Charlie Hill

I was looking up articles about our current stereotypes of Native Americans, and I found one that kept quoting this man (Charlie Hill) saying things that made me laugh. I had never heard of him before so I went on a Google search. I am so glad I did because he is such a funny guy! He has been around as a comedian since the 70’s. The first clip I watched of him was his performance at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. The clip is not long, but it still had me laughing throughout the whole thing. I wanted to point out two of his jokes that I think really relate to what we have talked about in discussion forums regarding oppression and cultural imperialism.

Marker 2:13-2:26

‘So I’m sitting on the airlines in the middle seat, there’s a redneck on each side of me and I’m thinking, “you may have stole my land and ripped off my culture but you’re not getting these damn arm rests I’m telling you that much”

What is great about this joke is the irony regarding the white man and the Native Americans, yet everyone can relate to this situation on a plane. I am sure everyone has been in this situation, you are stuck on a plane next to someone you don’t know and there is always that awkward moment where you both aren’t sure who gets to use the armrest. The irony is Charlie is saying there may be two white men next to me and they have taken things from my culture and identity, but I am not budging on these arm rests! He is basically saying white people may feel entitled, but he is not letting that happen.

Another great part of the show is when he decided to make a commercial about white men at pow wows and how they want to be Native American. He calls it Generikee. Starts at 4:15 mark

‘Generikee-Say wannabees! Are you tired of being left out in the cold with no native heritage? Unaware of your Indian roots? Or maybe you have no Indian roots. Feel uncomfortable at pow wows? Well soon you will be out there singing and dancing with the rest of us thanks to Generikee yes one spoonful of Generikee and your native roots will start to grow back instantly. You will never feel spiritually inadequate again. Taken as directed, Generikee increases wisdom, restores earthiness and makes you one with the universe without a prescription. So try it today and when someone asks you your tribal affiliation just say Generikee. You may not be able to prove it, but you will know it in your heart. Caution side effects may include suicide, poverty, disease, religious persecution, and general loss of land.’

I think the best part of this is how he jokes about people who try to claim Indian heritage, but at the end he lists the “side effects” which are real life challenges in Native culture. I think many white people would want to claim Native culture if there was something in it for them like money or scholarships. Only if it would improve their life situation. They probably wouldn’t take into account the hardships Native Americans still face, the “side effects.”

Illegal Immigrants

Today I branched out and decided to Google “Native American cartoons” to see what would pop up. Turns out, there was a pretty good mixture of cartoons. Most of them tended to be positive towards Native American culture. In fact, I didn’t find one that was overtly insensitive in any way. Most were just ironic about mainstream culture and how it has affected the Native Americans.

 http://regentsprep.org/regents/core/questions/questions.cfm?Course=ushg&TopicCode=7i

This was a similar theme among many of the cartoons I found. There was always a white person (or people) complaining about needing to close the borders, or take care of the “illegal’s” in the country. To counter this, there was always a Native American pictured, who said something similar to what is said in this cartoon-“I’ll help you pack.” At first glance, most people would probably just chuckle because the clear message is we complain about illegal immigrants coming across the border from Mexico, when we came over and took control of America from the Native Americans. I thought it would be fun to analyze this cartoon from my ever changing perspective on Native American issues.

Like I said, first glance I understand what the cartoonist was saying. Our country has declared we have an “illegal immigrant” problem. I have heard talk on the news about people wanting to close our borders completely to outsiders. How ridiculous this sounds to me. In order for people to become U.S. citizens, it sounds like we want them to jump through hoops in order to become legal. What hoops did we jump through when we came to America? It seems like we just declared this land ours and didn’t care what anyone had to say about it. Our society is very self-centered, we could care less about the less fortunate situations others may have. If we want it one way, we are going to get it even if it means fighting for it. I have started to see our country as the bully of the world. If you don’t do what we want-then we will come in and take over. Ok-mini rant over! Back to analyzing. Although the cartoonists point is well taken, irony and all, I think they missed the mark with the portrayal of the Native American. This is a stereotypical image of a Native. The way he is dressed, the long hair, the feather in his hair. All of those are part of the stereotype many Americans have of Native Americans. Perhaps this is why the cartoonist had to stereotype, because if he didn’t make the Native American stand out in a way mainstream culture would automatically recognize who he was, they wouldn’t understand the point of the cartoon. I guess if I created the cartoon, I wouldn’t know how to accurately portray a Native American to the public without using some sort of stereotypical dress. It makes me wonder, had this cartoon been in color what color would the cartoonist of used for the skin? White skin coloring for the white man, but what about the Native American and the Mexican family? Would he have used that kind of red/brown color, like we have seen on team mascot faces? Although I have to frown upon the stereotypical nature of the cartoonists drawing, I don’t know how I would be able to change it to get the point across….

New Understandings

As we are progressing through the course I am learning more and more about Native American culture. It seems like this class more than ever is helping me understand the hardships and oppression that has become the Native way of life. Just this last weekend I was flipping channels on the television and stopped at the History Channel. All I saw at first was what looked like a battle going on between some old school American soldiers and some Native Americans. The Indians being portrayed were what we would consider stereotypical, but I overlooked that fact because it was the history channel and that depiction was probably accurate for the time frame they were trying to cover. So as I am watching, I learn the show is about Andrew Jackson. I am no history buff, so I did a little more research to learn what was going on. I had no idea he was a general who forced Indians to relocate. Also, I learned the Cherokee Indians who he was pressuring to move were being led by a man who was only part Indian. In appearance, he was a white man. How interesting it must have been, for the Indians to rally around a man who looked white, but for all purposes was Indian. I was disgusted to learn the way the American soldiers were able to determine the Indian death toll. Apparently, they would chop off the ends of the dead Indians noses, so they could be easily counted later on. How barbaric! What a murky past our country has…

So after I was watching the show, I started to think about my lack of knowledge when it comes to America’s history. What I have learned (and retained through the years) always seems to paint our country in a positive light, or as the victim. In school we focused on how terrible Britain’s rule was over us and how noble the men were who helped us gain our freedom. To be honest, except for learning about some of the major battles like the Battle of the Little Bighorn I never learned much about Native Americans in school. Actually I am curious why the Battle of the Little Bighorn is also known as Custer’s Last Stand. Maybe I am interpreting this incorrectly, but by calling it Custer’s, it seems like Custer overshadows the fact that it was a Native American victory. Why isn’t Sitting Bull referenced in the name of the battle? Or one of the other important Native American figures?

Now this next section is not intended to belittle slavery in ANY way, I am just trying to understand. I said before, I was unfamiliar with Andrew Jackson's involvement with Indian affairs. Why is it our country focuses on the Presidents who were anti-slavery? I am grateful we do put such an emphasis on Presidents who were trying to change something that was so awful, but why don’t we learn about any of the Presidents who had involvement with Indians? Is it because all of the involvement has been negative? Slavery was terrible, but what has happened to the Native Americans (and is still happening!) is just as terrible, so why hasn’t it become a bigger deal? Or why, do schools not teach much about people who have stood up for Native American rights? Maybe they do, and I just don’t remember any of it but I am pretty sure when I was younger we spent very little time discussing Native Americans beyond learning about Thanksgiving.

I posted an article on the discussion board about DNA testing and how people are learning they have a more diverse ancestry than before. This has led to some people trying to abuse the system and claim rights as minorities, even though they have lived their lives as white. I thought it was a very interesting article and I posted the link in the discussion but I will post it again!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jul/15/usa.genetics

Naturally Native

As I sat on my couch watching the film "Naturally Native", my fiancé asked me what I was doing and I told him I was watching a video for class. He responded with "how boring." What surprised me was my response of "it's actually pretty interesting!" Although the film itself was slightly cheesy, I was able to appreciate it a lot more than I would have because I have more of an understanding of Indian culture now. Once the film had finished, I was able to analyze what I had just seen and compare and contrast it to what we have learned in class so far.

I know the film is for entertainment and educational purposes, but one of the scenes from the movie really bothered me. The scene is where the women are in the office trying to get a loan, and the man asks if they have their identification cards. Vic proceeds to reference the numbering of Indians to the Holocaust. I felt like I had to bring this up during our discussions this week, because I was curious what other people thought about this line. People seemed to have somewhat mixed views. My personal opinion, the reference was a stretch due to the situation. Yes, America has a bloody and brutal history with the Native Americans that may deserve a Holocaust reference, but for the situation at hand in the movie it was over-dramatic. Maybe I am being overly sensitive to the Holocaust reference because it is something that affected people who are more similar to my culture? I would hope this isn’t the underlying cause of my frustration, but who knows.

*After I wrote the previous section, I found this article about the unresolved grief American Indians have experienced due to the genocide and harsh treatment from European colonizers. It really made me think about the lasting trauma they face every day. What’s worse is they are still being oppressed by our government.

http://www.annafoundation.org/American%20Indians%20and%20Alaska%20Natives/American_Indian_holocaust.pdf