Primary Source Analysis/Indians in School Textbook

Today, I went to an 1887 archive of a history book and read about the claims of different countries and the lives of Indians. Below are the definitions that I looked up on google of "savage" and "savagery."

 Savages: (of an animal or force of nature) fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.

              (chiefly in historical or literary contexts) a member of a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized.
              (especially of a dog or wild animal) attack ferociously and maul.
Savagery:

1. 1. the quality of being fierce or cruel.
2.      2.(chiefly in historical or literary contexts) the condition of being primitive or uncivilized.
3. 
   
4. If I was an American student reading this book for schoolwork I would look at the Indians as more of animals than people, because the text describes Indians as "unknown" and doesn't really specify that they all are individuals and rather describes them all as, "tall, straight," and as, "Red Men." The description of the Indians is really harsh and doesn't shed a very positive light on the Indians as it says that, "These men of the woods are very revengeful (...) War they thought, was the most honorable employment." If I was an American student reading this for the first time and not knowing what Indians were or seeing pictures of them, I would think they belonged among the animals and secluded in the woods, and I would come to think that they wouldn't be able to integrate into the civilizations of the white settlers. 

USH HW Newspaper Research Based on Letters from the West

Disclaimer: This is from the perspective of a woman living in Utah in 1880 
September 16th 1880

                 This morning I was delivered The Salt Lake Herald and to my dismay I read about such political talk about President Merino forming cabinents, and the Vermont election that I didn't know what to make of it! I tried making sense of the "Fusion Majority with Republican Persistency, but I could hardly understand what Mr. Lee Crandall was saying in his letter. My eyes drifted back and forth from the talk of Indians, first that big census and then the fight over a woman! I think that trying to count all of the Indians is foolish because there are just too many of them to count. Fights like what they said in the Latest Telegraph about the "Ute" and the "Navajoe" Indians in my opinion are more likely to break out if the political figures have to round up all the different tribes together and count them. I think that more conflict will break out because just like they fought over a girl, if they are forced together to be counted then there will most definitely be tension between tribes and immense fighting. I tried not to pay attention to all the fighting and all the talk about people with white masks running ramped in the Nashville jail! I can't believe they hung the black men in trees, that must have been awful to see. I didn't want to read anymore about the Laprade murder and I instead looked at the breaking of the engagement of Miss Jennie Flood. I much prefer reading about these kinds of events rather than the political and ads sections of the Salt Lake Herald. Miss Jennie Flood was supposed to get married to U. S. Grant's son and his son seemed to me to be quite full of himself, and I'm glad that it's been published by Miss Flood's brother that the engagement has been broken off. Hopefully Miss Flood will find someone better than U. S. Grant jr. I've got to go to Teasdel's wagon now to pick up some dried apples for dinner!

USH Newspaper

I read the Salt Lake Herald from Salt Lake City, Utah that was published on September 16th 1880. The paragraph details an Indian fight that broke out over the marriage of a girl. One Navajo Indian and one Ute Indian were with their friends and involved in a knife fight because they both wanted to marry the same girl. In the end the Ute Indian was killed and the Navajo Indian, presumably got the girl. Another paragraph titled, "The Indian Census" describes the dividing into four places where the Indians live. Different military and political figures were assigned to the four divisions and each figure, or special agent as they are called, is supposed to take note of the industrial and educational involvement of all the Indians they are in charge of and report back to the agencies. The special agents are to put the various Indian tribes in camps and it is expected to take up to six months to tally and gather all information because there are so many Indians and they are all described as "roaming." The people described in the newspaper sound hostile towards the Indians and view the Indians as roaming nomads who shouldn't be dealt with.

Social Media Post

Our use of social media is selective and intentional so that we tend to remain interested in only things we've already been interested in, whereas newspapers expose readers to information on a broad range of topics this can connect communities by providing information about what others may be interested in. It may raise questions I never thought to ask.

Newspaper Exhibits

US History:  Newspaper Exhibits

1.    1.  What is a newspaper? (Find a definition)
From Merriam Webster a newspaper is,

: a set of large sheets of paper that have news stories, information about local events, advertisements, etc., and that are folded together and sold every day or every week

: the paper on which a newspaper is printed

2.     2. When and where did newspapers first come into existence?
Though many different countries published their first newspapers at different times, the first newspaper was published in Rome in 59 B.C. and was called the Acta Diurna.

3.  3.    What were some of the very oldest newspapers in the United States?

Some of the very oldest newspapers include the Courant, which originated in Hartford in 1764, The Boston News-Letter which was published in Boston in 1704, and The New-England Courant which was also published in Boston in 1721.

4.    4.  Find a newspaper being published today.  You may find a paper copy of a paper (such as Sunday edition of the local paper) or a USA Today, or you may read a digital copy of a newspaper.  Try finding one for a major American city.  See what news is receiving attention.  What are the “leading stories”?

I read The New York Times online for today’s date and found that the leading stories have to deal with many political views and campaigns for the election. Other smaller topics such as sexual education, and news on Lamar Odom are highlighted and boldfaced but under smaller categories of the newspaper. Many of the older newspapers contain more gossipy subjects, while today’s New York Times was about more substantial issues and happenings worldwide rather than targeted at a group of people.

5.    5.  Which does it mean to be the “newspaper of record”?  What US newspaper was first designated as the nation’s newspaper of record in 1913?  What other US paper can be considered a newspaper of record?
To be the newspaper of record means to be, “a major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and typically authoritative.” (Wiki) The first newspaper designated as the nation’s newspaper of record in 1913 was The New York Times. Another US paper that can be considered a newspaper of record is The Washington Post.

6.    6.  Think about it:  How is looking at a newspaper different from our use of social media to stay connected?
We are constantly surrounded by social media it’s gotten to the point that it’s unavoidable, and there is a continuous need to socialize rather on the internet than with the person that’s in front of you. People are swayed by pictures and comments on social media before even beginning to formulate their own opinions on a topic. You are then expected to voice your views on said social media and the cycle of people seeing the same popular opinion is endless until the popular opinion is all that they see and they expect and accept it. Newspapers give people the power to read from a critic’s standpoint, and form an opinion on the topic without being judged or monitored by social media. After reading a newspaper there’s not the expectation that you will blog about it, unless you really want to. Newspapers are more factual and not opinion based like almost everything is on social media. Newspapers connect you to the world and other views of people, while social media just connects you to the most popular and trending opinion.

7.    7.  Upload an image that serves as a good way to illustrate what you’ve discussed in this post.

Native American Fast Research

Urban Outfitters, a store popular worldwide, violated the federal law, trademark infringement, and insulted the Navajo Indians back in 2011. In October, a Native American woman walked into the store and was, "deeply distressed by your company’s mass marketed collection of distasteful and racially demeaning apparel and décor." (Sasha Houston Brown) Sasha Houston Brown is a Native American woman who stopped in Urban Outfitters and was outraged by what she saw, she openly addressed Urban Outfitters on her blog back in 2011 and published the post on Colombus Day to get attention worldwide. Urban Outfitters had been selling clothing marked as "tribal" or "Navajo" simply because there was a faux Indian pattern on the clothing. The clothing featured tribal beads, feathers, fringe, and suede on clothing to make it fit the name of "Navajo clothing." Many were offended by the blatant racist clothing and the store was ordered to stop all shipping and selling of the racial clothing after, "The Attorney General of Navajo Nation sent Urban Outfitters a cease-and-desist letter several months ago with regard to the offending products, but it is not clear what, if any, response it received." (Allison Berry) Urban Outfitters had offended the Navajo tribe and didn't even bother to send an apology letter. In an interview of a man who called Urban Outfitters and asked about the Navajo line of items they had this to say about pulling it off the shelves, "they said they weren't doing anything wrong. They had a right to use that name and they were not insensitive to the Navajo Nation." (Donovan/Michel Martin) Not only had they offended members of the Navajo Indians, they had also broken the law. "The company’s actions violate the Federal Indian Arts and Crafts act of 1990 and the Federal Trade Commission Act. According to the Department of the Interior." (Sasha Houston Brown) The law prohibits companies from using Indian arts and crafts or saying products were made as tribal clothing or by Navajo Indians, and any prosecutors face a large fine. Urban Outfitters greatly surprised it's clientele and, "trivialized and sexualized" (Sasha Houston Brown) the Navajo Indians when they had no right to, which only further shows that Native Americans aren't treated with the respect they deserve. I believe that Urban Outfitters should have taken their racial clothing line out of stores immediately after the complaint was filed by Sasha. Urban Outfitters insulted the Native American community and they should have written an apology to the strongly worded blog post four years ago when it came out. This is not the first offense that the company has made against other races, and Navajo Indians just add to the long list. I frequently buy clothing from Urban Outfitters and had no idea that they had ever offended groups, so it was really eye-opening for me to see all the racist and segregational clothing they've made. I hope they don't offend any more ethnicities and/or races and if they do I will not continue to shop there. 

The racial and offensive clothing is pictured above and was claimed to be "Navajo" when it was really just cheap patterns and unauthentic Navajo clothing which insulted many people, including Sasha Houston Brown. 

1st Quarter Reflection

       Over the first quarter, I’ve learned how to pick out certain special effects in movies, learn about the credibility of sources, and the effects of slavery and events thereafter. Normally, it’s very difficult for me to find credible sources, but using techniques such as “site: org” or “net” was helpful for me to narrow down reliable sources. I still struggle sometimes in determining whether a source is reliable or not, but this way I have an easier time searching for the right domain of sources. In watching movies, I’m able to look at all aspects of a good movie, and then smaller detailed aspects. I’ve learned about the importance of sound and musical elements, how to show the passing of time, and how directors use the emotions of an actor's face to convey a larger theme or problem. I am now able to look at a movie as a whole and critique or praise the movie for multiple features, and not just one little aspect of the movie. I've learned that movies are multisensory, and I had no idea of this before the first quarter of US History.  All technical aspects of the class have only improved over my first quarter experience and I use them in most every class now because I know the skill. The use of empathy in this class has helped me to identify situations where empathy is needed and has helped sharpen the meaning of empathy to me. I’ve learned more about slaves and the Civil War than I can remember, and I feel as if I could have an intelligent conversation with someone about the topics taught in this class. This first quarter has gone very well for me, even if I’m not at the grade that I’d like to be at, and I will aspire to get an A in this class second quarter.

     

      I realize that I’ve grown in some ways this first quarter, but I’ve also not grown in some that I’ve wanted to. I’m not very good at paraphrasing and I get very confused on where to put quotations. I don’t always know when it is appropriate to paraphrase, but I’d like to figure out how to during the second quarter. I feel that the art of paraphrasing can only come with more practice and I will practice and become better at paraphrasing. I hope to become a great US History student because I came into this class not knowing/remembering much about the country that I live in at all. I hope to learn more about the Civil War and all events that followed it and then Segway into current events. Though I am not the best at paraphrasing, I will become better over the following school year and try my hardest to become a good US History student, because history is important to me and I find it more interesting than most all other topics in school.