Introduction

*note: navigation on the bottom*

I went into my RHE309K class without knowing anything about American Indians. In fact, I did not even know the class had a topic. I got into the class just thinking I wanted to take another writing course because I like writing. Early in the semester I was really close to dropping it because the syllabus looked like a lot of hard work. I am really glad I stayed in though. All the work I put into the class has really taught me a lot about Indians. I have learned that all the images of Indians that I was taught as a child were very stereotypical. This website serves to map out the mental route that I traveled from beginning to end in this class. Hopefully all that I learned in this course will encourage someone out there to want to learn more about Native Americans. Thanks to this class, I am now more aware of stereotypes that did not seem offending before, but now catch my attention when I see them. Before this class, I honestly never thought about the extent of injustices Native Americans have suffered in this country. I originally thought Dances with Wolves was a pretty good movie. However, now I see how the Indians are depicted in a very two dimensional fashion. We have also watched a couple of films that introduced the variety of issues facing Native Americans today. The class has been very educational in covering Native American culture along with problems haunting their society. Now I know that Indians are more than Tiger Lily and the good helpers of the Pilgrims. For me, this class has definitely shed a different kind of light on Native Americans. Indians always seemed somewhat romantic to me. They were the ultimate survivors who hunted on their land and had a happy family. I probably would have had that view forever if I never took this class.