An analysis, unifying two texts, to demonstrate the treatment of indigenous populations, as well as immigrants, in Pre-American and present society, especially after the Trump administration.

1. Land of the (kinda) Free
and
The Home of the Brave Enslaved
By: Zach Alfonso
16 April 2018

2. Main Points
● This presentation will be a comparative between two works that
center around indigenous populations in American history and their
treatment -- Cynthia Kadohata’s Weedflower and Mary
Rowlandson’s The Sovereignty and Goodness of God.

3. Main Points
● Throughout both literary works, indigenous peoples are treated with
exuberant amounts of disrespect and are treated as an inferiority,
mostly by the caucasian characters.
● Unfortunately, the inequities experienced by People of Color (POC) are
still relevant in modernity. They continue to be perpetuated in today’s
society, especially under the current presidential administration.

4. The Sovereignty and Goodness of God by Mary Rowlandson
● Even though Mary Rowlandson is not
considered American (due to her
writings dating back to pre-Declaration
of Independence), the settlement she
was a part of is considered to be a
precursor to the American
sovereignties.
● Pertaining to her treatment and views on
the indigenous natives, one must take
into perspective her religious
standpoints.

5. The Sovereignty and Goodness of God by Mary Rowlandson
RELIGION
● Mary Rowlandson was a Puritan
woman.
● Puritans believed in that basically
everything materialistic and anything
that slightly defied their closely-held
belief system was the work of Satan.
● This included even those who adhered
to another religion, such as
Catholicism, other Protestant
denominations, and especially
Paganistic, Polytheistic, or
Spiritual/Earthly religions.
● The Native Americans that took Mary
Rowlandson captive were not of the
Puritan religion, so they were seen as
savage, unclean, and sacreligious.
RACE
● The Europeans that had settled in the
Lancaster colony where the capture of
Mary Rowlandson occurred were
entirely white.
● This was a historical point in time in
which “Whiteness” is all that was
known by the colonists and it was
seen as synonymous with education,
civility, and with purity (also tying into
their Puritan beliefs).
● Those who plummeted the colony were
indigenous peoples from the
Wampanoag tribe allied with the
Narragansett tribe, and obviously
neither were white (Clyde). Therefore,
to the Puritans, they were categorized
as subhuman and impure.

6. The Sovereignty and Goodness of God by Mary Rowlandson
Lastly, the negatively-connotated vernacular used in order to describe indigenous
peoples testified to the way they were viewed by the Pre-American colonists.
"pagans" an irreligious or hedonistic person; an uncivilized or unenlightened person.
“infidels” a person who does not accept a particular faith, especially Christianity
“heathens” (in historical contexts) an individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God
of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew,Christian, nor Muslim; a pagan.
Informal. an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.
“barbarous” -uncivilized; wild; savage; crude
-savagely cruel or harsh:
-full of harsh sounds; noisy; discordant:
“creatures”
“enemy”
Definitions from http://www.dictionary.com/

7. Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
● Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata revolves
around the life of a pre-teen U.S. born
Japanese descendant, Sumiko, and her
family during World War II era America.
● Throughout the novel, Sumiko and her
family face numerous tribulations and
endless discrimination from her American
peers, even before Pearl Harbor occurred,
such as when she was sent home from a
birthday party by the adults of the
household solely because of her Japanese
heritage.
● The next day, December 7th, 1941, the attack
on Pearl Harbor ensued, following the
United State’s declaration of war on Japan
shortly after.
● This proved to have a profound impact on
Sumiko and her family because the
ostracism she experienced now evolved into
downright hostility and pure hatred.

8. Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata● After the Congressional declaration of war,
Sumiko was forced to abandon all that she
could of her Japanese heritage by burning
any belongings that slightly resembled
affiliation with her homeland, including the
only remaining photograph of her parents.
● Sumiko’s grandfather, Jiichan, and her uncle
were detained and part of the only family unit
she had remaining was decimated.
● Soon after, Sumiko and the rest of her family
were stripped of their rights and were forcibly
brought to reside in Japanese concentration
camp that was on an Indian reservation.
○ This also further testifies on the
American treatment of indigenous
peoples, especially Native Americans.

9. Present Day America --
Nothing Has Changed!
● America’s treatment of indigenous populations and
immigrants has evolved very minimally, if at all.
● In fact, it has grown even worse, especially after the
Trump administration took office.
● His administration was a catalyst in the exploitation
and misrepresentation of numerous individuals such
as the Latinx and Muslim populations.
● In his terms, these were immigrants from “shit-hole”
countries. How presidential.
● The only immigrants that President Trump seems to
approve of are those from mainly white countries, such
as Sweden, Norway, Finland, etc.
● The treatment of these Muslim/Latinx/Haitian
immigrants have ranged from racial slurs, physical
assaults, and burning down of religious buildings such
as Mosques.
● The hatred towards these people has become so
inherently outrageous that even natural born American
citizens are being targeted for their skin color/belief
systems.

10. ● America’s hypocritical ways in
targeting immigrants,
naturalized, and born-citizens
by profiling their races must
end.
● These people are defying one
of the sole principles of
American culture, which is
embracing diversity in what
they call “A Melting Pot”
● Instead, people are beginning
to portray the exact opposite.
● So is America really the “land
of the free and home of the
brave?” -- Or does that only
apply if you’re white?

11. ● America is literally a joke to all
other nations because of their
foolish behavior, racism, and
xenophobia.
● If America does not change its
ways soon...it is cancelled.

12. Works Cited
Cloyd, Aaron. "A Posture of Removal: Mary Rowlandson's Location, Position, and
Displacement." Disclosure, no. 23, 2014. Academic Search Complete,
ezproxy.ucs.louisiana.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=99425415&site=ehost-live.
"Lecture Notes for Mary Rowlandson." NCSU.edu,
www4.ncsu.edu/~wdlloyd/rowlandsonnotes.htm.