Garrett Moore

Journal #2
Summary:
In the film Reel Injun there were many Native American people (mostly pretty well known
Native Americans) talking about how Indians are portrayed in the past and also how its changed to
today. The film mostly wanted to show the reactions of actual Native Americans and how their culture
and race is being portrayed wrongly and how that effects the thoughts and creates stereotypes in the
minds of non-Native Americas. The people being interviewed were showed movies with the Native
American culture in them and that are pretty well known and asked what is wrong with showing Native
Americans in the ways the movies do and what is wrong with that in their eyes as Native Americans.
Reaction:
One idea from this film hat stood out to me was mostly how stereotyped Native Americans
really are. In all of the movies from way back when to about the 1990s-2000s were so stereotyped
with the Indian as a warrior that is always a warrior and fighting back, when in reality that is only a very
small percentage of the Native American culture. The film showed a clip of bugs bunny with a gun
shooting into the distance and saying, one Indian, two Indians, three Indians and making tally marks
on a board as if he was referring to shooting off Indians because they were attacking and couldnt really
fight back. When this clip was showing a Native American actor that was being interviewed said, This
kind of stuff makes our culture seem like we dont fight back, and also, once again refers to the
stereotypical Indian. Growing up as a kid, all I thought of Natives was that they are Indians that are
very tribal and Indian, but after watching this film and seeing the reactions from these Native Americans
being interviewed showed me that this stereotype is incorrect and there are many different ways of
living for this culture.

Journal #4
Theme: Stick by one another and stay true to your culture and dreams.
Quote #1: They hated Thomas for his courage, his brief moment as a bird. Everybody has
dreams about flying. Thomas flew.
Quote #2: I never told you I was sorry for beating you up that time. Oh, it was nothing. We
were just kids and you were drunk.
Quote #3: Back home on the reservation, my former classmates graduate: a few cant read, one
or two are just given attendance diplomas, most look forward to the parties. The bright students are
shaken, frightened, because they dont know what comes next.
Reaction: Out of the stories I read from the book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in
Heaven I have come to a conclusion that staying true to the culture is a very important thing to a Native
American. I also realized that friendship and family and keeping the relationships with them is very
important. My first quote relates to the theme of these stories because Natives are usually stereotypes
to be and in this case are not very happy with the living situation they are in and to see somebody as
happy and courageous as Thomas makes them jealous and want to be like Thomas. The second quote
relates to the theme because it shows how maintaining friendships are very important in the culture
because without friends or family, you have nothing. Victor wanted to gain back the relationship that he

used to have with Thomas by apologizing to him. In the third quote, it shows how some Native
Americans are not proud to be Indian and have nothing better to do than just stay true to being a Native
and keep your family and friends.
Journal #5
After reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven and First Person First Peoples, I
realized that there are many stereotypes toward the Native American culture. The Web of Life by
Marianne Chamberlain expressed many ways that she was effected by these everyday stereotypes
about her culture and race. In the short story, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven the
author shows an incident where he does not fit the profile of a normal person. I feel that the message
from both of these authors is that dont look at people differently because of their race and culture,
because not everyone fits the description of the stereotypes that people hear about. Native Americans
get criticized based only off of what the stereotypes are of their race and culture rather than who they
really are.
In the autobiography by Marianne Chamberlain made me think of how people treat other by
their stereotypes is a bad thing, but I did not realize how bad it really effects the people that are
targeted, in this case Marianne Chamberlain. Mariannes experience at Dartmouth College doesnt
seem like an experience anyone would want to have if you were put in her shoes. In one part of her
autobiography she talks about how her work-study job was at the Dining hall and work was going well
then she writes, One day the student supervisor n duty approached me and asked if the rumor he
heard about me was true. They said that you are an Indian. I answered him honestly and told him,
Yes, I am an American Indian. Well, then, I better go hide all the liquor. We dont want it to disappear
or find you drinking on the job (Chamberlain, 158). This part of her story shows me how rude and
hurtful it would be to be in her situation knowing she does not drink and doesnt want to conform to the
stereotype, so that seems to be very hurtful to be known by your stereotypes, not by who you really are.
From the short story, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist fight in Heaven the author, Sherman
Alexie, clearly shows how stereotypes that are present in todays society. In this short story there are
many circumstances where the race of Native Americans is targeted in a bad way. For example, the
main character was driving through a neighborhood when he was pulled over by a police officer and he
said, Youre making people nervous. You dont fit the profile of the neighborhood (Alexie, 182). I
believe that people have one main stereotype of Native Americans, that they are poor and dangerous.
The main character of this story was simply just driving away to cool off from being in a fight with his
girlfriend, which is normal for any human to do but he is targeted and called the police on because he is
not of the race of the neighborhood. I feel this is a big problem for Natives being targeted because of
their race.
In the autobiography from an athlete student from Dartmouth College written by Robert
Bennett, Bennett talks about his life in college that was a bit more promising than Marianne
Chamberlains experience as a student. Bennett had more friends and was into sports, but the
stereotypes of Native Americans still effected Robert Bennett. There was a part in his autobiography
where his grandmother did not want him to go to this college because it was an all-white college and he
was going to be targeted because of his race. Bennetts grandma said, Youre not like them and, you
will be made fun of (Bennett, 138). I think it is sad that the Natives are somewhat scared to be around
whites because they are afraid of being made fun of cause of their race. These quotes clearly show how
stereotypes effect the lives of Native Americans.

After readying a few short stories from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven and
reading the autobiographies of students experiences at Dartmouth College I have gained a new
perspective on how stereotypes have influenced Native Americans lives. I believe that Native Americans
are targeted because of their race when they shouldnt be.
Journal #7
In this movie the one thing that surprised me the most was how the Indians turned down both
of the offers from the whites. In the first offer, the white offered the natives 5 million dollars which is
50 cents an acre. A man started talking back to the whites on how that were not going to give up their
land, then the white man said they wanted to hear from the chief sitting bull and then sitting bull
started to stand up to say exactly what the other native man was saying then the other native man said
no he can speak and sitting bull sat back down. I found this kind of humorous because this shows how
stern the natives wanted to be and also were, showing that every one of them feels the same way on
the situation and one person was not going to change their opinion on it. I thought it was really good
that the Natives treated the whites this way, fighting for something that means so much to them was
good not to just take the money and go with it.
After watching the movie, I questioned myself on if the Indians were really that outnumbered by
whites, and also if their weapons were not as advanced as the whites. In the first battle scene, I noticed
that the whites and Natives both used horses and guns to battle. The whites had cannons and more
soldiers as well, but I feel that the Natives wouldnt had been beat so bad by just those things. The
Natives seemed as if they had just as many if not more guns than the white soldier. I think the
filmmakers emphasized the fact that the Natives were outnumbered. In every scene where all of that
tribe was together it seemed as if the tribe was not big at all. This made me think how many Indians
were actually part of this war?