--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jst...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchydog@> wrote: > <snip> > > I see your point that the producers "couldn't quite cope > > mentally with the idea of a white woman becoming one of > > *them* without lowering herself and becoming uncivilized," > > and perhaps it implies a form of unconscious racism. I > > think it's a stretch. I have a hard time looking for > > racism under every rock. I had my fill of it during > > Hillary's campaign. > > > > Another way to look at it is that before the Sioux > > adopted Stands With A Fist, as a child she had already > > identified with a white culture. Although she adapted > > in many ways to a foreign culture (where else is a girl > > going to go shopping for clothes?) she retained her > > sense of being "different" and it may have been the > > source of her defiance and thus the hairdo. > > Possible, but I think *that's* a stretch. She was > too young when the tribe took her in to have absorbed > much of white culture; and in any case, white culture > wasn't any more accepting of poor grooming than > Indian culture. > > Plus which, it wasn't just that she adapted to the > Indian culture. She bought into it totally, was > terrified that Dunbar was going to make her leave > the tribe and go back to her own people. She'd > married an Indian, and when Dunbar first encounters > her, she's in such deep and desperate mourning after > her husband's death that she's in the process of > committing suicide. > > Finally, the defiance that inspired her name was > generated by the Indians mistreating her at first > because she was white. The "fist" she stood with was > raised against a member of the tribe who had been > harassing her. > > That's what she was defying, the unequal treatment, > insisting that they treat her as one of them. And > they were so impressed by the way this little white > girl stood up for herself that from then on, they > did exactly that. Being strong-willed was an Indian > trait, as far as they were concerned. > > So I have a hard time buying that she would > deliberately try to preserve her differentness. >
Stands With A Fist had to claim her right for equal treatment and stand up for herself against a bigot for being "different." No matter how little she was when adopted, she knew her skin was a different color and it set apart from the other children. Childhood taunts can be cruel. Is it an innate human trait that children abhor differences in their peers and seek to eliminate, marginalize or demand conformity? Is it the source of bigotry? Is bigotry an infantile aversion to difference? Children adopted by families of a different race often long for a culture identity that goes back to their roots. Even children adopted as infants go to great lengths hunting for birth parents, perhaps hoping somehow finding a missing piece of their life will restore a sense of wholeness. The choices children make attempting to identity with a foreign culture can reflect an internal conflict and manifest as "acting out" in a variety of socially unacceptable ways, i.e. messy hair. They may rebel or adapt but in either case it isn't with a sense of ease within themselves. They don't quite know who they are. I imagine it's disconcerting to say the least.
