Reflection 11.21.2009

With thanksgiving fast approaching and the smell of turkey in the air, it is time for another reflection which will tie into the bonus question too:

When we went to the Native American Museum, I enjoyed seeing that culture. It is a very serene with their dependance on the land and their togetherness with nature. As much as it is a culture that is very private and one that I obviously don't belong to, I can't help but want to belong to it...it's seems so idealistic and simple.

Some people and me watched movie that was called "1000 different paths" or something. It documented the different lives and journeys of different native americans, both in the "modern" world and in their own tribes, showing how they live. There was a story of healer, a medicine man, who tried to cure a little boy, but unfortunately, the boy died. There was a business women living in the hustle and bustle of the city but still kept true to her roots.

The film was clearly meant to show how we are all human, just making our way through life, whatever cultural background we come from. There is a sense of othering, but I felt it was more the audience that was made to feel like an outsider, than the thousands of journeys taken by native americans. It made me wish I could be part of that culture...and the film was saying "ha! You can't!!" at the same time that it was celebrating the unique lives of these people.

The other thing that very much hit me was a small walkway into one of the exhibitions, that projected people along side you on either side ... it took me a while to work out what was going out. When I finally decided to read the caption, it said "You never know when you could be walking along side a native american", showing that they aren't this "other" people, they are integrated with every other culture despite the contradictory separation. The native american museum, is one of two more distinct cultural museums in DC that are on the Mall. The other is the Holocaust museum. (The African-American museum in Anacostia is obviously other one but it's not on the mall, and it's small and relatively unknown). It is interesting that at the same time the museum tries to celebrate the culture, but at the same time can't help but set it apart.

I enjoyed the museum overall and was sad that the food was so expensive - but it definitely did give me a new appreciation for the culture