Native American Biographies

I found the website for Native American Biographies to be extremely useful in giving an overview of notable Native Americans throughout history.  The website is indexed alphabetically and provides links to separate pages.  The individual pages are supported by various websites and typically include several paragraphs, which include basic information of each person, both male and female, indicated.

Although I feel that this source is an excellent starting point for one who wishes to retrieve basic information, the pages themselves are brief.  However, as I said, these pages are excellent starting points, giving one the foundation upon which to further research each subject.

I feel it should be mentioned that the pages included in the link, while covering the Native Americans indexed, also focus on different subjects.  For example, the link included for Big Foot, who led the Miniconjou, who lost their lives at Wounded Knee, encompasses important events in the Old West.

In some cases, several links are provided for the more well-known Native Americans.  For example, there are several links for Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota chief and integral part of history.  It should be noted that the links provided direct the reader to reputable sites, such as PBS.

Overall, Native American Biographies on the 42explore2.com site is a moderately comprehensive online resource for the beginner seeking various Native Americans biographies as a starting point for further research.  As the links provided do lead to further subjects, this site is useful for general topics in which Native Americans play an important role or for those interested in learning more about Native American cultures.

42explore2.com.  American Indian Biographies: A to Z.  http://www.42explore2.com/native3.htm

Cultural Preservation

I found the most interesting website on the list of resources to be the Native American Images Project of the American Philosophical Society Library page (http://www.amphilsoc.org/exhibit/natamimages). The website is a compilation of various Native American images collected since its establishment by Benjamin Franklin in 1743. The society was founded "for the promotion of useful knowledge," and it was actually Thomas Jefferson who promoted the Native American collection.  This is an interesting fact because while he was president, the government was involved with attempting to relocate many tribes. There was a general belief that Native Americans were a dying culture and would eventual disappear.

This raises an interesting question of 'why?' If Jefferson had such a large passion for cultural preservation, why would he allow the government to commit the heinous act of relocation? For me, the answer lies within what the people wanted, which was more land. To stay in popular view of the people, he would have to concede his personal beliefs and support his constituents desires. Though what the government did is inexcusable, maybe Jefferson was able to do more 'good' in his position than someone else. For example, if he were to lose reelection to someone with complete hatred toward North American indigenous peoples, perhaps the fear of their extinction would be closer to reality.

Ultimately, the Native American Images Project  is a testament to the ability of the various tribes to keep their culture alive through their own contributions and without the 'help' of others.

References

Powel, Timothy A. et al. "Native American Images Project." American Philosophical Society. N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://www.amphilsoc.org/exhibit/natamimages>.

Start Blogging

Hello Class,

Some of you may be blogging pros, while I know others are blogging novices.

If you are here, clearly you already read and followed the instructions from Module 1 on blogging. The first assignment states:

Remember, the point of journaling is to convey your ideas about what you are learning, but since you are in an academic format, it should be substantiated by the information that you are exposed to in this course. It does not matter if you like or dislike something; what matters is why you feel the way you do and what lead you in the sources you reviewed to feel that way.

1. Write a 250 word minimum piece of writing that can be used in a blog post. Your writing must document and describe one of the web resources in Module 01 and tell us, the reader what you have learned from it. Do not assume that all of your readers are familiar with the resource. Here is a good link for composing a quality academic journal post: http://faculty.weber.edu/kmackay/academic_journal.htm

So have fun, be creative, load pictures, link important websites. Although this is an academic exercise, I prefer that you explore your creative side, express yourself freely.

Enjoy.

Soo Tribe Pow Wow 2013 my peeps

Soo Tribe Annual 4th of July Pow Wow 2013