Every Day is a Good Day Chapter 3

In chapter 3 I came across a great statement written by the author. She says " Though many non-Native Americans have learned very little about us, over time we have had to learn everything about them" (Mankiller, Pg. 43). This caught my eye because she is right. The Native peoples of this land have had to learn about those that entered it a took it away. They even had to assimilate into the dominant culture in order to live. It is interesting to read about this from Native women's perspective because they have a lot more to say than most would think.
I also agree with what she was saying when she talked about how the lack of information about the culture was the cause for stereotypes. "This lack of information has produced a number of stereotypes, including that of the mystical child of nature- spiritual but incapable of higher thought- or the blood thirsty savage who murdered and scalped innocent settlers" (Mankiller, Pg. 42). It is amazing how people make up facts about things that they have not even studied or experienced. Something that is often thought of when dealing with indigenous people is that they have less of a cognitive thought process and they have no knowledge. But if they were that much less knowledgeable than anyone else, then how would they have been able to live for thousands of years on this land? How would they have been able to survive? Because they are not totally familiar with Westernized views, it makes them look as though they have less knowledge, but for those anthropologists and historians, they feel like they have all the knowledge in the world because they read some books and took some pictures. The indigenous are not considered in matters pertaining to their land and their values.