Viewer Guide #3 - Unspoken PDF

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Assignment from the documentary Unspoken...

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AHSS 111 Student’s Name: Letícia Corrêa Mendes

Viewer Guide - “Unspoken: America’s Native American Boarding Schools”

As you watch the documentary complete the following viewing guide. Note: the questions may not necessarily be answered in the order they are asked, so become familiar with them before you view the film. Bring your completed worksheet to class to facilitate discussion. After class, students are required to submit the document in Dropbox in D2L. 1. What is the meaning of the idea “Kill the Indian and save the man.” The idea behind this phrase is to emphases this transition of killing the Native Americans culture, because schools was to strip Native America of their cultural traditions and teach them the skills necessary to function in American Society, to justify the reason to assimilate the Indians to the white culture. Act 1 – The Winds of Change 2. Why was the Lewis and Clark expedition a pivotal event in the history of Native Americans? Explain with examples. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first occasion for United States citizens to travel so far by river and land into the West, contributing significantly geographic and scientific knowledge of the west. The aftermath was a positive experience for Native people. 3. What are “trails of tears”? The “trail of tears” was part of the series of forced displacements approximately 60,000 Native Americans of the five civilized tribes between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government known as the Indian removal. Act 2 – Assimilation 4. The 1868 Treaty with the Navajo entailed a provision; which provision was it and how did it affect the lives of Native American children? In the 1868 Treaty, the Navajo Nation agreed to cease war against the United States, allowing U.S. officials to live within their lands and oversee their obligations to the Navajo, and permit the construction of railroads through their lands. For the Navajo the treat allowed them to return to their ancestral homelands, they were one of a few native nations that were able to find a way to go home. Their return to Dinétah, however, was not without challenge or sacrifice. To rebuild and sustain the bounty of their homelands would take dedication. So, the civilization of Indians entering this treaty had the necessity of education. For the children that was when the U.S. To ensure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, particularly of those who may be settled on said agricultural parts of this reservation, and they therefore pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six 1

AHSS 111 and sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for compulsion to attend school. 5. What was the purpose of the 1887 Dawes Act? How did it affect Native Americans? The Dawes Act's goal was to integrate Native Americans into mainstream American culture by eradicating their cultural and social traditions. Over 90 million acres of tribal territory were taken from Native Americans and sold to non-natives because of the Dawes Act. 6. The documentary reports “historical trauma” of Native Americans. Based on the documentary, what do you think “historical trauma” is? What examples of this trauma do you find in the film? The documentary discusses the historical pain of Native Americans being repressed in order to fit into the "white system." As a result, people are suffering from historical loss symptoms, which are related to their stolen right to express themselves via their true culture, traditions, and language. The key fact to consider is the hard gap between who Native Americans are presently and who they aspire to be or feel called to be, as well as the trauma passed down through generations. Native Americans communities on many reservations face big challenges as addiction, abuse, poor health outcomes, lack of access to quality education, widespread unemployment, poor mental health, etc. 7. Who was Manuelito? What happened to him? Manuelito was a renowned Navajo leader who rallied his people against the military persecution of the United States. He commanded a troop of warriors for several years in fighting government plans to forcefully transfer the Navajo people to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico, via the Long Walk in 1864. When he returned home, he was appointed as the chief of tribal police. In his senior years, he campaigned for education for his people in the belief that it would better their life. During his lifespan, Manuelito is reported to have had four wives, the last of them was named Juanita. In 1893, he died of measles, which had been exacerbated by pneumonia. 8. In which way did boarding schools affect Native Americans positively? Explain. The boarding schools affect positively the Native Americans making them stronger than ever. Because of the terrible circumstances the Native American community got together to fight against the fact white society wanted to eradicate them. Act 3 – Perseverance 9. When did the Indian Civil Rights Act pass? The Civil Rights Act passes in 1964 prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 10. When was the Indian Self-determination and Education Act? What was its purpose? What effects did it have on the lives of Native American children? In 1975, the United States Congress enacted the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, Public Law. The purpose was to the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and some other government agencies to enter contracts with, 2

AHSS 111 and make grants directly to, federally recognized Indian tribes. The act rejuvenated tribal governments by admitting, rejecting, and countering previous paternalistic policies. Native American people were now able to operate their own schools. Since the act was passed more than seventy schools have taken charge of their own operations. 11. What is the Santa Fe Indian School? To what extent is this boarding school different from other boarding schools? Explain. The Santa Fe Indian School is a tribally controlled secondary school owned and operated by the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico, serves 700 Native American students in grades 7 to 12. The difference from the other schools is that program is based on educational sovereignty – the right and responsibility to educate New Mexico Indian children in manner that supports their cultural and traditional belief systems. 12. Who is Dacian Spotted Elk? What do you know about his life? Dacian Spotted Elk is great-great-grandson son of Charles Spotted Elk fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn 12 years following the Sand Creek Massacre before settling in the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Lame Deer, Montana, where a large, majestic elk roamed. Dacian is a Native American is a Student at the East High, NM and plays basketball for the leopards. He is a student in a non-tribally controlled school however even though he suffered a lot of discrimination, he still embraces his own culture and history. Epilogue – They Overcame 13. What was one of the most significant contribution of Navajo soldiers during WWII? Explain. The most contribution it was the language, the American Soldiers used the Navajo soldiers to pass important messages in their own language so the enemies could not understand important information that was passed away. 14. According to the documentary, what are the reasons for the mental health problems among Native American communities? According to the documentary the indigenous Native Americans have endured generations of historical trauma by being forced from their homeland, stripped of their sources, and have had much of their culture taken away, and the white society trying to eradicate them, has resulted in high rates of poverty and self-destruction, leading to the high number of mental health problems. 15. Mention the names of Native American that have been celebrated worldwide. Powhatan, Tamanend, Joseph Brant, Tucumesh, Sacagawea,… 16. Other points that you find worthy of taking note of and jotting down: I find worth mentioning that how on the boarding schools they were telling the Native American children how what their parents were practicing and believing was sending them to hell, creating this confusion and scaring psychologic the kids and making them very confused. Also, the fact that boarding schools were trying to eradicate the Ingenious culture. Food for Thought Why do you think the title of the film entails the term “Unspoken”?

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AHSS 111 I believe the tittle of the documentary try to give the message that what is shown is the part left out of the history books, telling the real story from the own Native American people. Also, I believe the tittle was also by the fact that the Indigenous could use their own language for so long, trying to shut up them and not giving the chance for them to speak for themselves or recognizing them as people and individuals. Based on the documentary, can you understand that the imagery and names used by some basketball, baseball, and football teams is offensive to some Native Americans? Explain. The way that some teams use the symbols or names from the Native American culture is not actually honoring the Ingenious but going to the opposite way and back to the traumatic past that the white society was using them as a mockery in a totally negative way, trying to wash them out of the society. What is your take-away from the documentary? Are you inspired? Discouraged? Why? From the documentary I could see a new perspective from the American history, unfortunately in a negative way but with a good outcome at the end where the American Natives could get stronger together. Also, I understood how much is important us to know our own history to make the future better and do not make the same errors.

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