History Essay

For many years there have been ongoing debates on whether or not is morally correct for museums to be able to dig up, and display, Native American skeletons and remains. There have been many different cases where Native American skeletons have been found, and then put on display for everyone to see. The act of showing the Native American ancestral skeletons is just plain wrong, and unfair. It is against all moral laws, and is extremely insulting, and disrespectful to the Native Americans to display their ancestors in such a way that the whole world can see.

There are many groups that are pro-repartition such as the Society of American Archeology, and American Anthropologist Association. These two groups argue that with the technology we have in present day unlocks a whole new level of research, and scientific endeavors. They say that if we study these bones then we will be able to know much more about dieses and the undocumented past of the Native American lifestyle. On the contrary a modern day Native American, Carl Bryant Rogers brings up a very true point. “Why single out the Indians, why not dig up everyone else’s ancestors” this statement brings up a great point in which why do the bones on display have to be from the Native Americans. Why not just go to a cemetery and dig up other skeletons? The main reason they are choosing to use Native Americans is because there is a hint of racism in there.

As previously stated there is Racism all through out the Repartition Act, and the “Indian Bone Wars”. The Pawnee Burial pits in Salina Kansas show the Racism in all of this. These Burial Pits were finally covered in 2010 largely thanks to Walter Hawk who is a Pawnee himself and a leading lobbyist for repartition movement. He also brings up a very sad but true statement. He states “if you desecrate a white grave you go to jail for 10 years, but if you desecrate a Indian grave you earn your self a P.H.D.” This shows the underlying tone of Racism, because even though the Indian bones and skeletons may be old they are still no different from any other skeleton, so why is it just the Indians which are being dug up? The way Hawk looks at it is it should not be difficult to understand that their Ancestors should rest in peace, and that scientist should respect there religious beliefs of life after death. The Native Americans feel as if it unfair that they are being singled out. For example, remains of hundreds of thousands of Indians lay in drawers and on shelf’s in museums. The Smithsonian alone had an estimated 19,000 Native Americans skeletons in their museums.

One final example of why the bones should all be returned and reburied properly is the Dickson Mounds in Southern Illinois. Many Native Americans protest on a daily basis that the museum should be shut down, and that their ancestors should be able to rest in peace. The museum states they should not have to close down because never have they made the bones a “sideshow” or a “carnival act”, and have never made any profit off of showing the bones, they are just their to enrich the tourist with ancient artifacts of the surrounding area. The Museum says that the skeletal remains are over 900 years old, and cannot be traced in anyway to a specific tribe. The Native Americans did not take that statement lightly, and they feel as if they need to respect any ancestral remains of whatever tribe the skeletons belong too no matter how old. The Indians are destined to wander restlessly, protesting daily, until the bones are properly reburied. They intend to picket, file complaints, and protest until the bones are removed.

The main point that needs to be addressed in the Repartition movement is Equality. It would be a completely different story if everyone’s ancestors were getting dug up and shoved in glass cases for everyone to look at. It is important to respect the beliefs of different cultures, and if one culture believes after you are buried you should be able to rest in peace then so be it. The problem is for the most part the Native Americans have been singled out in this situation; they have been left on the side of the road so everyone can stop and look. For the most part the Museums that choose to display remains of Native Americans are being nothing but inconsiderate, and disrespectful. The Native Americans deserve to be treated no differently then any other group, equality is key in this situation.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Jake Teachey

US History

Works Cited

Sources, Film Research - Glory & 12 Years a Slave

IMBD- 12 Years a Slave

Rotten Tomatoes- 12 Years a Slave

IMBD- Glory

Rotten Tomatoes- Glory

Historical Accuracy 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave Critique

12 Years a Slave Steve Mqueen Youtube

Glory Ed Zwick Inteview

Jake Teachey

September 12, 2014

History Essay

I pledge

For years high schools across the country have been showing movies during class as a way to enhance your understanding of a topic. Many people have opposing views on movies being part of the educational curriculum. There are many reasons why I see movies as a beneficial factor to my learning experience. Movies are a easy and informative way to learn about a subject because they bring in a new point of view to the classroom, and make you understand a topic in a more relatable way rather than reading from a textbook.

In my US History class we have watched two very famous films. These films have helped me understand about slavery in the USA. I have drawn a deeper understanding about what it was really like to be a slave back in the 1800’s. One of the movies we watched during class was 12 Years a Slave this movie was incredibly moving and heart wrenching. Having won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year before watching it in class I already had high expectations for the film. Needless to say this film was an incredible story. The director Steve McQueen could not of done a better job on depicting the troublesome times of slavery in the United States. One part that really struck me while watching this was Masters, and owners of the plantations. The first master that the main character Solomon was sold off to work for was portrayed as a very reasonable and caring man, but doesn’t this make him the worst out of all of them? If he was such a kind man behind closed doors to Solomon, but such a cruel man out in the open it makes him no better than any of the other slave owners if not worse because of his hypocritical qualities.

The second movie we watched was called Glory. Although this movie also won many academy awards much like 12 Years a Slave did, it didn’t intrigue me as much. I think one thing I need to take into consideration is when both of these movies were filmed. 12 years a Slave was filmed in 2012 making it an extremely recent film meaning the production quality was much higher. One of Glory’s down falls was the fact that it was filmed almost 30 years ago making the production quality much lower. I feel as if Glory were to be filmed in more recent times the movie would be much more appealing to me. Both of the movies had relatively the same budget for film production. Glory came weighing in at 18,000,000 and 12 years a slave coming in at 20,000,000 US dollars. So I do not think it was a matter of money that made one movie less appealing to me than the other I think it was simply the time period they were produced in.

Besides the fact that Glory is such an older film there still was some incredible sceneces in the movie. I think this movie really helped show how much the slaves/ freed black men helped out during the civil war. This movie also shows and proves that the blacks are no different than the whites are. I think one of the main points this movie brings up is equality. The producer of this movie Ed Zwick puts in better words than I could “There was a untold side of the war that I felt needed to be shared with the American population, a side that shows equality in warfare”.

In conclusuion I feel as if movies are actually extremely benifiaical to my learing experience. I think that I have gotten more out of watching those two movies than I could ever gotten from taking notes and listening to lectures (no offense).