Smudging

8/29/2014

Brittany Sobolewski

9/8/2014 05:37:54 am

In the readings of Berkofer and American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities, I found that a lot of my perceptions of what I believed to be true were wrong. There is not as much information on Native Americans that isn't biased or a preconception. The opinions of people towards natives are that they are either a peaceful group of people or that they are completely warlike and barbaric. With one picture depicting cannibalism in a group of native people the Spanish forever saw these people as savages. The naked woman in the picture shows a lack of clothing and therefore inferior to the European race. Overall stereotypes based off of outside opinion are what ruined this group of people to be seen as barbaric and weak

Zack Teixeira

9/8/2014 09:42:02 am

It baffled me to read about how Europeans tried to reconcile their beliefs centered around the bible and the discovery of the Native Americans. The audacity they had to give these "savages" souls seems to be arrogant. I haven't read any accounts of how Europeans tried to shape a culture so forcefully before. In the video they give an even more emotional account of this forced religious transition. The Natives were so desperate to survive the brutality of the English that they agreed to convert. As the two cultures meshed the Native's beliefs were slowly snuffed out. Some Natives were convinced that they had been following the devil all along before converting and started to loathes themselves. It's disgusting to hear of someone's personal beliefs become manipulated in such a way that they turn on themselves. I used to thing that much of what happened to the Natives was mere inadvertent mistakes such as disease accidentally carried by the English. Instead much of what was done to the Native was much more purposeful and ill spirited.

Elizabeth Grillo

9/8/2014 10:29:21 am

Robert Berkhofer attempts to make sense of early writings about Indians and how most of the stories told make up the basis for how whites see Indians. Berkhofer examines a wide range of writing about Indians and explains how the characteristics and actions that were given to the Indians gave people a misinterpretation of how Indians really were.
Robert Berkhofer states that there are two predominant images that people have of Indians. They two images are the noble savage and ignoble savage. The noble savage is kind, free and manly and the ignoble savage is dirty, violent and un-liked. Also, white people believed that Native Americans were inferior to them and that all Native Americans were alike with their cultures and beliefs. These are all wrong images and Berkhofer is trying to express that until people are taught from the beginning that these stereotypes are incorrect, we will all have this same, uneducated image of Indians.
Columbus was the first person to give a misconception of the Indians and presented a negative view of them in his writing. There were three errors stated in this reading that helped create the false image of Indians. The first one was the generalizing of one tribe’s customs to that of all Indians. The second error was that Indians were not equal to whites and the third was using an Indians way of life to make moral judgments to shape the view of the Indians.
Berkhofer then wraps up his point and talks about how not much has changed on how the Americans view the Indians and if it will ever change. He asks a question which asks, will we ever be able to come up with a significant way to change the bias of the Indian people? I agree with this question and I don’t know if society will ever change their views on Indians and the stereotypes that we apply to them.

Rachel Ivil

9/8/2014 10:55:46 am

When reading both Berkofer's "The White Man's Indian" and "American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities" one of the main ideas common in both I observed was the misjudgment of Indian's since our first encounter with one another. First and foremost is the name in which we refer to these groups of people, 'Indians' is a white invention, more so a white stereotype. This name was given by Christopher Columbus when he had miscalculated where he had landed. The Spanish and English also picked up on the term and continued using it as a way to refer to the tribes as well. Which leads to another huge error, grouping together all of the tribes into one generalized term of 'Indians' it neglects, or plays down the social and cultural diversity of Native Americans then and now for the convenience of simplified understanding. The American Indians Introduction focuses on the negative light in which Indians are cast. Whether it is in Disney's rendition of 'Pocahontas' or stereotyping them in a television show- Indians are constantly portrayed in a false and often negative light. The influence these mediums have over our view on Indians is so strong, that people are often disappointed when they meet a modern day Native American, and they are not stomping around a fire or dressed in large elaborate head dresses. One question Berkofer asks is if we will ever be able to change the Indian bias. To answer his question I would say that it would take a lot of educating- not only do you need to educate children and students in schools but you need to educate adults, and people who think they know the truth. Changing peoples opinions would be the hardest obstacle that would have to be overcome in order to change or erase the bias on Indians.

Abbie DeMagistris

9/8/2014 11:01:34 am

When I hear the word Indian, immediately images of Pocahontas, teepees, and feathers come to mind. These images have been engrained in my brain from early childhood, whether it be from movies or from learning about the first Thanksgiving in elementary school. After reading Berkhofer’s piece, I have come to the realization that there is more to Native American’s than how they are perceived in the media. Native American’s, even though the culture is made up of different tribes which follow their own rules and have their own ways of living, the native American culture is generalized into the term Indian. Native Americans, however, are more than the general categorization that they are collectively associated to in society.
As his piece was quite lengthy, I have chosen to focus my response on the perception of Indians and the generalized views associated with this term. These misconceptions are a result of mistold stories and histories. On page 25 of Berkhofer’s piece, he asks the question, “To what extent do these old approaches to the Indian [the general term] still constitute the chief White views of Native Americans today?” After the first day of class, when Professor Anderson asked the class to draw what a Native American looked like, the class drew images or tools associated with a stereotypical Indian. It is clear from that exercise that these stereotypical images of Native Americans are still prominent today. With these general assumptions of Native Americans come the two categories of Indians: The good Indian and the bad Indian. In contrast to the friendly, Indian archetype portrayed in Disney films, the bad Indian is one associated with cannibalism, heathenry, and barbaric traits. With the vast differences between the two believed types of Indians, it is difficult to find a middle ground between the two leading to even more falsities about the culture.

Jenna Pelissier

9/8/2014 11:02:15 am

Reading “The White Man’s Indian” makes me realize how racist and illegitimate most Americans’ preconceived ideas are about Native Americans. This was initially brought to my attention last class when we were asked to draw what we think of when we hear the word “Native American.” It’s definitely sad to see that almost all of the things we thought of were stereotypical objects that are a part of the “white conception” of Native Americans. This article made it clear that these illegitimate ideas have been passed down from generation to generation since the days of Christopher Columbus. This article also showed that there are two polar opposing views of a Native American, one being how they truly are, and the other being the “white man’s Indian.”
The introduction to “American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities” solidified this notion of Native Americans being an illegitimately represented group of people in the first sentence. “No other ethnic group in the United States has endured greater and more varied distortions of its cultural identity than American Indians.” Growing up, children are surrounded with countless misconceived representations of Native Americans, in the media, in literature, in movies, and so on. However, considering the large variety of tribes and nations of past and current American Indians, it does not make any sense to generalize them.

Merrilee Brown

9/8/2014 11:08:43 am

Reading Response to Berkhofer and Stereotypes/Realities Introduction
After reading, “The White Man’s Indian” by Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr. alongside the introduction to “American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities” by Devon A. Mihesuah I feel like I actually have very little knowledge about Native Americans. Right from the start Mihesuah mentions a series of films in which Native Americans are depicted, and I have personally seen many of these films (10-11). For example, “Pocahontas” has always been one of my favorite movies. When I was a little girl, my grandparents even bought me a Pocahontas costume which was a brown dress that only had a single strap on one shoulder. I wore my Pocahontas dress every time I got a chance and thought that I looked like a Native American. It is somewhat disturbing to me as an adult that I had such a strong vision of what I thought Native Americans looked like. I had severely stereotypical views of Native American culture, and my views were solely based on media and film portrayals.
Looking more closely at Berkhofer’s essay, I realize that my misunderstanding of Native culture as a child was further disillusioned by what I was taught in elementary school. Many accounts of Native Americans came from prejudiced settlers who thought that the American natives were uncivilized just because they were different. Many settlers who came to America were Christian, and due to their strong religious beliefs and conventions, thought that the natives had no religious views themselves. There was also a language barrier that caused a series of miscommunications between cultures. In one section Berkhofer discusses how Colombus’ interpreter did not even understand the natives, and that despite their lack of knowledge about these people, Colombus and his men did not hesitate to label the natives as people who roam around naked, have no religion or gods, and are all alike (6). Looking back to the descriptions that the settlers provided us with, it is no wonder that our history classes teach false information in regards to Native American culture.
One thing that really stood out to be in Berkhofer’s essay was his section about the film, “Dances with Wolves”. Berkhofer points out two stereotypes of Native Americans as either peace-loving and gentle or purely savage (10). He also points out the fact that the only love story within the film revolves around two white characters (10). This realization really put into perspective for me just how prejudice society is, even in our modern world. Where the settlers made assumptions about the Natives that were completely inaccurate, the media continues even now to falsely portray stereotypes about native culture. In having white protagonists so frequently in films about native life, the media suggest a lack of caring about actual native culture. Both Berkhofer and Mihesuah’s essays were eye opening as to what many of the stereotypes about Native American culture are, where they came from, and how these stereotypes are somehow still prevalent in modern society. Both essays enlightened me on how even I have some misunderstandings about Native Americans, and I look forward to learning the actual truth about this culture within more readings throughout this semester.

Kyle Tocher

9/8/2014 11:50:27 am

Your analysis of the article is incredible. I feel like maybe I should have written more after seeing yours! Great job!

Kyle Tocher

9/8/2014 11:49:38 am

After reading Berkhofer’s “The White Man’s Indian” I felt as though my initial opinion of the Native Americans was very wrong or even possibly offensive. Like many other students in this class will say, I was caught of my guard when I read some of the things that I came across. I must admit that my primary opinion of the Native American’s was a tad bit racist. I was ‘that guy’ who assumed that most Native Americans invested in casinos and lived on dusty reservations somewhere out in Nevada, I’m a terrible person, I know. I felt the worst when I realized that I had been calling the Native American people Indians ever since I was bored. At one time I told one of my favorite professors that I was “taking an Indian literature course”, he laughed at me and corrected me saying that I should never call them Indians.
Regardless, some of the disgusting thoughts and assumptions that some of the aforementioned people in this reading where far more vile than that of my own. I would not consider myself racist towards the Native Americans, I was simply ill-informed on their culture, but the Spanish people and other self-righteous European cultures were definitely racist towards the Native Americans.
It could be argued that the Europeans didn’t even consider the Native Americans a race, but instead saw them as bloodthirsty savages or barbarians. Christopher Columbus was amongst those hateful people, a man we were all taught to be a respectful, honorable man, but rather he was the one who was barbaric. This article taught me that the Native Americans were a people of art, beauty, and vibrant culture, not monsters from across the sea.
After reading just half of this article I feel as though I must reeducate myself on this culture and hope that it changes the warped opinion I originally had when I was just an elementary school kid.

Caitlin Seddon

9/8/2014 11:56:07 am

There are many stereotypes that I didn’t even realize were around, though there are many that I have heard of, and know to be false. One stereotype I can’t believe was even mentioned is that there are no longer any Indians still alive to this day. I find this to be of complete ignorance for someone to even state that Indians are extinct, when infact there are 2.1 million. Many of these concepts come from Americans not Indians so they are fabricated, false or a myth.
The White Man’s Indian by Robert Berkhofer gives excellent examples of how us Americans have created the Native American image. The white man have given them these stereotypes and created what we think of them today, and continue to teach our children. “Native Americans were and are real, but the Indian was a White invention and still remains largely a White image, if not stereotype. According to a modern view of the matter, the idea of the Indian or Indians in general is a White of stereotype because it does not square with present day conceptions of how those peoples called Indians lived and saw themselves,” (Berkhofer, 2).
We perceive Native Americans as savages, its a stereotype that has commonly been used throughout history. “The general terms heathen, barbarian, pagan, savage, and even Indian revealed these criteria of judgement at the same time that they validated the use of collective terms for the peoples of other continents,”(Berkhofer, 24). We have many examples of calling or thinking that Native American’s are savage, such as, King Philip's War. Where we only hear from Americans. We don’t see the Native American’s side to the story. They were not savages but were fighting to protect their loved one, land and way of life. “they enslaved thousands of Indians, forcing them to work in gold, copper and silver mines, and were as adept at torture techniques as anyone else. It was the Euro-Americans’ desire for Indian land that initiated wars,” (Mihesuah, 48).
One other interesting stereotype I saw in Mihesuah’s is people saying that their grandmother is part Indian. I found this interesting because we had a few people mention that they just found out that they are part Native American, and they all happened to say that their grandmother was the one who was part Indian. I am curious to see how many would have in common those seven qualities listed.
We continue to teach our children these rhetorical stereotypes. They persuade children to think of Native Americans a certain way, savages, drunks, long hair, feathers, hunters. As we did on the first day of class even many of us college students may know that these stereotypes are false, but we can not think of something else to draw when we are told to draw a Native American.

Brittney Melvin

9/8/2014 12:08:57 pm

In “The White Man's Indian” , Berkhofer displays historical text to convey that the propaganda distributed by European explorers of the “New World” was biased and untruthful in its descriptions of Native Americans. These writings were largely distributed throughout Europe ,perpetuating the stereotype of the typical “Indian.” This negative perspective of “savages” instilled a narrow image in settlers' minds. Berkhofer states, “...founders...all thought they knew what Indians were like, how they looked and behaved, and what could be expected from them. Small wonder their expectations were fulfilled.” (18) These expectations were attached to all Native American tribes, regardless of the extreme generalizations that went along with such skewed accounts. Therefore, the idea of the “Indian” displayed invalid concepts of Native American culture. Berkhofer conveys that through this “White Indian imagery” settlers were able to manipulate facts in order to achieve their personal ideals. I feel as though this is especially important to understand when reading literature written from the perspective of the Europeans.
Berkhofer exemplifies the disturbing notion that this generalization, though incorrect and biased, has remained a constant image of the native people of America for many centuries. Berkhofer states, “Therefore, tribal Americans were usually described not as they were in their own eyes, but from the viewpoint of outsiders....” (26) This White image of Native Americans misconstrued the individual identities of each native group. The Puritans used the native people as scapegoats for their own religious shortcomings by cultivating an image which was representative as darkness and evil. Therefore, settlers used this dark portrayal of Native Americans to validate their cruelty towards them. Furthermore, these ignorant claims disallowed the native people to reveal the depth of their culture.

Nicholas Machado

9/8/2014 12:10:14 pm

I did a full page . . . I don't want to seem like it's overkill but I just wanted to make sure i met the requirements of the a ssignment!

Nicholas Machado

9/8/2014 12:10:46 pm

According to this week’s readings from The White Man’s Indian by Robert F. Berkhofer and the PBS television special We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower, European religious beliefs played a critical role in how early explorers and settlers of America viewed Native Americans. Berkhofer’s work focuses heavily on the early European voyagers and how their interactions with Native American peoples raised questions about the origins of man and the Christian concept of creationism. The PBS show, on the other hand looks at the religious beliefs of the Puritans, and examines how the European settlers on the Mayflower looked at the Native Americans as proof of their God’s mercilessness.
In The White Man’s Indian Berkhofer explains that the discovery of indigenous people in the Americas led many Europeans to question the Christian notion that all humans were created at one point in time by God. Before reading Berkhofer’s work, I was unaware that many early European explorers found the existence of “savages” and “Indians” (as they called them) to be a major contradiction to their faith. Since Christianity taught that all men and women were created at the same time, in the same place, Europeans were puzzled to discover people living halfway around the world with views, customs, and beliefs that opposed their own. The religious conflict presented by the existence of native peoples is a great example of why the Europeans were so fearful of the Native Americans historically, and explains why white explorers had such negative feelings towards indigenous people they encountered around the world. Not only could Europeans not fully understand the lifestyles of Native Americans, but their mere existence caused them to uncomfortably question what they did understand.
Just as religious beliefs factored in to how the Christians as a whole viewed Native Americans, the fundamental beliefs of Puritanism in particular heavily impacted how the first colonists of the United States thought of America’s native people. According to the PBS television show We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower, the Puritan settlers from Europe who encountered Native Americans in New England believed strongly that everything that happened on Earth was according to God’s will. It is fascinating to think about how Puritans viewed human beings living in America not as people, but as obstacles placed in their lives by God’s hands. Some of the negative feelings that whites have garnered towards “Indians” over the centuries are a result of the seventeenth century Puritan thought that only a select few people can be saved by God’s grace, while others (such as Indians) are merely doomed to perish in a life of sin.
By looking at how religious thought and Christian beliefs molded early Europeans’ views of indigenous people in America, we can learn about our own attitudes and feelings towards Native Americans today. Personally, the readings and the television program made me open my eyes to the huge mark left on our nation by America’s “founders” and their spiritual beliefs. It is a prime example of how white people historically view cultures outside of their own from a traditionally white perspective.

Nicholas Machado

9/8/2014 12:11:27 pm

Nicholas Machado

9/8/2014 12:11:46 pm

Nicholas Machado

9/8/2014 12:12:09 pm

Nicholas Machado

9/8/2014 12:12:53 pm

Nicholas Machado

9/8/2014 12:15:26 pm

I posted mine so many times by mistake because it kept telling me there was an error submitting the comment ): Sorry.

Katharine Trahan

9/8/2014 12:23:26 pm

Response to “The White Man’s Indian” by Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr.

"The White Man's Indian" was beyond interesting to me. I was drawn into the article after I read the sentence "Native Americans were and are real, but the Indian was a white invention and still remains largely a White image, if not stereotype." The word invention is what made me realize that as white people, we do make up certain things and characteristics about groups of people. On the first day of class last week, it became a reality when the majority of the class drew what they thought of when we heard the word "Indian," and just like that, our pages were filled with illustrations of feathers, headdresses and tee-pees. That preconception is not our fault, because our world is filled with all types of social media telling us to see them that way. Columbus is discussed in the article, and I believe that it is very important considering that he was the one to start the original image of the "Indians." As they mention, he describes them as people of "acute intelligence" and as idolaters, which means that Columbus did not agree that they did not worship typical things, like the Christians worship God. It is important to note and understand that our idea of "Indians" came from long ago. As we mentioned in class, it is sad to see that Columbus is idolized by children who have no idea what he was, and how he spoke about different people, of a different background. On page 15 of the article, he brings up the names that the "Indians" are called and those names speak for themselves. The word savage sticks out to me because that is not something Native Americans should have to be associated with. To be a savage is to be an uncivilized person, but the Native Americans were civilized, they just had a different way of dressing and living than those like Columbus during that time. Berkhofer's article does a great job at emphasizing that we have a tinted version of Native Americans. He sums everything up on page 57 by saying, "The essential problem in raciology, or the supposedly scientific study of racial differences, was to find some sort of data to confirm the inferences based upon prejudice and casual observation." Unfortunately, this is how we all form an opinion about each other and in this article; it is how people see Native Americans, based on the way they look or what we think they typically look like.

Scott Elliott

9/8/2014 12:53:23 pm

After reading Berkhofer, many of the ideals I have gathered from my school career and own experiences seemed to be fortified. Starting in the early elementary years, tapes were shown of Native Americans were shown during the early history lessons. Previous to this, the only experience any of us children had was playing “cowboys and Indians” in the front lawn. These lessons consisted of making headdresses and talking about how Christopher Columbus discovered America. These false and superficial lessons gave way to later history teachers explaining that Columbus did not in fact discover America, and was actually brutal in his treatment to the natives. The article reinforced this which I already knew, however what I did not know was the he was one of the early contributors to the natives being thought of as savages on a large scale. While he wrote a favorable review of the natives, his bad view read, “They are ferocious among these other people who are cowardly to an excessive degree, but I make no more account of them than of the rest,” (7), referring to a cannibalistic tribe. This painted the natives out to be monstrosities compared to other nations, as well as other views such as Gaspe Basin saying that they are wild because they are the poorest people in the world. If this notion of being civilized or not based on wealth were actually put into a discussion today, there is no way that the Native Americans would have this stereotype of being “savages” or “wild.”
A very interesting point was brought up in the section on Christian Cosmogony that I had never thought of or heard. The author takes a step back to examine what the first explorers must have been thinking when encountering the natives for the first time. If the natives did not know of the Biblical authorities that said the children of Noah “repeopled” the planet, could they have thought, “Are they even human?” When could they have gotten to the western hemisphere and how? These are interesting questions posed considering I have only started that part of the history at the missionaries already Christianizing the natives. There was no “what happened before.” It seems strange but makes complete sense that the “Christian thinkers” had to figure out a way to connect the natives back to Adam and Eve. This eventually led to them being portrayed as worse versions of the Jewish or other past civilizations, or “the very agents of Satan’s own degeneracy,” (37). This ties right back in to how they are portrayed as savages, uncivilized, or worthless compared to Europeans. It is impossible not to make connection after connection as to why we, as a general public, have these stereotypes of Native Americans. Until the latter part of the past century there has been little to no awareness brought to the troubling fact that these people have been painted in a false light for centuries. In a metaphysical sense, it begins with reading essays and articles such as this one written by Berkhofer to start the change.

Caitlin Rose Bradley

9/8/2014 01:22:38 pm

There are many things I never considered about the Native Americans and English settlers. I feel that my eyes have been opened to so much already, and I am certain that the rest of this course will be the same way.
When thinking about diseases running rampant in communities of Native Americans, I only think of maybe half the population dying because of germs brought by pilgrims. Now I know that diseases spread before the Mayflower arrived by way of other Europeans. Also, whole communities were wiped out, with very few survivors. I never think of the poor people who probably suffered from "survivor's guilt." These people watched everyone they knew die horrible, painful deaths from strange diseases that couldn't be treated by any traditional way. These people lost their families, friends, government, and communities. It makes me wonder what happened to these few remaining people, whether they tried to continue living in their land or died of starvation or were accepted into surviving tribes.
I had heard once before that the pilgrims believed God was "clearing the way for his chosen people" because the native people had been killed by diseases, but I didn't realize the greatness of the devastation that the diseases left behind. I did not think when I was younger about how awful it would be for my community to be attacked by wave after wave of new diseases that our doctors knew nothing about.
The pilgrims were not seen as a great threat by the native people initially because most of them died off quickly and they had brought women and children with them. This labeled them as "not a threat," as men do not bring women and children to war.
I knew that land meant a lot to Native Americans, and that they didn't believe in possession of or selling of land. However, I now understand that they have a word for "I am the land." It makes a lot of sense to me, because even in Christian mythology, people are from the earth as cited in Genesis when God forms Adam from clay, and people return to the earth when they die, as do all living beings. These people live off of the land-- everything they own is from the land, and their fathers and their fathers' fathers all lived the same way on the same land, so to be separated from their land by people who left their own land must have been incomprehensibly difficult for the natives.
I don't think it is just that our only images of the so-called "Indians" are what are given us from our white predecessors. If I were suppressed by others, I'd want future generations to read my autobiography, not what my enemies wrote about me. It wasn't until middle school that I realized the truth of how Christopher Columbus treated the people he encountered in America. Thanksgiving, too, merely conjured up images of smiling people feasting for days around a table. I never before considered the political problems the Native Americans had prior to the Pilgrims' arrival. I never thought of unrest amongst different tribes or possibilities of lack of food or social problems within a tribe or any of the other issues which occur in any society.
It upset me greatly, too, that the Christian missionaries required testimonies of religious revelation and conversion. First of all, sometimes there is no great moment of enlightenment, but rather a gradual course of events in which spiritual exploration occurs. Second of all, I despise that the natives felt forced to convert, or at the very least to feign conversion, in order to survive in the rapidly emerging world. The pretense disgusts me and these demands made by the immigrants to the natives is repulsive. If people could accept, or even merely tolerate, each other, the world would be so much better.

A.J. Niakaros

9/8/2014 01:46:26 pm

After reading The White Man’s Indian, by Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr. and American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities, by Devon A. Mihesuah, I was both shocked by stereotypes that I already was aware of, but also impressed to what both articles truly made me realize about the true nature of the European relationship with Native Americans. A small part of me, for lack of better words, was relieved to discover that the not every European had the same, narrow-sighted interpretation of Native Americans. At the same time, I feel a valid response from an individual, like myself, is near impossible with my limited knowledge of what truly makes someone Native American. Although most negative interpretations of Native Americans were consistent, the responses that intrigued me the most were those that came off “passive aggressive” to say the least. Both authors of both readings address the same issue with a different view; the most interesting of that, Berkhofer goes as far as addressing each cultures interpretation of the Native Americans. The one I found the most intriguing was the Spanish legacy of name and imagery.
First off, the overall interpretation the Spanish gave to the Native Americans, was the traditional negative and stereotypical view we’ve come to know and love as a naive nation. However, as I stated before, the negative slander that caught my eye was that the subtle insult given in what appeared as a compliment, most of which revolved about religion. One man, a Dominican friar by the name of Bartolomé de las Casas, describes the Native Americans as “submissive, patient, peaceful, and virtuous. Nor are they quarrelsome, rancorous, querulous, or vengeful.” (Berkhofer 11) Now to any common folk, this would seem more like a praise than a slander; it seems that for a moment, Bartolomé actually praises Native Americans above himself and his culture. However, the small and noteworthy quote of Native Americans ends on a sour note when it ends on this statement: “Surely these people would be most blessed in the world if only they worshiped the true God.” (Berkhofer 11)
This statement is an exact example of classic Eurocentrism. Personally, after reading both articles, I realized the negative opinions do not derive from the Native Americans specific differences, but more so because they were/are not European. Eurocentric individuals, like Bartolomé, demonstrate a negative interpretation of Native Americans based on their religious views, which they also blamed for the Natives lack in culture, moral, language and class. The judgmental opinions derive from the fact that, since the Native Americans were/are not European nor practice their customs, they believe that Europeans were above them and that Native Americans wanted help. Adventurers classified Native Americans as “Indians” because they did not see the distinct, cultural differences that separated tribes from each other. Being unfamiliar with Native American language and practices, they classified them as “savage” or “shameful” when they simply had a different culture and religion. Bartolomé did not neglect their religious practices, as many others did, but at the same time resented their practices due to the fact that it was not to “the real God.” It is because of this statement that leads me to believe that many of the common stereotypes derive from the notion that The Native American customs were simply just not Eurocentric.

Jacob Jarred

9/8/2014 08:34:10 pm

Following my reading of Berkhofer’s The White Man’s Indian, any preconceived notion of what Native American’s might be was completely turned on its head. Initially, when the word Indian came to mind, the cliché image of a half nude, red-skinned powerhouse covered in war paint and tribal feathers popped into my head. Though I was and am completely aware that this image is only associated with ancestors of Native American’s, I did assume that the image was associated with all Native cultures. On the contrary: the number of Native American tribes rivals that of European races and differs just as distinctly.
Going into this class, I was well aware that any ideas I had surrounding Native American’s and their tribes were based off those derived through European exploration. Historically, Europeans and other predominantly white cultures have not been all that well informed when it comes to assessing other cultures and often jump to conclusions, most of which being that other cultures are inferior. Reading this article, I learned that this was often the case. “Indians” were all lumped into one category, though the tribes observed ranged from South America to Northern Canada. And though many of these tribes exhibited vastly different characteristics, from the well-governed Aztec tribes to the cannibalistic tribes of the Caribbean, Indians were all described as a solitary group and more often than not with the characteristics that cast them in a negative light. Being that media isn’t what it is today, the only depictions European’s had of the Indians were the few that were circulated through the printing press, and thus everyone had the same idea of what an Indian was.
Berkhofer also addressed the problem with the original Creation theories and how Europeans had to fit Indians into that, upon deeming them humans of course. Of all the theories tested, it appeared the most prevalent was that Indians were a degenerate versions of their ancestors; they were susceptible to both the climate of the Americas and lack of European culture and thus they developed in a different and apparently inferior manner. Though hearing this now sounds like a load of malarkey, the theory was very influential for its time and accepted widely among the Europeans.
Overall, I thought this article was eye opening and very fit for the beginning of this course. I learned that the whole concept of Indians was a preconceived notion, one that was based on the entirely incorrect idea that the Europeans were exploring the Indies and these were the native people.

Amy Quill

9/8/2014 11:23:28 pm

The point of the White Man's Indian is to bring to the surface of the mind what the modern day idea of a Native American is. Most people today use the slang term Indian. When I come to think of an Indian even today as an adult the image of Pocahontas comes into my head and feathers with tee pees and war paint. Berkhofer and Mihesuah make it relevent that the Europeans had the same kind of stereotypical thinking that we have today. One thing I had always thought was that the Europeans brought over the diseases from their land and infested the Indians with it. Although, the truth is the Native Americans had diseases spread far and wide before the Pilgrims came over. One point I found most interesting was the fact that many children are taught that Columbus discovered America when in fact that is not true, he brutally treated the Native Americans when he came over. When reading this article I realized that many people have grouped Native Americans into one big category not into tribes that they belong to. Lastly, I found the idea of Thanksgiving one of the most interesting of all. Many children in modern day society are taught the tradition of Thanksgiving as the pilgrims and Native Americans all coming around the table and sharing a feast and having a celebration together. The reality of that is though there was a scarce amount of food and not everyone got along. to conclude this article was very eye opening to what stereotypes still linger in my mind today. I thought it was very important to bring these theories to my attention before beginning the class and learning the realities of Native Americans. I learned most of my preconceived notions of the Native Americans came from mostly the media.

Ashley Chesworth

9/9/2014 12:01:12 am

After reading The White Mans Indian by Berkhofer, and American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities I wasn’t very surprised about the stereotypes that are portrayed about American Indians. I remember growing up with the idea that American Indians looked like Pocahontas and being Native American myself I always wanted to look similar to that. I have since realized that American Indians look nothing like Pocahontas at this time in history. Although I did have the understanding that American Indians still existed I didn’t ever realize that we were stereotyping Indians by our assumption of their appearances. Looking at the images in the reading and from the Power Point in our last class it was shocking to see how often we create these images without realize its harm towards the American Indian culture.
Wanting to be an Elementary teacher myself, Its frightening to think that educators are teaching students false information about our history. I remember being in elementary school coloring stereotypical images of American Indians and then never discussing anything about Indians again. In college I remember talking about the trail of tears, and then never learning about it again. Its upsetting to think that we create this images of Indians and never expose people to the true images of Indians that live in the world today.
I think the information we read/watched last night was very important for the beginning of this course. I think for people who don’t know that these images are offensive this is a great way to introduce them to it. I think it is important that we remind ourselves that these images hurt people and to pass this knowledge on to others.

Stephanie Papasodero

9/10/2014 11:06:07 am

After reading The White Man's Indian] by Berkhofer and the Introduction to American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities, I am not only shocked but upset. What I do not understand is when we do learn about the term "Indians" and Christopher Columbus why the truth is not taught instead of a happy, friendly version. Yes, I understand that at a young age some of the information is too graphic and intense but, no one can change the past or re-write history so we as students need to learn the truth from the beginning. For example, a math teacher can't teach us that the addition sign means subtraction and the subtraction sign means addition and then when we get older we really learn that is not true and that the addition sign really means addition and the subtraction sign really means subtraction. Like Berkhofer said, "Native Americans were and are real." They are real people just like any person and deserve the respect and kindness that anyone else would receive.
I understand that Christopher Columbus was the first to use the word "Indians" and talk about who they were and how he portrayed them, but you would think that throughout history their image and stereotype would have changed. The word "Indian" puts all Native Americans in one group, but there are so many different tribes that have different traits, religious views, languages, and lifestyles that differ from one another. Columbus' description of Indians was what he thought of Indians and a lot of the things he said were not true. But, once one person describes something new everyone believes everything that person says and because of one man's thoughts Native Americans are still portrayed the way he saw them.
Once a child is taught about something that description and image is stored in their head and they will relate back to what they first learned. I remember doing a play at Thanksgiving time about the Pilgrims and the Indians. We all shook hands and introduced ourselves to one another and then sat down for a delicious meal like we were all friends. That is not what really happened in history at all and even though Thanksgiving is supposed to be a happy time of family, friends, and being grateful we should not be taught that was what really happened with the Pilgrims and the Indians.
Overall, both articles made me realize that Native Americans are not treated fairly and their image needs to be changed to who they really are, which are human beings with their own thoughts, feelings, and views just like any other human. To tell someone what religious views they should have and to offer valuable materials only if they change their religious views is not right in today's society and that is exactly what Columbus did. So how is Columbus still viewed as a hero and Native Americans viewed as "savages" is still something I do not understand.

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ENGL 326

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