Monday, October 4, 2010

Indians and Liberty

   This quote is an exerpt from Deloria's "Playing Indian":
   "...Locating native people at the very heart of American ambivalence. Whereas Euro-Americans had imprisoned themselves in the logical mind and the social order, Indians represented instinct and freedom.  They spoke for the "spirit of the continent" (6).
    Americans often think that the colonizers brought freedom to America, when really it was already here.  The Indians had participated in the freedom that nature offers to us and their living was centered around freedom.  Their living spaces had no boundaries and they were able to be free from the rule of other tribes or a dictator.  When the colonizers arrived in America they took this freedom away from the Indians.  They in turn gave themselves "freedom" after awhile, but if someone takes away someone else's freedom it is always going to come back to get them sometime.  Part of the American Dream is to be free and to be able to develop one's own instinct and freedom however one likes.  These values are rooted in the Native American culture of our country. 

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