What it means – Being “Indian” in North America Mr. Wilson’s English Class.

What it means – Being “Indian” in North America

Mr. Wilson’s English Class

What is a Stereotype? A stereotype is

anytime you GENERALIZE about an entire group of people, based on limited information.

Examples?

First: Let us look at our own point-of View…1. Make a quick list of all the “things” you

automatically associate with Indians.

2. Next, make a similar list (right next to it) of all of the qualities we tend ignore.

3. Then, try to think of all of the stereotypes you can relating to Native Indians.

4. Look at what you have, and tell me what you notice?

“For a subject worked and reworked so often in novels, motion pictures, and television, American Indians are...the least understood and the most misunderstood Americans of us all.”

John F. Kennedy, 1963

How We Tend to “See” Native Indians…   1) Lazy — not motivated to work

  2) Savage or wild  3) Get drunk quickly or drink a lot  4) Lack sense of humor  5) Soft spoken or quiet  6) Have no money sense  7) Make little effort to get an education  8) Close to nature all the time  9) Adhere to "Indian time"10) Most of the work they can do is associated with handicrafts11) Want their land back12) Wallow or live in the past13) Always asking for handouts14) Feel world owes them a living15) Ostracize themselves by failing to blend into society16) Lack of unity and tribal factionalism17) Worship pagans

How They “See” us…

  1) Not trustworthy or back-stabbing  2) Speak with forked tongue  3) Materialistic and money hungry  4) Greedy — don't share with fellow man  5) Competition or power hungry  6) Evasive  7) Business oriented/selfish, self-centered  8) Narrow minded and prejudiced  9) Live by time clock10) No respect for fellow man11) Manipulate nature/have no respect for nature12) Want others, especially minorities, to conform to their ideals13) Fail to show equality in court14) Hypocrisy in Christianity

Archaeology

It is theorized that the Canadian First Nations people were following large game hunting when they crossed the land bridge between Asia and North America, during the last great Ice Age. (50 000 – 17 000 years ago!)

From there, they continued to migrate South, until the had populated all of North and South America.

First Contact

After the arrival of the Europeans, the population of North American Indians began to decline. Why?

Land Disease Treaties

To make a long story short, when cultures compete, people in general – lose.

Integration and Assimilation The Europeans had the tendency to want the

Natives to integrate and conform towards “Canadian Society.”

Seeing themselves as the “Dominant” culture, they took it too far when they started the Residential School System

During this time, Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families and separated from their culture.

Some Websites you should check out: http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stertype.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Aboriginal_peoples_in_Canada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system