Notecard #9

Native American Marriage

Emma Hirsch

Source:

Williamsburg, VA, Historical Impersonator Blacksmith. Interview. By Olivia Cueto. 6 Jan. 2016.

Quote:

“Colonial marriage perspectives were pretty much all the same. The women would get married at the age of 12 or 13 and the men would be a few years older. Women changed a lot when they got married. Before native women got married they were bald, naked and usually covered in grease. But when a native women got married they finally grew out their hair, got clothing, and could start caring more about their bodies. Weddings were held in cold months Blacksmiths could marry a couple. If a divorce happened, the mother would usually take the children unless she was the one that cheated.”

Paraphrase:

– Native American women would get married at 12 or 13

– The men would would be older than the women

– Women became new people once they got married

– Natives before they got married were bald, naked, and covered in grease

– When they got married they got a makeover

– Weddings happened in cold months

-Blacksmiths could marry a couple

-If the couple got divorced, the mother would get the children, unless she was the one who did something bad

My Ideas:

This shows that marriage was important for the women more so than men. Marriage for Native Americans really impacted your life. The women would start to care more about their looks and appearance. This is surprising to me because this seems like the women are losing power. It seems like the men have the power to change their appearance. Native American women seem to be more powerful than men. In my first notecard I mentioned certain policies that have to do with divorce. I learned Native American women have the power to divorce their husbands. To show that they want to get divorced is by putting her husband’s clothing outside the home. This signifies that she wants him to leave. There was nothing the men could do about it because the women held most the power.  I find it surprising how the women have the power and ability to divorce their husbands but then the men have the power to make the women want to change her appearance. I can infer that the women change their look once they get married because they are happy. What I mean is before they get married she isn’t as happy and maybe doesn’t care so much about what she looks like. Now that she is married she probably feels pressured to look nice and pretty for her husband. I can infer she cares a lot about what he thinks of her and she wants him to think she looks good. The way a woman looked played a big role in the colonial era. It determined your spot on the social hierarchy. If you had the newest shoes, hats, or bags, then the community knows you are wealthy. I can infer women want to look nice so that they fit in well, and people think they are wealthy. This is one reason why a woman changes so much after marriage. I find it interesting how when a couple splits up, the children go to the mother. I know that happens a lot now a days, but I didn’t know it happened back then. I wonder about the three cultures and what their traditions are for divorce. Custody, would there be fighting, court? These are some topics I want to learn about. Because my parents are divorced, I want to see the differences and similarities from now and the colonial era. I wonder what happens once you get divorced land wise. Is it possible for women to keep their ex husbands land? Would men and women go to court for a formal divorce if they were formally married? This shows that there are many marriage and divorce differences among the three cultures. 

History:

Created: 11/02/2016 12:46 PM

I think this is my best note card because I really found the information interesting so it was easy to write. Usually when you don’t like the information that much it is hard to write, but this came to me easily. I am proud of my ideas in this note card. I feel they are strong and interesting. In the beginning of this process my ideas section wasn’t very strong, and along the process they became better and more thorough.

Name: Emma H September 2016
Seventh Grade Humanities M13C Ch. 4

Homework

Read chapter 4 in Making Thirteen Colonies and answer the following questions using complete sentences. Be sure to use textual evidence and analysis for each question. Each answer should be a full TEEAC paragraph.

1. Describe the significance of the year 1607, using the following terms: The London Company, King James, and the name of the 3 boats. Be sure to clearly explain each of these terms within your paragraph.

1607 was when the scientific revolution began. In 1607 Halley’s comet was spotted and Europeans believed that this meant bad luck. They thought that something bad was going to happened to them. Science became a bigger thing in 1607. People hadn’t thought about science that much until Halley’s comet, which is when things started to change. The first permanent colony also happened in 1607. Boats were being sent by a company called London Company to Asia to find money and gold. There were three boats sent, these boats were names, Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed. This shows that King James was making them think everything is a good idea. I can infer that they were not motivated to work. I think this because the king payed them to go on this journey but told them they could not own land. They probably thought there was no point. The kind put them in very dangerous positions. On their journey back the got attacked by indians. The Indians didn’t want them around, in fact they said they didn’t want white people around. “The local Indians knew about white men, and they didn’t want them around,” (Hakim, p. 25). This shows that there were many stereotypes going around from both sides. Therefore 1607 was a big year where the scientific revolution began, and also the first permanent colony.

2. Describe the terrain and the geography of the English fort.

The terrain in which the Englished lived in to me looks like an enclosed utopia at first. There is a tiny village in Jamestown, but it supplies everything they need. They are on the water which is good for trading and fishing, maybe even getting clean water. I notice that there is a baking oven outside the palisade- a high fence made of stakes. I can infer that the oven is outside the house not inside so that their village wouldn’t burn down. If you look at the houses they look small but sturdy. “Most of the houses have thatched roofs made from river grass or reeds, but some are covered with tree bark,” (Hakim, p.26). This shows that they are protected for when it rains. So far things are going pretty well. Soon they start to realize that this might not be the best spot for them. The terrain is swampy, and has weather extremes, and very deep water. The deep water can be good and bad at the same time. Deep water is good because of fishing and maybe even bathing. Deep water is bad because the Spanish can moor their boats right on their land. The terrain has both advantages and disadvantages.

3. Was the initial settlement successful? Why or why not?

The Englishman seem like they will do very well here. They will be successful because they have so many resources that they won’t starve, or die of thirst. They also have think they have good shelters that will keep them protected. “The Englishman spent a few weeks exploring the Bay Area. They feasted on strawberries, ate oysters, and noticed grapevines,” (Hakim, p.26). This shows that they have enough food for now. They have the food they need and this shows they will survive. I can infer that they will end up fighting with another tribe for their food. Speaking of other tribes, they are in a good location for trading. Since they are by the water, that means that there will be a lot of trades happening. At first the settlement seems successful but as time goes by things start to change. The English were not motivated to work because when the king payed them, he told them they could not own land. This made them work less because they knew they weren’t working for their own land. Though their land may be permanent, there are many things that can and will go wrong.

Here is a resubmission from one of the m13c homework. I am proud of this because at first some of my information was wrong, and I was a little confused with the information I wrote. The reason I am proud is because I did more research to make more correct inferences and I felt more confident with my work.

Name: Emma H Humanities
7th Grade The Giver
Jonas’s Journey To Find Himself

Imagine a world where everything is the same, you make the same choices everyday, you are around the same people every day, and you are not able to change anything. In the book, The Giver by Lois Lowry, what seems to be a utopia is being formed into a dystopia. Jonas, a twelve year old boy sees that things need to be changed. Jonas’s whole life shifts when he becomes the Receiver of Memory. He starts to learn that you should be able to make your own decisions. He sees the joyfulness in individuality. Now it is up to Jonas to decide if he should take the risk to change things. Jonas lives in a utopia where difference is considered bad and sameness is enforced. When Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memory he begins to see the benefits of uniqueness and longs for a world of individuality.
In Jonas’s community, people are taught that they should strive to be the same.
The Elders not only enforce sameness in feelings, personality, and choices about daily life, but they also suppress individuality when it comes to appearance. While Jonas was with the Giver one night, he explained something that was hard for Jonas to comprehend. “The Giver chuckled, suddenly. ‘We’ve never completely mastered Sameness. I suppose the genetic scientists are still hard at work trying to work the kinks out. Hair like Fiona’s must drive them crazy,’” (Lowry, p. 82). This shows that difference is considered a mistake in Jonas’s community. The Elders have failed on making everyone similar. Jonas starts to see that he doesn’t want to be like everyone else. He wants to be original.
Jonas is taught to fit in with all his friends, but as he receives new memories, he wants thing to change. Jonas’s family is very good at following the rules, they make sure he is just like everyone else. All Jonas wants is to be different, he wants to be in individual. One day as Jonas was receiving a memory of a birthday he starts to see what uniqueness is. “He had seen a birthday party, with one child singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now he understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud,” (Lowry, p. 12). This quote shows that as Jonas is receiving unknown ideas, he is learning the joy of originality. Jonas was starting to learn that this one magical day was a day to celebrate your uniqueness, celebrate your life, and be different from one another. The Elders took away this one special day. They took away the one day when everything was about you, and you didn’t have to fit in. Jonas wants to be different so badly that he is willing to fight for what he wants.
Jonas lives in community where sameness is not a choice. You have to be similar to everyone else. As Jonas learns new things along his journey he realizes that The Elders are wrong, and that sameness creates a dystopia. The Elders have created what they think is a utopia all around rules. One of the main rules is that individuality is bad, and you should not be proud if you are original, or unique. The Elders will do whatever it takes for their community to stay utopian. What The Elders don’t know is that sameness doesn’t equal perfection and that difference beats sameness for the better. Lowry is creating a world where difference is bad but her goal is to make us reflect more and realize that sameness is bad. Jonas discovers that maybe following the rules isn’t the key to perfection. He learns that being the same as everyone isn’t what will keep the utopia. Jonas chooses throughout his journey that he will fight for a different, and imperfect world.

This is my Giver essay. I am proud of my use of descriptive language. My favorite paragraph is the concluding paragraph because I felt my language and and ideas were strong and original. I am very proud of my whole essay. In the start of this essay, my analysis were not as strong as I wanted them to be. Throughout the process I  worked on my analysis and made it stronger and better.  I made my analysis meet my expectation, and that’s how I know I improved.