Reflection Essay

The research question that I created at the beginning of this year was “How did

advancements in science and technology affect the way Native Americans live and/or

the way they are seen and heard?” I decided to pick this question because I’m

interested in the culture of Native Americans, except, I’m not really one for English and

History. I mostly enjoy doing Math and Science, so I decided to incorporate my interests

into my question so that my conclusion would be more angled towards what I enjoy.

While that was fairly challenging considering my only true AGS classes this year were

AP English and AP US History, I tried to do my best to connect what we were learning

with the more scientific and technological aspect of them to better connect them with my

concept question so I can hopefully effectively answer it.

My question addresses the way that science and technology affects Native

Americans’ lives along with their image and voice. The development of technology

especially influenced them greatly, because for the longest time, well, since the

Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean and began to settle (and conquer) the land that

the Native Indians were occupying, the White Americans have lied to, killed, deceived,

stole from the Native Americans. Naturally, the Native Americans have had a lot to say

about these actions from the US government regarding how to better handle such

affairs in the future, as well as paying for their cruel actions. Even though the Native

Americans had lots to say, the majority of the US consisted of White Americans who

greatly discriminated against the Native Indian population, and through the use of

literature and media, have illustrated an image of Native Indians that is very generalized
and pretty insulting to Natives. This has caused Native Americans to have an extremely

limited amount of voice on pretty much any topic, and not to forget a large amount of

discrimination from mostly anywhere they go. This stereotypical image created by White

Americans has been contributed to by literature, but actually mostly affirmed by the

media. There have been many different forms of the media that have affirmed this, for

instance, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, this originally appeared on the radio in 1933, but

would continue to be adapted into a very popular television series from 1949-1957. The

Lone Ranger and Tonto depicted the Ranger as an above average white adult male who

was a part of the Texas Rangers, and Tonto as his Native American sidekick who would

aid the Ranger in his adventures in fighting crime in the country. Tonto was depicted as

what most White Americans stereotypically viewed American Indians, Tonto spoke

somewhat stunted English, and sometimes wore a feather on his head, and was a very

good horse rider. The series was mainly adapted in television and radio stories, as well

as being written into many books.

Another example of the depiction of Native Americans in a stereotypical image

would be The Mission film, because while the intent of the film is to show the negative

effects that the actions the Europeans took towards the Natives had on them, their

depiction of the Natives was quite stereotypical and showed very little diversity in

Native culture, in a very diverse reality. But this story being told in the form of a film is

important because it reflects how the development of technology has progressed the

way that Native Americans are depicted in the media. While this particular depiction was
not quite flattering, or accurate even, it does unfortunately contribute to their collective

image in the eyes of White Americans.

Although, the development of technology, although it seems this so far, isn’t

always harmful to the image of Native Americans, many actually use the media to

expand their audience and actually advocate for themselves on issues with their own

opinions and views. While their voices are not the strongest, many tribes have a fair

amount of White Americans that will also advocate for them and with them on their

issues and help communicate their ideas. Sometimes, there Native Indians who become

so famous and listened to that their voice is plenty heard, take Bartolomé de las Casas

and Juan Ginés de Sepulveda for example, back in the 1500’s they were both

(opposing) advocates for Native Americans against the Europeans and their

government in opposition to the forceful taking of the Natives rightful land. On a more

related topic, the film “Smoke Signals” tells the story of two Native Indians living on the

Coeur D’Alene Indian Reservation in Plummer, Idaho and this story is told from the

viewpoint of Native Americans. The film may have been a little low budget, but the

meaning of the story was surely there, and it greatly reflected the true diversity in Native

American cultures and beliefs, as well as addressing the matter of the stereotypical

depiction of Native Indians in the eyes of most White Americans. Along with the way

that Natives see the White Americans as well, the film shows the crazy, and ever

changing world through the eyes of a couple of Natives who are on their own journey

through it all. While the film seems like it may not be a big deal, it is fairly well known,

and very educational and informative in one of the many American Indian cultures.
 While Native Americans have a certain depiction created of them, that was

mainly created by the media, they have also been affected by the development of

technology in other ways as well. The Native American people, one of the few

characteristics they all share is that they are a very spiritual people, and their medicinal

practices especially are as such. But with the greater developments in modern

medicine, and having them just at the ready for people to access, Native Americans

somewhat have access to those medicines that can help them with illnesses that their

more traditional practices that they may not have access to.

Native Americans that live on the reservations scattered throughout the country

leave the reservation quite often and go into the US for their shopping and such. Our

societies, however seemingly disconnected are very much connected, and Native

Americans are apart of the country whether people recognize them or not.

Native Americans have arguably been greatly affected by the development of

technology and science in the US, both positively and negatively. Advancements in

science and medicine help natives on the reservation who may not always have access

to the proper care they need for illnesses. Technological advancements, particularly

those in the media have greatly affected them because of the many different ways that

White Americans treat them based on their stereotypes and depictions based on false

ideas that have mainly been cast through the media.