Cartoon: Native Americans

Chapter 12: Intercultural Communication and Education-Culturally Specific Education

This particular cartoon deals with the large topic of Native American assimilation and the neglect that the America government gave them in years past. Because the government thought they knew what was best for Native Americans, after already pushing them off their own land, they decided to try and assimilate them back into White society through boarding schools. However, by doing so the Native Americans who were put into these schools started losing their sense of self identity and their cultural traits of their tribes, which made them so wonderfully unique. These Indian Schools paved the way for the gradual loss of culture. Even today, our "White" society is probably not fully familiar with Native Americans, their story, or their culture. As evidenced by this cartoon, the man on the right is a sports fan thinking that his mascots and phrases are actually supportive toward the culture of Native Americans. It is however a misrepresentation of what it means to be Native American. This proves that the culture is unfortunately slowly dying away, made possible in the past by the removal of the Natives from their land, many government acts, and Indian boarding schools.