Lessons I've Learned From Television

Television has never tied more into my life than it has now.  Finally, my avid TV watching has turned into something good and productive! In my last blog post, I posted about how one of my favorite shows, The Big Band Theory, had mentioned a remark about American Indians.  The comment was a negative comment towards the show's character Raj when Sheldon's mother comes to visit and finds Raj slightly intoxicated.  The line was, "I thought it was our Indians who had the problem with alcohol."  

As it turns out, this wasn't the only show on television that had brought up a controversial topic.  In this week's episode of ABC's hit comedy Cougar Town, the character Bobby realizes that he is racist. The character Laurie discovers Bobby's problem when he makes a racist comment to an Asian man in Laurie's bakery and then proceeds to only eat the white half of his black and white cookie.  Another example of Bobby's problem is when Bobby asks a black man if he can dunk.  

Throughout the episode, Bobby is discouraged about his problem and Laurie brings it upon herself to help him fix it.  At the end of the episode, Laurie holds an small intervention for Bobby with her black boyfriend (via Skype), the show's character Andy (who is Latino), and the show's character Sig (who is of "Eastern Indian" decent)*IMBD.com*.  I was a little confused at one part of the show, but then I realized something.  Whenever Andy said that he was Latino, the rest of the group would start laughing at him.  That's when Bobby asked the question, "why is it okay when we laugh at him?"  I realized that it was the same situation as American Indian comedians making fun of themselves on stage.  See with Bobby and Andy, they are part of a group of friends who do everything together, making them as close as family. The episode goes on to say that because he is so determined to fix his problem means that "he's a better man than most," (Cougar Town, ABC).  

I think I would consider myself like the character Bobby.  I didn't know much about American Indians, so I took a class that would further my knowledge, and I guess you could say that that makes me, and the rest of my classmates, better than most because we are trying to become aware of a situation in which we had no prior knowledge of.

Big Bang Say What?

While watching an episode of CBS's The Big Bang Theory, I was a little taken back by a comment said by a special guest.  Now, for all of you Big Band fans out there, I'm not positive if this was a recent episode from the latest season, or of an older season that reruns on TBS.  The episode is about Sheldon's mother coming to visit.

If you are an avid watcher of the show, you already know that the Character Raj always needs to have an alcoholic beverage in order to have the ability to speak to a woman. For the people out there who do not watch the show, Raj is Indian; as in he is from the country India.

During the episode, there is a scene where Sheldon's mother comes across the men drinking and it seems as if Raj has drank too much.  As Sheldon and his mother walk out of the apartment and close the door, Sheldon's mother pauses and says, "And I thought it was our Indians who had the problem with alcohol."

Now the show does bring actual facts and real studies into it's comedy, but that was the first time I had ever heard them use a more controversial issue for comedy.  I wish I hadn't been watching that episode alone; I wish I had been watching it with at least one or two other people.  I'm curious if people would laugh at that line.

I found myself chuckling when it was said.  I feel like after taking a class learning about American Indians, I'm allowed to because I'm aware. I'm aware of the studies and statistics of American Indians drinking and I'm aware of the comedy that Native comedians use in their comedy routines.

My only question is this: How aware are the writers of The Big Bang Theory?

I Blame Christopher Columbus

Has anyone ever thought about what the world would be like if Christopher Columbus hadn't sailed the ocean blue? What would life be like if Columbus had no desire to explore the seas?  What would the world be like if Christopher Columbus was never born?  Seriously! Think about it!

I began thinking about the answers to these questions in class while talking about the "what if's" with American Indians.  Okay, well maybe that's not what we were talking about in class, but it sure as heck was what my mind was stuck on.

So, what if those questions were reality? What if Christopher Columbus had no desire to explore or what if he was never born?  As much as I would like to say that the "United States of America" (I use quotes because hypothetically speaking, our country might never have been found) would have an enormous population of indigenous people and that Europe would most likely be overcrowded, I can't help but think that someone else would come along and find the land that we, today, call home.

Who would that other person be? Let's think about what would happen to the indigenous people living on this land with someone other than Christopher Columbus to deal with.  Here are some mind blowing questions to think about: What's that persons attitude on indigenous people?  Would the be accepting to sharing the land? Or would they leave in total respect for trespassing on someone else's territory?

It is pretty scary to think about what the world would be like if Christopher Columbus had no desire to explore or if he were never born.  But think if we think of it in the eyes of an indigenous person, would we be happy? Would an indigenous person look different than they do today?

Moccasins: Not Just a Teenage Fashion Statement

I didn't realize until just the other day that Native American culture is displayed in my life in many different ways.  Maybe I'm noticing more and more indigenous similarities and examples because I've been thinking about it more frequently.  Or maybe it's because there really are a great deal of indigenous "things" that we, as Americans, have adapted into our society.  The other day I had what I would call an "Indigenous-American Epiphany".  Laugh all you want, but you too will know how I felt when I realized what I'm about to tell you.

While searching in my room for a pair of shoes to wear that day, I stumbled across my moccasins.  And then it hit me.  I had forgot that moccasins were apart of Native American culture.  I knew that early indigenous people wore moccasins and that many people in today's society wear them as well.  What I didn't know was the story behind moccasins, so I decided to do some research.

I learned that moccasins actually accommodated different Native American tribes with the different living conditions they all lived in.  For example, Native Americans who lived around mountains and rocks wore moccasins that had a harder sole on the shoe.  For those who lived near softer ground, they had soles that were  more soft than hard, making the shoes light and free.

For a shoe that used to act as a slipper to my dad and a fashionable footwear for many youngsters out there, moccasins have definitely come a long way.

(http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/mocasin/mocintre.shtml)

TOMS Shoes: Helping Native American Reservations

As an active supporter, follower, and consumer of TOMS shoes, I couldn't be more happier with the email I received earlier in the week.

As many of you know, TOMS shoes provides pairs of shoes for hundreds of children in developing countries all around the world. They currently are helping over 20 different countries and are continually working to expand their efforts to even more countries.

Shoes are a necessity for everyone and I think it's safe to say that we all take that for granted, like most things in our lives. In developing countries, shoes can mean so much to a child. Without shoes, these children can potentially catch diseases that are easily preventable. Without shoes, children can cut themselves and possibly hurt themselves. Lastly, most schools have rules in which a uniform is required; that includes wearing shoes. Without shoes, these children cannot attend school, preventing them from an education and holding them back from learning.

I was shocked to hear that here in the US, Native American reservations live in extreme poverty, making them one of the "poorest minority groups in the United States" (www.toms.com/blogs). I knew that some reservations lived in poverty, however I had no idea that the severity of their poverty was compared to that of a developing country.

I was overjoyed when I found out that TOMS would be helping out these Native American reservations in providing children with shoes. Living in a country as free and wonderful as we are, we do help other nations out quite frequently (in my opinion) when it comes to poverty and relief efforts. So when I found out that TOMS was planning on proving shoes for Native American children here on our own US soil, I was very pleased.

As I am learning throughout this semester, Native Americans in this country are completely overlooked and ignored. Hearing that TOMS will be taking an active role in providing something as simple as shoes to reservations makes me think that maybe, just maybe, Native Americans in this country are starting to be heard.

Beginning the Journey: My Quest to Learn About Native Americans

With the start of the 2012 college Spring semester upon me, and the majority of my friends, I can't help but get excited about what is to come in the next few months.  The curiosity of new classes, the excitement of meeting new people, and of course...learning new things!

This semester is going to be my most challenging semester yet (although I don't really know what's to come in my senior year next year...).  This semester I decided to take 18 credits.  Yes, that says 18 credits, people; it's not a typo.  I wasn't planning on taking 18 credits until my favorite professor had sent out an email saying that she would be teaching a new course this semester.  This class, categorized under Indigenous Rhetoric, is all about Native Americans.

I guess you could say that I took 18 credits this semester for one of two reasons: 1). I really want to learn more about Native Americans in this country because in all honesty, I have no knowledge about them besides what was given to me by Disney when Pocahontas came out back in 1995. Or 2). I like this professor SO MUCH that I just had to take her again so that I can slack off and receive an easy A in the class.  

Clearly I am kidding about number two (But seriously, Dr. Morris, I would LOVE an A!).  Truth be told, I do not know a thing about Native Americans or their culture. So, in my lack of knowledge of this subject, I decided to do a little research of my own and think back to what I know about Native Americans.  

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Native Americans is Pocahontas.  No, not the real one, the Disney version of the singing, dancing, optimistic princess (well not really a princess) who lives in the forest.  Now, what I could remember of this Disney classic was that Pocahontas lived in the woods with her animal friends until one day John Smith and his gang came in a tried to conquer Pocahontas' and her villages' land.  I also remembered the fact that Pocahontas had perfectly straight hair for someone who lived in the woods.... with no hairbrush!

Trying to remember the catchy Disney songs that were featured in the movie, I found myself looking on YouTube to reconnect with the movie I once watched as a kid.  The first thing I noticed was that the spelling on the particular video I chose had been spelled in an unusual way: Colours of the Wind.  Instead of questioning the spelling of the title, I grabbed my dictionary and decided to look up the word "color" and this is what I found: color or chiefly Brit colour.

Seeing that I was not at all interested in diving deep into research to find the meaning of the term chiefly Brit, I overlooked it and went straight to the one source I knew would be most helpful to me in finding the difference between color and colour : Wikipedia!

I found out that the only difference between color and colour is the fact that one is American English and the other is British English (hence chiefly Brit).  In other words, I wasted my time looking up something that entirely had nothing to do with Native Americans. Awesome.

The next thing I thought of was Lacrosse. You know, the sport where men (and women, separately of course) run around pushing and shoving each other while carrying a hard rubber ball in a basket stick. Yeah, that sport.  Anyway, I remember this one time back in Elementary school I had signed out a book in the library about Native Americans and how they invented Lacrosse.  I wasn't sure if that was actually true or not, so naturally I googled it.

Lacrosse was in fact created by Native Americans.  The sport was originally called Stickball and was also played by some Plains Indians who migrated to Canada. Believe it or not, the national sport of Canada is Lacrosse, not Hockey! And I'm guessing this is why!

The most recent thing I can remember about Native Americans is reading Sherman Alexie.  To be honest, the only thing I have ever taken from his books and stories are that reservations are places where I would love to look at from the outside, but never go and visit the inside.  What I mean by that is that Alexie writes discouraging stories (stories about losses, stories of bad luck, stories about pessimism, and stories about drunken failures).  Maybe there are better books and stories of Sherman Alexie out there that contain more than this; I just haven't come across one yet.

In conclusion, I hope to learn more about Native Americans this semester other than the knowledge of Disney's Pocahontas, Lacrosse's history, and Sherman Alexie.

So here's to a great Spring Semester!