Task 4: Catlin's "Pigeon's Egg Head"

Everything we do is influenced by the world around us, from the way we dress, to the way we talk.  They are almost impossible to escape once they’re upon you, these foreign influences, and this is very accurately depicted by George Catlin’s “Pigeon’s Egg Head”.  Catlin’s work shows the changes to the Native American culture brought about by the Europeans.

According to Catlin, the period of time between 1830 and 1850 was a time of transformation, but not for the better.  His painting, Pigeon’s Egg Head, clearly depicts two different points in the Native American timeline.  To the left is your stereotypical Indian chieftain with his flamboyant, yet modest, garb, traditional headdress, and ceremonial peace pipe.  To the right is the same chieftain, but what’s this?  He’s wearing slacks and a petticoat, leaning on his umbrella and smoking a fine cigarette.  He appears to be drunk, and there are bottles of liquor in his pockets.  The immense effect of the Europeans on the Native American society is clearly seen here.  Could it have been this way without the Europeans?  Yes, but only if another culture had come along and spread their ideas in a similar manner.

While we as students examine this change through the use of a textbook and historical art, it can be seen by merely looking around you, looking at the way most of the Native Americans do business today.  Perhaps they would still be people of the land, but today’s society has forced them to adapt to the greed of the nation, the disgusting excess.  It is a shame to think about these things, but if we don’t, then we will never realize the importance of our surroundings as we journey through life.  Catlin, while painting the change in Native Americans, also painted a picture of a life lesson…we are who we’re told to be.

Davidson, James West et al. Nation of Nations: A Concise Narrative of the American Republic. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2006.

"Pigeon's Egg Head"- http://americanart.si.edu/images/1985/1985.66.474_1b.jpg

Comments

[Bruce]

The introduction to your post was good and would make someone want to read this blog. You might have wanted to go more into how the indian changed. Focus on what was going on in that time period instead how it is now. Also how did Catlin see the indian on the right after the changes and the influences. It seemed that your argument of how the indian changed was not strong enough. That is all and you might want to add in your group members and your comment group on your weblog.

[Kim]

Let's talk about your opening paragraph. I think it is very key that you invited your reader into the essay by saying "we," it involved the reader to be interested because you include them. It was a very good maneuver to get the reader interested. But I did not see a real point or argument as your thesis, it was not really proving HOW Catlin viewed the changes, which confuses the reader. Also, I would try to brainstorm some more creative titles. If I saw your title in an online search I would probably not have clicked it, but if you had made it a little more humorous or just unique I would have been curious.

I have to point out as well that you did not really pay a lot of attention to format, I know that typing on here can be hard but you need to try to indent at least a little so its more organized and formal. The essay also needed to be a bit longer and more detailed, but I attribute those lacks (ok, Lacks??? I just invented a word!) to the under-developed thesis statement.

I enjoyed the use of questions, it creates a thinking mode for the reader to go into, but once again you need to present an argument or point so they either agree or disagree with you as well.

I can only say that you have a massive potential to write a lot of great things, you have a talent for sparking attention during the paper, but maybe you just need to think more about the technical aspects instead of the creative aspects in some ways. Well done hun!

[EnigmaticCS]

Timothy, I don’t believe that we have met; I am here to tell you some things that may be evident mean insulting or just plain rude. Please don’t judge me by these things however, because I am here to help, trust me. We need to have a talk concerning your fourth post. I go into this paper and the first thing that I feel is another boring lesson that I already have in my mind. I feel that I am not being told anything that I don’t know. Nothing seems original and everything I see was said in class. I also want to bug you the same way I was bugged. One person referred to my first post as “vertically challenged” and I feel that this applies to you in regard to this post. You had many resources available to you and I feel that you did not use them accurately. And I see that my final twitch seems to be cause by the lack of a true thesis sentence. You seemed to have rushed this work and denied it the love and care it needs. I do however want to commend you in good citation and simplicity. Good luck on future posts.