2019 Fall SUNY First Peoples

As I read Treuer's book, Atlas of Indians Nations, I became intrigued by the tribes of the Northeast. I wanted to learn much as I can but the native’s location and the relationship with the European and American settlers.  It’s known that the island of Manhattan was sold to the settlers, but what about the other areas? I’ve traveled to towns on Long Island, New York and it was interesting to learn that some downs in still hold their tribal names. Towns such as Massapequa, Setauket, Manhasset, and Montauk. I’ve even lived in a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY called Canarsie, which was named after the Canarsie tribe.  According to Access Genealogy, the last of the Canarsie tribe died in 1800. It wasn’t clear if they had locations in Brooklyn also, but the tribe was known to have locations on Long Island, NY. We learned in Treuer’s Atlas of Indians Nations, the majority of New York tribes spoke the Iroquoian language. Known tribe such as Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Shinnecock, and Sen...

Since I am studying to become a lawyer, and since the Constitution’s development and influences are an area of interest to me, I was excited to read and write the chapter called, Perceptions Of America's Native Democracies. The chapter begins by talking about a work written by a colonial American named Cadwallader Colden. Colden’s book, History of the Five Nations Depending on the Province of New York in America, was written more than thirty years before the Revolution, and discussed several aspects of the Iroquois governmental and social structure. For some reason, the author makes in my view an errant appeal to authority by mentioning that Marx and Engels believed that the Iroquois system influenced the development of the American Union. I think the views of those people are irrelevant, not only because I don’t view them as legitimate intellectuals, but also because they were not involved at all with the founding and are insignificant from the standpoint of American history un...

Mod 1- Blog I am reviewing The Six Nations: Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth by Bruce E. Johansen and Donald A. Grinde. The Six nations, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, originally consisted of five nations which consisted of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. During the eighteenth century they were joined by a sixth nation named the Tuscarora. They were the oldest participating and living democracy on earth. https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/   Take note that this website shed light on the fact that most people are unaware that the United States democracy, credited to the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, was inspired by the Iroquois Confederacy. Liberty and the pursuit happiness have been performed by the Six Nations for over 800 hundred years. An interesting thing that caught my interest was the contents of How to be an Ally to Indigenous Peoples by Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign . There’s a g...

Journal Blog In the Oren Lyons, “On the indigenous View of the World” (Corners, 2006) kl, recorded in 2006, your able to view how Indigenous peoples view life and the natural world.   It is one of mutual respect for not only one another but of every living being.   Lyons give such wonderful insight in to the belief system, one that is not known to us.   He is right when he said that, “Whites will talk about water, trees, animals, and fish as resources, we talk about them as relatives.” We live in a world where we exploit natural resources and bring species to the brink or to total extinction.   When you read this piece, what is interesting is that it has a conversation in 2006 on global warming and over population and thirteen years later we are still discussing this.   If you look at the totality, the major industrialized countries have lost their connection with nature and the understanding that natural resources will not last forever.   They wil...

The web source I am reviewing here is  https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/  created by Bruce E. Johansen, Donald A. Grinde, and John Kahionhes Fadden.  The message that I think the source mentioned above is supposed to convey is the importance of the Six Nations to our countries history. Most people don't realize that the United States was built on ideas from the Six Nations. "In our present day, we can benefit immensely, in our quest to establish a government dedicated to all life's liberty and happiness as has been practiced by the Six Nations for over 800 years" (Johansen et al.). The image is supposed to show the influence of the Six Nations on the Declaration of Independence in 1776. They were inside Independence hall having a meeting to discuss the future of their relationship. The point I want to make is that the Six Nations are amongst the forgotten founders of the United States https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/FF.html . The information I...

                I watched with fascination the “Interview with Vine Deloria Jr.”   I have read some of Mr. Deloria’s writing in the past, but have never seen or heard him.   Being from the old white male population, I have my opinions of Native American relations with the United States that may not coincide with those of Native Americans.   I have long believed that many Native nations and their people were treated poorly at best by our nation over the last few centuries, but I also believe that there has been ample time and ability to make needed changes on both sides.   Although I don’t agree with Mr. Deloria on every point that he makes in this video, he did make me more aware of the inability of Native Americans to be heard and tell their story.                 The first thing that caught my attention was the...

Hello Class, Start Blogging (enjoy this exercise - more talking than academic).  Some of you may be blogging pros, while I know others are blogging novices. Treat these blogs discussions - one initial post due Friday week materials are due and 2 peer responses by Sunday.  Anytime blogging is due it must meet these requirements.  __________________________________ If you are here, clearly you already read and followed the instructions from Module 1 on blogging. The first assignment states: Remember, the point of journaling is to convey your ideas about what you are learning, but since you are in an academic format, it should be substantiated by the information that you are exposed to in this course. It does not matter if you like or dislike something; what matters is why you feel the way you do and what lead you in the sources you reviewed to feel that way. 1. Write a 250 word minimum piece of writing that can be used in a blog post. Your writing must d...