West Michigan Indians Sample Essay

This authorship will compare and contrast research and cognition that I had about Ottawa. Chippewa. and Potawatomi Indians of West Michigan before and after I visited the Anishinabek exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Ottawa. Chippewa. and Potawatomi Indians of West Michigan

“Indian. ” what precisely does that intend. If you ask a random individual on the street they would likely state you a batch of things that can be found in a Hollywood film. Fancy outfits. bows and pointers. horseback siting. battles with cowpunchers. and the list goes on. While some of what the general individual knows about Indians is true we have to recognize that the term “Indian” was made up by the white adult male. This is something that I didn’t truly of all time think about until composing this paper. I was merely like that random individual on the street who merely remembered what I saw on the Television. We truly should be naming “Indians” Native Americans because that is what they are. They are the native people of this land we call “America. ” They were here before the European colonists came here. Before sing the Anishinabek exhibit I studied some books that specifically related to the Indian Tribes at manus. In my readings I learned about some of their history. tradition. and civilization. One book that I read extracting out of was the History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan by Andrew J. Blackbird. This book was written a really long clip ago in 1887. I chose this book because it was written by a Native American and I thought it would give a really good stainless position about the true history of the West Michigan Indian folk.

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In this book there was a batch to be said about Indians being mistreated by white work forces. The writer quotes. “From this clip hence my male parent lost all assurance in white work forces. whatever the place or profession of the white adult male might be. whether a priest. sermonizer. attorney. physician. merchandiser. or common white adult male. He told us to be minding of them. as they all were after one great object. viz. . to hold on the world’s wealth. And in order to obtain this. they would lie. bargain. rob. or slaying. ” ( Blackbird. 1887. p. 29 ) . The Indians of the Western Great Lakes by William Kinietz and Antoine Raudot was the 2nd book that I used in my preliminary research. I found this book to be really enlightening about the West Michigan Indian’s traditions. spiritual beliefs. frock. and personal features. They were really reliant on the land it was their life support. Everything they needed and wanted came from the land. Furs. nutrient. shelter. humanistic disciplines and trades were all made from natural things collected and gathered from the land.

Hunting and fishing was really of import for nutrient intents. Herbs were collected from the land for medical specialty. All of the accomplishments needed to populate off the land were passed down from coevals to coevals and used to last. One thing I found really interesting is this quotation mark. “Punishment of no sort seems to hold been used. the kids turning up in complete autonomy. This status and the ensuing little show of regard for their parents was flooring. ” ( Kinietz & A ; Raudot. 1965. p. 92 ) . The kids were really good behaved and respected their seniors. something we frequently don’t hear about in modern society. A 3rd text I examined. Native North Americans from Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. gave me a good general overview of their faith and folklore. They believe in unobserved powers. sometimes called. “The Great Mystery. ” ( “Native North Americans. ” 2009. p. [ Page. 389 ) . They believe that we must esteem all life and keep balance because all things are mutualist. Medicine work forces and adult females are responsible for secret cognition passed on from coevals to coevals.

“Humor is a necessary portion of the sacred because it keeps us in position and eases our journey through the troubles of life. ” ( “Native North Americans. ” 2009. p. 389 ) . Visiting the Anishinabek exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum was a really good manner to acquire a good thought of the history of the Ottawa. Chippewa. and Potawatomi Indians. The first thing you see is some composing on the wall that says. “Here is the narrative of the Anishinabek – “the people” – in their ain voices. with rare and absorbing objects. exposure and paperss handed down through their households. ” This authorship was fundamentally doing it clear that everything was from the West Michigan Indians themselves including certification and direct quotation marks from direct posterities. The exhibit starts out by painting a image of how the early 1800’s European colonists affected their economic life. They had to utilize their traditional accomplishments to do a life. This included but non limited to basket doing. quill work. and bead work. These plants were sold to Michigan tourers.

Each coevals of kids learned to do a life straight from their seniors. The Anishinabek lived straight off the land. Hunting. fishing. and assemblage was really of import to their endurance. They besides sold pelts from the game they caught and traded fish to white husbandmans for other goods. During harvest season they traveled in groups which promoted facets of community. They renewed old friendly relationships. greeted extended household. and shared narratives. vocals and traditions. They even had ball squads on cantonment and danced on Friday darks. The Anishinabek gave control of their land to the Federal Government but they still wanted to hold the right to angle. Hunt. and gather on the land. They came to an understanding with the Federal to let them the right to go on to make this. However. it wasn’t long earlier people were knocking them for “poaching” cervid and fish. but they kept making it anyways. Michigan challenged the Anishinabek’s right to angle. Hunt and gather until Judge Noel Fox guaranteed that old pacts protected their rights to the land. The following subdivision of the exhibit explains some of the Anishinabek’s spiritual positions.

A quotation mark from the exhibit. “Sky. Sun. stars. Moon. stones. Earth. H2O. workss. trees. have ever been the instructors of the Anishinabek” ( Anishinabek: The Peoples of This Place. Eva Petoskey Peshawbestown. Grand Rapids Public Museum. 6/12/2012 ) . The Natives were really in touch with the land they believed everything was interconnected someway. Even after the European people started populating the land the natural universe still continued to act upon them. In the late 1800’s the Anishinabek were forced into get oning schools by the Federal Government. A quotation mark from Richard Henry Pratt. “kill the Indian. salvage the adult male. ” ( Anishinabek: The Peoples of This Place. Grand Rapids Public Museum. 6/12/2012 ) . He believed the lone manner to assist the Indian population was to wholly incorporate them into dominant white civilization. In these schools they were punished for talking their native linguistic communication or practising traditional imposts. Many of them changed their names because it was hard to acquire a occupation with an Indian name. During the 1900’s the Indians started accommodating to the European civilization rather a spot. This was mostly due to the get oning school influence on the kids.

However. the media formed misconceptions that they were countrified people who lived unchanged from their yesteryear. They were given costumes for parts in films that were non of reliable Indian beginning. Pow Wow’s of the sixtiess blended new and old traditions. Many Natives turned to Protestant Christianity. Dance garb incorporated specific things from their lives. They realized acquiring educated was indispensable to conforming to society. Gatherings were turned into baseball games and Christian cantonment meets. Tribal authoritiess were formed that worked closely with the Federal Government. They were required to take attention of local jurisprudence enforcement. wellness. human services. and instruction. Reasonably much everything except they had no military powers. The Anishinabek people nevertheless. served in the American armed forces. Today there are 6 tribal authoritiess in Michigan. After sing this exhibit can I truly merely believe everything I read and saw? Well I likely shouldn’t. It’s of import to acquire a position from other positions. I found a book called Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families. 1900-1940. This text truly explained reasonably much precisely what the museum exhibit did except in greater item and some personal narratives. It portrayed a really negative image of the boarding school and cultural integrating.

Another book that I found was Boarding School Bluess: Revisiting American Indian Educational Experiences. it truly had a really different position. It examined how some of the Indian people embraced the fact that they were at get oning school and truly got a good instruction that allowed them to turn things about. A good quotation mark from the book that explains this. “Thus the really system that non-Indians had established to kill the Indian in him and salvage the adult male provided Indian pupils with the experience and expertness to turn the power” ( Trafzer. Keller. & A ; Sisquoc. 2006. p. 1 ) . The book explains every state of affairs was different. There are different folks. schools. instructors. and personalities. All of these factors combined consequence in a really complicated societal state of affairs where generalisations can be made. Visiting this exhibit has truly educated me a batch about Michigan Indians and how the Europeans were really Ethnocentric. But some Indians chose to be positive about the state of affairs and used it to their advantage. Before this exhibit I merely knew that the European colonists took their land and gave them rights to run and angle on it. However the world is that even though we did give them rights to the land it was considered expendable. I believe there was a clip when it was a batch harder for the Natives.

But pacts back uping Indian Sovereignty have made things a batch better for them. I have besides learned that the Natives were a multi-dimensional. complex people because there were things that the Europeans failed to larn from them. Some illustrations from the exhibit were the humanistic disciplines and trades that they made. They sold these alone points to tourers who didn’t cognize how to happen or do them. Besides. they were native to the land so they knew about unfamiliar nutrients and medical specialties from the land. This undertaking was an of import thing that I have experienced. It has taught me that there is a batch of bad information. stereotypes. and generalisations out at that place. You need to acquire the facts before you buy into stereotypes. You besides need to prove yourself every one time in a piece to see if anything that isn’t true someway got pounded in at that place. This is of import because it can make societal barriers between people you could potentially organize relationships with socially or in a concern or profession. Stereotyping is a large thing in my occupation. Often we get impermanent people in that are of a different colour or ethnicity. and other workers will automatically organize judgements about their intelligence.

So they end up acquiring the natural terminal of the trade because people don’t think they even deserve a opportunity. I could assist this state of affairs by traveling out of my manner to learn them something new each twenty-four hours and speaking with the other people about being more accepting of people. In my societal life there are frequently people that I don’t attack because I feel like we wouldn’t have anything in common. But the world is that everyone has the ability to be unfastened minded and portion involvements. There are smart people with good gustatory sensations in things from every race. I need to work on this myself. One manner to make this is to do an attempt to get down a conversation with person of another race whenever possible. This will assist me to organize new positions of the people that I have formed false misconceptions about. In decision the most of import thing I have learned from this undertaking is to non let myself to organize misconceptions about people. it merely creates societal barriers. It is of import to be accepting of all people. they might assist you or learn you something truly of import one twenty-four hours.

Mentions

Blackbird. A. J. ( 1887 ) . History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan. Ypsilanti. Myocardial infarction: The Ypsilantian occupation printing house. Cleland. C. E. ( 1992 ) . Rites of conquering: the history and civilization of Michigan’s Native Americans. Ann Arbor. MI: University of Michigan Press. Kinietz. W. V. . & A ; Raudot. A. D. ( 1965 ) . The Indians of the Western Great Lakes. Ann Arbor. MI: University of Michigan Press. Native North Americans. ( 2009 ) . In T. L. Gall & A ; J. Hobby ( Eds. ) . Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life ( 2nd erectile dysfunction. . Vol. 2. pp. 384-396 ) . Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //go. galegroup. com. placeholder. Davenport. edu/?ps/?i. make? id=GALE % 7CCX1839300198 & A ; v=2. 1 & A ; u=lom_davenportc & A ; it=r & A ; p=GVRL & A ; sw=w Trafzer. C. E. . Keller. J. A. . & A ; Sisquoc. L. ( 2006 ) . Boarding School Bluess: Revisiting American Indian Educational Experiences. U of Nebraska Press. Child. B. J. ( 1999 ) . Boarding school seasons: American Indian households. 1900-1940. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

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