Re: Amerindian resistance mode (was: amerindian an offensive
Gerold Firl (geroldf@sdd.hp.com)
9 Aug 1996 00:14:32 GMT
In article <4ua7ob$6l8@orphan.emich.edu>, Paula.Sanch@emich.edu (Paula Sanch) writes:
|> Most NA tribes/nations want
|> most that their lands not be despoiled. I guess it depends on what
|> your vision of the Garden of Eden is, whether it is a place where
|> nature rules or where cultivated plants parade in orderly rows toward
|> the sunset.
It'a all a question of population density. If the land is lightly
populated, then agriculture isn't necessary. For the foreseeable future
we will need those orderly rows of crops, if we want everyone to have
enough to eat.
|> geroldf@sdd.hp.com (Gerold Firl) wrote:
|> >Of course they do. But until very recently, many indians were actually
|> >*ashamed* to be indian. They felt like they weren't as good as their
|> >conquerors. They still self-identified as indian, but those feelings
|> >were a difficult mixture of positive and negative feelings about what
|> >it meant to be an indian. The resurgance of indian pride over the last
|> >few decades has had to shed the legacy of shame and self-hatred; that
|> >cognitive dissonance can lead to irrationality.
|> *Where* *do* you get your information, please? I've *never* met
|> anyone who was ashamed to be NA, and the wanna-bes are all over
|> nowadays.
A self-described iroquois from upstate new york in her 40's, named
barbara johnson, told me that until recently she felt ashamed of her
indian ancestry. In the last few years she had come to terms with her
negative feelings, and last year she went to a sweat at a local
reservation around here, to emerge feeling purified and reborn. She felt
pride in her iroquois heritage, and felt good about herself.
I didn't quiz her very thoroughly about how other iroquois felt about
being indian; my impression was that she was not unique in her feelings,
but we didn't get real sociological in our discussions.
|> >It's good to love and appreciate who you are, but it's healthier to
|> >also love and appreciate others for who they are.
|> Making friends,
|> and appreciating them and the cultures which produced them has never
|> been a problem for me, or any other NA of whatever tribe whom I have
|> known.
Really? You've never met a native american who had a chip on his
shoulder? Who felt angry and bitter about all the injustices suffered by
his people? Who had even just the tiniest bit of trouble "appreciating"
the culture of the conqueror/oppressor?
Based on what I've seen in this newsgroup, I find that hard to believe.
--
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Disclaimer claims dat de claims claimed in dis are de claims of meself,
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---- Gerold Firl @ ..hplabs!hp-sdd!geroldf
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