The Native American Civil Rights Movement began in the early history of the United States. However, much of the protest literature did not begin until the 1800’s. The movement originally began with the desire to maintain it rich culture and a need to express the pain that had been endured. The history of the Native American is important to all of the United States and a movement that needs to be told because their history is intertwined with the United States. It is important to understand how we have failed those that have brought rich cultures to the land, importantly respect their cultures and acknowledge their contributions. In order to understand where America’s land was fortified we must first understand what its ancestors experienced. It is important to learn from these experiences so that the same mistakes are not made and we can better live in unity as a nation.
We experience the daily life of the Native American in the memoir of Black Elk. Black Elk lived from 1863-1950. With the help of John G. Neihardt he wrote his history so that the generations that followed him would understand their beginning and better navigate their future. Black Elk honestly and truthfully wrote of what he experienced in his lifetime. His truthfulness can sometimes be hard to swallow but it is appreciated by the reader. Black Elk expresses his sadness and hardship as he states, "and I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream." (Black Elk and Neihardt, J.G. 1932. Trodd, Z. 2006. American Protest Literature.)
Again we see the depth of the Native American's oppression in Lydia Sigourney's poem, Indian Names. She expresses her sadness for the diminishing Native Americans when she states, "YE say, they all have passed away, That noble race and brave, That their light canoes have vanished. (Sigourney, L. 1834. Trodd, Z. 2006. American Protest Literature.)
Chapter 2 of American Protest Literature seeks to address civil rights of the Native Americans. They have been pushed out of their land with little to no compensation and what was worst they were nearly taken out as a race all together. Thetheir rights have been limited if not taken away, their way of living, their quest to maintain their cultural history and to be treated fairly in the land in which they were born.
The Native American have a rich culture and a long history of traditions in which they fight to maintain and teach through the generations. It became difficult when new cultures and traditions were introduced. The Native Americans have continued to struggle to maintain their heritage and keep that history alive. We see this in Mary Crow Dog's writing of Lakota Women. "He knew all the songs and rituals that his father Henry had taught him, who himself had learned them from his grandfather." (Crow Dog, Mary. 1990. Trodd, Z. 2006. American Protest Literature.)
We experience the daily life of the Native American in the memoir of Black Elk. Black Elk lived from 1863-1950. With the help of John G. Neihardt he wrote his history so that the generations that followed him would understand their beginning and better navigate their future. Black Elk honestly and truthfully wrote of what he experienced in his lifetime. His truthfulness can sometimes be hard to swallow but it is appreciated by the reader. Black Elk expresses his sadness and hardship as he states, "and I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream." (Black Elk and Neihardt, J.G. 1932. Trodd, Z. 2006. American Protest Literature.)
Again we see the depth of the Native American's oppression in Lydia Sigourney's poem, Indian Names. She expresses her sadness for the diminishing Native Americans when she states, "YE say, they all have passed away, That noble race and brave, That their light canoes have vanished. (Sigourney, L. 1834. Trodd, Z. 2006. American Protest Literature.)
Chapter 2 of American Protest Literature seeks to address civil rights of the Native Americans. They have been pushed out of their land with little to no compensation and what was worst they were nearly taken out as a race all together. Thetheir rights have been limited if not taken away, their way of living, their quest to maintain their cultural history and to be treated fairly in the land in which they were born.
The Native American have a rich culture and a long history of traditions in which they fight to maintain and teach through the generations. It became difficult when new cultures and traditions were introduced. The Native Americans have continued to struggle to maintain their heritage and keep that history alive. We see this in Mary Crow Dog's writing of Lakota Women. "He knew all the songs and rituals that his father Henry had taught him, who himself had learned them from his grandfather." (Crow Dog, Mary. 1990. Trodd, Z. 2006. American Protest Literature.)