”

I thought this was also interesting being that we’ve learned that the Native Americans were once forced on to the reservations and today, it is not necessary for them to live on the reservation. What bothers me is the fact they were place onto a reservation in the first place. Although there are laws now that protect them and such, once upon a time they were forced to be there. 

Overall, this resource provided great insight in regards to the relationship between the Native American tribes and the United States government.

Module 02 Resource

The resource I chose was The Museum of the Native American-Resource Center at the University of North Carolina: Pembroke. Being that I currently live in North Carolina, I thought this particular resource would be interesting to examine. In this resource, it gives you in depth look into the lives of the Native Americans through art, exhibits, history, literature and more. What I thought was so fascinating about this particular resource is that the museum is located in a Native American town in North Carolina. The Lumbee tribe currently resides in Pembroke, NC and in nearby towns. I also learned about the Lumbee Act of 1956, which states:  “Originally inhabiting the coastal regions of North Carolina, shall, from and after the ratification of this Act, be known and designated as Lumbee Indians of North Carolina and shall continue to enjoy all rights, privileges, and immunities enjoyed by them as citizens of the State of North Carolina and of the United States as they enjoyed before the enactment of this Act, and shall continue to be subject to all the obligations and duties of such citizens under the laws of the State of North Carolina and the United States. Nothing in this Act shall make such Indians eligible for any services performed by the United States for Indians because of their status as Indians, and none of the statutes of the United States which affect Indians because of their status as Indians shall be applicable to the Lumbee Indians.”  The museum was created to depict the life and times of the Native Americans through various avenues, with emphasis on the tribes in the county. I also think the museum was created to honor and celebrate Native Americans being that the University itself is located in a Native American town. I also enjoyed viewing the pictures within the history section of the resource. The pictures show various images of Native Americans during different times of history. 

Here are some images that caught my interest:

Native American Family, 1910

Indian State Normal School Faculty, 1923

Redman's Lodge, 1920's

Note: Sorry for the late post. It was originally supposed to be published on Monday but blogger was having technical difficulty & saved it as a draft instead. All the while, I thought it was posted and didn't realize until today. My apologies!

The Discovery Corps and the Native Americans

The web resource I was most interested in was Lewis and Clark’s interaction with the Native Americans. In short, the resource details the journey of the expedition of Discovery Corps and their first encounter with Native Americans. Before encountering them face to face, they had their own idea of what “Indians” were. Once their interaction occurred, it was a completely different from their original thoughts. They learned that there were over 50 tribes and each tribe had their own culture and customs. For every first encounter with various tribes along the expedition, Lewis and Clark along with the Discovery Corps had a ritual for them. The resource then went on to describe the interactions between Lewis and Clark and the different tribes. What surprised me the most is learning about the rituals they would do for the Native Americans upon meeting them. In these rituals, the captain leaders would explain to them that their land now belongs to the United States and that President Jefferson was their new great father. They would also give them a peace medal with Jefferson’s face on one side and two hands clasping on the other along with other goods. I personally thought that this was disrespectful and distasteful. I like to think of rituals as something that go along with good things. But in this instance, it was more like a distraction. It was like a saying “Hey we’re taking your land and there’s nothing you can do about it but here’s to show our appreciation.” 

Another encounter that I learned about and found interesting was their encounter with Arkaras Indians. Despite how I feel about their rituals, I was shocked to learn that they stayed with the tribe for five days. To me, this makes it seem as if they were interested in getting to know the tribe and their way of life. The relationship between the Corps and Arkaras were generally warm and the tribe became interested in their guests when the topic of trade came about. A few other tribes were open to the Americans as well such as Yankton Siuox tribe and the Shoshone Indians. I also enjoyed reading about the encounter with the Blackfeet Indians. This encounter went a little differently than the Arkaras because the Blackfeet tribe had reservations about the Corps. They than began to feel that the American plans proposed a threat to the tribe and felt that giving them armed weapons would only weaken the power. In attempts to steal the guns from the Americans as they slept, this led to one of the first bloodshed wars between the Americans and the Indians. The common themes that I found among each of these stories were trade negotiations and the Native Americans obtaining weapons.

Hello!

Hi everyone,

My name is Amanda Harden and I look forward to working with all of you this semester. I am currently a History major and can't wait to get started in this course. I've wanted to learn more about Native Americans/Indigeneous people, so I'm really glad Empire offered a course such as this.

Best of luck this semester!

Amanda H.