http://www.matthewwilliamsphotography.com/#/essays/pine-ridge-reservation/pineridge01
When you think about native americans you more than likely will think about Disney’s Pocahontas, Squanto, or even people living in teepee’s. If you know a little more about Indians, you might think about brown people whom are poverty stricken who have houses with no running water or electricity, you might think of broken treaties, or ‘rez bombs’ (cars that are rusted out and running on its last legs). Or you might think of normal people who are just trying to make it in this world, who’ve got a job, who go to school, who aren’t addicted to anything but candy or playing basketball, in the social media and in the dominant culture, native americans are portrayed inaccurately.
Matthew Williams and his photography is something I came across trying really hard to find something to write about, no lie…and so I had typed in ‘native americans and controversies’ and all the images of native americans came up. Stuff about powwows, old pictures of what Indians used to be, and then there’s the up to date pictures of what Indians look like nowadays (or what mainstream culture sees).
I am native american, specifically from the Seneca Nation in New York. I’m from Steamburg, a small small small (I can’t even call it a town because it’s not big enough) but it’s on the edge of the reservation and the nearest town where everyone else lives is in Salamanca. Steamburg is located in Western New York, an hour south of Buffalo, and is literally 10 to 15 minutes away from anything.
I’ve always run into people who know nothing about Indians, who still think we live in teepee’s (my people never lived in teepee’s, we are people of the longhouse, teepee’s are what Plains Indians used to live in), people who don’t think Indians exist, even other Indians think that all of the tribes that used to live East of the Mississippi River have been wiped out, but that’s not the truth. I’m here which says a lot, we still speak our language and perform traditional ceremonies.
The biggest cultural lens I’ve ever seen is the one focused on native american life. Too often you see shacks as homes, deteriorating rooms, overweight adults, underweight children, dirty clothes, not enough money to live on, poverty stricken, bingo betties (lil ol ladies runnin to play bingo and win some money), gangsters…these are all descriptions of raced, classed, gendered bodies. You don’t see these problems with ‘white people’, but you see them all the time in colored people. Native americans are classed and associated with low class, more often than not the poverty stricken part of society. Seeing images like those taken in Matthew Williams’ gallery makes you take that point of view that ‘hey their poor and it looks like they always will be, there’s no hope for these people, their low class, their poverty stricken’ but you don’t see the normal Indians across the country. You don’t see the natives that aren’t additcted to drugs or alcohol, that go to college and have a decent job whom aren’t poor. Pictures like those make you take that stand and make you feel a certain way. It’s wrong but that’s just the way it is and it doesn’t look like it’s going to change…
By the way, Matthew Williams' photos of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is found on his website and that's the URL at the top of the blog post
I am so glad that you decided to share this insight, I know all too well of the stereotypes given to native Americans. As a child, Native Americans were like stories from a book. But those perspectives were clearly removed when my best friend was an native american from the Hopi tribe in Arizona where I used to live. Native Americans were always just normal people to me until I was introduced to an article about an artist who was trying to change people's perspectives on Native Americans through his art. (to the point that he put his body out as part of the exhibit! He sat in a glass box that would normally be seen in a museum and would sit there all day as people passed by to prove to them that Native American culture was not extinct, however he argued that the culture was in danger because of "white men's" influence of poverty and alcohol. So he then argued me into believing that many native Americans are addicted to alcohol and live in poverty, even though my friend was involved in neither.
ReplyDeleteIt is slightly disturbing to me that I could be argued out of my own perspective that I had already known by cultural stereotypes. It was refreshing for me to be reminded that those stereotypes are in fact, not true. Thank you again.
I found your blog post really interesting because of two reasons: I had a conversation with a good friend about Columbus day and how someone he knew was ignorant enough to say that Christopher Columbus did not do anything wrong >.< and two- Some co-workers I use to work with always go to a Native American reservation up North and stay a couple nights on site to attend their powwows and spend time with some of their friends (they themselves were not Native American). I had NO idea they still did that here.
ReplyDeleteSo, on one side of ignorance, you have the people who assume that the Native Americans have in no way assimilated into the American culture and still live in their original dwellings and then you have people like me, who have no idea that they still do things to preserve their culture, which I love and admire you guys deeply for. As a first generation Hmong American, I find it harder and harder to hold onto my original culture and easier and easier to be assimilated into the American culture. I hope we can hold onto our culture like some of the Native Americans have.
This was such a good and true post. Sadly, until reading the speech in our work schedule on the Indigenous people I had NO idea that any of this history had happened. It's strange how nothing of this sort EVER came up in history class once during Elementary, Junior High, and High School. I was never taught or even told of the struggles of the Native Americans in our history. I think that history classes should focus more on this topic and the truth, regardless of how it sounds and make the U.S. look. Maybe, then they wouldn't judge American Indians and think they live in teepees. The American Indians are one of the few cultures that have been able to hold on to their roots. And I think that is something to look up to and follow.
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