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.