The
Early Days
What
a simple life 5 year olds have. We would go to school with our ready-made,
customized lunch box and our hair braided neatly on both sides.
The teachings bestowed upon us at such an early age laid the foundation
of early values and practices for the rest of our life. Click
here to learn about racism teachings in schools.
I can recall many Thanksgiving parties we would have in our class.
There would be a huge array of assorted delicious and nutritious
school food, and family would all come and visit us in our small
quarters of our school. Our teachers would always split us up into
halves- one group dressed up as Indians and the other as Pilgrims.
For some reason, I was repeatedly chosen as an Indian. Not just
any Indian, one with a limp feather in my hair and a brown paper
bag cut to look like fringe.
What
I realize now - and didn't then - was that the visual representations
of Indians that I had learned in elementary school started a trend
of ambiguous views. Although, all of these recreations and celebrations
were unintentionally teaching mixed views. The impact that a festive
dress-up party had on me was immense.
Studies
have been conducted by Kisher Patel to analyze the establishment
of "race" education in all-white schools. There is an
overwhelming belief throughout the school system (consisting of
both students and teachers) that antiracist education is irrelevant
to all-white schools. For this reason, it was evident that an "investigation
and study into the problems and issues of implementing Education
Support Grant projects was required" (Patel 1).
I
was one of 200 students attending Western Hills Elementary School,
and I wouldn't say that the belief that the notion that antiracist
education is irrelevant to all white children in schools was exactly
the same motto manifested around me. Sure, I was in a school dominated
by a majority of white students and sure, they made us dress in
our best "homemade" costumes for the holidays.
I was
able to recognize any Indian symbols, such as a tomahawk or an arrow,
but I could not tell you anything about their hardships, or the
negligence they had to endure. The construction of my childhood
foundation in elementary teachings was the first step towards a
20-year path that would lead me to where I am presently. I learned
about Indians, not the Indian's soul.
Growing
up in El Paso
Over
my years growing up in a city such as El Paso, TX, I have been filled
with images and cultivated memories of the Indian figure. Each year
it became a tradition, both with my family and with my friends,
to venture out west to New Mexico and try our wits with Ski Apache
Resort. I would come across actual
Apache Indians hired to work on their own land, which happened to
be a large mountain that attracts hundreds of people each year.
I would see these people as diligent, yet a bit domineering. I saw
the Indians as those who had endured suffering and hardships throughout
their history, but I was still hesitant to dig deeper and learn
more about this culture. Or was it just an illusion? Were these
people as dedicated and hard working as they had appeared? In this
stage of my life, I was stil a bit unsure and filled with ambiguity
when it came to the Native American.
My
preconceived views remained unchanged even when I attended highschool
that happened to be 40% white and 60% Mexican-American. We were
in a sense the minority. The school was filled with racial diversity
and a plentitude of different beliefs. Still, Indians did not surround
me at all. Our mascot was the "Thunderbird". (No, not
after the hit 80's movie "Grease".) It was named after
a region of reddish rock that lay upon our mountain. The rock formed
a shape of a majestic bird flapping its wings across the span of
the cliffs of a mountain. As assumed, the "ancient" Tigua
Indians that were inhabitants of my city at one time gave this name.
Our beloved mascot and annual ski trips became the only two representations
of Native Americans that I ever knew growing up. About a century
ago, they were shoved aside, nuisances in our city. They had all
been moved to their Tigua Indian tribe east of the city, and all
that remained Indian in the town of Ruidoso, NM was the mountains
of Ski Apache Resort. I wasn't sure how to feel about this. I knew
our city of El Paso was special because it seemed to be it's own
melting pot of cultures and religious beliefs. I guess I was a bit
more naive to think everybody could find their niche, and El Paso
offered the comunity everything desired. elpaso.html.
Ahh,
those crazy college days.....
When
the time came for me to search fo my college, the lines became more
visible. That is, I had to start making choices as to where I would
fit in, what groups I would interact with. Before, I never had a
choice. It was my school district where I was placed into a world
unlike any other. Where children grew up, and learned in an enviornment
filled with different parents, different images, incomes, and most
of all different colors. I loved it. I really do feel like that
gave me a very important perspective into what various races lived
like. At the University of Texas, none of these acknowledgments
or "epiphanies" hit me until I realized my perceptions
of Native Americans changed once I was in this class. 
I
always saw the Native American as a culture of strength, and ability
to withstand so much. Little did I know that there was a dwindling
fire inside of them that could be extinguished at any time.
racism.html Bulmer (1999) quotes Black Elk as "Yet his
words of despair came at what, inretrospect, appears to have been
a critical time, the start of a decade that would see some crucial
developments in an extended Native American renaissance." (p
145) The years that Native Americans would be facing ahead of them
would be decades of perseverence to be equal and gain the same rights
that so many had already obtained. I personally have gone through
a cycle of transformation where the Native American has shaped into
a new form of existence in my life. I recognize their needs more.
From my rhetorical analysis on Black Elk (blackelkspeaks.html)
to a study of how the American Boy Scout still uses Indian lore
and practices even to this day. Native Americans have bcome so fascinating
to me. I know that they are in fact dealing with the same tragic
issues that are clear in every minority race, but I feel that their
hard work to make their problems and struggles known will benefit
them, and already is. This class has definitely proved to be valuable
to me, because it has opened up my eyes to so many injustices in
the world and how important it is for people to treat each other
right.
What
I did not realize on August 29th was that the Native American image
would both be softened and sharpened at the same time. It all began
with our class discussions of authors such as Deloria, Owens and
other mixed writers who expressed their unfamiliar and intimidating
work to us. We remained hesitant and unwilling to grab hold of our
inner ingenuity and express it through writing. I first chose to
write my rhetorical analysis on John Niehardt and Black Elk. I knew
the writer would be a tough case to tackle, but I wasn't sure whether
it was for the initial response to the new written assignment, or
having to start uncovering the struggles of a Native American. blackelkspeaks.html
As the semester has pushed on; we have covered and studied many
influential writers, short stories, and movies engulfed with tales
of wrongdoing and misfortune, sometimes even luck for the Indians.
The
different types of forums that take place, and the variety of books
being read has given me a much more broad context into what the
word Indian actually stands for and believes. Its not just the fighting,
and barbaric nature that is presented, its the strength and agility
that so many can respect. I am one of those people now that can
appreciate a tepee on the side of the road, or be interested in
an advertisement for butter of beef jerky. I have found a new slither
of light into the world where Indians are a culture that is living
and very intellectual. I now hope and realize that people will need
to start opening up their eyes to not just the white, black, and
asian, but also to one of the oldest surviving cultures America
has seen...the Indian.
updated 2. April 2002
