Ganaondagon

                       

I think it is so interesting that Native American culture and history is all around us waiting for us to explore it at any time.  I visited the website Ganondagon, which is located near Rochester, NY.  This website represents a Native American community and is home of the Seneca Indians.  I found this to be interesting not only because I would love to learn more about it, but also because it is about 2 ½ hours to the west of my home.  I think it would be a perfect weekend getaway to learn more about the Seneca’s and also to share with my family. 

            What I learned while visiting the website is that this historical site has a longhouse on site for tourists to visit.  This longhouse was made to replicate the same size used by the Seneca's in 1687.  Longhouses during that time were made out of young elm trees, the wood constructed the frame while the bark constructed the sides.  The typical longhouse is quite large, in fact much longer than I had pictured in my mind.  Per the Ganondagon website they can stand 20 feet wide and up to 200 feet long.  The longhouse was home to several families which all belonged to the clan. Inside families grouped together and had what appears to be bunk beds.  The top was a storage space while the natives sleep underneath.  They even had a space where they could set up a fire and had a space in the roof where the smoke could escape.  The longhouse on site was built and furnished to contain items traditional used by the Seneca during historical times.  Items include herbs, crops, and medicine. Isn’t this amazing? 

            Also at this site are nature trails which visitors can walk and explore.  The Trail of Peace covers the historical aspect of the Seneca while The Earth is our Mother Trail covers the plants used by the Seneca.  The visitor has the option of visiting the trails both independently and as a guided tour.  I myself would chose the guided tour as I would love to experience it from those who know it's history best.

Ganondagon.  (2014). Preserving a Past, Providing a Future.  Retrieved from:  http://www.ganondagan.org.

                    

In the light of Reverence

I reviewed a short film clip from the PBS sponsored film, In the Light of Reverence. This documentary film is narrated by Peter Coyote and Tantoo Cardinal. The 72 minute film is on how the Native American’s make a great effort to keep landscapes of spiritual importance. The film is off stories of three communities and the places they look after: the Lakota at Devils Tower in Wyoming, the Hopi in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, and the Wintu at Mt. Shasta in California. The film shows the issues of religious freedom for land-based practitioners, and effects on sacred sites, such as mining and ski resorts to New Age practices and rock-climbing. The perspective this film is conveying is that of the native population, and how they are dealing with the changing world around them, which affects how they live.

The film clip I watched was about the Lakota at Devils Tower in Wyoming. This area has turned into a destination for rock-climbing. The Lakota have asked the rock climbers to not come during the month of June. In the film clip they say it is because June is considered special, since everything is being regenerated and reborn. If people did come during that time it would disrupt the ceremonies that take place.

The film clip also showed a contrast over the non-native and native population in the area. The non-native people claimed that the Indians were not always living in the area. They were under the impression that the native people were invading their land and disrupting their culture. They seem to think that the native people only came to the area after the park invited them. The Lakota replied by stating they were always there, but they were not trying to be seen. I think the non-native population portrayed in this documentary are thinking selfishly and arrogantly. They are not trying to be tolerant or respectful of other cultures or beliefs.

I believe that the Native Americans have every right to reserve sacred areas. Non-natives should be respectful and grateful when they are allowed to visit those areas. Everyone has the right to practice their cultural beliefs. The Native Americans are also trying to preserve nature. We cannot continue to live blindly. We must start thinking more about the future. Preserving the world is necessary to preserve continued life. Thus, the Native Americans should not be hindered from doing this, but rather be praised for it.

References

Maynor, C. M. (Director). (2001, August 14). In the Light of Reverence [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/

Sovereignty: American Indian Civics Project

The American Indian Civics Project website is a great source of information relating to historical events surrounding the formation of American Indian sovereign nations.  A sovereign nation is one in which an absolute legal authority exists who can define independent laws by which people live.  When the Europeans came to North America the Indian nations banded together in an act of sovereignty and formed treaties, alliances, and trade agreements with other nations as a show of defiance and to protect their way of life.   “Each Indian nation consisted of a unique group of people who had a distinct language and a distinct moral, cultural, and religious structure; controlled and regulated a specific geographical area; and possessed governmental powers acknowledged by the tribal people and enforceable by some sort of tribal authority” (American Indian Civics Project).

In response to this, after the Europeans began to settle in North America, many sovereign Indian nations chose to work in collaboration with British colonial leaders to negotiate sovereign partnerships with them.  In doing this the colonists and the various Indian nations accepted the new colonial governments as individual sovereign nations and the Indian nations were accepted by the colonists as their own individual sovereign nations.

This took a negative turn, though, when the colonial and British governments declared that they did not fully acknowledge Native American sovereignty, and they took steps to dissolve their sovereign powers.  These included:

• “Dispossession.  When the colonists initially bartered for Indian lands claiming that they could make the region more profitable, the Indians refused to sell.  Colonists resorting to dispossessing Indians - simply claiming and moving onto Indian land and refusing to move.
• Removal.  The colonists asserted that because they could use the land more profitably than tribal nations, Indians would have to remove themselves from their ancestral lands and relocate beyond the boundaries of colonial settlement.  If Indians refused to relocate, the colonists responded that they would be forceably removed.
• Assimilation.  While the colonists preferred that Indian people remove themselves from their settlements, they were willing to accept some Indian presence within the colonies if they assimilated into their society by accepting Christianity and British culture and traditions.
• Elimination. If the Indians refused to move, assimilate, or accept colonial governors, colonists had the right to wage a just war” (American Indian Civics Project).

These acts resulted in an even higher level of distrust between the natives and the colonists stemming from the unexpected turn-around by the British.  The Native Americans signed sovereignty agreements with the British in a show of faith, but the British backed out and declared that they did not accept the natives as a sovereign people.  It was acts like this, among many others, that have plagued relations between natives and non-natives throughout history. 

American Indian Civics Project. (n.d.). Narrative Historical Overview. American Indian Civics Project: 20th Century Indian Relations with the United States. Retrieved July 1, 2014, from http://americanindiantah.com/history/nar_colonial_legacy.html