Indian Population in United States

There are two interesting maps that are drawn out about the density and percent of Indians and Native Americans living in the United States. These two maps are shown below. You may need to zoom in to actually see the layout and statistics. If not, go to the radicalcartography website and go to 1. Browse by Problematic 2. Social Statistics 3. US Demographics and then from there you can click on the Indian Density and Percent.

As you can see, the largest numbers of Indians live in Arizona and Oklahoma. Also, as I am sure that you can see, Alaska has a large population of Indians. These maps also outline where the reservations currently exist. Personally, I was somewhat surprised by the number of reservations and the locations of them all. They are spread out among the United States and after all of our talks in class, I did not expect there to be this many reservations left. Even so, it is sad to see how little clusters there are left of Indians. It is nice to see how many Indians reside in Alaska, but I still do not understand why the Indian population cannot be more accepted in the United States. Honestly, I am not all that knowledgeable about the history of the Indians and the different reservations, but after all that we have been studying in class I thought it was interesting to see how the reservations are set up and where the Indians are now mainly dispersed. Perhaps there have been many assimilated Indians, but there are also still reservations left.

Also, going off of the same map section, you can explore the densities and percent of other ethnicities as well. The others that are listed are Black, White, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific. It in interesting to look through and to see how the populations of these ethnicites compare to that of the Indians and Native Americans. Just some other little things that I noticed while browsing through these maps are the Asians and Pacific Islanders have very little population density than the other etnicities. Also, near the reservations there are not many other ethnicities other than the Indians, so perhaps they have stopped attempting to assimilate and have just decided to keep to themselves. It was interesting to compare all the maps and browse through them and I would recommend doing it if you have the time. I especially thought that the Indian ones were important because we are discussing this in class.

http://www.radicalcartography.net/

Gay Rights Crossing Borders

One of the most talked about conflicts the government is dealing with right now is gay marriage. As you all know, this has been a topic on the front of many newspapers recently due to all of the activity going on in the Supreme Court. This really doesn't have anything to do with either of the pieces of literature were focusing on right now, but gay marriage making moves and crossing borders seems like a significant enough topic to be discussed right now.

Gay marriage has been illegal and looked down upon for a very long time. The past few years, however, the gay community and it's supporters have really been pushing the government to give them equal rights. Long ago, it started off that almost everyone was against gay marriage because the Catholic religion was so prominent and said that marriage must be between a man and a woman. Today, however, this border is being crossed and gay marriage is much more widely accepted and supported. This issue deals with a few different kinds of borders directly. First there is a minority and majority border. Once upon a time, it was the majority to be straight, for a man to marry a woman, and to not accept the gay/lesbian minority. This is not the case anymore, it is much more acceptable to be gay and a huge population of the country is for gay marriage and equality. Next, there is a legislative border that this group is trying to cross over and break. Since there are laws in many states against gay marriage and in few states approving gay marriage, these people are relying on the Supreme Court to help them break this border and give them equal marriage opportunities.

There are also borders that are indirectly related. This photo has been circulating around all of the social networking websites for a few weeks and I think it makes a great point. It relates right now and people who are against gay marriage to 40 years ago when many people would protest against race equality. This race border of the past, shared the same two direct borders that gay marriage faces today: minority/majority and the legislative. It is mocking how people actually used to try to stop the integration of races when today there is little discrimination and laws treat all races the same. It was dumb of people to try to stop this from happening when it is inevitable and right. This comic strip says that this is just how we will look back on gay marriage and equality. Those who are trying to stop it now will look back later and life and realize that this is a border that is meant to be crossed and destroyed.

Māori people of New Zealand

Talking about the history and culture of what happened to the Native Americans and after watching Huey's TED talk, made me start thinking about the rest of the world. Obviously Americans try to forget what has happened in our countries past or are simply not taught it in schools, which is why TED talks like Huey's can leave us feeling guilty and helpless. I got to thinking about the Māori tribe from New Zealand. They were the first Polynesian settlers in New Zealand who's way of life has been overridden and culture suppressed. I studied there in 2011 and the Māori culture actually reminds me of what happened to the Native Americans that once thrived here. There are entire museums dedicated to the culture that is now a minority. They tattooed and painted their faces to distract and scare their enemy away. Now when you see one, they are kind of a spectacle on the streets just like it would be if you saw a Sioux chief walking around with his face all painted white and dressed in his elaborate clothes. Makes me think that if I were intimately knowledgeable of other countries indigenous peoples that most would have a less than happy story of how their cultures and values and overall way of life was casually pushed aside to make room for a new world they would have almost no part in, except in the history books of how they were unjustly treated.

Speculative History

         Growing up, it was always the easiest way to annoy any adult with a “what if” question simply for the hypothetical nature the question ensues, with no definite answer.

         “Mom, what if the sun was green?”

         “Be quiet, Erin. That’s not the way it is so it doesn’t matter.”

         These what-if questions can be intriguing and can allow your mind to run to its deepest depths of speculative thought. This has started to occur in my train of thought during our studies of Native Americans and how US settlers stripped them of their land and culture. So here’s my “what if” question: What if the Indians had won the west?

         Literally, we could come up with a million different scenarios as to the way things would be. I’ll offer my first scenario that came to mind.

         So the Native Americans win the “Battle of Greasy Grass” (because that’s the battle’s Native name) and we are now a country with Native Americans beginning to take charge. Slowly but surely, whites are taken out of their once “civilized” homes and schools and are brought out into the great nature with the Natives. Whites aren’t allowed to get hair cuts, can’t use advanced weaponry to hunt, and have to learn the Native tongue. White parents may not actually have the choice if their children go to learn how to be a Native, but the Native Americans think its best for whites to start assimilating to their dominate culture.

         After many years, the whites have finally caught on and learn to live off the land and the natural resources. Things are pretty ok and even though the whites didn’t want to do it, they sort of found a way to survive like the Natives.

         Oh.. World War II? Is that you, Hitler? SCHEISSE!! WIR WERDEN ANGEGRIFFEN!! ICH HASSE DIE DEUTSCHEN!! This is us proclaiming in German, “SHIT!! WE’RE BEING ATTACKED!! I HATE THE GERMANS!” after Hitler takes over The United States because we don’t have any advanced weaponry like the Europeans to defend ourselves against Nazi Germany’s attempts to take over the world. We fight our hardest, but the German’s tanks and automatic weaponry are no match for our traditional Native American weaponry.

       Meanwhile, some other really powerful country, probably Canada (because, well hey, this is all speculative, I can say whatever I want happened) defeats Germany with some really smart plan we no longer translate because white people are all still pissed off that we were forced to learn Sioux and now German. We’re like “AHH!! MEIN WEINERSCHNITZEL IST WEG!! “(AHH! MY BREADED VEAL CUTLET IS GONE). We yell a lot of things in German mostly because it is fun for us to yell in German. I don’t need to go any further, but eventually, since the Canadians won World War II, we start saying ridiculous things like “What were you tawlking aboot on Chooseday, eh?”

 

         So this was just a little bit of silly writing, but really does point out something important: If we change one detail that seems pretty irrelevant nowadays to our country’s course, it makes a world of difference and has the power to change basically every single aspect of life from language to foreign affairs. This is totally relevant to think about how the events we are reading about in Native American history shaped what the country, and even the world became.

         Maybe the Germans wouldn’t have taken over The United States (Well…maybe they would have), but if the Native Americans would have won the west and become the dominate culture and group, the country and world’s timeline would completely be reassembled with who knows what falling in between the Massacre at Wounded Knee and today. It’s just fun to think about. Auf Weidersehn!