An American Indian Providing their Perspective of the English - Assignment Example

An American Indian providing their perspective of the English As an American Indian, looking in perspective at the history of our travails through the last three centuries is really a very painful but an extremely revealing experience. It gives an insight into the stunted mentality of human race that cannot look beyond the individual interest and rejoice in the diversity of environment, including humanity. At the age of 87 years, I have personally experienced the evolving expectations and hope of my people who have remained in the periphery of American history. Consequently, despite being the oldest tribe and inhabitants of this great land, we are still struggling to become part of mainstream American society! Primarily coming from the southern states of America, my forefathers had later settled in the northern part, in quest of better living. Recounting my experience is interesting because history has long since been regarded as a very important document of a country’s inheritance of its cultural values, people and its socio political and economical evolution. While some of the historical events can be gleaned from the written accounts of the eyewitnesses, the authenticity of the same is always in doubt and helps the historians to delve deeper into the myriad aspects of evolving time. Indeed, my children grand children tell me that there is well documented information of America from the time it was discovered by the Spanish conquistadors. But we are the original inhabitants of this country and I think, history should be interpreted from the accounts of our people and sot solely accepted from the foreigners who have now been declared as rightful citizens of this land! History for us is the tales of the times that are passed on to from generations to generation and added from the inputs of the successful generations. Frankly speaking, the stories of my forefathers, as told to me by grandparents, are a mixture of the good and the bad. The good things comprise of our culture and the pride in our tradition and values. We value human beings as the creation of God and they have the responsibility of maintaining good relation with all the things that god has created. Thus, conservation of environment is intrinsic part of our heritage. I think this was the major issue that has brought about so much of conflict in our lives through the times. The clash of ideals and the ambitious and often nefarious intentions of the Europeans have resulted into the formation of a new social order where racial discrimination has superseded human values and brought in huge disparity of social order and chaos in the contemporary American society. One of the main chapters of American Indians is the pueblo revolution of the 17th century. The greed of the Spanish people and their quest for our mineral wealth had led to the suppression and torture of our people. The worst part of the Spanish people was that they had not only tried to physically subjugate the pueblo tribe but they had the audacity to impose their religion and culture on us. My grandfather had told me that the tenets and norms of Christianity was almost similar to our culture and beliefs but the way it was practiced by the Spanish greatly undermined the self respect of our people. They had used Christianity as a means of exploiting and enslaving us for their own vested interest. They never wanted to befriend us but had come for wealth and power which they tried to obtain through power and deceit. Indeed, the uprising of pueblo was a foregone conclusion mainly for two reasons: pueblo wanted to preserve their heritage and culture and second was that the famine of that time had made them desperate. Thus revolution had been essential for survival. I think the color of skin of the people also played very important part at that time. The American Indians and the blacks were considered inferior to the white population and political, religious and social ramifications of miscegenation were governed by ‘Jim Crow Rules’(JRC) which were associated with violence, intimidation and even lynching committed by whites against black people so that they do not try to become their equal. The scenario has not much changed. The blacks and ethnic minorities still have to fight for their rights in the twentieth century and struggle to avail privileges that are enjoyed by the white population. My experience in the northern America was much better. By the time I moved there in New Orleans, the northern American colonies had considerably moved forward in terms of black population enjoying more rights and privileges. The defeat of the British forces lead to the independence of 13 British colonies of North America which were together called United States of America. The whites maintained a racial divide within the society through deliberate use of powerful lobby of the whites and financial advantages that they enjoyed over their less privileged counterparts. The blacks were not allowed to participate in social activities and even education was denied to them so that they would remain unequal socially and economically. While the religion in the southern American colonies promoted racial discrimination, in the more emancipated northern America, people of non white origin had started enjoying rights and privileges that were hitherto denied to them. My interaction with the whites on the northern part has been formal primarily because subtle racial discrimination was still practiced and I believe that they had come here to settle as traders and believed that open hostility might adversely affect their business interests. The British people had brought in a new wave of trading concept and considerable expanded their business to include tea and textile. I remember that educational institute had also come up where white children went to study. I used to stand outside the school building for hours and had promised myself that my children will get the education. Though, my sons could not be educated as much as I wanted but my grandson has become an advocate and ensures that the American Indians and the blacks are able to avail all the privileges that are enjoyed by the white population in America through good education and employment opportunities. The American Indians are intrinsic part of American history and their vibrant traditions and cultural heritage need to be recognized and preserved for the posterity. They need to be included into the mainstream American population. Affirmative actions must be made to genuinely improve their socio-economic and educational status. Reference Mancall, Peter, C. (1995). Envisioning America. Palgrave Macmillan. Weber, David J. (1999). What Caused the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? Methodist University First Edition. Read More