Monday, March 28, 2011

On the Reservation

There's an exhibit at the Field Museum that's all about Native Americans. The lights are slightly dimmed amongst the cases of clothes and houses and tools. It kind of creates an air of mystery, a little time travel situation. The museum saves this little part of a huge history that everyone can see, and be exposed to, and learn a little bit about the Native Americans.
Native American culture is actually very interesting. One specific aspect that I like is the way they coexist with nature. Almost their whole world revolves [or used to] around nature- hunting and gathering, praying to the various gods of nature for various things, and I'm not being very articulate right now but I'm sure you get the picture. They appreciated nature to the fullest, something that's really important to remember, especially in today's day and age.
I don't know how the average American thinks of Native Americans today, but it's sad that they've become such a small part of modern American culture. They are pushed to these small reservations, treated generally badly by the government and are usually poor. Whatever happened to the rich and thriving culture? Well, Europeans I suppose. We came in, brutally killed them and took their land [pushing them farther and farther West], and now look what's happened. In the end, I wish there were better rights for Native Americans; because after all, they were here first.