In A Short History of Indians in Canada, Thomas King explores, for the most part, the ill-treatment of Native Indians in Canada. Two satires by the names of Coyote and the Enemy Aliens and Tidings of Comfort and Joy, focus on the arrogance of the White men and how their actions affected the society of Native Indians. Specifically, this essay discusses how their actions contributed to the dehumanization of Native Indians. This concept of Dehumanization is explored through the hypocrisy on what is legal and illegal according to the White men, the Native Indians enslaved and treated like wild animals and reduced to being mere possessions of their White ‘masters’.
Firstly, in both these short stories there is a hypocritical view on what is
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Through this quote it is clear that this ‘paper’ is a legal document that entitles the Coyote to all the properties of the Japanese-Canadians. “Is the job more important than being fair? I says” (p 56). King once again emphasizes that even though this document is legal and written in the book of law, it isn’t morally correct as it strips the Japanese-Canadians of their basic human rights. The narrator then goes on to question whether or not the White men are doing the right thing regardless of what the law states. In Tidings of Comfort and Joy, Hudson who represents the White man has an obsession of gathering Indians as collectibles, a form of enslavement which is legally allowed however once again is not morally correct. The text states, “And while most everyone had since moved to newer enthusiasms such as exotic pets, rain-forest acreages and internet stocks, Hudson stayed the course and had, over the years, put together one of the more impressive collections of Indians east of Saskatoon” (p 6-7). This quote ridiculously defends Hudson’s obsession of collecting Indians who are humans as being morally correct, compared to other not so strange obsessions making it seem like a rational thing to do. Through this quote, King emphasizes that the sole purpose of objectification of Native Indians in this short story is to be collectible items that can be stored and used as possessions. “It had been fun playing with the Indians, placing them around
Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian tells the story of Indigenous people in Canada and the United States, it challenges the narrative on how Indigenous history is taught and explains why Indigenous people continue to feel frustrated. King’s seeks to educate the reader as he provides a detailed accounts of the horrific massacres Indigenous people endured, yet he simultaneously inserts humorous moments which balances out the depressing content and enhances his story. The books highlights the neglect and assimilation that Indigenous were subjected to and how their survival was seen as an inconvenience to western culture. King directs his message at a Euro-centric audience to offer an accurate explanation of Indigenous culture and
Often perceived as a group of tyrannical oppressors, the white people have firmly established their gruesome and discriminatory image through the bloody history of its dictatorship over racial minorities. Although it is true to some extent that White people were biased and unjust to other races, it is obvious that the intransigent mindset of the native Indian people have also contributed to the intense enmity between the two races. Harold Cardinal, once president of the Indian Association of Alberta, had inaccurately accused Caucasian Canadians in “The Mystery of the White Man”. He had described White men as a group of bigoted, corrupted rapists and portrayed the Indians as some guiltless victims of the depraved White society mistreated
From its birth, America was a place of inequality and privilege. Since Columbus 's arrival and up until present day, Native American tribes have been victim of white men 's persecution and tyranny. This was first expressed in the 1800’s, when Native Americans were driven off their land and forced to embark on the Trail of Tears, and again during the Western American- Indian War where white Americans massacred millions of Native Americans in hatred. Today, much of the Indian Territory that was once a refuge for Native Americans has since been taken over by white men, and the major tribes that once called these reservations home are all but gone. These events show the discrimination and oppression the Native Americans faced. They were, and continue to be, pushed onto reservations,
Early European colonists that came to North America found a sparsely inhabited coastline which gave them opportunities to settle and succeed where others had previously failed. Since many of the pilgrims were in search of religious freedom they saw a land their god had prepared for them by wiping out the natives through pestilence and disease. The fact is that the plague of disease that wiped out more than 90% of the original inhabitants of the northern east coast was brought by European fisherman around 1617, who were fond of the cod in the Massachusetts Bay area. These fishermen would come ashore for firewood, freshwater and to kidnap the occasional native to sell into slavery, and unknowingly leave behind
These stereotypical binaries of the childlike and savage Indian are directly linked to the narratives of white settler society and colonization. Essentially, by classifying all First Nation cultures under a monolith of a few stereotypes the white setter society claimed dominance over the First Nation peoples as they created the lens through which the First Nation’s history and identity would be read. The influence of the press and government policies lead to the acceptance of these stereotypes as defining truths about First Nations people which aided the settler societies in solving the Indian problem by destroying what it meant to be Indian. In this way, the stereotypes not only developed the idea of assimilation to save the Indian, but they
Ever since the late 1400’s when the European discovered North America they brought along with them a practice of domination leaving the first nation people with very little rights forcing them to stand defenceless. Ever since the settlers arrived, the lives of the First Nation people have forever been damaged with the implementation of new ways of living. These changes have created an image
The word jury comes from the French word juror which means to swear an oath. A jury is a group of citizens chosen to hear evidence and make a decision in court. We have the jury because the United States constitution states that every citizen has the right to jury a case of criminal and civil matters. The word jury comes from the French word juror which means to swear an oath. A jury is a group of citizens chosen to hear evidence and make a decision in court. We have the jury because the United States constitution states that every citizen has the right to jury a case of criminal and civil matters. To be on a jury, you had to be a citizen. You had to be over 30 years of age and had to swear that you would be fair to both sides. You did get
In the seventeenth century, European people begin to settle in the North America. They started to invest in the natural resources in the eastern America using the best resource they found in the land, captured Native Indians. Many poor European people migrated to North America for opportunity to earn money and rise of their social status. They came to the America as indentured or contracted servants because the passage aboard was too expensive for them. By the time many Native Indians and indentured servants die from the hard labor and low morality rate, masters of the plantation purchased more slaves from Africa to profit themselves. The “Virginia Servant and Slave Laws” reveal the dominant efforts of masters to profit from their servants and slaves by passing laws to treat slaves as their properties and to control servants and slaves by suppressing the rebellion using brutal force. Masters and rich planters sought to earn more profit from mercantilism, or trade, economic system by violating the civil rights of Native Indian, African, and poor European people and this thought and practice still exist today as a form of racism and segregation in America.
During the end of the nineteenth century, the United States had formed policies which reduced land allotted to Native Americans. By enforcing these laws as well as Anglo-American ideals, the United States compromised indigenous people’s culture and ability to thrive in its society.
The migration of European settlers and culture to North America is an often examined area. One aspect of this, however, is worthy of deeper analysis. The conquest of North America by Europeans and American settlers from the 16th to 19th centuries had a profound effect on the indigenous political landscape by defining a new relationship dynamic between natives and settlers, by upsetting existing native political, economic and military structures, and by establishing a paradigm where the indigenous peoples felt they had to resist the European and American incursions. The engaging and brilliant works of Andres Rensendez and Steve Inskeep, entitled respectively “A Land So Strange” and “Jacksonland”, provide excellent insights and aide to this analysis.
The book “Lakota Woman,” is an autobiography that depicts Mary Crow Dog and Indians’ Lives. Because I only had a limited knowledge on Indians, the book was full of surprising incidents. Moreover, she starts out her story by describing how her Indian friends died in miserable and unjustifiable ways. After reading first few pages, I was able to tell that Indians were mistreated in the same manners as African-Americans by whites. The only facts that make it look worse are, Indians got their land stolen and prejudice and inequality for them still exists.
Long ago on the great plains, the buffalo roamed and the Native Americans lived amongst each other. They were able to move freely across the lands until the white men came and concentrated them into certain areas. Today there are more than five-hundred different tribes with different beliefs and history. Native Americans still face problems about the horrific history they went through and today 's discrimination. The removal of American Indian tribes is one of the most tragic events in American history. There are many treaties that have been signed by American representatives and people of Indian tribes that guaranteed peace and the values of the Indian territories. The treaties were to assure that fur trade would continue without interruption. The American people wanting Indian land has led to violent conflict between the two. Succeeding treaties usually forced the tribes to give up their land to the United States government. There were laws made for Native American Displacement that didn’t benefit the Native Americans, these laws still have long lasting effects on them today, and there was a huge number of Native Americans killed for many reasons.
Historical trauma, as Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart expressed, is being carried on the genes of Native people without being notice, is something heavy that cause pain and unconformity that it is slowly killing them. As the article refer that historical trauma is “the cumulative emotional and psychological wounding, over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences.” Meaning that the things that happen in the past are still hurting people now, and it needs a great attention and cultural focus. It is really important to show a true respect to Native American culture, so it will be able to accurately help Native Americans from the roots of the problem. A lot of people will argue that what happen to the Native American community happened long time ago, but according to this article, Healing the American Indian Soul Wound, actually is something that kept on happening not so long ago, for example, “it was only in 1994 that native peoples were allowed to practice some forms of religion without fear of reprisal by state and federal government policies” (p. 345). It is surprising that this was still happening in 1994, which is so recent, and it shows a lot of immaturity from the government on the topic of respecting others as human beings. I actually argue with people that cultural genocide over Native Americans is something that I will not doubt is still happening now. I have a strong belief that
The effects of the writer’s impression vary depending on who’s reading it. They leave a tone that takes charge of their emotions, and puts it into a perspective which the readers can understand. Having a different set of imagery for their stories, the writers continue discussing about the same topic. Twain and London’s words become vivid to the readers, and leave a very distinguished imagery of the setting.
The ethical issue to be focused on in this paper is that of global population growth and the negative impact this has on the environment, living standards for those currently living and on future generations. The current world population growth rate is 1.2% per annum (Haub and Gribble 2011: 2). This implies a steadily increasing world population with negative effects on health, food supply, water supply and quality, oceans, forests, biodiversity, climate and standards of living (Hinrichsen and Bryant 2000).