A Paiute in Irvine

The first three months here at my new home University of California, Irvine, are finally coming to a close. Before becoming an Anteater, I was a student who never imaged coming to such a prestigious school – always limiting myself to the bare minimum. I took my chances and decided to embark on a new chapter of my life that I hoped would change me for the better; I saw much more out of my own “bubble.” Of course, this new chapter was riddled with hardships and trials that ultimately shaped my college experience. Sound familiar? If you guessed “Manifest Destiny” and the arrival of unwanted white dudes and “dude-ettes” into the homes of roughly 7 million Native Americans, then you guessed right. Wow! FINALLY, a connection I found meaningful out all four blog posts, that I believe is relevant to the humanities curriculum and my own student life.

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Edward R. Curtis, The Vanishing Race - Navaho (1904)

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Manifest Destiny is an event of American history where its intentions are questionable because of the way it occurred, the way it affected millions of lives and shaped the morale of the United States. Let it be emphasized that this “…free development of our yearly multiplying” (John L. O’Sullivan) had a daunting effect on the lives of millions of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Manifest Destiny, is defined by Jeanne and David Heidler of Encyclopaedia Britannica as “the continued territorial expansion of the boundaries of the United States westward to the Pacific and beyond.” Intrusion into these territories were met with continuous conflicts between settlers and Native Americans, eventually leading to the displacement of hundreds of Indian tribes, known as the “Trail of Tears.” In conjunction to accounts of the “Trail of Tears”, I found that considering/reading Native American viewpoints on what was occurring at the time was insightful and heartbreaking.

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Sarah Winemucca was a native Paiute known for the publishing of her autobiography, Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims.

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Though it was emphasized throughout the course, the final lecture given by Professor Rodrigo Lazo on December 6th, 2017, emphasized the importance of approaching other viewpoints when it comes to learning about Manifest Destiny (Lazo). I found that reading Native American accounts as a supplement to the lessons of Manifest Destiny were insightful and in a sense, relatable. Sarah Winemucca is one of those accounts I read where I felt her sorrow and loss in a time that was scary for millions of Native Americans. Hired as an interpreter for the growing American military, it is noted by Rosalyn Eves of The Smithsonian that Sarah found herself conflicted between adopting the culture of Anglo-Americans and her own Paiute roots. In her passage of Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, she writes about the terror her people faced. Intruders to her village were noted as violent people, murdering her uncle and children of her tribe (151-3). Her cultural conflict is demonstrated when she refers to the intruders as “our white brothers” but is then contrasted with her acknowledgement of being labeled as “savage.” I found this intriguing because it seemed to reinforce a hierarchal relationship between “our white brothers” and “the savage”; whites versus minority. Something America encounters today and still has yet to overcome.

Sarah’s passage of course does not embody the experiences of Native Americans, but is a vital part in our understanding of the repercussions they faced, as our nation’s borders became larger. In a sense, I found that Manifest Destiny is a representation of my new life here at UCI. Of course, it cannot compare to the horrendous treatment of Native Americans.

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The lives/experiences of millions of Native Americans were shaped because of one event. I believe that attending college is my “Manifest Destiny.” My first quarter at UCI was/is difficult. I learned overtime to appreciate Humanities and I truly enjoyed the work; however, metaphorically my “Anglo-American” is Math 2A. Everyday, I dreaded going to the math lecture and discussion because of its difficulty. The amount of time and effort I put into math, made me neglect the work I put into Humanities core. When I wanted to dissect the works of Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School, I couldn’t because I was afraid of failing my math quiz the next day. When I wanted to read more on Zitkala-Śa, I had to finish studying related rates of chapter 3 in the math textbook. During fall quarter, I found that my work in humanities is at its best when I can dedicate it to just writing. I'd say I embody Sarah's fears, just a student trying to make sense of such a culture shock.

I reserve this paragraph to thank humanities for its efforts in fashioning students to become higher-level thinkers. My favorites were orientalism, the complexities behind the “state of nature”, and what paintings can tell about an empire and its culture. I found that ending Humanities with Manifest Destiny and the experiences of Native Americans pushed me to focus on finding parallels between my student life and important figures that I may encounter in next quarters curriculum. Moving into winter, I hope that I may never encounter the difficulty of balancing humanities and my other classes (especially math), because it truly took away from my once unknown interest in learning about people’s experiences told through literature.

Works Cited

Eves, Rosalyn. “Sarah Winnemucca Devoted Her Life to Protecting Native Americans in the Face of an Expanding United States.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 27 July 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sarah-winnemucca-devoted-life-protecting-lives-native-americans-face-expanding-united-states-180959930/.

Greenberg, Amy S. Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion: a Brief History with Documents. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2018.

Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler. “Manifest Destiny.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jan. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/Manifest-Destiny.

Edward R. Curtis, The Vanishing Race - Navaho (1904)