My Reservation Ideas

Reading Diary of a Part-time Indian has opened my eyes to many things. It's always easy to get caught up in one opinion or view until it has been proven wrong. That's why it was so simple of me to have the complete opposite view of reservations. I always thought that the Native Americans living on reservations were actually stoic replicas of Native Americans living in the museums and our history books. My mind never grasped the very real thought of reservations being anywhere near modern. Either racist or ignorant of me, I'm not quite sure which side is more represented, this was unfortunately a completely false idea. Whenever I would think of a rez I would think of completely barren land; a couple of farms and animals here; a couple of people wearing their ancient clothes and mud brick/ stone/ or wooden houses. The only idea that I had of Native Americans living on reservations is that they wanted to preserve their culture as much as possible. Of course this is true. In Part-Time Indian they still keep similar jargon, traditions, beliefs, and hope, although it's not as spot on as I thought. I never had a modern look at a reservation life. They wear normal clothes; I thought they would still wear their infamous buckskins, moccasins, and buffalo robes of even be half naked.. Native Americans have advanced along with America. Their reservations aren't pure grass and old culture, a mistake I made.

Our Bigger: Native Sons

    It's nice to see that Bigger had at least one person on his side in the last book. That one person was his lawyer, Max, who continued to advocate for Bigger and his situation regardless of what the outcome was going to be. I find it interesting that Max was able to explain Bigger's situation and case to a T. Instead of putting all the full blame on Bigger, Max justified that if society wasn't the way that it was then this would've never happened. He said it was the white world and white men that put this ignorance into Bigger's mind. Bigger didn't understand how a white person could be nice to him, and after committing the crime, he didn't understand how they could NOT kill him. This is why Bigger presumably fled. Max, the communist, explained Bigger, the black boy's, case better than well. In fact it was detailed so intricately so that everyone in the courtroom could have a full understanding of the situation. Although the odds were not in their favor due to their social positions. 
    I find it interesting that two groups who are considered minorities would stick together and try to advocate for themselves. Earlier in the book we were discussing how Peggy was Irish and that's why she may have more of a feel for Bigger. Same with Jan and Max, they both were Communists, and they too displayed their apologies. I would thinks that two groups that have been powerless for so long would in fact fight each other every time they could get a small taste, and not be so open to benefitting each other.