U.S. Policies Regarding Native Americans: 1865-1896
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A 5 page overview of U.S. Indian policies between the years of 1865 and 1896. This paper asserts that while many of these policies were deleterious, none were more so than policies regarding Native American land. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: PPnaPoli.rtf

Women and Their Captivity in Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans” and Rowlandson’s “A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”: The Use of Strength, Sexuality and Purity
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This is a 6 page paper on a comparison of Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans” and Rowlandson’s “A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” in regards to strength, sexuality and purity. James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans” and Mary Rowlandson’s “A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” both tell stories of female captives during the Indian colonial wars in the Eastern U.S. In Cooper’s work of fiction, he tells the story of Cora Munro and how she provides the strength needed to allow her pure sister to survive their captivity. Cora is of mixed blood but still finds the idea of marrying Magua the Huron “morally repugnant”. Cooper was also criticized after the publication of the work in his insinuation of doubting the purity of the colonists. Rowlandson’s true account of her own captivity stressed that she found her strength to survive her ordeal through the purity of the Psalms of the Puritan religion. Rowlandson’s strength came from her religion whereas Cora’s came from within herself and her use of her powerful sexuality: the colonist ideals remain intact however as Rowlandson survived and the impure Cora dies. These ideals of the importance of pure blood lines are still seen today in the rapes which are reported during wartime in Joanne Barkan’s article on the Serbian rape camps of Yugoslavia which were meant to bring impurity to the blood lines of the Muslims. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: TJfeInd1.rtf

Words and Vision
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This 5 page report discusses the connection that exists between words and vision and the fact that the words spoken by any particular group of people rarely reflects their vision in term of how they themselves mean it to be presented. “Black Elk Speaks,” The Old Man and the Medal” are discussed, as is the idea of cultural hegemony as presented by Benjamin Barber and Ben Bagdikian. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: BWwordsv.wps

“A Narrative of the Captivity & Removal of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”
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A 4 page review of this narrative first published in 1682 after the authors experience as a captive of the Narragansett, Native Americans residing in New England during the initial colonial intrusions there. The contention is presented that, while the trauma endured by Rowlandson was indeed horrific, the Native actions were in themselves the result of the colonial intrusions into their land and, in particular, the Puritan view of them as inferior beings. Bibliography lists two sources.
Filename: PPnaCptv.rtf

“Assault on Paradise”: Cultural Lessons from the Fictional Novel By Tatiana Lobo
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A 5 page discussion of the parallels between the events which unfold in the fictional novel by Costa Rican author Tatiana Lobo and history. Recounts the impacts of the Spanish colonists on the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica, emphasizing that the Spanish greed and disregard for cultural uniqueness translated into the decimation of a culture and a people in Costa Rica just as it did across the Americas. No additional sources are listed.
Filename: PPnaPara.wps

“Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835”: A Review of the Book by Theda Perdue
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A 5 page overview of the key concepts presented in this 1999 publication. This paper contends that is a much needed treatise on gender issues which have been so frequently overlooked by the world’s predominantly white male anthropologists and historians. A particular emphasis is placed on examining a woman’s role in regard to the family, her husband, and her male relatives on her mother’s side of the family in regard to child rearing. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: PPnaChWm.rtf

“Ethnocentricity and Indigenous Nations”
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A seven page paper which looks at the way in which the ethnocentric perceptions of European colonisation mediated against the interests of indigenous native populations, and the effect which this has had up to the present day in terms of cultural assimilation and the marginalisation of native peoples. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: JL2ethnocentricity.wps

“Fort Chipewyan Homecoming, A Journey to Native Canada”: A Review of the Book by Morningstar Mercredi”
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A 5 page discussion of the content and curricular merit of this book illustrating the journey of twelve-year old Matthew Dunn’s trip back to his mother’s tribal homeland in northeastern Alberta. This paper contends that this book is a welcome change from many of the more stereotypical depictions of Native Americans. No additional sources are listed.
Filename: PPnaChpw.rtf

“Native Indian Wedding Customs”
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A paper which looks at the way in which some Native Indian wedding customs have survived over the years, whereas other forms of marriage practices, such as polygamy, have been rendered illegal. The paper considers various elements of traditional weddings, and also the way in which these ceremonies are regarded both by Native people themselves and those outside Native communities. Bibliography lists 6 sources
Filename: JLnativewedding.wps

“Native Roots”: A Review of the Book by Jack Weatherford
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A 5 page discussion of the numerous lessons presented in this book on Native American history and the culture’s impacts on the Europeans who invaded Native lands. This book offers a provocative view of the manner in which mainstream America is indebted to its indigenous inhabitants the Native Americans. Despite the lack of recognition of the fact, many attributes of Native knowledge and culture became slowly and indelibly engraved into white culture. In “Native Roots” Weatherford presents a clear and logical argument that what developed even more slowly over the years which would follow was an interdependence of white and Native American culture. The author of this paper contends that the scenario which is related in “Native Roots” has a number of implications, particularly to the liberal arts classroom. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: PPnaRoot.rtf

“No Turning Back: A Hopi Indian Woman's Struggle to Live in Two Worlds”: A Review of the Book by Polingaysi Qoyawayma
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An 11 page review of Polingaysi Qoyawayma’s “No Turning Back: A Hopi Indian Woman's Struggle to Live in Two Worlds”. This paper investigates the life struggle of a Hopi woman who as a child was one of the first Hopi children ever to be educated in white schools and who as an adult had a difficult time balancing her Native commitment to the life she made in the white world. Ironically, she would later become the first Hopi teacher to teach within the same schools she had attended as a child. Her entire life, however, would be an apparent struggle between native and white lifeways. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: PPnaHopW.rtf

“Red, White, and Black: The Peoples of Early North America”: A Review of the Book by Gary Nash
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A 7 page overview of Nash’s views on the impacts inflicted on Native Americans and African Americans by European colonists. Notes that any culture’s objective is cultural survival and that it is not that unique to emphasize one’s own survival even if it means the decimation of another. No additional sources are provided.
Filename: PPnaNash.rtf