Regional Myths

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Research For Sherman Alexi: The Origins of the White vs Indian Conflict

 The Decline of the Relationship between Europeans and Native Americans.
(The beginnings of bad blood)

            During the time of the North American Frontier society, there were many different societies coexisting in order to maximize profit. At first, it was namely the French and British trade empires that negotiated and exchanged goods with the local natives of the Ohio River Valley. The initial relations between the Europeans and the Native Americans were positive and beneficial to the two groups. The Native Americans would hunt and scavenge for the highest bidder and then the Europeans would provide jewelry, munition, and other goods that were indigenous to Europe and created a friendlier environment between the different cultures at this point in time. Although the relationship between the French and the Indians were close, the relationship between the British and the natives took its toll. The Natives’ cultures drastically changed as a result of these relations. Although the relationships with the trade empires were beneficial to the natives and allowed the different society’s to coexist, the emergence of the settlement empire and the rise of the American society led to a collapse in the favorable affiliation between the Native Americans and Europeans.

            At the beginning of the colonization of America, both the French and British Empires dominated the East Coast. Both empires were more interested in profit and trade rather than settlement—the diplomacy between the European nations and the Indians began in an attempt to exploit the New World to yield positive return for the countries from which they came. The French had a slightly better relationship with the Natives because they would marry into native families in order to create a bond with them. Despite this, the Natives favored the British when it came to trading goods because they believed that the British had higher quality of goods than that of the French (Wood 223). Regardless, both the French and the British realized how imperative it was to maintain a healthy relationship with the Ohio River Indians because both relied on these Indians when it came to trade, American merchandise, and protection. The British and the French were also bitter rivals, and so they both wanted whatever advantage they could get on the other. Both the French and British set up forts in various areas in order to create a cooperative atmosphere, thus decreasing the risk of Indian raids and increasing trade as a whole. It is because the main objective of the empires was profit that made it realtively easy to cultivate and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between the Europeans and the Indians; however, as soon as the interest shifted from trade to settlement, all of that changed.

            During the time of the empires of trade, The Ohio River Indians were exposed to many Europeans and as a result, the native’s culture began to change. Before they came into contact with the different groups of Europeans, the Indians were in tune with nature. They did not kill animals just for the sake of killing; instead hunting was a very spiritual practice where the hunter paid his respects to the animal he killed and asked for it to sustain him and his family. After making contact with the Europeans, many Indians lost sight of this deep spiritual connection to the Earth and instead killed many animals for their pelts for profit, perverting a once holy ritual (Wood 120). Contact with the Europeans did not only change the hunting practices of these Native Americans. Missionaries would travel from tribe to tribe to spread the Good Word and teach the Indians about Christ in order to convert them. Most tribes did not fully convert, but adapted and merged some Christian ideals to their previous ones. The only tribe that completely converted was that of the Kaskaskia tribe who respected and loved the chief’s daughter who was a convert and was likened to the blessed Virgin herself. As a result of their exposure to the Europeans—at the time of the trade empires—their culture changed and adapted to become more European-esque and as a result, created a near total dependence on the Europeans to maintain wealth and for some spiritual guidance.

            The close relationship with the Europeans drastically changed as time went on. This was a result of the emergence of the settlement empire that the Americans had quickly adopted into. This was a result of the change from being an empire run by the monarchy to an empire that was ruled by the people, which would be known as the empire of liberty. Unlike the empire of trade whose main objective was a quick profit, the empire of settlement relied on land and taking it for people to build communities to permanently stay.  The settlers had no regard for the Natives and sent land speculators out to appraise and divide the land up for the English/Americans. Many settlers no longer had a desire to trade with the Indians, creating tension between the two groups because the Natives had come to depend on the trade lifestyle. Conflict arose and the once relatively positive affiliation between the two groups declined dramatically. Many settlements took land before asking permission first. As a result, politicians would “negotiate” after the fact. However, the talks over land were not fair towards the Indians and usually resulted in outrage. One example of this occurring was the Fort Stanwix Treaty. Sir William Johnson preferred meeting with the Iroquois Indians and drafted up a treaty claiming the majority of the land within the Ohio River Valley. The Iroquois accepted this because it did not affect them, their tribes did not occupy too much of the land that was being negotiated and were grateful for the pay-off . This of course enraged the other tribes like the Miami Confederacy, who actually did reside within the discussed area and created a rift between the two peoples.

            It was at this time when America was beginning to become its own country that the rise of Indian-Hating began to ensue. The Indians were enraged that time and time again the settlers would take their land and break their treaties with the Natives, resulting in the Indians disregarding their peace chiefs and instead declared war on the settlers. They crushed the settlers in Eastern KY, at St. Claire’s defeat, which resulted in the deaths of many settlers. This hurt the pride of many Kentuckians which made them hate the Indians more than ever (Faragher loc 3554). Many different bands of Indians would raid the settlers and their settlements to try and take back what they thought was theirs. It is because of this that many settlers harbored a hatred for all of the Indians, not understanding that there were different tribes—some more violent than others—and would blindly kill whatever Indian they could find to avenge the death of their comrades and the destruction of their homes. An example of this misplaced anger would be the murder of the peace chief Cornstalk. Cornstalk was of the Shawnee and wanted to wait and see what the settlers were up to despite the fact that the war chief Blackfish believed that the only way to preserve their land would be through inevitable conflict. The Shawnee were divided and as a result did not attack the Kentuckians. However, a couple of settlers who had loved ones killed by Indians targeted came across Cornstalk one day and killed him thinking that he was one of the Indians responsible. This of course pushed the Shawnee to declare war on the settlers and sent 400 warriors to fight 27 settlers (Faragher loc. 3566). This resulted in what seemed like a never changing cycle of war between the two groups.

           It was during the time where the Europeans were looking solely for profit that there was a friendly relationship with the Native Americans. Both British and French relied upon the Indians to provide them with goods that resulted from hunting in the wild. The empire of trade allowed for this cohabitation to exist because both Natives and Europeans needed each other for profit. This only changed when the Europeans began to settle in the territories dominated by the Natives and the empire of settlement ruled by the empire of liberty came into being. The Americans could not peacefully coexist with the Indians because the settlers needed land to live on and that land was the controlled by the Indians which resulted in inevitable conflict and war.

 

           


Works Cited

Faragher, John. Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer. Kindle Edition

Wikipedia

Wood, Gordon. The Idea of America: Reflections of the United States. Kindle edition

Unit Plan

Regionalism Unit Plan

Introductory Statement

The purpose of this unit is to familiarize students with the important role region plays in literature. It affects the viewpoint of the author, the characters, and even the reader. Not all regions have the same cultures, showing that one important plot point may or may not be important to any of the former.

Montana Common Core Standards:

Montana CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9.1c: 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text

Montana CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9.2a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

Montana CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9.3b: Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

Montana CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9.4a: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience

Learning Outcomes:

A1) Students will classify and identify the cultural and societal differences of varying regions and understand what region means to them.

A2) Students will be able to recognize and define what region is and how it impacts literature.

B1) Students will give examples of how region has affected the tone and mood of a novel.

B2) Students will be able to identify cultural differences and their causes through regionalism.

C1) Students will compose thought provoking arguments and their own definitions on what region truly means in literature.

C2) Students will be able to differentiate between different regional texts and the biases that go along with them.

Pre-assessment

1.         Students will be asked what regionalism means to them. They will then be asked to write a short paragraph as to what they believe is the definition of regionalism. They will then discuss in a small group and then that small group will present their definition to the class. This activity is to assess the student’s prior knowledge and conception of what regionalism is. It will be graded as a participation assignment.

2.         Learning Objectives

A1) Students will classify and identify the cultural and societal differences of varying regions and understand what region means to them.

B2) Students will be able to identify cultural differences and their causes through regionalism.

C2) Students will be able to differentiate between different regional texts and the biases that go along with them.

Formative Assessment

The Following are in class activities which will be graded on participation.

1)         Poster Assignment

After the first lesson I would ask students to make a small poster of what they believe to be the definitions of Western, East, Southern, and North. They will be split into small groups and will draw a table, Venn Diagram, etc to show their thought process. The groups will then present to the rest of the class their thoughts on what these terms mean and why. This will be worth 10 points.

Group Presentations

Throughout the unit I will ask students to get into groups and form arguments or opinions on the readings. I will then present a question like: Is the saying true about how you can take the kid out of the west but you can never take the west out of the kid? Does region define who a person is? The groups will then be tasked with finding their own answers and then I will decide which group will give their presentation to the class. Only one group will present per question asked. If there is time, other students will be able to voice their own opinions in a respectful manner that will contribute to class discussion. This will be worth 20 points

Reading Quizzes

In order to ensure that students are keeping up with their readings, I will distribute 5 question quizzes that are worth 5 points total on the previous nights reading. These short answer questions will be about the main events in the story that can only be known if a student has read the section, but will not be difficult. I want to know that they have read and how thought about how region had affected the novel, not trick them with difficult questions. These quizzes will come to an end when I have determined that most students are reading; however I will reintroduce these quizzes if I feel like the discussions are sparse and that the students are not keeping up with the reading.

2)         Poster Assignment

A1) Students will classify and identify the cultural and societal differences of varying regions and understand what region means to them.

A2) Students will be able to recognize and define what region is and how it impacts literature.

Group Presentation

B1) Students will give examples of how region has affected the tone and mood of a novel

C1) Students will compose thought provoking arguments and their own definitions on what region truly means in literature.

C2) Students will be able to differentiate between different regional texts and the biases that go along with them.

Reading Quizzes

B2) Students will be able to identify cultural differences and their causes through regionalism.

C1) Students will compose thought provoking arguments and their own definitions on what region truly means in literature.

Summative Assessment

The Following Assessments are Options that Students will be asked to choose from for their Final Assessment. They are all worth 100 points.

1)         Option 1: Keep a typed Weekly Journal on topics presented in class. The entries should be 1 to 2 paragraphs a piece. Students will be graded on relevancy to class discussion and out of class reading, writing mechanics, and the originality and strength of their thoughts and opinions of the definition of regionalism and how it affects literature. This Journal will NOT be a  summary of in class discussion, rather it will be a thought provoking original piece written by the student.

2)         Option 2: Type a 5-10 page essay on Regionalism. This essay will ask students to use evidence from class and from the readings to define what regionalism means to them. Students will be graded on the content of the essay, writing mechanics, and the strength and strength of their arguments/definition of regionalism and how it affects literature.

3)         Option 3: Present an oral presentation on how regionalism affects literature. This presentation should be half an hour long and should be accompanied by visual-aides (i.e. PowerPoint or Prezi). A typed outline of the speech given for the presentation will be required. This will be graded on the content of the presentation, writing mechanics of the outline and power point or prezi, and the originality and strength of their thoughts and opinions of the definition of regionalism and how it affects literature.

Alignment of Learning Outcomes and Assessment Table

Learning Objectives	Types of Assessment	Assessment Methods
A1) Students will classify and identify the cultural and societal differences of varying regions and understand what region means to them.	Pre, Formative, Summative	First Paragraph, Poster, Final Project
A2). Students will be able to recognize and define what region is and how it impacts literature.	Formative, Summative	Poster, Final Project
B1) Students will give examples of how region has affected the tone and mood of a novel.	Formative, Summative	Group Presentation, Final Project
B2) Students will be able to identify cultural differences and their causes through regionalism.	Pre, Formative, Summative	First Paragraph, Reading Quizzes, Final Project
C1) Students will compose thought provoking arguments and their own definitions on what region truly means in literature.	Formative, Summative	Group Presentation, Reading Quizzes, Final Project
C2) Students will be able to differentiate between different regional texts and the biases that go along with them.	Pre, Formative, Summative	First Paragraph, Group Presentation, Final Project

Regionalism in a multicultural classroom Research paper

Shelby Jackson

Research Project 1

 

Regional Literature in a Multi-Educational Classroom

           

          To ensure that all students have an equal

and fair education, multicultural practices are

needed. Multi-cultural education is a concept that

makes certain that all cultures and ethnicities are

represented and not discriminated against (Banks).

In order to uphold this ideology, content

integration is used. It infuses various cultures,

ethnicities, and other identities into the curriculum

and reduces bias against certain racial groups.  

Regional literature can be used as a method to

incorporate the racial and ethnic backgrounds into

the classroom. Regional Literature can be defined

as “a quality in literature that is the product of

fidelity to the habits, speech, manners, history,

folklore, and beliefs of a particular geographical

section” (Oxford English Dictionary). By using

regional literature as the subject matter for a

curriculum, multi-cultural education can be

utilized in the classroom through the

understanding of regional cultural, habits, beliefs,

and morals that are present within literature.

Regional literature focuses on the characters and the environments from which they came. It forces the reader to research the cultures and societies from which the story comes from in order to understand the message of the text at a deeper level. This supports the principles of multi-cultural education because it encourages the students to understand other cultures and come to value the ideals of others. Students should be allowed to be different, but also respect the differences in customs and traditions. Regional Literature can do this because literature promotes the relationship between the reader and the story. The story line usually brings out some sort of passion from the reader. Social injustices like those that are presented in Harlem Literature and texts written by Sherman Alexi, allows readers to empathize with other cultures and more aware of the struggles that other ethnicities face.

Regional Literature not only promotes cultural understanding and content integration within the classroom, it also allows for a diversified curriculum. By assigning texts whose origins are from various regions of the world, all cultures are represented and no culture is held above the rest. The esteems of those from a different culture (Latin-American, Asian-American, African-American, Native American, etc) are elevated because it is seen as important and that their classmates can come to see the importance of their culture and their cultures value.  Regional literature can help the principles of Multi-cultural education because it encourages full participation from various regions and cultures, which inspires social change within the education system (Bode).


Works Cited
Banks, J. A. (1991). The dimensions of multicultural education. Multicultural Leader, 4, 5–6.
Banks, J. A., (1979). Shaping the future of multicultural education. The Journal of Negro Education 48(Summer), 237–252.
Banks, J. A. (2004). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practices. In J. A. Banks & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 3–29). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Banks, J. A. (2006). Cultural diversity and education (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Bode, P. (2005). Multicultural art education: Voices of art teachers and students in the postmodern era. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.