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We Are Still Here
Term Paper ID:34681
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Essay Subject:
Peter Iverson certainly knows what happened at the Battle of Little Big Horn Battle ...... More...
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3 Pages / 675 Words
1 sources, 3 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Essay on the impact of two major battles between the American army and American Indians: the Battle of Little Big Horn Battle and how it led to the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, which was the final battle in the four-centuries-long war between native Americans and European/American settlers. Based on Peter Iverson's book, "We Are Still Here: American Indians in the 20th Century."
Paper Introduction:
Peter Iverson certainly knows what happened at the Battle of Little BigHorn Battle It was one of the last great battles in the centuries-long warbetween different American Indian nations and European-Americans The Siouxwon that battle of course brining death and ignominy to General Custerand the Seventh Cavalry But is also led to the massacre of Sioux men women and children at Wounded Knee which was the final battle in the four-centuries-long war between the indigenes of North America and thosesettlers who came
Text of the Paper:
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Peter Iverson certainly knows what happened at the Battle of Little BigHorn Battle. Without inany way dismissing the importance of what had been lost to American Indiangroups since European colonization of North America (from loss of land toloss of languages, religion, and material culture), Iverson presents apicture of different peoples who have survived through adaptation. He emphasizes the ways in which we are all alike as well asthe ways in which the past of each individual does make a difference. It was one of the last great battles in the centuries-long warbetween different American Indian nations and European-Americans. But Iverson would remind usthat it is also a symbol of the vitality of current American Indian culturethat a Hopi woman would feel such love for the land of her ancestors - aswell as all of those who came later to live on it - that she was willing tolive her children to face - and meet - death in defense of it. The Siouxwon that battle, of course, brining death and ignominy to General Custerand the Seventh Cavalry. These two battles - one last stand by brave buthopelessly outnumber people and then their final slaughter - are oftenpresented as the final chapter in the story of how the first peoples ofwhat would become the United States were vanquished. One wonders if a future edition of the book will mention Army Pfc.Lori Piestewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe and the first U.S. Genocide liesin the past of both Jews and American Indians, and to ignore it would be todo a final and terrible dishonor to all of those who lost their livessimply for being who they were, simply for bearing the genes that they did.But to look at today's American Indians as being defined only by WoundedKnee (or today's Jews as being defined only by the Holocaust) does aterrible disservice and dishonor to all of those who are survivors and whohave transformed the terrible hand dealt to their ancestors into somethingthat they can make a meaningful life of today. He dismisses - gently but firmly - the idea that non-Indians shouldview the Indians as tragic victims: To view Native Americans through theperspective of Wounded Knee (or the Long Walk of the Navajo or the Trail ofTears) is like viewing Jewry through the lens of Auschwitz. But while Iverson understands the importance - in both symbolic aswell real historical, strategic terms - of these two battles, he does notthink that they are quite as important as other scholars have arguedbecause in focusing on these battles, traditional histories of NativeAmericans (as well as traditional stories of the United States in generaland the American West in particular) would lead one to believe that thereare no American Indians left in the United States, and certainly noAmerican Indian culture. servicewomankilled in the current war in Iraq. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1998. The death of this 23-year-old singlemother - who left behind a four-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter- can be seen as simply another Indian tragedy. We Are Still Here: American Indians in the TwentiethCentury. This is certainly not true - as Iverson carefully documents in thishistory that begins with Wounded Knee and runs to the present. In choosing tofocus on the ordinary in peoples who still face ongoing racism and poverty,Iverson both celebrates the universal human striving toward happiness andthe particular, culturally embedded ways in which the American Indians thathe is focusing on pursue happiness, the ways in which they try to do wellby doing good. But is also led to the 189 massacre of Sioux men,women and children at Wounded Knee, which was the final battle in the four-centuries-long war between the indigenes of North America and thosesettlers who came later. Iverson avoids the temptation to focus on those American Indians whohave achieved far more than their brethren - those who have been elected tohigh office, or become world-class athletes or internationally recognizedwriters and artists. He touches on these accomplishments (for they arecertainly worthy of being noticed) but he concentrates on the everydayaccomplishments of native peoples - the families that are being raised, thescholarships won, the family business that are started. Works Cited Iverson, Peter.
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