Zhengyang Hu (Jane)
EDU 6133
Kate Napolitan
09/30/2015
Reading Response #1
Writing against Seattle’s standard creation story which focuses more on the single
revolutionary moment of landing at Alki Point, Thrush provides an overturned perspective of the
narrative and regards Seattle’s origin as a complex process in which Indians, the indigenous people
with a history, actively played a crucial role. Thrush argues that the founding of Seattle occurring
without the participation of Indians is a mistaken idea and that the urban and Indian histories of
Seattle are closely bound together.
Thrush’s description of the urban Indian history of Seattle broadens my horizons and
increases the range of knowledge regarding the civic narrative of Seattle and the past of Native
people. When the standard paradigm of learning history by memorizing significant dates, places,
people, and events has been established in my brain, Thrush’s argument that the stories of
European settlers and Natives were carefully tied up with each other long before the creation of
Seattle breaks new ground.
It is also very interesting to learn how the same historical moment, such as the Alki landing,
has different measurements of value in newcomers’ and Natives’ tradition. It reminds me of the
famous saying that “history is written by the victors,” which makes me aware as a future educator
that history can be exceptionally simple and complicated at the same time. History is simple as it
explicitly tells people what happened in the past, but it also depends on the people who tells it.
Students need to learn that people coming from diverse ethnic groups or cultural backgrounds may
have different authorities and voices, which might make them have completely different beliefs on
a particular issue. Therefore, we always need to have an open mind and an open heart to learn
history from multiple perspectives so that we may infinitely get closer to the truth.
In addition, the long and painful fight of the Duwamish people for their federal recognition
helps me remember how the Makah people fought for their rights to hunt whales during the days
I studied aboard to Neah Bay, Washington. The religious, cultural, and economic significance of
whaling to the Makah Indians forms a vital part of who they are. Whale hunting is more of a need
than a want, and what is the most important is that the Makahs treat Mother Nature with dignity
and respect. Will the fear of the possibility that the Duwamish would take advantage of their new
status to make big profits by opening a casino be an indisputable reason to ignore such a real
cultural existence? And besides, the Duwamish tribe has never intended to open a casino.
Nowadays when individual uniqueness and independence are highly exalted, there are still people
like the Duwamish striving to prove who they are, which deserves full awareness and great success.