Sherman Alexie: Tonto

Alexie writes about his hatred of Tonto because he feels like movies and mainstream culture depicted Indians as some things that were just not true. He didnt like Tonto because in a sense he felt like he had to live up to certain expectations such as falling in love with a white woman and being brave in a fight. As a person, he claims he was none of these things. He didnt like to get in fights and never kissed a white woman on the neck. He tried to explain that being an Indian youth in America was often tough because of some shameful movies, songs, etc. He didnt feel like America knew or cared about the true Native American culture.

The Lone Ranger

The episode starts off with six Texas rangers being set up and massacred. One ranger survives, the Lone Ranger. He is nursed back to health by his Indain friend Tonto, who he saved when both of them were boys. The clip basically depicted how the West was corrupt and filled with violence not only with bad men but "lawmen" who were corrupt. The Lone Ranger comes off as a tough, griity character who doesnt seem to be afraid of confrontation for the good of a cause.

Dime Novel Topic

I would write about how Joe may have a been a young and sort of disturbed boy at first, but his will to survive and to protect what he thought was good was second to none. You understand early on in the novel his will to survive was unrivaled by most on the frontier and he was extremely crafty when it came to making the best of his possessions, which was a main key to survival back then. He really had no problem with killing Indians, so I would also try and touch on the fact maybe his childood trauma involved Indans and explore that route pyschologically.

Group Discussion on Dime Novels

Our group had some of the same interesting views on the novel as each other. We all thought it was funny how Joe never really spoke at the beginning of the novel but it seemed that he would never shut up towards the end of the book. We all also agreed it was ironic that Joe survived so many battles and adventures but died on his front porch while cleaning his rifle. The most interesting topic discussed was how one could connect the Indian and settlers struggle to the movie Avator because of the government invading a different culture and land that isnt theres.

Review of California Joe

Towards the end of the book you begin to truly grasp how much mental and pysical strength this boy had. Many times in the book he was faced with daunting tasks such as participating in Indian skirmishes sometimes outnumbered fifty to one. Yet I am not sure if Joe was haunted from a childhood trauma or just really loved adventure and pushing his limits. The boy somehow always pulled through no matter how drastic his situation was. When Joe made his way West people began calling him California Joe for he became a "gold guide". I think this is ironic for Joe because all throughout the book he really had no interest in money. I believe his death was fitting for him, like Wild Bill, because both were assinated and usually men like that not only meet their deaths violently but accept their violent deaths without fear.

California Joe, Chapters 3,4,5 and 6

In my opinion I believe the immigrants began to realize, once Joe rode into their camp, that he was not a, "spook" but just a seventeen year old kid. They described his clothes as more or less battered and patched up fragments from what seemed to be other peoples clothes because none of his outfit really fit him. Joe warns the group that the Indians were laying a trap for them and offers his help with a counter attack plan. The group quickly realizes that the boy is skilled in the ways of war and take his advice without question. I thought it was really smart how Joe incorporated the young boys and women into the battle plan. He believed that by doing this it increased the chances of the groups survival and furthermore I thought it was cool that the groups women and boys had no problem participating in the attack. I also learned that Joe is skilled in the art of scalping which really is no surprise considering he seems to know the Indian ways extremely well.

California Joe, The Mysterious Plainsmen

The book starts off by describing some immigrants who were heading West that had pitched camp for the night. Some of the men ventured out into the prairie to hunt some of the wild game when they saw a mysterious, beardless man dressed in all black on a snow white horse. He was armed with a black rifle that layed across his lap. Since the group's guide had died a few days earlier, they asked the "Phantom Rider" for directions to make it back to their encampment. While he never allowed the group to approach him, or talked, he led the group safely back to their camp. In chapter two, the story begins with a note that carried a warning that was delivered overnight to the camp. The note warned the travelers that they were on the wrong trial and they trusted him, he would lead them the right way. The group began following a trial of stakes and concluded it could only be the "Phantom Rider" guiding them because the trail of stakes were made by a single horseman. As the second night came and went, a second note was delivered to the camp. It explained that they were making the right decision to follow the new trial. Some in the camp feared a trap was being set but most believed they were making the right decision to follow the new trial. On the third night, much to the dismay of some women, the rider in black appeared in the camp.

Phillip Deloria

One thing I took in from the this handout was D.H. Lawrence's opinions about Native Americans. He believed that white Americans needed to either destroy the Indians or to assimilate them into a white American world. Americans wanted to feel that the continent was completely theirs but they knew only the Indians could teach them the ways of the land. But even in spite of this, Lawrence believed the Americans basically had to destroy the Indians for total control of the continent's landscapes. What I took away from the Boston Tea Party was the Indian disguises were used not neccessarly as a way of maintaining secrecy as it was to cast blame on a third party. Of course it was all a way of poking fun at the British by depicting a picture of Mohawk Indians that traveled hundreds of miles to dump Boston's tea into the harbour. The noble savagery that is reffered to in the handout in my opinion is talking about how whites admired the Indians because of their way with dealing with their land from a spiritual standpoint. But at the same time the Americans needed that land so they could call the whole continent home

Charlot

Charlot spoke out against the "white" man trying to tax his people, known as the "Flathead" Indians. He questioned why the white man thought his people should pay them for things that were given to them by their God and forefathers. Charlot spoke of how in his expierence with the white man all they did was steal, lie and murder his people while he claims his people in the beggining showed the white man kindness. He believes the white man will always just take more and more from his people.

Frank L. Baum

Baum believed that in order to provide safety for pioneers the remaining Native Americans must be annihilated while they were vulnerable from the death of Sitting Bull. This is an extremely inhumane view by Baum made towards the Native Americans. He considers the "whites" the masters of the American continent, even though the Native Americans were obviously there first. He also goes onto say that Americans should not regret their extermination and I completely disagree with this view. I would hope most Americans would believe that this way of thinking should never be implemented.

Noble Savage

In English, the term noble savage first appeared in a herioc play called, "The Conquest of Granada" in 1672 bt the poet Dryden. The concept of a noble savage is believed to be created by the Greeks and Romans. The Earl of Shaftesbury believed that humans have a moral sense that is natural and is based on feelings resulting from a religion. In 1906, a Russian explorer named Vladimir Arsenyev wrote a memoir that was based on a life of a Siberian Nanai hunter who saved the lives of Vladidmirs companions on many occassions in the wilderness of Manchuria. But the Siberian was unable to adjust to life in the city. I believe the reason behind this is because, like the concept of a noble savage, tribal people were at one with nature and were naturally innocent unlike western civilization.

Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

Bonnin described her mother as often a sad and silent woman. She described white men as a sickly sham and only the bronzed Dakota as real man. Bonnin hated the "paleface" who made her mother cry. The white man had killed her uncle, sister, and father. Bonnin loved evening meals because that was when old legends were told. When she was eight, missionaries came to her village to take away Indian boys and girls to the East. Her mother, after some time, agreed to let her go to the Eastern land with the "palefaces". There were eight Indian children who were going East with the missionaries. Although Bonnin's mother knew hardships would have to be endured if her daughter traveled East, she also knew the "palefaces" would increase in numbers very soon on the prairies and for her daughter to succeed in life she would need to be an educated woman. Therefore her mother allowed her to go East because she knew it was a neccessary evil.

Resonse to Helen Hunt Jackson's excerpt

The Helen Hunt Jackson excerpt was a sad and compelling story about the Poncar Indian tribe. She explains in depth about the failure of the United States government to uphold their treaty promises to the Poncars. The Poncars were considered to be gentle and peacable Indians. The United States first treaty was made in 1817 with the tribe and was basically a treaty of friendship. Another treaty was made in 1825 which required the Poncas to reside inside the United States territorial limits and the United States right to regulate all trade with them in exchange for the United States protection and benefits. The United States did not provide the tribe protection or provisions as promised and did not extend money to them as the government promised. Around 1863 the tribe was starving and falling under attacks from U.S. soldiers and other Indian tribes. The government was no help. Through all this trouble, the Poncas remained loyal and peacable to the treaty. Men, women, and children of the tribe were being murdered for their very few provisions and belongings in the open prairie and on the reservations. The murders were being commited by not only other tribes but also United States soldiers. I am ashamed of the government's lack of caring and lack of upholding the treaty with the Poncas. The Poncas expierenced many horrible life threatening situations such as starvation and murder because our government allowed it.