truepoetsociety

INDIAN SUNSET by Elton John

« Indian Sunset » was inspired by a visit lyricist Bernie Taupin made to a reservation. Narrated by an unnamed Native American, this emotive ballad which runs to 6 minutes 47 seconds, is about the end of a way of life as the colonization of the vast American continent by the White Man leads inevitably to the subjugation and near extinction of its former masters.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrAwGjM0gR4[/youtube]

NOC A HOMA by Black Lips

This song tells the story of Chief Noc-A-Homa, the former mascot for the Atlanta Braves baseball team (as in Chief « knock a homer »). Frontman Cole Alexander explained this ode to the drunken Native Indian in an interview with Spin magazine: « The guy who acted as the mascot was a real Native American and he used to do prayer dances on the pitcher’s mound. A lot of the other Native Americans were bummed out on him. Apparently he drank a lot and would pass out in this teepee that was part of his shtick. He was just a nice guy who rooted for the team. He eventually got fired for running around the field drunk. »

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLBw0iXBEuo[/youtube]

INDIAN RESERVATION by Paul Revere and the Raiders

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ6RjP7MlXk[/youtube]

The song is about the plight of the Cherokee Indians, who in 1791 were displaced from their home in Georgia to a reservation in Oklahoma. Raiders frontman Mark Lindsay, whose ancestry was part Indian, thought that this would be a good song to record. (thanks, Bertrand – Paris, France)

The group was formerly known as Paul Revere and the Raiders. This song became not just their biggest hit, but the best-selling single for Columbia Records. Isn’t it ironic that a song like this, brimming with simmering rage and an implied threat to retake the land for the natives, was written by a white Country songwriter, recorded by a band named after the white European patriots whose colonization of the US took the land from the Cherokees in the first place, and sold by Columbia Records, a company originating as « Columbia Graphophone Company » in the UK?

• About the European arrival to the « New World, » told from the perspective of both the oppressed Cree and the invading Anglo-Saxon soldiers. The first verse (« White man came across the sea, he brought us pain and misery ») is from the point of view of the Natives. The second verse (« Chasing the redskins back to their holes, fighting them at their own game ») is from the white man’s eyes, and the last verse (« Selling them whiskey and taking their gold, enslaving the young and destroying the old ») is an impartial third-person narration.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geHLdg_VNww[/youtube]

With lyrics:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ufy9UXOeMw&list=RD8ufy9UXOeMw[/youtube]

A good funny scene from the film ‘Smoke Signals’

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bctCV38FfU[/youtube]

Interactive map and tribes guide:

http://mrnussbaum.com/nativeamericans/

Listen to Aaron Huey talk about the history of the Sioux in Dakota. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_huey?language=en#t-2109

And now you may read the transcript of what he said:

http://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_huey/transcript#t-446977

Or on Youtube:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tEuaj4h8dw[/youtube]

Look at this video about the same Aaron Huey and his project ‘Honor the treaties’.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/47043218[/vimeo]

Look at ‘We shall remain’, a mini series made of 5 episodes. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/index

The story of Squanto, the Native American who helped the Pilgrims to settle down in Massachussets. Learn more about the first Thanksgiving.

You watch the cartoon and listen while reading the text. Then you check what you know with a quiz.

http://www.jeuxclic.com/jeux.php?id=215465

A webquest. Learn more about

-the origins of North American Indians

-the Indian cultures

-the Indian tribes

-their homes and shelters

-the ‘Trail of Tears’

-the Indian chiefs and heroes

-the battle of Wounded Knee

-the Pow-wows

http://anglais-lp.ac-rouen.fr/activites/activites_fichiers/American_Indians/americanindians_INDEX.htm

Learn more about famous Native Americans:

http://mrnussbaum.com/famous/

Interactive buffalo-learn how the Lakotas used every part of the buffalo:

http://mrnussbaum.com/intbuffalo/

Make your own Totem Pole online.

Watch a video to understand the instructions.

http://mrnussbaum.com/inttotem

Then on the right, click on ‘Click here to try this’

http://mrnussbaum.com/totem

obj: découvrir ce moment de l’histoire de la découverte de l’Ouest grace à un diaporama

Va sur le site internet donné ci-dessous et clique sur « play the game ». Il s’agit de remettre dans l’ordre les lettres de mots lus dans le diaporama sur Lewis et Clark. Si tu ne sais pas, tu peux cliquer sur « check answer » pour vérifier ce que tu as manqué. Mais réfléchis avant!!! Tu peux revoir le diaporama pour relire le texte une fois avant de faire l’exercice pour être certain que rien ne va t’échapper. Have fun!

http://www.quia.com/jw/266616.html?AP_rand=213948835

Now listen to this video from the National Geographic Channel.

Regarde la vidéo et retiens le plus d’informations possibles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqL4MTpCwL0

You can also watch this video. It is a personal project for school from a student. It is an animated film… She got an A+!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MpZtWFTbRk

This slideshow is great because the text is illustrated… Be careful! There are some mistakes… the spelling is not very good sometimes!… (attention aux fautes d’orthographe… que vous ne manquerez pas de repérer bien entendu!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvtEZJVWWII