Olivia,+Lexi,+and+Megan+Teens

** __Native Youth: The balance of Native American Culture beween Then and Now__ **
** When it comes to thinking about Native Americans, we typically think back to the 1800s during the time of Buffalo Bill, Wounded Knee, and the Wild West Shows. Though it has been nearly 150-200 years, there are still many people who remain in the mindset of what it means to be a Native American. Sometimes, this can even effect the youth of the Native culture today. In the literature we have looked at in class, such as //49,// we saw how much more the youth of the culture has to balance the old way of life with the new and just how it is done, all through a series of culture blending. ** **__﻿__**

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**__[audio: []] __** **__Image: Wisconsin Heritage Online __**

= ** __II. The Beginning__ ﻿ **  =

** When it comes to where to start on modern Native American Culture and the changing lifestyle for the youth, we begin looking at the early assimilation of Natives into White culture, which mainly took place between the 1790s all the way through the 1920s [[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americanization_(of_Native_Americans])]. This was done through a series of force and laws put forth by the United States Government. This was the beginning of conflict for the Native people between their own culture and balancing it with the culture forced upon them. As for the youth, one of the biggest forms of assimilation came through boarding schools. The first boarding school established in the United States for assimilation of Native American Youth was in 1879, called the Carlisle Indian Industrial School founded by Richard Henry Pratt [Brittanica Encyclopedia]. The school was located Pennsylvania and lasted until 1918. There, Native American students were forced to learn English, white mannerisms, and customs of American culture. In 1918, the school was changed into a military hospital for World War I veterans and later on became a historical landmark. Schools were just the beginning of the change and conflict within the Native American teens into modern day society. **

( photo: []) __﻿__

= __III. Post WWII-1960s__ =

__﻿ __During the WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Eras, Native Americans began making big impacts on American history. In Thomas D. Morgan's //__Army History: The Professional Bulletin of Army History__// [No.35 (Fall 1995), pp 22-27], he stated: **"At the time of Christopher Columbus ' arrival in the New World, the Native American population living in what is now the United States was estimated at about one million. By 1880, only 250,000 Indians remained and this gave rise to the "Vanishing American" theory. By 1940, this population had risen to about 350,000. During World War II more than 44,000 Native Americans saw military service. They served on all fronts in the conflict and were honored by receiving numerous Purple Hearts, Air Medals, Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, SilverStars, Distinguished Service Crosses, and three Congressional Medals of Honor. Indian participation in World War II was so extensive that it later became part of American folklore and popular culture**."

Photo: The Professional Bulletin of Army History

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">During World War Two and then into later wars, the Navajo language was used as a form of morse code to exchange information throughout. It was useful in the fact that the enemy was unable to decode the messages sent across the lines and this gave an advantage and an upperhand on the war and soon lead to victory in the Korean war.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">But while both Native Americans and other Americans were fighting overseas, back home there was turmoil within the Native community against the United States Government. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">In Laban Carrick Hill's book //__America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60's__//, he lays out a timeline of this turmoil in the chapter "Upside Down Flag", where he opens with a protest quote which helped to describe the feelings of the Native American people:

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">"People are fighting battles in the streets of Chicago. They're fighting to stop the Vietnam War and bring about changes in the political party system. They're fighting in the streets of Alabama to change the situation for blacks. The SDS movement is trying to change the whole structure of the universities. What the hell are we going to do? Are we going to sit here in Minnesota and not do a goddamn thing? Are we going to go on for another two hundred years, or even another five, the way we are without doing something for our Indian People?" **

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">During the 1960s, the life as a Native American didn't necessarily fit the cookie-cut aspect of "The American Dream." Hill went on to describe the situation as one of the lowest and why the protest began:

**"America treated Native Americans as if they were scum. Over the previous three decades, they had been subject to a systematic attempt by the government to destroy their culture. Their children were removed from their homes on reservations and placed in boarding schools, where their hair was cut, they were forbidden to speak their native tongue, and their history was ignored. At the same time, the government relocated thousands of Native Americans off their reservations into cities like Minneapolis/St. Paul, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon. After living on isolated reservations, they had no experience negotiating the complex requirements of surviving in an urban environment. Quickly, these new urban enclaves came to be known as "red slums", where Indians held the lowest-level jobs and were denied education and decent housing. In short, the government was trying to systematically destroy what little was left of Native-American culture. It was in this environment that these ex-convict Native Americans committed themselves to creating a civil rights organization for Indians."** ("America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60s, Hill, p.106, 2007, Little-Brown Publishing Company)

With leaders like Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt (elected chairman of the "Concerned Indian Americans" also known as the CIA), and Richard Oakes, young natives all across the country stood up and began to fight for their way of life. Part of this was finding a better life for themselves. In the 1960s, Native Americans only comprised about 1% of the entire population, yet also comprised of nearly 8% of the prison population. But this was minor compared to South Dakota. In the 1960s, South Dakota's Native community was 6.5% of the over all population, yet comprised anywhere from 25-33% of the prison populous. One of the key groups formed to help improve life for Natives by Natives was called "The American Indian Movement", also known as AIM. AIM's strategies were much like the Black Panther Party at the time, and were considered nearly a terrorist group by the FBI. At a rally in Wisconsin, AIM took on the upside-down American flag as their symbol because it was the international signal for people in distress. "No one could deny that Indians were in bad trouble and needed help," said leader Dennis Banks.

In 1969, AIM held a protest at Alcatraz Island, formally a notorious federal penitentiary closed five years earlier and now an occupancy for Natives. During the protest, Native American college students from all different tribes came together to help better the lives of the Native people. Together, the people of the nations wrote a document titled: Indians of All Nations, The Alcatraz Proclamation to the Great White Father and his People, which was written as a formal proclamation to the United States Government as a call for equality:

**"Fellow citizens, we are asking you to join with us in our attempt to better the lives of all Indian people. We are on Alcatraz Island to make known the world that we have a right to use our land for our own benefit. In a proclamation of November 20th, 1969, we told the government of the United States that we are here "to create a meaningful use for our Great Spirit's Land." We, the native Americans, reclaim the land known as Alcatraz Island in the name of all American Indians by right of discovery. We wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with the Caucasian inhabitatants of this land, and hereby offer the following treaty: //We will purchase said Alcatraz Island for twenty-four dollars in glass beads and red cloth, a precedent set by the white man's purchase of a similar island about 300 years ago. We know that $24 in trade goods for these sixteen acres is more than was paid when Manhattan Island was sold, but we know that land values have risen over the years. Our offer for $1.24 per acre is greater than the $0.47 per acre the white men are now paying the California Indians for their lands..."//** ("America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60s, Hill, p.109, 2007, Little-Brown Publishing Company)

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 60%;">(photo:http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/sccl&CISOPTR=176)/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WebZ/initialize?sessionid=0:javascript=true:dbchoice=1:active=1:entityCurrentPage=Search1:dbname=WI:style=WI:next=NEXTCMD%7FQUERY?&context;:term=WI.TaylorBros.530-52262.bib:index=oi%3A:fmtclass=multifullnf:bad=error/badsearch.html:entitytoprecno=1:entitycurrecno=1:entitytempjds=TRUE:numrecs=12:next=NEXTCMD%7FFETCH?&context;:recno=1:resultset=1:format=F:next=html/nffull.html:bad=error/badfetch.html:entityresultsrecno=1%7F%7F

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">﻿ As time progressed, more and more tension came about in the fight for Native American rights. More treaties were broken (an event which was come to known as "The Trail of Broken Treaties"), The Nixon Administration issued more force towards the people, and a breaking point was reached at the history-altering event known as "The Battle at Wounded Knee". In 1870, there was a massacre at wounded knee, and nearly 100 years afterwards another protest and battle came about. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is a newsclip briefing the situation: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Battle at Wounded Knee: Briefing]

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Russel Means, the AIM leader at Wounded Knee, issued this quote on the happenings and why this had to be done: **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">" This is our last gasp as a sovereign people. And if we don't get these treaty rights recognized, as equal to the Constitution of the United States-- as by law they are-- then you might as well kill me, because I have no reason for living. And that's why I'm here at Wounded Knee, because nobody is recognizing the Indian people as human beings...We haven't demanded any radical changes here, only that the United States Government live up to its own laws. It is precedent-setting that a group of "radicals", who in the minds of some are acting outside the law, are just in turn asking the law to live up to its own. We're not asking for any radical changes. We're just asking for the law to be equitably applied-- to all." **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 1960s, Hill, p.114-115, 2007, Little-Brown Publishing Company)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the end, after a seventy-one day standoff between the United States militants and the Sioux and plenty of bloodshed, the assistant Attorney General of the United States Justice Department went into the midst of the standoff and tried to negotiate, only to have it end in militant control over the town. The youth of this incident still speak out about it today, yet much of the youth crime rates went down since and there has been some improvement in the education sector of the reservation due to some government help as a way to help make up for the events caused at Wounded Knee.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since this incident, many Native American teens have become more and more "Americanized" and by their own choice assimilated into modern day society while trying to balance out their past within. Even the generation before (parents) dress and even portray some American traditions and mannerisms.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For a visual and more information on the incident at Wounded Knee, you can watch the American Experience series "We Shall Remain" on PBS.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Wounded Knee: PBS]

=__<span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">IV. Modern Day Native Americans __=

Today, part of Native American Youth culture focuses on athletics. Some popular sports which they take part in:

**Rodeo:**
During the 1800’s American Indians were known for their horse riding skills. They rode horses to hunt buffalo and engage in battles. In modern times American Indian teens compete in Rodeos to show off their horsemanship. Children as young as eight have been known to compete in the rodeo. In the fall the best riders compete in the National Indian Finals Rodeo Championship. This sport is popular with Native teens and non Indians. **Professional Sports:** Few young American Indians play on college and professional teams. Many teens are recruited as players for professional teams in high school. American Indian students have a high dropout rate, even star athletes leave school before they are spotted. In addition, recruiters rarely visit the reservation schools that many of the teens attend. However basketball is big on the Indian. For American Indian students’ basketball is a game that allows them to challenge the prejudices of some of their white neighbors who believe them to be inferior. They use basketball as a way to show off their pride and talent in their community. **The North American Indigenous Games:** This is the American Indian’s own version of the Olympics. The U.S. Games take place every two years and Milwaukee will be the launch site for Indigenous Games USA. It is anticipated the Games will be a showcase for Native youth to participate in individual competitions such as Archery, Track, Boxing and Wrestling. The team competitions consist of Baseball and Basketball.

Although athletics are something that both Native and white cultures share, there are still conflicts when they are together. This is especially portrayed when it comes to the rituals,traditions, and acceptance of them. One such incident was portrayed one basketball season when two Native American boys were playing on a mixed-race team and later dismissed as a result of their absences due to their commitment to their ritual ceremonies: [|Native Americans vs. Whites: Basketball]



Today, there are still many Native American traditions which remain consistent for the youth, some with a few modern changes:

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">**Modern Ceremony for American Indian teen:**
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The vision quest is the most common ceremony that marks a young person’s growth into adulthood. During a vision quest a young adult around the age of 12 goes into the wilderness alone for several days to experience the spirit world. They are often prepared for the journey by the elders in their tribe. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Young teen girls are prepared for adulthood by talking part in tribal dances. This ceremony is still practiced today. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link for traditions- Horseback riding: [|Horseback Riding]

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">**Winnebago teen girl marriages:**
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the “old days” marriages were arranged on the reservation to preserve the way of life. In the late twentieth century Winnebago teen girls still had no say in who they married. In fact, the girl’s brother was usually in charge of picking her future husband.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">**Teen Meditation:**
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">American Indian teens still rely on meditation as a way of reconnecting themselves. Some teens feel stressed about modern life and they need something to take them out of their rut. The number of native American teens that drop out of school is high. Many teens were failing classes and had low self esteems. They were taught how to meditate and their lives improved greatly. This ritualistic ceremonial act was a large part of the Native American Indian’s history and is not practiced as often today. However, the teens that do meditate have a better chance of being successful in life. According to the David Lynch Foundation: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">**”Extreme poverty on reservations, alcoholism, family breakups, discrimination in non-reservation schools, and the acute stresses of life for American Indians fuel a cycle of hopelessness, disease, despair, and poverty.** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The second-leading cause of death among American Indian adolescents is suicide—twice the national average.” (www.davidlynchfoundation.com)
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">A staggering 70 percent of American Indians suffer from Type 2 diabetes.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">As many as 50 percent of American Indian students drop out of school.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is a video which portrays the importance of meditation in Native American Youth Culture: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Meditation]

**In modern day society, school has become key to gaining success in both cultures for the Native American Youth.**

Indians in the public school system:
Around 1973 members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied a vacant coast guard station in Milwaukee to use as an Indian school. In Milwaukee, discrimination against Indians in the public school system led to alternative Indian run schools. This is an example of an instance that has more than likely increased the dropout rate of Native American Indian teens. Here is a link which portrays the importance of education to the Native American Youth: [|Education]



Tables about education statistics in Native American Teens.

= __<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">V. Methodology __ =

For our research, we took the approach of a time line and different aspects of Native American youth over time. We discussed and produced what we felt was important in the culture and what related to that of modern society teens today in America. We then used that information that we compiled ourselves along with the information that we gathered in class and in classroom discussion and compiled our wiki page based on our findings.

For our approach to maintaining research we took on a variety of methods:
 * Use of library databases such as Ebscohost and databases listed under the website:[|Lakeview Community Library].
 * Use of literary sources and a variety of books such as Cultural Mosaic:The American Indian Experience, Introduction to Wisconsin Indians, and others.
 * Megan viewed murals at the Mead Public Library and took a walk through Indian Mound Park and took notes on the burial grounds and the information listed.
 * Watched clips from PBS and other public television sites pertaining to the teen culture of the Native Americans.
 * Met as a group on several occasions to discuss the information that we gathered and shared ideas.

= __<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">VI. Conclusion __ =

After assessing all the information that we gathered for our wikipage and our time in class, we found that there were many obstacles that the Native American Youth had to overcome within their culture. They also had to assimilate their traditional culture with the modern American society: to hold true to the traditions but not take part fully in American culture and unfortunately become subject to discrimination or lose some of their traditons and gain more acceptance in modern society yet losing touch with their roots and true culture. This is an issue that, though, is strongly portrayed through the timeline of Native Americans, it can also be seen in plenty of other aspects of society and with many other types of people/cultures. Yet, it is all part of what makes America what it is today. Those teens who are becoming more active with their Native culture seem to produce better results in their academic standings and success over all.The native American youth of today face an internal conflict: They can stay true to their heritage, or they can assimilate their lives into the mainstream whit culture. Whatever choice they make they suffer repercussions. They face ridicule within their peer group and have a hard time feeling accepted. Growing up as a teenager is hard enough on it's own. Psychiatric studies show that the relationships a young adult forms during their youth may influence the path they choose as they enter adulthood. While their physical attributes change their sense of self esteem is compromised. A teenagers social life is almost more important to them than their academic careers at this stage in their life. Depression is a major concern for any teen, but for a Native American teen it is even more likely. Finding a balance between their heritage and their social life is an everyday struggle. They know that no matter what they choose to do someone will always be disappointed. That puts a tremendous amount of pressure on a teen. Identity crisis for an American Indian teen is a large contributing factor to the reason the suicide rate is so high. Everyone wants to feel like they belong.Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to have a friend they can rely on. Unfortunately for the American Indian teen this is not easy to come by. They carry a a heavy weight on their shoulders. This is comparable to the type of responsibilities they had growing up in the reservation over the last couple centuries. Responsibilities were great, decisions were made for them, and they were at the mercy of their tribe. The difference between then and now is consistency. Growing up in the tribe, their traditions made it easy to know what was expected. Growing up in modern society is a lot less predictable. Each day can bring a new experience, unfortunately they do not know if their day will contain hardships, and it has to make a Native American teen bitter to see the rest of the people in society benefit from their surroundings, while they struggle to find a way to feel like they belong.

__**WORKS CITED**__
<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">"American Indians." //Transcendental Meditation : Education : David Lynch Foundation//. 09 May 2011. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org>.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">Bieder, Robert Eugene. //Native American Community in Wisconsin, 1600-1960//. Madison (Wis.): University of Wisconsin, 1995. Print.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">Mason, Carol I. //Introduction to Wisconsin Indians: Prehistory to Statehood//. Salem, WI: Sheffield Pub., 1988. Print.

Native Americans Teens & Traditions." //Native American Teens//. United Methodist TV. UMTV, n.p., 16 Nov. 2010. //YouTube//. Web. Transcript. 5 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfTvPhqA4zQ>.
<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">Pfaff, Tim. //Paths of the People//. Eau Claire: Chippewa Valley Museum, 1993. Print.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">Sonneborn, Liz. //The American Indian Experience//. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century, 2011. Print.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">"State and County Quickfacts." //Census Bureau Home Page//. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.census.gov/>.

Walsh, Catherine. "Perspectives." //America// 10 Feb. 1996: 8. //Academic Search Premier//. EBSCO. Web. 10 May 2011.
====<span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">// “William Paine and Colonel Oliver Crocker with Native Americans in the Building of the First Dam on the Sheboygan River." // Photograph. Mead Public Library, Sheboygan. By Cameron. ====

<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;">*//for Olivia's information, the works cited are placed next to the information which those sources were taken from//.