V 3's Weblog: #4 The before and after of Native Americans

December 2005

October 12, 2005

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#4 The before and after of Native Americans

In the early part of the 19th century the Native Americans were being overrun by the settlers in America. The Native Americans attempted to keep the settlers from taking over their lands by becoming more like them. They tried to adapt to the white peoples’ customs to prevent their lands from being taken but could not quite fit in. They were unsuccessful in their efforts to adapt. Catlin, the artist of “Pigeon’s Egg Head”, shows how Native Americans tried to conform to the settler’s expectations but never quite bridged the gap.

The attempt to convert to white customs can be seen clearly in “Pigeon’s Egg Head” because Catlin portrayed the Native American and the convert back to back. There are similarities between the two images of the man in the painting for instance the man’s hair is approximately the same length in both images. Also they both wear at least a feather in their headwear. However, the convert is dressed in the clothes of the settlers instead of his own. He also stands a little more crooked and seems less proud of himself than before he was converted. It can be seen that the Native American is proud of his heritage while the convert is confused about who he really is.

In the painting of this man it is shown that the Native Americans were unsuccessful in his attempt to change to the settlers’ customs. The convert is holding an umbrella and a fan showing feminist qualities even though he is a man. He also has a bottle in his back pocket that likely holds alcohol and suggests his possible drunkenness. He seems to be a little tipsy and needs to use the umbrella for support. He is also in a military uniform while drunk which doesn’t really fit either. Teepees can be seen in the background that shows him heading back from the capital now neither entirely a Native American nor entirely a white man. He has lost his identity and is confused about who he is.

The Native Americans in this time period were forced to leave their land by the white settlers. They attempted to adapt to white culture using “a program of accommodation by adopting white ways to prevent removal.”[1] They could not do this to an extent that pleased the settlers and were forcefully removed from their lands. Catlin described these changes in his painting “Pigeon’s Egg Head”. He showed how the Native Americans tried to adapt to white culture but were unable to. He showed that they kept a part of themselves even while trying to adapt and that still holds true today.

[1] Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, Lytle, & Stoff. (2006). Nation of Nations. Boston: McGraw-Hill. pg. 296.

Comments

This is a good post, what I like is that you give good topic sentences and stay on topic through the paragraphs. There are some areas that could use some improvement. It is hard to tell if there is a thesis. Next time maybe you could put your thesis in bold or underline it. Also you fail to mention the significance of the white house in the picture. Lastly your conclusion needs to incorporate your ideas into one paragraph, and close out what you were sayin. Besides this it was a very good post.

Posted by: Neal Wobbe | October 19, 2005 at 06:19 PM

Your thesis lacks setting up an argument for your paper. Your blog is well written but you need to go into more detail and explain your map a little bit better. It is very clear. Your conclusion lacks suming up your ideas from your blog. oh

Posted by: morgan hall | October 19, 2005 at 07:37 PM

You forgot to bold your thesis. I like how you added the picture in your post, it really helps to see what you're talking about. "convert" in the second paragraph isn't the right word to use, I think that transformation would be better. you said "native americans" then followed it up with "his" in the 3rd paragraph. just pay more attention to what you're writing, or proof read it. I liked your conclusion because it summed up everything you wanted to say.

Posted by: jroo46 | November 01, 2005 at 09:18 AM