Heart of a Chief

This week in class we read numerous articles regarding children's literature by and about Native Americans. These articles were an eye-opening experience for me because after reading these articles I realized how much that Native American's are unfairly represented in today's society.What is even more important is that this attitude of oppression toward Native American's is fostered in our society through the media and even in the classroom such as students only learning about Indians around Thanksgiving, playing cowboys and Indians, or dressing up as Indians as a Halloween Costume.





Another important topic we covered in class was watching a movie about Native American's as mascots such as Indians, Red Skins, Chippewas, and Chiefs. If you were to ask me my opinion before I watched the movie I would have said that as long as the team name was appropriate such as "Cleveland Indians," I would think that it was a nice honor to the history of Native Americans. My reasoning behind this is that other mascot names such as Norsemen, Spartans, and Yankees, all honors a population group, but is not considered offensive. However, after watching the movie in class, regarding the struggle at the University of Illinois and their "Chief," I realized and fully support the fact that these mascot names are very offensive to Native Americans. The mock their rituals, dress and image.