Dances with Wolves Reflection 2

     Dances with Wolves impacted me in a way that I was not expecting. I feel more educated on native american life and I feel sad about the way the white settlers treated the natives and anyone associated with them. I never knew much about what really happened when white people came to settle in North America except that it wasn't pretty and they did some horrible things to the natives. Now I feel more enlightened as to why things happened the way they did. I feel that the white settlers saw themselves as more advanced than the natives and therefore superior. They also came, generally, with a mind set of domination. As far as the Sioux go, they only wanted peace and respect. Then the struggle with communication had a big impact. In the movie, John Dunbar makes a genuine effort to understand and the natives do the same. However most white settlers assumed the worst and immediately started to "prove" their power over the natives.
      I'm really glad that Dances with Wolves was our introduction to this unit. I enjoy exploring topics that I don't know anything about and I think opening my eyes to these kinds of situations will only help me grow as a person. When we read The Laramie Project I was thankful for the way we were steered away from any sort of judge mental views and we were encouraged to look at all different sides of the story. I am carrying that policy with me into this unit. I am keeping and open mind and considering why things occurred the way they did. I am excited to learn more about the topic though. With The Laramie Project, I had witnessed discrimination against homosexual people and I knew a lot about the issue. The discrimination against Native Americans is something I know very little about and it is something I want to become more educated on.
 
(I picked this picture with the description of the Sand Creek Massacre to depict the type of discrimination natives dealt with)