I am going to post the next two readings because I will be out of town and I am not sure how much internet service I will have. And this gives you a little break on deadlines because it most likely I will not be able to read your responses till Monday night.
In this section, Julia Parker tells her story in her own way. Listen and enjoy, then compare her story to the information given in Part one on the history of Native Americans. What do you think? How informed is your own identity? How important are the political and/ or cultural histories to your story?
Keep notes for your final presentation of Identity.
The story in this chapter reinforced the information given in the first chapter. Reading Julia's story from her own voice made me feel what she was going through. When she was talking about discrimination against Native American people, people trying to make them forget their own culture, trying to make them be someone else just because Indians were considered savages, dirty people, etc … I found it sad that after all this time I can see a resemblance in what is going on today in the world. I feel that everyone can learn from Julia's philosophy of not diving or judging people based on their nationality or skin tone, I mean how can we judge someone based on the color of their skin? That is just superficial. One of the quotes I liked the most was "We are people, and we have heart. It is what is inside of your heart that matters" (p. 68). Instead of letting discrimination get her, she saw that as every day is history. I admire her thinking, because not all of us can let go that easily.
ReplyDeleteEven after many negative experiences she managed to stay positive and she is always trying to reinforce her culture. During the reading she expressed how her elders taught her to teach everybody else their traditions, that no matter how far away from home you are, there will always be roots to your culture and how she stood up for what she believed in. When they were forced to leave the village, they were forcing them to do something they didn’t want to do, it was so unfair. I feel like home is my refugee and the place I always want to go back so I can't even imagine what they were feeling when they were forced out of their own home. Julia stood up for everyone, she stood up for what she believed and we should all be as brave as her. Just like the resemblance I saw with discrimination, I saw it with the government as well. It reminded me of what is going on in Venezuela or Mexico. In were the population has no saying and there is a lack of justice and I am pretty sure this problems happens all around the world but It is sad to see government power not being used for justice.
I agree with Karla. Part 2 followed up on what the author said she was going to do by letting Julia tell her story. I enjoyed this section a lot because it reminds me of listening to my own grandmother tell stories or my great aunt. Not because they are 2 old ladies telling stories, but because of the way in which they tell them. It is almost like a conversation rather than story time. "Did I tell you about..." They always repeat the same stories, and I always enjoy them. But occasionally one of them will bust a story I have not heard, and it is usually a really good one. As a fan of history, I am fascinated how their story adds little bits of knowledge and understanding to a story I already know, or how it contradicts they I learned it in school.
ReplyDelete"Reclaiming" resonated with me quite a bit. I am Native American on both sides of my family, but her story reminds me more of my Papa, who is Mexican. Julia talks about how she was told not to look or sound Indian. It is not good to be one of them. But this really makes sense if you consider the time. I hear the same stories from my Papa, and my wife's grandfather, who was German. There was a time in our history when it just was not popular to be anything other than American. When my dad was growing up, they did not speak Spanish in the house. He did not want his children to have the accent. The same is true for my wife's mother. German was spoken between the parents, but not to the children. It is sad in a way because the language was not passed down. However, I think it is understandable. They just wanted their children to have every opportunity available.
Nice points both of you. I agree the dialog between the women is fascinating and a true friendship.
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