The Dawes Act

My role for the creative process of this music video project was filming, co-starring in the music video, writing some of the lyrics that were later added in and also finding information about the Dawes Act. Some of my ideas for this project was the type of clothing we would be wearing for the music video, what we should do in the music video and also some scenery shots in the music video were also my idea. The topic, Dawes Act, really interest us because our group wanted a topic that we could expand on and the information really fit into the melody of the song that we chose for the music video. We also had no idea what the Indians went through during the breakup of the tribes and also the many miles that they had to travel out of the land that they once lived on. I also learned that wearing a flower crown while in the woods is a bad idea because insects will try to attack you . I also learned that the Dawes Act had two purposes : to “civilize” the Native-Americans, including the forcing of education on the Indian children and the suppression of Native religions, languages, and cultural practices. The Dawes Act was also used to gain use of Native-American lands for non-natives. I did not expect to learn so much from doing this music video project and now I feel more informed about what the Indians had to go through and what the Americans did to make them seem more “normal”. I also learned that this policy was not reversed until 1934, when the Indian Reorganization Act (I.R.A) explained the importance of perpetuating Indian culture and permitted surplus lands to be returned to the original tribal owners to show their ownership. This act is such an important moment in history because it represents what some of our ancestors went through during the 1880's.