Lies My Teacher Told Me, Chapter 4

In 1815, "Americans" became the proper terminology with with to refer, not to Native American Indians, but now European Americans instead. In this chapter of Lies My Teacher Told Me, Loewen explores yet another aspect of American history told through the eyes of textbook writers rather than through the eyes of truth. History textbooks describe the Native Americans as savages- a stark contrast to the classy civilization attributed to the Europeans. Indeed, the idea of European superiority was noted in the Sioux word for the white men which means "one who has everything good". History textbooks leave out the tragedy faced by Native Americans at the hands of the white men because people like to hear feel-good stories;

"Feeling good is a human need, but it imposes a burden that history cannot bear without becoming simple-minded. Casting Indian history as a tragedy because Native Americans could not or would not acculturate is feel-good history for whites. By downplaying Indian wars, textbooks help us forget that we wrested the continent from Native Americans" (Loewen, 131).

This chapter is relevant to myself as a future educator as I go about deciding the best and most true portrayal of history for my students. If I am going to be teaching European and American histories, the plight of the Native Americans will fall into my curriculum. I believe that it is important to discuss the whole story rather than creating a short, albeit sad, story of the Native American's timeline. We cannot act as though our entire past is full of sunshine and butterflies- I believe it is okay to show students that there are cases when the past was dark, because this offers perpetual hope for a bright future: it is thanks to the Native Americans for many of the ideals presented in our own Bill of Rights. Native Americans taught our early settlers how to work the land, engaged in trade, and did so many positive things to help jump-start our new country that I believe they need a truthful tribute.

The Big Question: How, since textbooks like to present feel-good stories for students as opposed to accurate portrayal of past events, would American history textbooks have opted to tell the story of the Holocaust if the execution of all those Jews and other minorities had happened, not in Germany, but in The United States?

The Genocide of Native Americans is a documentary which presents a deeper look at the downfall of Native Americans starting with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. At least a segment of this could be shown in class as a way of illustrating the darker sides of colonization of the Americas.