Helen Hunt Jackson, Zitkala Sa, and The Noble Savage

Helen Hunt Jackson: I felt that she described the tribes, the land and also the individuals well. It created a picture in my mind of what everything looked like. It made it easier to read after understanding the image of the tribe. This became depressing when the tribe and the warriors were being destroyed for being too small. Although, the United States created a treaty in 1817 which was a peaceful treaty and made the indians hopeful and at peace foe the time being. The United States agreed to protect the Poncas when they needed it. I felt that this excerpt kept my feelings up and down. It would become depressing to hopeful from the United States to depressing again after everything being destroyed once more. It was interesting to see the relationship between the United States and the indian tribe.

Zitkala Sa: The description of her life really impressed me. She was a very strong and talented woman from being a writer, orator, and debater; a singer, pianist, and violinist and also an activist on behalf of women's and Native American rights. Basically starting at the age of eight, she began her life wanting to make an impact as being a Native American. She obviously looked up to her mother and wanted her to be happy and listened very carefully of what she had to say. It was clear that her uncle was a loved man in their village and her mother was truly affected by his death. I liked how she shared the coffee making story because it was an embarrassing story for her making coffee out of dead ashes. It was sad to see that she wanted to go East just because of these red apples and that her mother was so against it but Zitkala wanted to go so badly. I thought it was brave of her to go by herself not really knowing where and what she was going to.

Noble Savage: I think its odd that they call themselves savages because when I think of a savage I think of it in a bad way but after reading this passage I have a new understanding of the word. They say it could simply mean wild. They also said Savages are truly noble meaning they enjoyed the right to hunt the game which is different than I thought the phrase would be. In Charles Dickens, the Noble Savage, he described indians as dirty, cruel and constantly fighting among themselves. I thought his opinion was very strong and I didn't really agree with him on how he saw the indians in that way.