Morgan's Blog

During the 1800's many positive changes occured. Society became much more industrialized and society as a whole became much more civilized. In Catlin's "A Pigeons Egghead" two men are drawn to represent a old fashioned 1800's man, and a more recent 1800's man. They represent the changes that occure over the century.

The indian drawn on the left hand side of the painting represents the old fashion man of the 1800's. You must notice the posture and the clothes he is wearing. His posture shows that he seems to be a very stern, strict, but powerful leader. The outfit that he is wearing also shows how old fashioned he is. He has on his indian suit and the huge indian hat, and in his hand he is holding a stick. A stick would usually represent power.

The indian drawn on the right hand side of the painting represents the more recent man during the 1800's. Instead of the big indian outfit, the man is decked out in an American soliders uniform. On the pants of the uniform there are white stripes down the side which would usually mean that he was a highly ranked officer. Notice the different between these two men. The man on the right is leaning back ward as opposed straight up. In his hand he is smoking a cigarette. In the painting he comes off as very stubborn and "into himself." Also instead of the big indian hat, he is wearing a top hat and instead of the stick he is replaced with an umbrella and a fan.

He does a very nice job on showing how different a person can be or change in so little time. Not just the person though, but the attitude, posture, and attire of the person.

Post #3

This week I comments on:

Mark
James

Native American Creation Stories

Between the time periods 1650 to 1935, there are many changes in beliefs and in society. In "A Sioux Story," "The Indians of New Netherland Account for the Creation," and "the Origins of Ottawa Society Recalled" you would think that nothing would be the same because there is such a big gap in time, but there are just as many similarities as there are differences.

The role of women may just be the biggest change that happened during this time period. Women were never really given credit for anything that they did. In the earliest story, "The Indians of New Netherlands Account for the Creation" women did not have any importance to anyone in society. The only thing that a women was credited for in this story, was that a goddess created the earth. The people during this time were very into Greek Mythology. That is the only way women were ever spoken of. Their roles in society were not mentioned otherwise. "The Origins of Ottawa Society Recalled" written in 1720 started to mention women more. A lot more attention was focused on women. They were given jobs such as sewing and other "women chores." Some women were even lucky enoughto get paid to do these tasks. In the latest story that was written, "Remaking the World" in 1935 creation was not even mentioned. Women were included in everything and had made their way up in society.

Religion and mythology were two other things that changed over the years. In "The Indians of New Netherlands Account for the Creation" creation of the earth by a goddess was what was very much focused on. In "The Origins of Ottawa Society Recalled" they explain how a man was created from a corpse. So far just between these two stories creation is still a big part of society but it is not so much focused on in the second story as it is in the first story. In "Sioux Story" again creation was not even mentioned. It completely "died out." They had different beliefs by the time the 1900's came along.

As you can see by these three stories, just over not that much time, roles and beliefs can change dramatically.