This was essentially the last week of my project. I wrote up my chapter seven and made it out to one last powwow. This week was really busy with school and work period so I did not get the chance to meet with my supervisor. Ill meet her on Monday and get things wrapped up. I have an interview that will not happen until after the project is officially done but I want to do it just for my personal sack. I feel this will be the capstone to a very successful project. I discussed my chance in attitude and how great it has been last week and I cannot emphasis it enough. I still have trouble, even this weekend proved to be a challenge. The way I handle things is dramatically different and that is what the overall goal was. The hard work and many hours put into the project paid off far more than I could have imagined. I hope that I can impact the world on even the smallest level through this project and my own actions from this point forth.
Recently in Project Category
With the projects winding down I still had a few things I wanted to do. I have felt the need to look up more on the current fight against racism. I found some videos that talked about the issue and watched them. Over all I did not find anything that was significant since I last researched but looking at the information again was extremely helpful. Meeting with my supervisor is still very helpful. Our relationship has surpassed what it was originally intended to do. We now talk about many issues not only racism. It is a true mentorship. I have learned so much since the start of the project and we talked about how significant that growth has been. I am still hopeful that the interview I am working to set up will happen before the project ends. If it happens after the project ends I will still gain from the experience.
Week 12 was on the same level as the week of writing Chapter 2. I was not as crazy but it demanded a lot more time than I had anticipated. I shocked everyone... myself included because I did all of my work over break. I only have final revisions to do back at school. Working on school work over a break never happens, so as unrelated to the project as that may be I was really excited about it. The only project related actions that occurred were key strokes and organizing of many experiences and observations that were made. It was a good time to reflect and critique the progress that I have made on the more personal aspect of the project. My awareness of my surroundings when it comes to racism has been increased dramatically. Have my racist feelings gone away, no they have not. This is not to say that I embrace them as I once did. I recognize their existence and deal with them.
This week has been a very exciting and productive week for me. I had the chance to get a lot of work done, especially preparation for writing my chapters and general research on more things that I have found needed more insight. I also had the chance to attend a huge powwow just this past weekend. The ones that I have attended in the past were just some local tribes and the numbers that attended were not that large. This was a combination of many tribes from as far as Nebraska. I counted at one time 13 different drums on the floor. The most I have seen before was three; this was a big step up. There was a much larger range of dancers and outfits. The sheer volume of the people made the event that much more exciting. Being there raised many more questions that I looked into on my own but will also talk to my supervisor about. I was exposed to a greater variety of people at the event and the difference in tribes was a good experience. There were many people there who did not look like Native Americans like at the smaller powwows. The ancestry is there but the skin color is not. No one looked at me funny because I was a 'white man' at a native powwow. That kind of acceptance from a peoples will really make one think about their feelings toward them. It was by far my most encouraging experience yet.
This week I had to get some things done and get them done I did. I have all of my interview stuff set up, now I just need a date that works for all of the people involved. I am going to do a group interview thanks to the idea from my supervisor. This way I use three or so questions and get the personal responses from all the people and they can play off of one another. Combined with a luncheon it should prove to be productive. Along with setting that up I found some really interesting article on racism and race. One article talked about how there is only one race and that the word races shouldn't exist. Races are a way to classify people and discriminate against them. Biologically any one person on the earth is different by 0.2% and between 'races' there is a 0.012% difference. This information was eye opening for me. We are all of the same race, the human race. No one is better than the other, there is nearly no biological difference. Racism is an unfounded idea based on false beliefs and this information is proof.
I was out of town for half the week so I didn't get a lot done. This was a low time in my schedule anyway. This week will be a lot more active and productive. I have meetings and pow wows to attend. I will be working more on my primary research. I have interviews that I still want to conduct but the timing hasn't been right yet. I hope to coordinate all of that this week.
These past two weeks have seen a lot of change for the better. I have found direction for the final phase of my project which has been a concern of mine for some time. The final chapters of the project worried me at first but now I know the answer to the questions that needed them. I met with my supervisor right after break and got back in the groove of things. I attended a meeting with her at the science museum down town concerning a controversial art collection. Many outspoken and concerned native people were there. It was an great learning experience for me and another eye opener. Other than that I have been working on the final chapters of the project and reflecting on my primary data. I hope to finish the data crunching and the writing soon so that I can finish out the project with more observation and time under my supervisor's wing so to speak.
This week with finals and wrap up for the semester I didn't work on anything work documenting. Over break I have a few assignments from my supervisor to complete. Documenting the reservations back home and taking to some people from the tribes nearby. After chapter two and the week preparing everything I am totally fried and really need a break. I have lots to look forward to over break.
I just completed one of the activities that I feared most when coming to college, papers. Never in my life have I worked so hard on something to complete it and feel satisfied with what I have done. I got to sleep at five thirty this morning after working for nearly 11 hrs straight on Chapter 2. I really slacked in week 4 because I was ready to see my fiancée and there were only two days that I could work. I definitely made up for that this week. So most of the work I have done, to describe my week in brief, was chapter 2. Lots of time with finding books and articles, then reading throw them and marking things that I found interesting and potentially useful. Then writing the paper itself took a lot of time just formulating my thoughts and finding the proper quotes to back them. This paper asked a lot of me and I am very glad to have it done.
This week I was able to take part in a once in a life time event. Racism is the key problem that I am dealing with and I am not the only one who thinks this is a problem. There was a meeting of the major minority groups from Minneapolis/Saint Paul area. Those present were Native Americans, Somali, Hmong, Chicano-Latino, and African Americans. The event that brought these groups together was the continual bash of these racial groups by a radio personality Tom Barnard. He recently attacked natives from the Red lake reservation and that was it. All the groups had had enough of his slander. This coalition formed and had a meeting open to the public to get ideas of what they want done. The meeting lasted about 4 hours, but it was not in vain. There will be another meeting right after break and I plan on attending this as well. My project has taken on a life of its own. I started this project at exactly the right time because the issues I am addressing are actually being worked on. This is a historic move that is being taken and am right in the middle of it. This added a lot of excitement to my project. I feel more and more like I can make a difference being part of this movement. The rest of my week wasn't too exiting, just work. I am really ready for break.
