Reflection about the annishnaabe people - Research Paper Example

Reflection Paper about the Anishinabe people The Anishinabe’s way of life was greatly interfered with by white immigrants in the Americas. In The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway, Benton –Benai notes that the first white settlers in the America troubled the Anishinabes and several misunderstandings and full-blown conflicts arose. The white people had the upper hand and they went on to not only physically attack the native people but also target their culture through less conceivable weapons such as school seasons.

Residential schools emerged as a way to try to “Christianize and civilize” the Anishinabe people (Deloria 67). Clearly, the residential schools system had a massive effect on the culture of the Anishinabe. While the white Christian faithful saw the system as a way of assimilating them and promoting peaceful coexistence, the school stream eroded the culture of the Anishinabe. The federal policy of residential schools made the engaged Anishinabe unacceptable in their society. They were detached from their system while the federal system did not fully accept them.

The federal policy did more harm than good. It was wrong for people who claimed to follow the Christian guidelines to put Anishinabe children forcefully in residential schools and force them to disown their language and cultural practices. The white community of the time showed double standards as they advocated autonomy in their society. In God is Red, Vine Deloria condemns the hypocritical nature of the white people in the society and the government. More so, Deloria sees the religious imposition on the Anishinabe as hypocritical (43).

These claims are very accurate. It is regrettable that the white people in the residential schools mistreated the Anishinabe children, degraded them and eventually made them lose their cultural identity. Basically, the white people used religion hypocritically to pursue their agenda of dominion over the native people in the region. The Anishinabe’s resistance to residential school was justified. After all, the residential schools only made them lose their identity, face physical and sexual abuse and become physiologically crippled.

Though they were overwhelmed due to the superiority of the white Christian settlers, their cause was worthwhile. They could not have experienced relief later on such as the right to conduct their traditional rites if they did not rise against the residential schools. Benton-Banai writes, the clan system of the Anishinabe was instrumental in directing resistance. As a governing body, their actions were entirely needed to save the culture of the people (Benton-Benai 76). Vine Deloria challenges the Indians to reconcile with Christianity despite what was done to their ancestors ion the name of Christianity.

Though it is advisable, this concept is difficult considering the magnitude of the offenses done by the white Christians to the Anishinabe. It is only with time that the Anishinabe descendants can get to terms with the evils of the residential school system. However, the plight of the Anishinabe serves as a lesson to other people. Similarly, by condemning the prevalent hypocrisy in Christians in reference to the residential school system, Vine Valeria calls for accountability in religion. In recap, the Anishinabe faced many atrocities from the residential school system.

Their resistance through uprisings was justified. In Benton-Banai and Vine Valeria, there are expert authors who present accurate plights of the Anishinabe and condemn the actions of the white Christians respectively. The plight of the Anishinabe during the residential school system gives an example of how not to treat a cultural group with the intention of exerting religious practices and dominion over them.Works CitedBenton-Banai, E. The Mishomis book: The voice of the Ojibway. Saint Paul, MN: Red School House, 1988. Print.Deloria, V.

 God is red. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1973. Print.