Connections

I found it very interesting to discuss the stereotypes portrayed by Diane Burns and Chrystos versus those provided by Jack D. Forbes and Ines Hernandez-Avila. When actually comparing how these different authors presented their ideas of stereotypes, it can be noted that Burns and Chrystos focus more on the Native American stereotypes that have come from the "White Man" and others that are somewhat more ignorant in regard to Native Americans and how they are portrayed through media and stories. The interesting thing to see is how these two poems are very different from Forbes and Hernandez-Avila, yet they are about the same subject. Both Forbes and Hernandez -Avila emphasize the stereotypes of Native Americans WITHIN the people, not by ignorant outsiders and the "White Man." Forbes' story, "Only Approved Indians," invoked an incredible amount of anger and annoyance in me towards some of the Native Americans themselves and the "White Man" presented as well. When he shows to the reader that there is a sense of internal-colonization going on between tribes and among the Native American people, it hurts me inside. I feel the injustice that is going on and how the characters are rejecting language as a way to show and prove that the Native Americans playing in the basketball tournament are indeed Native Americans. Not only does he touch on what is actually of value to people in regard to Native peoples (when he says that their language and the way they look was not good enough to convince the other team and the officials that they were indeed Native Americans, and what they really needed was a BIA card to prove themselves as indigenous), he brings up several stereotypes that are seen even among different native peoples. What shocked me the most was that these stereotypes were started as rumors and if you pay attention to how it is worded in the text, these things include: facial hair (Native Americans aren't supposed to have any) and rule (all Native peoples should be under the rule of the "White Man").

These things bother me tremendously. It doesn't sense to use these stereotypes as a basis to determine whether Native Americans are even recognized as Native peoples to the Bureau of Indian Affairs or not, and these things should not bring up questions of whether a tribe is actually from the United States (as in this particular text) or not. This brings up a major problem for me that is seen when the people are fighting with each other. It obviously doesn't make sense, but it is something controversial to look into when trying to decide if this is really helping the people or not. I think this makes things that much worse for Native Americans because this way they end up losing their culture, and the emphasis on being a true Native American is gone. The members of the Great Lakes team couldn't speak their own languages and yet the Tucson team could, yet they were disqualified based on the idea that they weren't from recognized tribes, they therefore didn't have BIA cards, and they weren't Native American enough to play in the tournament. This is just wrong and it sets the indigenous people back farther than when just the "White Man" was colonizing them.