Blog # 5

While reading "An Indian's Looking Glass for the White Man", "The American Muse: Poetry at Midcentury", and the Biography on Lydia Sigourney and her poem, "Indian Names", one thing seemed to be persistent throughout and that was the civil rights of Indians. There w This issue seemed to be most prominent in “An Indian’s Looking Glass for the White Man”, but it was definitely a theme throughout all three of the writings. It is hard to compare these writings because one is an excerpt of a short story, one is just an informational writing, one is a biography, and one is a poem. However, a big issue during this time period seemed to be the rights of Indians. Throughout "An Indian's Looking Glass for the White Man", Apess talks about the people from New England being immoral, rude, and miserable. Apess also talks about Jesus being a Jew which means he was not white. He makes a very compelling point by saying:

“Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ, who is counted by all to be a Jew- and it is well known that the Jews are a colored people, especially those living in the East, where Christ was born- and if he should appear among us, would he not be shut out of doors by many, very quickly? And by those too who profess religion? (Apess 644)

This reference draws a comparison between the Indians, and perhaps other colored people, and Jesus.

Another connection that is made about the rights of Indians is that whites could not get by without them. Apess claims that whites cannot take care of their own land because they are uneducated. He states: Another reason is because they haven o education to take care of themselves, if they had, I would risk them to take care of their own property” (Apess 641). Similar to this, Lydia Sigourney opens her poem, “Indian Names”, by saying “How can the Red men be forgotten, while so many of our states and territories, bays, lakes, and rivers are indelibly stamped by names of their giving?” (Sigourney 1204). I think a main point from both of these excerpts is that Indians, or Red men, are under-appreciated.