Harold Napoleon’s letter is incredibly brave. It’s not easy to expose your personal wounds. He not only did this, but he also exposed the wounds of his culture, his people. What the “white man” did to not only the Yupik, but many other Alaska Natives, was a tragedy. In his letter, he talks about the whites wanting to “help” the Yupik. I do not believe this to be true. The whites helped wound a culture. They took the things that benefited themselves and made the natives change to what best suited them.
With that being said, it is now up to the Yupik to rebuild their culture. Alcoholism and depression are terrible diseases. However, with the right leadership, they can regain what they once had. It will never be the same, but they can at least recover something. This has to be done soon before the few who still remember are gone.
Yes it is great that Napolean wrote this letter to record his thoughts and opinions, but keep in mind that this is only one person's point of view. My Grandparents lived in several villages for more than 35 years, and some of them even adopted them into their tribes! My Grandparents were translators and helped the natives write down their language and culture to preserve it for the future generations. So not all of the whites took advantage of the natives.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate people like your grandparents. Its people like them that soften the blow to all the sadness and depression. It is important to recover from past disasters before it becomes a way of life. If they cant recover, generation after generation will be as depressed and "addicted to alcohol as the last". Start a new way of life, and they can use all the help they can get.
ReplyDeleteHow the native people were treated was harsh but many people look past the good the “white” people did. Like what Denielle was saying about her grandparents. I can’t help but think what the first contact must have been like, different languages and ways of life. I could see how the “white” people would think they were helping by educating these communities. It would have been a HUGE culture shock and with a world changing as much as it has in the past 10, 50, and 100 years I don’t think the Native Alaskans would have made it without some of the changes made. (not saying the deaths and suffering was a good thing) but we live in a growing world those who don’t grow with the world get left in the dark and seem to suffer even more today. I think to help the natives everyone needs to see the changes and accept them but not let the important traditions slip away.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with Mary's last statement. The native people needed to make some changes to help them survive in the ever modernizing world of today, but it is important that they not forget the traditions that define them as a people. It can almost be said that while the "white" people wanted to help, they should have tried to create more of a balance between the traditions of the native and the modern world instead of making it seem like many of the native's beliefs and customs had no value.
ReplyDeleteSome of what Napolean wrote actually confused me. I was born and raised in Fairbanks and from what I have learned of Alaska Native cultures is that they are very united. They come together for all sorts of celebrations and tragedies. In Napolean's writing it seems as though he is generalizing that all Alaska Natives have PTSD and that they abuse alcohol. I know he had an emphasis on Yup'ik people, but he talks about all Alaska Natives in parts.
ReplyDeleteReally? To me its like he talks about other Natives when he mentions the Great Death. Most everything else is how it affected the Yup'ik and how it changed their culutre. He might mention Native as a group and then switch to survivors, but I think everytime he said survivors he meant the Yup'ik people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jzanazzo i also grew up in Fairbanks and was taught that natives came together and kept close and I still think its true. But the problem I see is they do not communicate with each other about their problems. A friend of mine grew up in a village and she said she was taught that if an elder showed you something you would not ask questions because it was like telling them you were not paying attention. also white people wrote the text books we all have to read as children so I bet a few things got left out.
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