The problem of what it means to be an “American” is one that several of these texts raise. In seeking to assimilate into a society that may not readily welcome them, writers who might be characterized as “other,” either due to race, religion, sexuality, etc., confront challenges to their sense of identity and subjectivity. Certainly, this theme is relevant to the work of Oskison and Zitkala-Sa. How do their texts address the problem of assimilation, and to what extent are the struggles they describe still relevant today?
February 18, 2008 at 9:19 am
Zitkala Sa’s collection of short stories are even more enlightening when read from the perspective that she was a pioneer for American Indian writers. Furthermore, I think that her assimilation process is twofold: her personal assimilation (going from the Native traditions to the white man’s ways) and her authorial assimilation into a (if I may speculate) predominantly white literary canon of the 1900’s. Even today, as Sa has paved the way for native authors—such as Leslie Marmon Silko and Allison Hedge Coke—it is nevertheless difficult for them to appeal to a non-native audience.
“Impressions of an Indian Childhood” exemplifies Sa’s personal struggle to assimilate. Sa’s descriptions, such as the taking of her moccasins, cutting of her hair, and approach to Christianity, illustrate her hesitance to readily assimilate to the white culture. Perhaps what is most noteworthy in “Impression of an Indian Childhood” is that, by the end, she has not found the abandonment of her traditions to be fulfilling. Instead, she wishes to go back to them as even “the little taste of victory did not satisfy a hunger in [her] heart.” Furthermore, this theme of a desire to assimilate to the dominant (white) culture, followed by a return to one’s roots, is still circulating within contemporary fiction. Sherman Alexie’s (a non-native author) “Reservation Blues” and subsequent film “Smoke Signals” endeavor to defy the native stereotype; consequently, they both associate success with leaving the reservation. Similar to Sa’s short stories, however, there is a major emphasis upon the desire to assimilate while simultaneously maintaining one’s American Indian identify.
The question thus remains; can this struggle of identity ever be resolved? Must one choose either to follow his or her native traditions (oral, spiritual etc.) or to fully submit to the white man’s ways? Or, is it possible to fulfill one’s desire of assimilating into the contemporary way of life while still maintaining his or her American Indian traditions?
February 18, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I feel like every Native American and any person living in the U.S. from another country still struggle with assimiliating. However, can one actually ever assimiliate completly? Probably not until their entire family has, becasue traditions from the “old country” could still get based down from generation to generation. I think it is unfortuante for these people to have to assimiliate but if they came to America then maybe they should. However, the Indians did not have a choice and I feel we as Americans missed out on learning about a very interesting culture.
Assimiliation is something that many people still face, and not just people coming to America. People may even have to assimilate when the move to another town or go to college. Assimilation is a fact of life to most people, just not to the extent that the Native Americans and other foreigners face.
February 18, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Assimilation in regards to the literature is rather intriguing in that the steps to assimilate the Natives to “American” culture was a contradiction of the constitution in itself. The constitution states that anyone holds the right to freedom of religion; the white man in some way or another forced the Natives to adopt Chrisitanity and even go to the extent of prohibiting their nomadic ways of life. I believe that all of these steps were demoralizing to the Natives, but I also believe that at some point or another, settlement would have expanded and to not assimilate when they did would have simply been delaying the inevitable. There are currently roughly 300 million people in this country, and to leave such a large portion of the country bare would simply be out of the question.
As far as immigrants settling in America, I believe that it is not as severe because these people came to the country to settle, and weren’t intruded upon and forced to change their way of life. By saying this, I am also aware of the fact that indeed the immigrants’ way of life did change, but it was not necessarily out of force. In conclusion, I believe that although both situations require a certain degree of assimilation, the way that the Natives were intruded upon was much more degrading.
February 18, 2008 at 10:35 pm
It seems that in the readings all the characters were faced with parallels. If they conformed to the white people, then they were missing out on their own culture and vice versa. The younger generation of American Indians that were caught in the middle could not gain respect from their elders because they were conforming to white standards, and they could not gain respect from their white counterparts because they were “Indians”. It was a difficult situation for those people to be put in, and I believe that the Americans should have been more accepting towards the American Indians since they were the ones forcing them to change their ways.
I believe that every culture today stills struggles with assimilation to different cultures. Everyone having the same culture practices and beliefs is something that’s never going to be accomplished because everyone is so different and stubborn.
February 19, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I feel sorry for the American Indians who were forced to be beaten for sticking with their beliefs, dress, values, homestead, etc. or feel empty, lost, and inadequate for choosing another way of life.
Being an individual is what America stands for. This thought obviously contradicts the idea of assimilation. Why is/was our government/nation contradicting itself? To me, assimilation is very boring and ineffective to anyone who has respect for him/herself. I’m proud of my heritage, beliefs, values, etc. Everyone should be! (unless it does him/her a great burden) I’m grateful that America contains a vast amount of cultures, beliefs, ideas, etc. It makes America unique and even furthers the American dream for those who wish to come here.
February 19, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Oskison and Zitkala-Sa have stories that show us the horrors of assimilation and how it was essentially the ethnic/cultural cleansing of its day. Its no secret that things were done the wrong way, and there’s no way to rectify this problem 140 years later. The west will never be wild again, buffalo will probably never roam free, and the corn and wheat covered prairie will never grow free with native grasses. The Missouri River won’t flow free, lost cultures will not be restored, and traditions will be forgotten. Its true that “being an individual is what America stands for” but in an effort to become individuals, we took away land and voided treaties. In our efforts to become individuals, we blotched the sprawling prairies with railroads and cities so that we can become more connected. I think it is apparent that we must embrace diversity and accept other cultures. The definition of “being American” is all too often based on our ability to acquire material possessions and our ability to conform with societal norms.
February 19, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I think even though we do not force immigrants of today to the same fates of those Native Americans in the past we still treat them the way the character in Zitkala-Sa’s story was treated when she was amongst the white people. We look upon them as if they are inferior and they do not know our ways. We may assume they don’t know how to speak English when they very well might be able to. People come to America to be themselves, to be an individual and yet when they do not conform to our American ways we look down upon them and outcast them. I think these stories are still very relevant in todays society.
February 19, 2008 at 7:02 pm
This may be slightly unrelated to the topics posted, but I would like to say that I enjoyed the guest speaker in class today. He presented an original view on the subject of American Indians and assimilation not only because he has spent years studying it, but because it is of personal importance to him. It was interesting to hear about the reasoning for the name change to Zitkala-Sa as being one of spiritual identification. I was also interested in the discussion that started based on why she continued to go back to the white culture, when ultimately it was emotionally draining to do so, but her mother thought it would make her life easier.
February 19, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I also enjoyed the guest speaker today. One of the questions I really wanted to ask (we ran out of time), was how Zitkala Sa’s short stories were perceived by her audience when they were first published? Furthermore, how were they perceived by the literary critics of her time?
This is especially interesting when one considers the contemporary audience for American Indian fiction (I’m not sure about non-fiction, but fictional texts are usually targeted at middle-age women who still think all American Indians live on reservations). Was Sa a pioneer for American Indian authorship? If so, have contemporary Native authors been successful in negating–or contributing to–the various stereotypes surrounding American Indians and their assimilation?
Secondly, this notion of “the power of the press” is fascinating when considering both Sa’s biography and authorship as an American Indian female. In that same vein, one might ask whether Sa was writing primarily for money or for self-gratification. (Please note, the former does not necessarily signify a work of less merit; but, it may offer insight into the issue of assimilating versus “non-assimilating”, if you will).
Sorry for getting off the main topic, but these are just some things to think about.
February 20, 2008 at 10:40 am
Thanks for all the interesting posts… In response to Katie’s question about the reception of Zitkala-Sa’s work, it might be useful to think of her stories and autobiographical sketches in the context of regionalism. During the late 19th century, there was considerable interest in “local color” literature – stories that depicted in an “authentic” way (and Mr. Murray, in his lecture, talked a bit about how problematic this notion is…) the lives of different groups of people in different parts of the US. So, her stories, like those of Kate Chopin, might be read in the context, rather than as political statements about American Indian rights. She was clearly aware of the stereotypes that her audience would expect (we see this in her language: palefaces, iron horse, etc.), but it’s also possible to read these texts as operating on different levels: entertaining, yet subversive at the same time. This is something that we see in Charles Chesnutt’s work as well… something I’ll talk about tomorrow.
February 20, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I think that assimilation is really the major theme in both of these pieces, and especially in Zitkala-Sa’s works. In her works you really see the struggle between the old and the new cultures. As a younger child she seems to really be in touch with the ancient customs and ways of her people, and doesn’t even seem to realize that there is a new culture and way that are “evolving” before her. It’s not until she hears of these new ways, the ways of the white people, that she even considers it. That is really the same today, though. We hear about something some one else is doing and suddenly we want to do it to; it’s just the way the world has always seemed to be. I do think that the somewhat willingness of her mother to allow her to go shows that he mother realized that this is what the world was coming to. I think she really felt that allowing her daughter to become assimilated in the white culture would help her in the future, as much as it may have broken her mother’s heart.
February 21, 2008 at 10:03 am
When one looks at the definition of assimiliation we see that it states as forcing someone to take on a culture that is not your own. With the predominant discussion being that Zitkala-Sa struggled with her own definition of culture. I would have to disagree with a number of people. For example, Sa struggles between her old customs and new customs. This to me is not assimilation, even though the whites are promoting their beliefs. She hears about the whites and their beliefs, but I don’t remember reading about her being forced to change her own. I believe that Sa actually went through what is defined as aculturation. Aculturation is a choice to add to your own culture (and keep your original culture), while adapting new beliefs.
February 21, 2008 at 10:10 am
The idea of assimilation when it comes to religion is a difficult one. As we can see from the stories, religion is an important factor in every culture and it is an idea not easily swayed. Religion defines death and what comes after it, without which there would be much fear and uncertainty. In both stories the reader is forced to look at religion and the idea of “right and wrong” from a neutral viewpoint. We are able to see how important each religion is to different cultures and as a result, we must ask ourselves, is religious assimilation right?
February 21, 2008 at 11:35 am
I enjoyed the guest speaker on Tuesday, for he helped me to envision the assimilating world as I had not thought of it previously. The “Vanishing Race” that he discussed tugged a bit at my heartstrings. What saddens me is that even today we are trying to assimilate everyone. The Native culture is a “Vanishing Race” that people continue, as in old times, to ignore because they just don’t want to take the time to learn about it. Society seems to feel that there should be a mold that Americans are created in and proceed to pop out of when they’re ready-things don’t work this way.
Everyone is different due to different backgrounds, religions, races, and genders. Why can’t we just accept that? Why must we conform?
February 21, 2008 at 11:45 am
I think assimilation is still a very big issue today. Whether it is a person’s religion, sexual orientation, or race, it’s obvious that some people are still fighting for their rights that should be given to them. The people in the stories were presented as inferior because they weren’t as “advanced” in American customs and traditions. For some reason, this gets to be a huge issue. This is still relevant today. Sometimes it is automatically assumed that a hispanic person cannot speak very good english, when this may not be the case at all. They could have been born and raised in this country, and grown up with the english language. Overall, I think these stories were interesting to read because it gives you a taste of what it must have been like for Native Americans trying to assimilate, as well as what some people might be dealing with today.
February 21, 2008 at 6:58 pm
The guest speaker said that there is no such thing as one Native American way. All Native American groups are different- they’re not the same. They have different languages and a different culture. However, since our nation tried to “civilize” them, they have become more of a homogeneous group (Pan Indian). I found this very interesting- especially since it’s not something I’ve ever thought about before.
This got me thinking that there is no one American way either- especially since our society has become more and more diverse throughout the years. Whether you’re a European American, Native American, Latino, Hispanic, etc., you’re still an American if you’re born in the U.S.
I realize now that each of these types of Americans tend to get stereotyped by other types of Americans, which causes tension and fuels discrimination and predjudice. Thus, the problems with assimilation that are addressed by Oskison as well as Zitkala- Sa in each of their stories are indeed still relevant to today.
Just because some people are different doesn’t mean that it’s right to point fingers at them and make fun of them (like some American children as well as adults did to the little girl in Sa’s story, “The School Days of an Indian Girl”).
As a society, I feel that we need to be more open to other cultural ideas in order to be better adjusted people that do not discriminate against other ethnicities. This will make our society more peaceful and harmonized.
February 22, 2008 at 10:30 am
I think assimilation within the American Indian people is overlooked too often, maybe not overlooked but accepted too often. The American Indian people have been lumped into a broad generalized categorization of people, but what some people don’t understand is that the American Indian people are comprised of countless cultures within itself; each tribe had its unique culture.
The Sioux are different from the Pequots, the Kiowas are different from the Papago tribe, but instead we have just hastily generalized a broad spectrum of cultures into one stereotypical culture.
Basically I merely believe that the American Indian people have had their culture taken from them; forced to conform to our western beliefs, culture, and eventually become “civilized” as was our intent for these people from the beginning.
February 23, 2008 at 5:22 am
It’s sometimes easy to overlook the level of conformity our society requires us to submit to; indeed, we don’t even notice until we look at those cases where someone(or some group of people, or another society entirely) dared to follow their own way of living. Things we take for granted, such as mairrage and schooling, are aspects of our society that hold rigorous and structured requirements and standards, requirements and standards that have been used in some cases to exclude members from society, and in others force them through a sieve so as to be held acceptable by our standards. It’s enough to make one an anarchist (or at least to see the folly of seeing any one path as the right path). Oskison and Zitkala-Sa remind us what it means to be different, and to just the levels our methods of wringing out those differences have risen to in the past.
February 23, 2008 at 7:42 pm
It’s interesting to see how ethnocentrism has been inherent in American culture since the day we stepped foot on North American territory. Where did we learn this from and how did it get so rampant? From the subtle act of a missionary coming to Harjo’s home trying to persuade him from his life to igniting the destruction of an entire race by trying to “civilize” people, American’s are always trying to conform the unfamiliar. As adaptable as humans are however, the Native Americans were either forced to assimilate or simply eradicate… What a difficult position to be put in. Zitkala Sa struggling to fit into this “new world” all the while desperately trying to hold onto what is familiar.
In class it was said that each tribe is as different as perhaps the United States is to say Asia, which I found (naively) shocking. I have grown up in South Dakota around Native Americans my whole life and I’m not really sure if I was taught or just assumed that all Native American culture was sort of connected. Which by now maybe they are, having been moved around so much. Still, I’m a little appalled at how I could make such a vast assumption about something that was right in front of me my entire life.
February 24, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I feel that a majority of the assimilation issues depicted in the readings are still prevalent today. Nearly every individual, it seems, is forced with the decision of whether or not to assimilate into some societal niche at some point in time. High schools are full of groups which have an unspoken set of mores and guidelines for membership. However, I cannot imagine that an individual would struggle with a greater issue than having a dichotomy within one’s own race. People struggle with choosing what they feel is some form of improvement over their respective culture’s traditional beliefs. With Zitkala-Sa, her works reflect the number of Native American individuals who felt that an assimilation into “white” culture would bring on improvement or enlightenment of some sort. Ethinicities were split into two groups; those individuals who had remained true to their traditional practices and those who had assimilated and gained a divergent perspective. The unfortunate part of this is that Native American people were often treated poorly by other races. The dichotomy that assimilation created hindered a strong group of people instead of making them stronger.
February 24, 2008 at 10:48 pm
When we talk about assimilation in refrence to the writings of Zitkala-Sa, we have to remember that the America of her time was a differnet place with an entirely different set of beliefs than the one we live in.
Forced assimilation was the only way the government knew how to control a hostile nation on its borders in the case of the Plains Indians. When the choice was between assimilation and extermination, I think we all can agree that the government made the right choice.
While I am not trying to justify or defend the horrible and unspeakable things that the Native Americans were forced to endure, we as a nation, have to remember that in our early years there was no policy of tolerance, acceptance, or celebration of the individual that there is now. Almost from the founding of the New World until the beginning of the 1960, assimilation was the chosen path for the majority of immagrants to the United States. Everybody wanted to be “American.” When the Civil Rights Movement grew, so did a desire for all Americans to return to their roots. America moved from a “melting pot” nation to a “salad” nation, with many different, identifiable pieces making a whole.
With this change came a rise in the expression of all cultures including African-American, Asian-American, and Native American. The ’60s brought the birth of the American Indian Movement, who encouraged a return to Native American culture. In a way, the work of AIM tried to reverse what Zitkala-Sa was trying to accomplish with her writing, but I think they both happened during times that they were needed and most likely to succeed.
Today, individualism and chosen assimilation walk hand in hand through our culture. We see them both everyday, but it’s up to us to decide which path we will take, we shouldn’t let anybody chose it for us.
February 26, 2008 at 3:18 pm
In the 19th century, assimilation was the only way to make it in the white man’s world. The Native Americans knew we were coming. Some of them fought, and most of them assimilated. The way of the Native American was over. The white man destroyed many natural resources, such as buffalo, and polluted lands and destroyed nature. All in the name of industrialization and factories. The reason Native Americans were made to assimilate is for survival. If you lived in the country, you farmed, you did not live a nomadic life like most Indian tribes. Assimilation was needed so that the Native would not be killed or harmed by ignorant white folk. If you shared our clothes and speech, you could be one of us. Their were far too many whites to fight. As one person said, in the 60’s and 70’s the Indians revived their cultural ways and are now a proud people with a proud past. However, back in them times, unassimilated Natives were considered savages and not part of the American way.
February 26, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Assimilation to me is just a nice word for genocide. In the case of Native Americans or Indigenous peoples, this genocide was not only cultural but also physical (illegal sterilization of Native Women). In Zitkala-Sa’s writings we read about one woman’s struggle with conforming and being lied to by the white settlers and missionaries. People also underestimate the boarding school experience and the problems it caused even to this day for Natives. Think about being sent away far from her home when you are a child, having everything taken away from you and being punished for doing what is natural to you (i.e. speaking your own language). Also with boarding schools, the students were only trained to do lower class jobs. Our government was setting up a hierarchical society with people of color on the bottom, and Zitkala-Sa’s story is probably the only story many will read about Native experience. People really failed to realize the struggles of Indigenous peoples and still do to this day.
February 27, 2008 at 12:01 am
Zitkala-Sa, I believe, presents the problems of assimilation quite clearly, and my answer to the prompt is similar to those above. There is a direct conflict between assimilation and cultural tolerance and relativism, and that is obvious. By practically forcing foreign, or at this time native, cultures to adapt to our practices through assimilation, we disenfranchise people, such as the Native American’s in the works Zitkala-Sa, the right to personal freedom. But how do we “force” these people into assimilation, after all they have the ultimate choice. The answer is that we have and continue to force these people by denying them success. As Zitkala-Sa wanted to be educated, as we all ought to, so does she want to be successful. Yet if she chooses not to assimilate, then these rights are revoked. This is where this story connects to today, particularly in regard to reservations. Because these Native Americans desire to hold their culture, a right they certainly should have, they are still denied some of the opportunities that the “assimilated” have today. So to answer Katie’s quesion at the very top of the blog, I would say that it is at the very least difficult to assimilate into today’s contempory lifestyle while maintaining a fulfilled and complete sense of Native American, or for that matter any, culture.
February 29, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I definately admire Zitkala Sa for her knowledge in that she knew things were changing and that she had to adapt to these changes instead of fight against them like her mother. Even as such a young girl she was able to realize that things were never going to be for her as they once were. I think that the white people were trying to make her assimilate her into their culture and she went along with it because she had no other choice, but that internally she never really did fully assimilate and take on their beliefs. She was a strong woman who held onto her beliefs and family even when they weren’t with her. Out of all the writers and characters we have read she is definately the one that i respect the most.
March 4, 2008 at 10:33 am
I was thoroughly engaged with Zitkala Sa’s work. She clearly depicts the problem of assimilation through her experiences in the boarding school. These schools forced assimilation upon the Native Amerian population by creating a cultural genocide. Boarding schools created Pan Indianism, the mixing of the many Native cultures, which killed the individual customs among Indian nations. Pan Indianism was just the start to this mass assimilaiton. Zitkala Sa explains in her work how young Native American children were forced to cut their hair short, banned from speaking in their native tongue, and banned from participating in any of their culture’s practices. By slowly implementing the American way into the minds of young Native children, the Native American customs were slowly being forgotten. This is what white men called “killing the Indian and saving the man.” This phrase describes how white America terminated Native American culture among the Indian population and turned them all towards assimilating to the Amerian way. Zitkala Sa wonderfully depicts all of these aspects of assimilation in her work by the many stories and experiences of her own that she inserts in her story.
March 4, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Oskison’s text addresses both cultural and religious assimilation; Old Harjo is a Native American who wants to convert to Christianity but can’t because he refuses to give up his two wives. I personally thought Oskison’s story was very sad and cruelly ironic, for example, the missionary woman Mrs. Rowell declares “it is a grievous misfortune that old Harjo should wish to unite with the church.”
In Zitkala Sa’s case, assimilation comes more aggressively upon her once she makes the first decision to leave her mother. The “American way” was forced upon her, as it was forced upon many Native American children of the time. As stated in the Indian Peace Commission Report, the goal was to break down “prejudices of tribe” and to create a “homogeneous mass” of Native Americans in order to get them to submit to American ways of living.
Assimilation is still an issue today, as much for Native Americans as it is for other minority groups such as Muslims or Mexican immigrants, for example. For some reason, in America, people tend to experience a lot of difficulty if they do not conform to certain ideals or ways of living. I think religious and cultural assimilation will continue to be big issues in our country, as they already have been for hundreds of years.
March 6, 2008 at 4:33 am
In my opinion, the efforts toward assimilating the natives and forcing them to become “Real Americans” during this time period are a direct result of the corrupted institution of Christianity. Also i might add that this American assimilation ordeal did not begin in this time period, but rather upon the arrival of the first European settlers (de los casas). Christians have always felt that it is there moral duty to save everyone, and although the intent behind these efforts may be good, they eventually result in cruelty. since the beginning of america, christian missionaries just havent been able to understand that others believe in their religions and customs just as strongly as christians believe in their’s. thus these efforts toward assimilation will always result in cruelty and suffering
April 8, 2008 at 1:33 pm
If we look at assimilation today, it is still something that is quite relevant. Even when going abroad as a student, you must assimilate into that respected culture. If you do not, you are seen as rude and ill-educated. I think this is definitely relate-able to what Zitkala Sa’s experience in some ways because she did assimilate into the “white-man’s” society, for one because she knew that it was inevitable and that it would help her in the long run.
April 8, 2008 at 7:27 pm
assimilation in the native americnan community can arguably be seen as the mojor contributing facter the the desecration of their entire way of life. While native americans and reservation life are highly stereotyped for alcoholism and poverty, the native americans should be praised for the simple fact that they have survived no matter what the conditions. Other cultures that have suffered through a genocide are praised and commesureated with for their survival. Can it be true that we as Americans still are unable to except the differences of this ancient culture and still wish to assimilate them?
April 8, 2008 at 8:19 pm
The bottom line behind assimilation is that it is bound to happen one way or another. By the Europeans coming over to America they found themselves amongst people who had a different culture, different traditions, and a completely different way of life. Deciding that this country would prosper only if they could all come together as one unit and create a society worth governing. It just so happened that it became an “our way or the highway” attitude and the Native Americans ended up giving more and receiving less. Just because their way of life was changed undoubtedly forever does not mean that their true inner beliefs were changed. The only way to grow from the past is to accept and embrace the change with an open and alert mind.
April 23, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Assimilation of the Native population is quite ironic in my opinion. By attempting to force this certain population into conforming to American ideals, we go against everything our country was founded upon. The main purpose of the US was to give everyone a place free of prejudices, however for many years the Native Americans were looked down upon, stereotyped and even forced into situations that many consider inhumane. Zitkala-Sa is an intriguing writer in that, she rose above the oppression and returned to her Native roots actually becoming more successful and proving many stereotypes wrong.
April 29, 2008 at 12:59 am
I think Sarah’s entry about assimiliation in today’s society was exactly right. There can be some interesting comparison’s between Zitkala-Sa’s experience of assimiliating to a different culture and students who go abroad who must become a part of that culture or be rejected. An even more interesting comparison, I think, is when you consider what foreign students must go through when they come to the states. Americans often have the attitude that everyone must conform to our standards and our ways of life, and if you want to get ahead in your work or in life, as a foreigner, you sometimes have to lose part of yourself to get ahead. I wonder what people have given up before just to be accepted into our society. Just an interesting thought…
April 29, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I also agree very much to Sarah and Michelle’s entries about assimilation. It has to be major culture shock to come to America from overseas, and vice versa. I don’t think I could ever fully change myself in order to be “accepted” to their way of life. I’m planning on studying abroad, however, and it will be interesting to see how hard it is to adapt. It would also be different if you were just going abroad for a semester or a summer rather than permanently moving. As Americans, we visit abroad to get a feel of new culture, people, and languages, for the most part. On the other hand, many foreigners come to America to start and find a new job and a better life.
April 29, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Assimilation has been a part of America for hundreds of years. Assimilation first became a part of life in America when the Puritans arived in America. When the Puritans arived in America, they began to promote their beliefs onto the Native Americans. Beliefs that the Puritans promoted onto the Native Americans included religion and other cultural aspects, such as clothing and food. Assimilation continued to be found in American for hundreds of years, and I believe that it can still be found today. In the 1800s, Native Americans were forced out of their land that they had prior to anyone colonizing America. Native Americans were forced to move onto reservations. Through this process, the Native Americans were pressured into changing their ways. Different areas where Native Americans were pressured into changing included their education and language. Zitkala Sa writings show assimilation to Native Americans. Zitkala Sa writes about leaving her mother in order to assimilate to American ways. There will always be a problem with assimilation. There is no correct way to assimilate a group of people. Everyone has their own set of beliefs and values, and they should be respected by everyone for them. Instead of assimilation, people should come together to learn about each others beliefs and come to an understanding that one group’s set of beliefs and values is not superior to others.
May 1, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Assimilation is necessary no matter where you are. It makes life easier when you assimilate or “fit in” to your surroundings. If you move to a different country and you don’t absorb their ways, you are viewed as naive and ignorant. Developing aspects of another culture that surrounds you helps immensly with communication and such. Zitkala Sa knew that she had to leave her mother to develop American ways so she did. When she did, life was a little bit easier.
As far as modern times, assimilation is still everywhere. Even in school it is present. For example, in high school people buy the latest fashions to fit in so they can avoid being teased. There’s no way to tell whether it is right or wrong, just necessary to make life just a little bit easier.
May 1, 2008 at 11:39 pm
The American Indian was forced by Anglo-Americans to go to boarding schools to assimilate, and become “Americanized.” This idea is not exclusive to America only. In Australia, many aborigines were forced into similar boarding schools. Regardless of the location, to think you can completely change the culture someone represents is an outrageous idea. I understand that this could make life somewhat easier for the person, but is it really easier? Is it easier to have culture forced upon you, and to abandon your traditions?
May 2, 2008 at 1:25 am
The texts of Oskison and Zitkala-Sa, certainly deal with the topic of assimilation, specifically the assimilation of the Native Americans. One of the text deals with the assimilation of a Native American man into the Catholic church, and the other text deals with the assimilation and acceptance of Native American children into predominantly white schools and white culture, and the shock that parents go through when their children comeback, “Americanized,” so to speak. This problem is certainly going on today, in many ways. For my example, i will focus on the assimilation issues that gay Americans go through. Currently gay Americans are going through a number of assimilation problems, namely as being able to have the same marital rights as heterosexual couples. But, they are also struggling with simply being accepted in American culture. The struggle can be illustrated by some people committing hate crimes against homosexual Americans, i.e. the Matthew Sheppard murder. The fact that violence exists simply based on the sexual orientation of a person illustrates that there is a struggle for homosexual Americans to be accepted in mainstream American culture.
May 2, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Although assimilation has been a huge part of American culture it always leaves someone feeling left out. Zitkala-Sa was stuck between wanting to hang on to her American Indian culture and wanting to move on to American culture. But one must stop and ask, what really defines American culture? As a melting-pot, we are a combinatin of so many cultures, ideals, and beliefs that its difficult to define what it really means to be American. That is a huge difficulty with assimilation. It is hard to make someone understand our culture when we are unable to define it. There will always be a struggle and an attempt to assimilate people into American culture.
May 3, 2008 at 4:03 am
I feel that the view point of assimilation and its negative effects on subcultures can best be described by Zitkala-Sa. She successfully describes in her story the negative effects of assimilation on subcultures. She describes how Native American families were encouraged and almost broken in like a horse to the Western ideals of the “White man”. I thought it was very unique how Zitkala-Sa described the situations that she endured as a child and how now as an adult, she realizes how she lost a bit of her own culture and heritage when she was assimilated as a young child.