Sunday, November 7, 2010

The history on Native Americans

 When you hear the word Native American what do you think of? Do you think of stereotypes or about cowboy movies? I never really thought what a Native American was besides what we learn in school about Indians and about the history of Columbus taking over. Well now when I hear the word Native American I think about history, a race and about traditions, a strong culture and people who fought for freedom and rights.
             Native Americans came from the north side and they would migrate a lot for food. Some examples of the food they would eat were fish, shrimp, whales, cows, buffalos, and grass. They had a very unique way of catching fish with out using any tools like we do today. All they would do is build a wall out of rocks to make a little pond and slowly the water would decrease so it would be easier to catch the fish. Another way they would hunt animals, mostly the big once was by using an arrowhead as a weapon. The Clovis point had to be small and sharp in order to get the right amount of speed and force to kill an animal from a distance. I found it very interesting how Indians created so many ways of hunting and ways to gather food that it made an impact in the world and we took those ideas and improved them to provide food to different parts around the world.
            The Native American culture is so different from the American culture that we are use to. In The Native American culture the mother is dominant. The women are in charge and the men have to follow the woman’s rules and decisions. In A relationship if a man and women have a child the mother is in charge of raising the boy or girl and the father is in charge of hunting the food and bringing fur and all kinds of things necessary for the house. This made domestic violence a very minimum thing to happen because the husband was living in his wife’s house so the   wife was in charge of everything that happens in the house and relationship.
             If for any reason the relationship wouldn’t work the mother would be in charge of everything this made life so much easier since there was no fights over custody and no fights over who keeps the house or any valuables. The man was kicked out of the house and he would most likely go live with his mother while his ex wife took care of her children and her brother raised them. During the Native American time there were no illegitimate children because the brother would raise all of the children his sister had no matter how many different men she had them with. The children only had one mother and were all raise by there uncle who they considered a dad.
            If we compare the Native American culture with the American culture we see how in our culture men are considered superior. Men earn more money then women and women are seen in different ways from men. For example men are considered to be the house providers, the business workers, engineers, doctors, and so many more important jobs. Women are seen as housewives, soccer moms, and to have a not as successful career as men do. In our society the women take there husbands last name and the women’s last name is lost. Women are treated differently even after years of fighting for women rights. Until this day female sports aren’t considered as important as men sports and male sports are a lot more dominant then female sports. I find it so interesting how two different cultures see a sex at a different level and have respect for a sex and not the other. I think that the American culture and the Native American culture are pretty similar in the fact that they have a sex that is superior then the other and someone in charge on how the family is raise and taken care of.
             In my opinion if I had to choose between living in an American society and living in a Native American society I would choose to live in the American society I live in . Even though I am a female and it would seem like my life would be better of living in a Indian society I would pick the American society because although many females aren’t considered equal in many thing like sports and income, women have many rights and the ability to have a great life as a great mother, wife,  and a great business owner, engineer, doctor, or anything we want to be. I believe in the ability for women to live there lives with out a man supporting them. Women are strong and can be independent if they choose to be. Although it might seem like Indian women are in charge and in control I feel like they don’t have all the same opportunities that the American culture has because to me it seems like Native American women need men to hunt and do all kinds of things for them instead of them becoming independent and doing all those things by them selves.
 I think every culture has its pros and cons in my opinion my culture is a great one and even though the Indian culture seems to be better for women, the American culture provides a lot of opportunities for a woman to choose how she want to live her life.
            Every one knows or has at least heard of the history about how Christopher Columbus came to the Americas and found the Native Americans. A lot of Indians died of diseases that the Spanish brought with them and also got there lands taken away from them because the Spanish took over there land and would kill any one who would try fighting back and  go against there decisions. Although a lot of Indians got killed the Indians and Europeans had a deal and they would trade all kinds of things that they each found necessary.                                                                         For example Europeans had guns, ammo, horses, cows, silver, pigs, metal tools, textile, needles, goats, and bread which Indians found many of these things necessary for improving there life’s and changing the way they live for   the better. Like the Europeans had things that the Indians found necessary the Indians as well had things the Europeans found necessary like dogs, turkeys, fur, cocoa, potatoes, corn, tobacco, cotton, tomatoes,  peanuts, and  timber. A lot of these trades made a big impact in the world because the Europeans made so many things we own now from things that originated from Indian culture. In my opinion I think that Indians got a lot more profit then Indians did because the Europeans made so much money with tobacco, and vegetable plants, as well as clothing. Compare to Indians who died because some animals that the Indians gave them were contaminated with diseases.
            The history of Native Americans is very interesting and you learn about how much impact the Indians have made in the world. When you think about Native Americans you think of a race but really there more then just a race and people they’re a culture that changed our world in so many ways and improved our way of living. Native Americans have changed our world and they have provided our life’s with so many good things like food and clothes. So next time you wear a 100% cotton shirt or sweater think about where that cotton came from and when you’re at the grocery store think about how most of those products were brought from Indian land. I think the history of the Native Americans is a very sad story about the lost of land and the lost of many Indians, but the gain of an improve American culture and a revolutionize land.  

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Happy me!!!!

Im a happy happy happy lit.girl:D

wooppwoop!!! I love you:D

"what is an American?"

What is an American?

We live in a world where everyone knows about equality, liberty, and every kind of freedom. I live in a state where everyone is considered equal and free to speak their opinions and achieve their goals. The answer to the question, What is an American? , Is basically an opinion. I believe an American can be anyone who lives, eats, works, and loves this country. In my opinion, a lot of people confused being an American with being a U.S citizen.
          A lot of people immigrate for all kinds of reasons, either for better opportunities or to get away from the dangerous place they live in and other personal reasons. I think an American is a person who lives in any area of America and works to provide for themselves and their families. I think that an American is a person who’s unique and strong and comes from a different background to make a better future for them selves. An American is not one race not one religion neither one size. An American is someone that immigrated from any part of the entire world and has his/her personal beliefs. An American is not classified by its race, sex, weight, or religion but by the fact that they live in a part of America and as everyone in this world illegal or legal, they work to survive and have better opportunities and move forward in life.
          This continent is made up of people of different backgrounds and made of people with strong cultural beliefs. I think what’s so interesting and great about this world is the fact that every where you go no matter what city or country you live in you’ll always meet someone from a different part of the world or someone that is mixed with different races. I am grateful to live in such an open world where no city is the same as another and you can always experience the culture of another place in the world by people that immigrate to America, either by there foods, paintings, clothes, buildings, or different ways that they speak.
          Living in L.A is such a great experience because I have met people from different parts of Asia, Central America, Europe, India, and other places. I think being an American is something wonderful because you are considered equal to others and everyone is special because no one is the same. Every where I go I see buildings that are inspired by different places in the world like Europe, Asia, etc. An American is someone who lives in any place of America and has worked to come here and live here. America is just one big place made up of different people from different places around the world. America is a beautiful place where you experience the wonder of meeting and seeing different things of different parts of the world.
          In history, we learn about all the ways that people fought for freedom and how people achieved all the rights we have now. We have also learned the important people who have made an impact in America and in the world. An American is someone who fights for his country no matter if he was or wasn’t born in it. An American is someone that studies and works in America. In simple words, an American is someone who lives in America no matter your race and cultural background

Academic Autobiography :D

                     
             Academic Autobiography
     
      I started school when I was four years old. I attended L.A Elementary from pre-k to fifth grade. I don’t really remember my first day of school clearly but I remember that I would wear a little Navy blue overall dress with a white collar shirt under. What I do remember is how excited I was about my first day of school since when my parents would drop of my older brother I would always take my backpack even though I wasn’t old enough for school yet. When my first day of school came I remember my mom taking me to my class room wt her holding my hand. Seeing so many kids in a class room and so many toys made me feel safe and I knew I was going to have a fun time. I made a lot of new friends that day that until this day I still talk to them and we sometimes remember  the times when we would sing songs to make us memorize the days of the week, the months of the years, and the alphabet, as well as many other songs.
            I have always been blessed to have great teachers who love to teach and always make teaching fun and interesting. Since pre-k and the day I learned how to talk you can say I haven’t been able to stop talking. I have always been a very talkative person and out going and I have a passion for learning. I love to learn new things every day. I love to participate and also work with other people in the class. My first grade teacher was a sweet young lady name Ms. Ordas she knew how to make teaching fun and if I ever needed help I never felt shy to ask. She made me feel special and made me understand that if I ever made a mistake that it was fine because I would learn from it.
            My second grade teacher was nice but for some reason my attitude towards her was sometimes rude. Even though I wasn’t the perfect student to her she was always sweet and always found ways to make me understand what we were learning. I remember I learned math very well by using flash cards in the class and by quizzing each other to see if we memorized our addition and subtraction. My third grade teacher was just awesome and amazing her name was Ms. Valle. I learned how to multiply in her class and we would always read different stories and learn about spelling and history. At the age I didn’t have a favorite subject yet but Ms. Valle always made reading fun. My fourth grade year was when I learned how to paste my reading and learned how to read at a proper level. I remember that during fourth grade I had trouble learning how to divide with two digit numbers and my teacher Mr. De Braba  thought me how make division easy and not complicated . He told me as long as you know how to multiply big numbers you’ll be able to divide anything. I thought math was so complicated and I would get real frustrated with it.                                                                                                                    My final year of elementary was with my teacher Mr. Kon. When I was a fifth grader I already knew how to read, write, and do math. I have to say my spelling has never been so good. I have always had trouble spelling words that sound alike since I would always get the sounds confused.  I loved my Fifth grade year because I was such an out going girl who loved to play sports and always wanted to get better at the subjects I wasn’t so good at. I had trouble with spelling but I always liked to write and even though math seemed to be getting harder I still found it interesting.
            After graduating from my elementary I went to John Burroughs M.S .Those where the best three years of my life. My favorite subject has been math since middle school and my second favorite subject is science. My sixth grade math and science teacher was the men who influence my passion for these two subjects. He made me understand how easy math can. I find math like a puzzle and we just need to find where each part go’s. Even though math is a challenge and as more advance as you go the more confusing and difficult  it gets I never gave up and always found math even more interesting because as long as you know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide you can solve anything as long as you know where every thing go’s.
            Science to me is very interesting and teaches us about life, the world, and space and about what things are made of. My favorite science teacher was my eighth grade teacher Ms. Kinney. I learned about minerals, space, the effects things have on other things, natural reactions, and so much more. I remember doing a lot of projects with her. We made a mini aircraft to see how high it would go to the sky and how long it would take to fall. Then I remember making glue and ice cream to see how one thing reacts to another. That class was lots of fun and I became very close to her. I guess the reason why I like math and science because I like doing things with my hands and doing group work and interacting.
            History has always been the subject that I find the most boring. I haven’t had an experience where history has been fun. Well actually only my tenth grade history teacher Mr. De Leon. He made history pretty interesting. Besides that history has just been something I’m not interested in even though I know it’s very important and a lot of things from the past affect the future. English is the second subject I don’t have a passion for. I really don’t like to read and writing is okay. I have read a few books that I actually found interesting and they are The Outsiders, Night, Ask Alice, and Chicken Soup for Teenage Souls. As you can see there are not a lot of books that I have actually read and liked. I want to start liking to read more because I know it’s very important but it’s hard for me because some books are just boring to me.
            Education has always been very important to me since my parents have always thought me that education is the key to reaching and making my goals and dreams possible. I have always found a passion and interest in medicine, kids, and law. Since I was little I always watched and pretended I was an FBI and I would solve crimes n murders. I think about my future now that I’m close to graduating and I’m still not sure what I want to do in the future but I know what I would like to be. My biggest dream is to become a pediatrician and work with little kids and also be a sergeant that specializes only with kids. I would also like to be an FBI agent. Finally I would like to be a speech therapist and works with kids that have trouble talking and speaking properly. I think learning to speak sign language would be very interesting and fun. Also it would give me access to people who don’t speak English or Spanish but something totally different. I hope that as I get older I realize what I want to be and when I do start working that I never loose that passion that I started with.
            Over my academic years I’ve had some challenges in some classes but I always choose to do my best. I know that if I don’t give up and stay motivated I'll achieve anything I want. I hope this school year is a great learning experience and that I learn to start liking the subjects I’m not so interested in. I know that if I give my time and attention to any subject and learn to understand it ill learn to be more interested in what ever I learn. finally I know this year is going to bring lots of challenges to me but I hope  I can have teachers to count on to help me and make me understand what I’m doing wrong and how I can get better.