American Lit II: Sarah Winnemucca Life Among The Piutes

Continuing with the Native American theme, our next read in Comp II is Life Among the Piutes by Sarah Winnemucca. In contrast to "Charlot," which was a speech about the creuly and greed of the white man, "Life Among the Piutes" is more of an inside look at the lives of the Piute people. We see how they live, how their boys are introduced into manhood, and even are told about a ceremony in which young men and women have a chance to inter-mingle with one another. In it, we also see that the Piutes are not afraid of the wihte man at first, believing in a legend that the white man and dark man will come together one day after years of separation to finally settle their differences. Throughout the story, examples of generosity of the Piute people toward the white man are shown, but byy the end of the story, as most Native American stories of this time end, the Piute people are forced from their homeland onto the Yakima reservation. I can only hope that the atrocity that took place some long years ago toward the native population never takes place again.