First of all, I feel like I have already learned quite a bit
in this class. Having little (accurate) knowledge of Native Americans, I
am finding this class to be fascinating. I think I have learned more about Native
Americans in these last few weeks than in my entire schooling. That being
said...this week was particularly frustrating for me.
My first gripe is about chapter 8, cultural imperialism. The
first time I read the chapter, I was slightly frustrated by what I was reading,
but the truth of the chapter didn’t really sink in until we started our discussions.
I was interested in people’s questions about purchasing goods from places like
Four Corners, were they contributing to this commoditization of Indian goods? I
posted my opinion, if the goods are being sold by legitimate natives for THEIR
profit, I don’t see it as such. I still stand by this, but it has made me
wonder about some of the items I have purchased from other vacation spots. An
example-on the island of Aruba, you can go to individual stands where people
are selling goods. The first time I traveled here I bought items from several
of these stands, so impressed with the handiwork! When I went to Mexico, I saw
these same stands, with the same items, just with Mexico painted on them
instead of Aruba. Could it be the profits from these places are not going to
the people like I would like to believe? Why are these goods so similar, could
it be they are mass made by a large company somewhere in the states? Could this
be true for the people selling Indian crafts outside of areas like Four
Corners? I want to support people by purchasing the beautiful items they make,
but I don’t want to be taken advantage of because I am a tourist.
Another frustration I realized was during the quiz with the
question “give two examples of cultural imperialism.” At first I had to think
for a while about this, but when I came up with my answers, I realized how
angry writing about them made me! It made me feel like I live in a country
where we are a bunch of bullies. We bully other countries, and we bully the
people (Indians) that live here in the country. It is frustrating how high and
mighty people think we are, when we can’t even give the Indians the respect
they deserve.
