I Get Around

I was not very happy to learn that my ancestors were sluts among Native Americans. Apparently, Cherokee Indians slept with everyone (Berry). How else would I have obtained pale skin and protruding blue eyes? I always thought of Cherokees as being the real friendly Indians, the roll-over-and-pet-my-belly kind of people; pushovers. I was alright with that, it meant they were nice. I wanted to be related to nice people; well little did I know that such kindness would lead to promiscuity. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they weren't promiscuous, maybe they were just tragic romantics-going against the grain of Native American tradition all for the sake of love! I choose to believe that. Shakespeare would be so inspired.

Sherman Alexie makes me a little upset. I liked being able to say I am part Cherokee, but I’m not a “pure breed”. I always had a thing for mutts though, so maybe that love extended to interracial people as well. He is right though, unless you have lived on a reservation you won’t know what it’s like to be Native American, at least not a Native American who lives on a reservation. You might know what it feels like to be a Native American who lives in the city, or maybe you know what it’s like to be German, Irish, or Black with a little bit of Native American in you, but you won’t know what it’s like to be on a reservation. That doesn’t mean you are not. No one can take that out of your blood! You may not know the culture but that doesn’t change your DNA.  All though, it is kind of silly that someone who is 25% Native American will go around saying, “I’m not white, I’m and Indian!” face it bucko, you are white. That’s when the stereotypes start coming into play. 

Stereotypes like the ones mentioned in Mr. Alexie’s How to Write the Great American Indian Novel. My “favorite” stereotype from his poem is “everybody is a half-breed struggling to learn more about his or her horse culture” (Alexie). When people feel entitled to be Native American, well, that is just greedy… and stupid. So then they go and search for the “Native American” that lives in them and create these stereotypes. I, however can be part Cherokee and that mean something… well not really something but it means that somewhere down the line someone slept with someone who was Cherokee, and I couldn’t be more, uh, proud.

That’s what gets me thinking, if the Cherokee just slept around with anyone, should I really be proud? It’s not like I’m different or special, I am just like the majority of Americans.  So what am I even writing about? I guess I agree with Sherman Alexie, just a little bit, I think you can still call yourself a Native American if you are 75% or more. I am not; I think I am 35% or 25% or something like that, so I have no “rights”. I can say I have some Native American blood in me, but to claim a part of the full race is a little much, or at least I am starting to think that. Maybe I’ll just say I am a Texan from now on… 

Work Cited

Alexie, Sherman. How to Write the Great Native American Novel. Hanging Loose Press, 1996. Print.

Berry , C.. "Blood Quantum - Why It Matters, and Why It Shouldn't ." All thing cherokee. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2012. <http://www.allthingscherokee.com/articles_gene_040101.html>.

Frost, John. Frost's Pictorial History of Indian Wars and Captivities. New York: Wells Publishing Company, 1873. Print. 

Earth Beater

When I read Jack London's "All Gold Canyon" I realized that the impact of man on the environment was greater than I realized because when the miner left, there “…remained the hoof-marks in the meadow and the town hillside to mark the boisterous trail of the life that had broken the peace of the place and passed on”(London 109). I am a person who loves to advocate taking care of the Earth and treating it with love, but I realize I am still destroying it more than I am restoring it. I love psychology, and because of this I began to ponder why do those who love the environment continue on destroying it? Even now I am using an abundant amount of power. My T.V, air conditioner and three computers are on. Not to mention a light in one room I am not using is on, a lamp, and countless appliances that are not being used are currently plugged in as well. I am addicted to convenience. I am more self focused and comfort seeking than I ever thought I'd be or ever wanted to be, and yet I have not gotten up to turn off a single light because I am too afraid to break my creative writing flow- selfish. There is an interesting article in psychologytoday.com that evaluates the reasons why we love the environment with our mouth, but abuse it with our actions. The study done in the article reveals “individuals use resources more wisely when the group...is small in number, communicates well and is informed that goods are limited”(Gifford). However, in the United States it is the exact opposite of that! Americans feel protected in their little bubble and don’t realize the gravity of their actions and therefore continue on living the same way. I say Americans, but really the ignorance extends across the whole world to many different countries, and me.  

Okay, so I am selfish, now what? Reading around on the subject I found that one of the top ten ways man is destroying the environment is by owning a car (Schwarzfeld). I have a car (who doesn’t?) and I had always prided myself on it being a certified “Ultra Low Fuel Emission Vehicle” but that doesn’t actually help the environment, it just hurts it less. So how could I help? On 50waystohelp.com there are many ways listed that would cause me to lower my impact on the environment, such as take a shower over a bath, or go vegetarian once a week. I do a lot of the things on the list already, but I am still making an impact. The presence of humans on the planet is always going to make an impact unless we get rid of all electricity and waste, and I don’t see enough people ever caring that much for that to happen. I once watched No Impact Man, a movie about a man who tried to lower his and his family’s carbon footprint (a number that tells a person’s impact on the planet) to 0. It was quite humorous, but it was also clear that doing that in my society would prove to be far more difficult, and really almost impossible. 

I took a test that told me my carbon footprint was 19 and it said that the U.S national average was 27(The Nature Conservancy). The world’s national average per person, however, was only 5.5(The Nature Conservancy)! I still believe in trying to be as low an impact as possible, but it is strange how no matter what, we make an impact on this Earth, whether it be a 5.5 impact or a 27. (For anyone reading this wanting to know their carbon footprint, here is the link http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm). I want to make greater strides in trying to lower my impact and be less selfish and more sensitive towards the other living creatures on this planet. This is not just my home, but the home of many. I also realize I won’t be able to lower my impact down to zero, but that’s okay, that doesn’t mean I give up and open up another factory! I want to tread lightly and be a friend to nature, not a foe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing!

Work Cited

"50 ways to help the planet." Wire & twine. Wire & Twine, n.d. Web. 2 Apr 2012. <http://www.50waystohelp.com/>.

Gifford, R.. "Why We're Destroying the Earth."psychologytoday.com. Sussex Directories, Inc., 2000. Web. 2 Apr 2012. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200003/why-were-destroying-the-earth>.

Gifford, R.. 2000. Graphic. Psychology Today. Web. 3 Apr 2012. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200003/why-were-destroying-the-earth>.

London, Jack. "’All Gold Canyon,’ from Moon-face and Other Stories." 1906. The Literary West: An Anthology of Western American Literature. Ed. Thomas J. Lyon. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 109. Print. 

The Nature Conservancy, . "Carbon Footprint Calculator."The nature conservancy. The Nature Conservancy, 2011. Web. 2 Apr 2012. <http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm>.

“’No Impact Man’-Official Trailer.” 29 July 2009. Web. 2 April 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ctt7FGFBo>.

Schwarzfeld, Matt . "Pollution: Top Ten Ways Man is Destroying the Environment." Curiosity.com. Discovery, 2012. Web. 2 Apr 2012. <http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/pollution/10-ways-man-destroying-environment.htm>.

       There is a family. They are stripped of their land, their things, their traditions, even each other. The land they once lived on with joy is being destroyed and laden with the massacred bodies of their neighbors. This was said to be done out of love, a claim that can easily be proved false.

      The rich, white "Christians" came to the rescue to bring "the savages" the message of love (so they claimed) and instead made their hands weapons of hate and destruction. When I read Native American writering like Sarah Winnemucca's "Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims", my heart aches at the evil that was done to them- of the life that was sucked out of them, "My people have been so unhappy for a long time they wish now to disincrease, instead of multiply" (Winnemucca 67). With each word in that rich sentence she pours out the pain and torment that is only the result of ignorant, hateful, humans who cannot be of Christ. Nothing makes me angrier than when people misrepresent God and Jesus and do things that are evil claiming to be off the one who is good, just and full of love. Reading Winnemucca made me think of how that type of hypocrisy happens even today. Christianity in America has left a bitter taste in peoples mouths and an image that screams closed-minded, pushy, ignorant, Republican, self-absorbed, and, worse of all, unloving. God is none of those things, in fact, God is love (English Standard Version Bible, 1 John 4.8). Also, those who claim Christianity may not be of Christ because people who follow him love like him, "By this people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (English Standard Bible, John 13.35).

      I wonder if people would've showed love to the Native Americans if there could have been harmony. I wonder if there was more genuine love now if there would be more harmony. My point in harping on this is to learn from the past, to grab hold of the now, and not let anything hinder love. I wish I could go back in time and tell Native Americans that, and that I could show them love and offer protection from the evils of the world, rather than being the evil inflicted upon them. 

     There was arrogance in "the white man's" heart and there was a "need" for a Native American genocide. Not only did they wipe the natives out in bloody massacres, but then they tried to make "peace" by shoving them on to reservations (Anitei). The children of a lot of natives didn't even go to reservations but special boarding schools. The reality of it is that the government was trying to brain wash the children of the Native Americans so they could continue their desires of expanding (Trabich). The way "Christian values" were taught to them was in a forcible and negative way, " Indian education began with forts erected by Jesuits, in which indigenous youths were incarcerated, indoctrinated with non-indigenous Christian values, and forced into manual labor" (Trabich). 

     I believe that there is still racism today because of the events of the past. There is not only a false image of Native Americans, but also of Christians. The people who claimed to be Christian were full of pride and only pushing their own agendas, and that happens still today. Christians are viewed as hypocrites, and thats mostly because those who claim Christ, do not confess sin, but hide it away to make themselves out to be more righteous (Charlotte; Nicole; Marshall). Also, as I said before, not everyone who say they are Christian actually are. So much was wrong and is wrong with the way people treat other people. I only pray that love can grow and outshine all the evil past, present, and future.

Work Cited

 Anitei, Stefan. “The Clash of Two Cultures: Native Americans and White People.” Softpedia. 27 November 2007. Web. 22 February 2009. <http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Clash-of-Two-Cultures-Native-Americans-and-White-People-72097.shtml>.

Charlotte. “Christians Are Hypocrites.” Evil Bible. Chris Thiefe. Web.  22 February 2012. <www.evilbible.com/christians_are_hypocrites.htm>.

Colourbox. 2012. Web. 22 February 2012. <www.colourbox.com>.

 Marshall, Leslie. “Christian Hypocrisy from the Religious Right.” US News. 26 October 2011. Web 22 February 2012. <http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/leslie-marshall/2011/10/26/christian-hypocrisy-from-the-religious-right>.

Moore, Roger T.. “Moore Texas”. Texas Escapes.  29 July 2008. Web. 22 February 2012. <www.texasecapes.com/Cartoons/20080728Indian-Reservation.htm>

Nicole. “Christianity: Fear, Hypocrisy, Self-Righteousness and Selfish Greed.” Exchristian. 6 April 2009. Web. 22 February 2009. <http://testimonials.exchristian.net/2009/04/christianity-fear-hypocrisy-self.html>.

Trabich, Leah. “Native American Genocide Still Haunts United States.” An End to Tolerance. Iearn. Volume 5. 2005. Web. 22 February 2012. <http://www.iearn.org/hgp/aeti/aeti-1997/native-americans.html>.

Winnemucca, Sarah. "Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims." 1883. The Literary West: An Anthology of Western American Literature. Ed. Thomas J. Lyon. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 67. Print.