The Cohn Conception's Final Presentation

I was highly engaged throughout this entire presentation. I chose to watch this video because the cover page was interesting and I wanted to know more. I know little, if anything about Native Americans in today's world. When I hear the words Native Americans, I think about Thanksgiving and that is about it. Due to this presentation, I am now aware of the struggles the Native Americans have to face on a daily basis. This cultural group struggles with the most poverty than anyone in the Unites States. I also learned how the Native Americans got in this awful economic and social place in society. They were the first group to arrive in the United States, yet when the colonists arrived they brought with them awful diseases which ruined the Native Americans' lives for good. Ever since then the Native Americans have suffered from illness and poverty. The poverty the Native Americans face today is depressing. They are living here in the United States and our nation seems to have forgotten about them. One of the videos that was in the presentation talked about a small town in South Dakota called Pine Ridge. There, a Native American reservation struggles with poverty and awful living conditions. One question that I have is why is the government hardly doing anything about this? It seems that we are more concerned with involving ourselves in other countries and disregarding the poverty that is right around the corner in our country. I liked how one video did show the help that a charity group called National Relief Charity (NRC) is giving the Native Americans. Instead of giving an abundance of supplies to the reservation, they only give them the necessities and the goods that they need at that time. They are also offering classes for the Native Americans to take, and for attending these classes they receive essential living items. This reminded me of the old saying, "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish he will eat for a lifetime." Giving the Native Americans supplies everyday will not help the poverty problem, but teaching them life skills they will help them be more self-sufficient and bring about positive change in their reservations. Another point that I found interesting was that about the stereotypes individuals have against Native Americans. They believe all of them have a great connection with the Earth and love nature. This stereotype is portrayed in a Disney movie and I truly believe due to “Pocahontas,” I only see Native Americans in this spiritual way. This presentation overall did a great job of fitting together all the struggles Native Americans have to deal with, how they got this way, and where the future is headed.