Diaries, memoirs, and autobiographies present a significant source of information on the clarification of the past happenings and processes. They are helpful for providing insights into the sequence of events, their reasons and consequence, especially written by contemporaries, and allow us to observe them from another perspective. Such a source of information conveys the way of formation of an individual experience influenced by social, economic, and political context. However, it is worthy of note that memoirs are highly likely to contain some forms of prejudices and biases. The author may not have also remembered the circumstances comprehensively, writing some years after the happenings. Some individuals were willing to highlight their successes and did not pay special attention to their failure. For this reason, it presents a matter of extreme importance to get acquainted with their recollections carefully. This way, the purpose of this paper is to analyze one of the memoirs, Lakota Woman, critically, and outline its purposes and the extent of matching reality.
The Author’s Personality and the Background
The work of literature was written by two people, Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes. The first one is also known as Mary Brave Bird or Mary Brave Woman Olguin. She was a Sicagu Lakota writer and actively participated in the American Indian Movement in the 1970s and in their most publicized events, such as the Wounded Knee Incident. The second author, Richard Erdoes, was supposed to edit the narration. Having been involved in the American Indian Movement defense, he also added some stories about Native Americans to the memoir. However, the book predominantly contains the reflections of Mary Crow Dog’s experience.
The Historical Period
As has been mentioned above, the authors lived in the 20th century. Therefore, they were significantly impacted by the American Indian Movement, which covered Native Americans and their living conditions. It was driven by the determination to cope with poverty and police brutality. After some time, the movement became broader and addressed a huge variety of issues, such as the high rates of unemployment, education, preservation of Indigenous culture, and others. Both Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes participated in this occasion and made a considerable contribution to its promotion.
The Purposes of the Autobiography
Lakota Woman narrates the story of Mary ‘Brave Woman’ Crow Dog’s life. Mary had Native American toots, namely her mother was Indian. She describes the difficulties this community encounters while adjusting to the white men’s rules. Her mother’s case is an illustrative example of such a process. She makes efforts to confirm the modern society, but the narrator marks the fact that her mother is unwilling to accept it and relegate the Indigenous culture to oblivion (Dog & Erdoes, 1990). On the contrary, Mary gets acquainted with her elderly family and Indians traditions. Unlike the modern society of white men, she received love and acceptance there. In addition, Mary creates her own family within the Native American community.
Telling this story, the author attempts to draw the attention of as broad an audience as possible to the issue of Native Americans’ rights in the present-day developments. Ancestors had to encounter and overcome four types of oppression, such as substantial cruelty, its implementation into social institutions, other citizens’ unawareness of this contentious issue, and power disparity. She highlights the fact that contemporaries had to sacrifice their living conditions and safety in order to supply the next generation with satisfactory and convenient living standards. The members of the movement contributed to the perseverance of the culture and achieved respect from white people. In addition, the writer addresses the topic of education and depicts how unacceptance of other traditions, which are inhabitable for European Americans, may be destructive for someone’s personality. She also touches the topic of women’s discrimination, as it was a common sight in that community when men devalued the lives of women. Mary Crow Dog demonstrates to modern people the necessity to respect Indigenous tradition and be tolerant to the Indians and women in general, sharing the ordeals she faced being part of this culture.
Connections to Education and Schooling in the United States
As has been mentioned earlier, one of the major purposes of the story regards the education system and schooling in the United States. Being a Lakota girl, the character had to cope with multiple hardships. She was made to adjust to another society and culture, neglecting Indigenous traditions, which were extremely important for her. Mary remembers her experience in a boarding school as the time when she was forced to turn from Lakota to white (Dog & Erdoes, 1990). Teachers prevented her from speaking her native language and exploring the history of the Indigenous people.
America is the “melting pot,” where nationalities from all around the world have gathered, so the problem of acceptance of other traditions is relevant. However, the current tendency is oriented toward transforming from a multicultural society to the single-cultural model, creating nationalism and stimulating the population to be loyal to the new government (Spring, 2018). Moreover, the current schooling system is determined to regulate the extent of freedom via citizenship and moral education and observing the next option of educating in the future (Spring, 2018). The government is concerned about its ability to control the diverse population and contributes to its uniting. Education is also considered to be the method of minimizing the crime rates (Spring, 2018). This way, the government is not interested in the preservation of indigenous cultures.
Despite this aspect, these days, the situation of diversity is constantly improving. The discrimination in the person’s origin is minimized, and representatives of the Native American community have the opportunity to enter any educational institutions or apply for the desired position. Their particular needs are also taken into consideration in the majority of spheres, such as healthcare and religion. However, the curriculum is the field, which requires reconsideration and additional implementations.
The Major Points of the Author’s Point of View
Thus, Mary Crow Dog’s point of view can be formulated in the following way. The author focuses on the preservation of Native American culture and the necessity to show a respectful attitude to it; however, this issue is significantly broader. She is opposite discrimination in general regardless of the criteria. The writer is willing to convince readers that each person deserves to stick to any lifestyle and beliefs he or she wants in case it is not harmful for the rest of the society. An individual should be able to occupy the position he or she prefers and enter any educational institution. The progenies should have the opportunity to choose what confession they are eager to follow and what traditions to keep. While on the subject of nationality, an individual should have the right to identify himself or herself independently. Mary Crow Dog had both white and Native American roots, and she related herself to the latter. The author highlights the importance of such a choice.
Despite the fact that the autobiography is predominately based on the writer’s personal experience, it can be a sufficient source of information on the oppression of the Indigenous community. It is worthy of note that she addresses the topics, which were relevant only for her and her surrounding, but the issues are presented in detail. The memoirs cannot be informative in the context of comprehension of the whole historical period, but it can clarify the particular issue of Native Americans’ living standards. As compared to other diaries and memoirs, this book is deprived of biases to a large extent. The probable reason for it is the cooperation with Richard Erdoes, who was an active participant in similar events and edited the narration.
The Findings from the Story
The narration motivates the readers to reflect on the topic of the current educational system and history. It stimulated a person to decide whether it is more beneficial to stick to a single-culture society or whether it is more helpful to give the population more freedom in this context. While this issue stays contentious in the present-day developments, it is evident that any forms of Indigenous cultures should not be relegated to oblivion. Particular traditions and customs present a matter of extreme importance for some communities and appear to be an integral part of their lives. For this reason, the necessity to respect it should not be underestimated.
References
Dog, M. C., & Erdoes, R. (1990). Lakota woman. Harper Perennial.
Spring, J. (2018). The American school: From the Puritans to the Trump era. Routledge.