Alice
For this piece I would like to
examine the biography of Alice Fletcher as written by the Smithsonian
Institute, National Museum of Natural History. Alice Fletcher was interesting
because she was one of the first that chose to live among Native Americans in a
Native American lifestyle and would gain nothing from it but knowledge of the
people and their culture.
Alice Fletcher seemed to have a privileged
upbringing which makes it ever more surprising that she would chose to live a
Native American lifestyle which is very basic and natural. As a young child
Alice and her family moved to Cuba because her father was sick and they hoped
that a change to a warmer climate would cure him. Unfortunately they were wrong
and her father passed away shortly after. “After her father passed away,
Fletcher’s mother, whom she recalled as a "highly educated lady of
Boston," moved the family back to the East Coast so that her daughter
might attend the "best schools" available.” (Camping with the Sioux)
This shows the status her family held if they were able to send Alice to the
best school despite no longer having the income of her lawyer father. This
shows me that it must have been very unexpected by the ones around her that she
would give up life as she knew it to move into the Sioux tribe and live as one
of them. I think the high economic status on her family might also be part of
the reason she was chosen to examine for this course, she is rare in what she
did. A privileged white woman in that time would not often give up everything
to give with, learn from and help native American’s that many in her economic
group looked down on greatly.
“She resolved to reform
Congressional legislation regarding Native American affairs and to help Native
Americans become Americanized. Fletcher felt, as did many Americans in the late
nineteenth century, that the only way Native Americans could avoid
extermination caused by civilization was by adapting to the
"civilized" mannerisms of white Americans. “ (Camping with the Sioux)
This quote conveys Alice’s perspective on the Native Americans and what they
would need to do to survive the westward coming of the white man. Alice
Fletcher is unique because she entered the group in hopes of helping them to
assimilated, but unlike many before her she tried to Americanize them to
protect them from being killed instead of trying to Americanize them for the
benefit for the white man. I think this shows a different side of interactions
between Native Americans and white because Fletcher acted as an advocate for
the tribes people.
After reading the Smithsonian article
and passage in Alice Fletcher’s journal my views of Native American’s continue
to change greatly from the stories of savages I remember hearing as a child. “They
stopped and greeted each other, in a few moments further Indians had driven
ahead of us. The wagon stopped and the Indians jumped out and came, saying,
"How!" and taking off their hats shook hands with Mr. T. Wajapa rode
through the new town with them and after a mile or two, Wajapa left them and
joined us, our ways parting. Wajapa retailed the conversation. "What are
you all doing?" asked the Indian. "Going to visit". "What
is that woman doing?" "Going to visit the Indians". "Who is
the man?" "The one who helped the Poncas". "Ah, he is the
only good man, I’ve wanted to see him", and then it was that the Indian, a
Sioux jumped out and came to us.” (Camping with the Sioux) This passage shows a
different side of the Native Americans. The tribes people that approached were
friendly and curious and were happy and almost excited once they received the
answers to the questions. This shows a very different side of Native Americans
than I can many others have been taught about
References
"Camping
With the Sioux: Fildwork Diary of Alice Cunningham Fletcher." Smithsonian
Institue National Museum of Natural History. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fletcher/foreword.htm>.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteInteresting that someone would take the approach of leaving their privileged lifestyle for a more simple one to learn about the Native Americans. That was a pretty drastic, yet courageous thing to do back then. Did she have much success in trying to Americanize the Natives? Did she eventually return to her family or was she considered an outcast?
She was accepted and helped to teach the Natives and although she continued to try and advocate for Americanization, she has little luck with actually changing the tribe or Native people in general
DeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteIt was quite an endeavor she took in leaving her life in the East to travel with the Native tribes and write about them. The decision to do this must not have been easy.
I think that while her efforts to Americanize them were in her mind for their benefit, the logic behind it was faulty. She, like many others, thought that their society wasn't good enough as it was and needed improvement from the white man. She believed that they were a society that needed to be saved from themselves even before needed to be saved from the encroaching white man.
It is commendable that she tried to help the native people, but unfortunate how she decided to do so.
Why do you think Alice Fletcher chose to make this journey when she had all the comforts of Boston? Do you think it was purely scientific interest, a mission educate or "save them", or some other reason?
I think it is very interesting to see different views of the same individual. (If you have not read Raymond's posting Amy, you should...it will provide you with another lens). That being said, I think you have a very articulate description of her experiences. Very well written and great job!
ReplyDelete