What I have learned so far this semester is that there is still a vast amount of knowledge about the Native Americans that we haven't discovered yet. I feel that we have only just reached into the prize box and pulled out a few items that might help us understand the beginning of what we need to grasp, but that we've only scratched the surface.



As a nation are still very judgmental. Not only to the Indians, but to other races and each other. When I look at where we have been and where we need to be in order to be an honorable nation, there is a vast meadow that stretches across the horizon to the unseen mountain that we still have to climb in order to reach our goal of being better human beings. Our government is greedy, but men and women whom we call our leaders going to the extent of using eugenics and genocide to abolish what they feel are lesser people or lesser races is disgusting.

The American Indians have such patience and acceptance of other people, and the rest of us need to listen to what they have to say. They could teach us so much about how to love and how to live in harmony with each other. but unfortunately, others have to willing to listen in order to learn. as a nation we are just not ready to do without some sort of intervention. Someone with some gumption and some clout, an activist like George Clooney, needs to stand up and say, "This is what I've learned, and you could benefit from it too."

Maybe one day, when I write the great American novel and be come a famous author, I can do that.

I think that we are a young country, but we are a country of one people. We are all Americans. We may have different cultures and different backgrounds, but we are all Americans. My daughter once told me that she was Irish, German, Cherokee, Black, and British. Now it's true that our ancestors come from all over the world, but I needed some clarification as to why she thought she belonged to all those nationalities. So I asked her to explain to me her reasoning.

"That's where we're from," she said.

"No, that's where our ancestors are from," I told her. "We are from America. We don't belong to those other countries, but our heritage does. What our grandparents taught us about that heritage is what we practice in traditions and values. It's why your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all come together on major holidays because the role of family is an important value."

We also have invented our own traditions and values over time. Change is a natural part of our culture, and adapting to new things is the basis of our world. So, why can't we make a change for the better? Acceptance is the first step. We cannot learn to love one another without accepting others for their differences, and differences is what make us all unique. And uniqueness allows so many perspectives and solutions to problems.

We are all Americans. Can we not make a change for the better and love each other like the brothers and sisters we are? This is a great nation with so many differences, but why do we let those differences divide us. They should bring us together. Look at all the things we could learn from each other. Look at how together we could change the world for the better if we would just take the time to listen to one another.