Totem Poles In Klee Wyck, By Emily Carr

Throughout the course of history Native Americans have gotten the short end of the stick. Starting from European colonists first setting foot on America, and using Native Americans for there own advancements. To the Indian Removal Act of 1830 better known as the Trail of Tears. This act forced Native Americans to move from the place they once called home and begin society over again on designated land. Even though we as current American citizens don’t think too much of the pain and harm that our predecessors have caused these people compared to other insistences. The painting Home on The Range by Evri Kwong not only try’s to depict the former treatment of Native Americans, but also looks at the current situation that resides with these people through the use of Subject matter, color, and framing.

Shanice Britton is a young Native American writer who grew up inside the Round Valley Indian Reservation in a small town where she knew everyone. Britton grew up learning about Native American traditions and customs. She was taught from a young age that she should always respect adults, support that tribal leaders, and have pride in her culture by keeping alive the traditions of her ancestors. Therefore, it was a little bit of a shock when she moved to Davis, California to attend the University of California. In an article that Britton wrote for Scholastic Choices, Britton recounts a comical and illustrative incident shortly after she moved there: “I was eating in a cafeteria with some other high school students, and this one girl asks me: ‘Do you live in a teepee?’” (Britton & Bianchi 2015). This anecdote is a perfect representation of some of the misconceptions or, simply, widespread lack of knowledge of the Native American population when it comes to people who are not part of that community. There are many aspects of Native American life that are not understood correctly by the general

Since America’s colonization, the Indian people have been told to conform or face consequences. Today, they are under constant pressure to change their views and customs in order to conform to modern American society. In order to practice their beliefs and live in their preferred lifestyles Indians are sectioned off and forced to live on Reservation land like the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where Swift Bird resides. Nevertheless, as the essay shows, the Reservations are still not safe from the outside

The Native Americans would offer the Europeans almost everything they had, which included fish and turkey to bread and the companionship of the chief’s daughter. The Europeans mistook the Native American’s generosity as evidence they were childlike. The old land in Columbus’ time was luscious and full of many different types of wildlife. Today that land is used and farmed down to provide food and tools for the Americans living here in the United States. “The land they left is different now. The white pines that towered over New England became masts for the Royal Navy's sailing ships. The redwoods that stretched from the Rockies to the Pacific exist in pockets smaller than the Indians' shrunken reservations. The hours long thunder of bison hooves no longer shakes Kansas or Nebraska, where only a few stretches of grassland remain on the prairie (pg. 6 Lord,

The first of many influential literature pieces that we read in class was “Civilize Them With a Stick” by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes.This particular piece made me become more aware of the struggles that Native American children who were sent off to boarding schools experienced. Although history classes throughout my years in high school skimmed the surface of Native American culture, this piece dove deep into the inhumane treatment of these young Native American children. I had no idea before reading and reviewing this piece in class that Indian Boarding Schools existed. This piece used insightive details that brought to my attention the unfair treatment of so many young Native Americans. Many examples from the piece showed the conditions were less than optimal for the children at the boarding school,“Frequently the food had bugs or rocks in it. We were eating hot dogs that were weeks old, while the nins were dining on ham, whipped potatoes, sweet peas, and cranberry sauce. In winter our dorm was icy cold while the nuns’ rooms were always warm”. In addition to horrible living conditions, the treatment of the children

In King’s short story, the museum workers are continually trying to remove the totem pole from the museum as Walter, one of these workers, states, “” the totem pole is not part of the show, and we need to move it someplace else”” (King 14). This quote demonstrates the controlling nature of the museum workers in their ongoing pursuit to remove the totem pole from the museum, but each attempt is as successful as their last. The totem pole’s ongoing struggle to survive in the museum is paralleled to the Indigenous people’s ongoing struggle to survive under the oppression of Canadian settlers and governments trying to eliminate them. Another example, from the story, that shows the controlling nature of the museum workers is when Walter attempts to find the owner of the totem pole instead of just leaving it in the show. The simple notion of ownership is different in the Indigenous and non–Indigenous cultures. Indigenous cultures believe that everything is to be shared and no one is an owner of anything, while the non-Indigenous cultures believe that every object seemingly belongs to someone.

“One general truth that threads throughout the Native American spiritual beliefs is the belief of the Mother Earth spirituality” (Coll). They often called earth their mother and called father the air. The earth to the Natives is very sacred to them and is the most important thing to them. Most of the ceremonies were in some way revolving around the earth and they called earth “home.” Most of the ceremonies were practiced for many years and were passed down through generation to generation. The Native Americans didn’t have a book like the bible or any language that was written. One big thing they had was Totems. These were everywhere in their tribes and it was supposed to represent people and the animals that represented them. The Indians were supposed to have 7 spiritual animals and the many animals on the totems were supposed to represent all the person’s spiritual

This is a broad and very vague history of what American Indians have had to deal with over the course of American history, and it cannot in any way be a fair explanation to the amount of grief and suffering this group has been exposed to over the years. It is sad to admit that their suffering is not quite over, and in modern American, what is left of the proud culture is threatened as many of the traditions and customs become antiquated. Icons and traditional symbols become nothing more that exotic, trendy images to be printed on items for modern day’s hip youth.

Native Americans have existed in the different regions-the plains, mountains, marshes- of the North American continent- long before the United States existed. Yet, most were not treated with the respect and dignity that the white American settlers were given. Viewed as outlandish and savage by white settlers, series of negotiations to “correct” the Indian way of life were implemented- through forced relocation, war, and assimilation into white culture. Those who stood up against the American government were viewed as beacons of hope by their fellow Native Americans. Many Native American traditions still exist today, but unfortunately most of them have been lost along with their people.

The story plot is in a museum, where the director of the museum Walter Hooton, has an issue with a totem pole. The relationship between Natives and Non-natives is symbolized here by the museum workforce and the totem pole respectively (King 15). Just like the real circumstances, the director was bothered about the nuisances created by the totem pole and thus he decided to trim down the totem poles and shift them to more convenient places. In the similar fashion, Non-native settlers were being transferred from one location to another by the Government of America.

Chief Seattle emphasizes the Native American’s connection to nature and the Earth in order to protect his tribe from being removed from their land. In such ways, he uses personification and shows how inanimate objects can also bring emotion. A sad personification the Chief uses is,“

Native American art is a profoundly expressive culture that has been a way of life for so many Native Americans. Native American art history has advanced over thousands of years and is composed of several idiosyncratic styles from the differentiating cultures of diverse Indian tribes. From Navajo to Hopi, each tribe has a particular history, which consists of many types of Native American arts including beadwork, jewelry, weaving, pottery, carvings, kachinas, masks, totem poles, and more. To truly understand Native American art, we will explore Native American art history, its subjects, and if Native American art has a spiritual connection to it.

As an ever-growing population of Europeans moved to the eastern parts of the United States tribal populations were pushed further and further west, decimating populations and pushing some civilizations to the brink of extinction. The government, however, made no move to stop pushing its boundaries westward, offering monetary incentives to tribal leaders for their land. One such tribal leader was Chief Seattle, who in the wake of watching his people die off, delivered a powerful oration to punctuate the value and importance of the environment and to save certain land rights for his people. Seattle beautifully blends both literal and figurative language to fight for his people’s right to visit their sacred burial grounds after their removal from their land and to protect the natural environment.

Myths play a large role in Native American totem poles, this is not really a surprise because Native people believed in more superstitious things. They believed that many living beings in nature had either spirits or gods. With these outlooks on nature and life, those beliefs came back to their carvings on totem poles. Respecting spirits and gods of the land was huge for Native Americans, such as showing

Popular culture has shaped our understanding and perception of Native American culture. From Disney to literature has given the picture of the “blood thirsty savage” of the beginning colonialism in the new world to the “Noble Savage,” a trait painted by non-native the West (Landsman and Lewis 184) and this has influenced many non native perceptions. What many outsiders do not see is the struggle Native American have on day to day bases. Each generation of Native American is on a struggle to keep their traditions alive, but to function in school and ultimately graduate.