Today and next week, we'll study the Cherokee Nation ... one of the largest and most adaptable of the Native American peoples.
And you'll write a paper on what we can learn from their experience. It will be 1,000 to 2,500 words long (four to five pages in 12pt Times Roman type), and it will be due the the beginning of class Monday, April 6. I'll hand out a detailed assignment sheet Monday, March 30. But you can start getting ready for the paper by asking yourself these questions:
1. In the video "Cherokee: The Principal People," several people said harmony and balance are importatn traditional Cherokee values. How well have they been able to maintain that? How important are harmony, balance and traditional values to Gogisgi (Caroll Arnett)? Check out his poetry and his autobiographical essay in "Here First."
2. The Cherokee went further than any other American Indian tribe in adapting the white man's ways, including a written constitution and a government modeled after the U.S. government, a written alphabet. Yet their history is one of struggle. How have they adapted?
3. How are the Cherokee today in North Carolina and Oklahoma able to preserve their traditional heritage?
4. What can the rest of us learn from the Cherokee? This may be the most important question of all.
No comments:
Post a Comment