One World, Zero Pieces

To the American Indian is confusing at times yet very remarkable to read because the stories were very descriptive. In chapter one of the book, I was able to relate the story of the doctors and the Native's way to cure sickness. I find it interesting when Thompson mentioned that "most of the doctors were women" since there are usually mostly male doctors in other cultures that were acknowledged. For instance, in the historical times, both America and China alike had always strictly regulated literacy and education to only men. Therefore, the men were in favor of becoming doctors while the women were expected to become housewives. Also, the methods the Natives used to cure a snake bite and other sickness cases were especially crucial to their culture. Unlike the Caucasians and their advance form of medicine, the Native Americans "did not know anything about surgery" and instead they were able to provide medical treatments with only nature's products of roots and herbs. Similarly, the Chinese has always been an expert with herbal medicines in their culture. From experience, I can relate to these two distinct cultures because I have been exposed to such special methods for cure by my own cultural preferences. Everyone is alike in that we all share this planet Earth. However, everyone are different in ways that we are raised in differing environments, situations, and are exposed to our own cultures. Additionally it's hard not to make references to our own cultures because that's the first instinct we get when we admire or criticize someone or something. In fact, this happens daily in society, from the element of business, academic, social status, class distinctions, to the nutritional diet. Language and culture are very important, but what's more important is the way we communicate and respect one another. Perhaps, not everyone feels obligated to respect each others' cultures as they may choose, but learning about someone's culture is as challenging as learning a foreign language. This is the feeling I get in regards to the issues of the White men that tried to civilize the Native Americans with the Western way. It's no wonder an extensive number of innocent lives has to suffer by the chaos and changes the foreigners brought upon the Natives' culture.