When I went home for Thanksgiving this break, I decided to check out the Van Andel Museum in the downtown Grand Rapids area. It had been a while since I have looked around in there and apparently the Van Andel Museum contains one of the state’s largest permanent collections relating to Native American culture.
I learned that 2,000 years ago, the Hopewell Indians lived at the Grand River Valley, which is now what we call Grand Rapids . Around 1700 A.D., the Ottawa Indians founded several villages along the Grand River but not until later did they live alongside European settlers and get along with them. Grand Rapids is now proud of this heritage and welcome the fight for their power and place back into our city.
The exhibit was set up showing numerous artifacts and pictures of the history of our people in West Michigan. Along with the artifact and/or picture, there is a story of these people displaying their diverse cultural backgrounds.
When seeing these exhibits of Native Americans and how important their cultural background is to them, I couldn't help but think about the movie we watched in class on the Team Mascots. It's great to see the history behind the Native Americans, especially in relation to my hometown AND view the movie presented in class in order to appreciate their culture. I think this goes with all cultures as well and possibly the basis of this class, that the more we understand other cultures, ethnicities, genders, etc. then the more we appreciate and decrease hurtful stereotypes presented to them. This class has definitely taught me to not be scared of addressing the issue of diversity, but to engage and educate myself in this diversity!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
That was a great opportunity to learn more information about Native Americans. I have not been to a cultural museum in a long time besides going to the MSU museum. I loved when we talked about Native Americans because it gave me a chance to learn and see that many times Native Americans are put on the back burner. It is almost as if they are looked at as the invisible minority, even though many of us have their blood running through our veins. Our focus on Native Americans helped to be develop a greater appreciation for their culture and the struggles that they as a group go through and continue to go through. Thanks for sharing that!
Post a Comment