Native Americans
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Indian Sunset Native Americans The plains sustained tribes of Native Americans who survived here with their herds of buffalo. [A “survivor” explains:] “The buffalo was a gift from the Creator. It was given to the Native American to use, to survive, to live on this earth. We use it, every part of the buffalo, from the horn to the hoof. Spirituality of the buffalo is very important to us. It meant everything to the Native American.” 5 Here on the plains the tribes set out to win empires. One people, the Sioux, had a vision of dominion over mountains, desert and forest. On horseback they ranged over the land and imagined it united. With guns bought from Europeans they pursued their own territorial ambitions. But there was one rival they couldn’t match – the invading white man. With their industrialized machines, this new enemy made war to indigenous cultures. The Whites 10 used belief in their Manifest Destiny to justify conquering the whole of the continent. Millions of emigrants came to America and crossed the country on newly-built rail tracks laid by Irish and Chinese laborers. Faced with the loss of their land the plains’ peoples were forced into guerilla warfare. The Kansas- Pacific Railroad employed the 7th Cavalry commanded by General Custer to defend the trains against attacks. The invaders were backed by the manufacturers of guns and ammunition on an industrial scale. 2 15 million bullets a day were produced by the Winchester factory alone. The railroad also hired a young scout, William Cody, later known as Buffalo Bill to kill buffalo to feed their workers. The fate of the plains’ people was directly linked with that of the buffalo. The tribes hunted to meet their own needs. A traditional method was to drive buffalo over a cliff. But for white settlers the slaughter of buffalo became a sport and a way of undermining Indian economic survival. 20 Following European settlement the buffalo population fell from an estimated 60 million to less than a thousand. It was a startling demonstration of the power of industrializing societies. The plains’ ecology was transformed, its people displaced. General William Sherman in 1867 said, “The more I see these Indians the more convinced I am that they will have to be killed or maintained as a species of pauper.” CNN, Millennium, 2000 analysis 1. Explain the sentence: “The plains sustained tribes of Native Americans”. 2. Were all the Indian tribes peaceful? 3. What is Manifest Destiny? 4. What are the two inventions which helped the immigrants to conquer America? 5. What did the buffalo represent for the Indians and for the new settlers? 6. Explain General William Sherman’s statement. Was he right? Words Match the following words: a) tribe 1) drove b) herd 2) clan c) gift 3) horny growth covering the feet of certain animals d) horn 4) present e) hoof 5) hard bony growth projecting from the head of certain animals f) gun 6) system of marks used for measuring g) belief 7) destiny h) scale 8) very steep rocky hill i) hire 9) faith j) fate 10) sabotage k) cliff 11) surprising, alarming, frightening l) settler 12) poor person, beggar m) slaughter 13) employ n) undermine 14) massacre, carnage o) startling 15) colonist p) pauper 16) rifle Indian Sunset Indian Sunset As I awoke this evening with the smell of wood …………………… clinging1 Like a gentle cobweb2 hanging upon a painted ……………………, Oh ! I went to see my …………………… with my war lance and my woman For he told us that the yellow …………………… would very soon be leaving. "This I can't believe, I said. I can't believe our warlord's dead. Oh! he would not leave the chosen ones to the buzzards3 and the soldiers guns." Oh! great father of the Iroquois, ever since I was young, I've read the writing of the …………………… and breast fed on the sound of drums, I've learned to hurl the tomahawk and ride a painted pony wild, To run the gauntlet of the Sioux4, to make a ……………………'s daughter mine; And now you ask that I should watch The red man's race be slowly crushed! What kind of words are these to hear From Yellow Dog whom white man fears? I take only what is mine, Lord: my pony, my ……………………, and my child. I can't stay to see you die along with my tribe's pride5; I go to search for the yellow …………………… and the fathers of our sons Where the red sun sinks in the hills of gold and the healing6 waters run. Trampling down7 the prairie rose leaving …………………… in the sand, Those who wish to follow me I welcome with my hands. I heard from passing renegades Geronimo was dead: He'd been laying down his weapons when they filled him full of lead8. Now there seems no reason why I should carry on9: In this land that once was my land I can't find a home. It's lonely and it's quiet and the horse soldiers are coming. And I think it's time I strung my bow10 and ceased my senseless running ; For soon I'll find the yellow …………………… along with my loved ones Where the …………………… graze11 in clover12 fields without the sound of guns. And the red sun sinks at last into the hills of gold − And peace to this young warrior comes with a bullet hole. Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Madman across the Water © 1970 Analysis 1. LISTEN to the song and find the missing words. 2. CHECK what you have understood. a) Who is "I"? T Elton John T an Iroquois Indian T a Sioux Indian T Geronimo T Yellow Dog b) The song expresses T happiness T sadness T disbelief T nostalgia T anger c) What is happening to the Indians? Justify by quoting a verse from the song. d) What happens in the end? Does this illustrate General William Sherman’s gloomy predictions? e) Explain the title. Does it sum up the song and the CNN documentary as well? 1 clinging = that doesn't go away 2 cobweb = toile d'araignée 3 buzzard = buse (un oiseau de proie) 4 to run the gauntlet of the Sioux = to fight against the Sioux 5 pride = fierté (to be proud of = être fier de) 6 to heal = cicatriser, guérir, apaiser 7 to trample down = to crush with your feet 8 lead = plomb 9 to carry on = to continue 10 to string my bow = mettre une corde à mon arc 11 to graze = brouter 12 clover = trèfle - 2 - Indian Sunset The last of the Mohicans This is the final scene in James Fennimore Cooper (1789-1851) 's famous novel, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), an epic adventure and passionate romance set against the panorama of Colonial America's frontier wilderness ravaged by war between the British, the French, and their Native American allies. CHINACHGOOK : Great Spirit and Maker of all Life, a warrior goes to You swift and straight as an arrow shot into the sun. 5 Welcome him, and let him take his place at the council fire of my people. He is Uncas - my son. 10 Tell him to be patient and ask death for speed, for they are all there but one, I, Chinachgook, 15 the last of the Mohicans. [music] CHINACHGOOK : The frontier moves with the sun, and pushes the Red Man of these wilderness forests 20 in front of it until one day there will be nowhere left. Then our race will be no more, or be not us. HAWKEYE : That is my father's sadness talking. CHINACHGOOK : No, it is true. The frontier place is for people like my white son and his woman and 25 their children. And one day there will be no more frontier. And men like you will go too, like the Mohicans. And new people will come, work, struggle. Some will make their life. But once we were here. Analysis 1. What has just happened? 2. Who does Chinachgook talk to at the beginning? Is it a poem, a monologue, a prayer, or a speech? 3. What are the relationships between Chinachgook and Hawkeye ? 4. What does Chinachgook mean by "our race will be no more, or be not us"? 5. What does Chinachgook mean by "one day there will be no more frontier"? Was he right? 6. Is this a happy end? Justify your answer. - 3 - .