Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling Synthesis

Michael Marker's article explains the mechanisms used in the 1900s to assimilate Coast Salish Indians into "modernized" culture.   This group of natives lived on the U.S.-Canadian border.  Canada began to require the indigenous people to go to traditional schools with the rest of the Canadian population.  The United States put the Salish who lived within the border into boarding schools.  Racial discrimination increased in the Canadian schools, often causing severe trauma for the Salish students.  Discrimination was less of an issue in the U.S. because the boarding schools were selective to Salish Indians only.  Problems arose even more when the Boldt decision was put into affect. This decision supported the oral tradition that Indians had rights to half of the fish population. Students and teachers therefore blamed the Salish for their fishing difficulty.

I found this article to be very interesting.  I was not surprised that there were issues that arose with the assimilation.  Thrusting change on a group of people for the sake of conformity never goes over well.  I can see from both sides how and why they reacted the way that they did.

I read a book in my cultural anthropology class last semester that I was reminded of when I read this article.  The book was called "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down".  It was about a Hmong girl who was very sick.  She had many seizures and the doctors were frantic over how to heal her.  They were frustrated because they would prescribe medicine to help the girl, but the girl's family believed that the illness was not a physical one, but a spiritual one.  Therefore, they did not give the girl the recommended dosages and would sometimes refuse to use certain medicines at all.  

From both this book and Marker's article, I learned that both parties get frustrated and angry when cultural values are questioned.  Therefore, it is important to learn about the culture's background, views, and ideas before you try to promote change.

The Meatrix

I thought that the Meatrix episodes were cheesy but a little entertaining.  I think that it was a good method to include comic relief with such a serious topic.  I think that the worst thing about factory farming that the video clips showed was the antibiotic aspect.  Overusing antibiotics cause bacteria to become resistant to the drugs.  This could make a lot of people sick in the future, and could even result in an epidemic.

During the video, I thought of my hometown and the grocery stores there.  My dad is always excited when he gets good cuts of meat from Costco.  The short films made me wonder if these "pristine" meats are actually good quality.  I also thought about the farms around my house.  I've seen a lot of houses that raise chickens, cows, or goats.  I've never seen anything like what they showed on the film, but I don't doubt that they exist.

RT Reading Response

I already knew a little about biotechnology before I read Conway and Toeniessen's essay.  My biology class in high school had an in-class debate about whether GM foods should be used or not.  From participating in that discussion, I knew that the benefits of GM foods outweigh the skepticism.  I believe that GM foods are good to use, especially since it can help with world hunger.

At the end of the chapter of RT, I was surprised that the authors suggested "softening" your argument in a persuasive essay.  They use words like 'may' and 'could' to avoid offending people who don't agree with you.  After reading the explanation for using such word choice, it made sense to me.  I will be sure to use that tactic in future essays.

Scientific American Synthesis

Scientific American Synthesis

            In December, 2011, the EPA commenced a study to determine whether water pollution was linked to hydraulic fracking (Scientific American).  It turned out it was.  When hydraulic fluids mixed with underground water in Wyoming, it created glycol ethers and other synthetic compounds.  These compounds to not exist naturally in the environment, so their presence raised suspicion of the effects of fracking.

            Previously, drillers argued that fracking was a safe and natural way to obtain fuel (Scientific American).  It would also be the solution to reduce foreign gas and oil imports.  Chesapeake Energy wrote in their 2012 Fact Sheet that fracking “is critical to America’s energy needs and its economic renewal” (Chesapeake Energy).  Amy Mall, an analyst on the Natural Resources Defense Council disagrees.  “No one can accurately say that there is 'no risk' where fracking is concerned," she said. “This draft report makes obvious that there are many factors at play, any one of which can go wrong. Much stronger rules are needed to ensure that well construction standards are stronger and reduce threats to drinking water.”

            The EPA’s study was launched because WY residents started to complain about their water quality (Scientific American).  Sometimes, their water would turn brown after nearby fracking occurred.  Samples were taken from the faucets in 2008 and examined for pollutants.  In 2010, the EPA suggested that the residents not drink or bathe in the water.

            They confirmed that fracking caused the pollution by deducting other sources (Scientific American).  The underground water wells could not possibly be polluted by waste pits because of the sheer distance between the two; the wells of interest were 1,000 feet below the pits! Agriculture and drilling was also out of the question.

            This diagnosis may change the way that America decides to obtain fuel.  For decades we have been heavily reliant on oil.  We know that we have to change to an alternate source of energy eventually, and this discovery could be the push we need. 

Works Cited:

 EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination: Scientific American." Science

News, Articles and Information. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fracking-linked-water-contamination-federal-agency>.

Chesapeake Energy. "Hydraulic Fracturing." Facts. Jan. 2012. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.

<http://www.hydraulicfracturing.com/Pages/information.aspx>.