American Encounters :: essays research papers

Who Speaks The sound Of History     The facts of history in the eyes of Americans have been viewed in umteen lights. The Smithsonian exhibit entitled, & group Aere8220American Encounters is no exception. This multimedia exhibit focuses on American Indians, Hispanics and Anglo-Americans in New Mexico. Although the exhibit contains many noteworthy facts about the culture and lifestyle of the Indians, in my opinion, many other aspects of Native American history were left in the shadows. The Smithsonian did not clearly illuminate the push and oppression which the Indians endured during the European settlement. This obscured information raises the issue of which historical facts are selected as notable. E.H. Carr, an historian, explains this argument with a very prominent quote from the first chapter of his hold What is History. The quote states, &8220The facts speak only when the historian calls on them it is he who conciliates to which facts to give the fl oor and in what guild or context (Carr 9).     As tell above, Carr believes that &8220facts only speak when the historian calls on them. . . (Carr 9). In the &8220American Encounters exhibit, the facts concerning Indian tribulation and European domination could not be heard. By all means I believe that their situation was more than just an encounter. From the statement on the plaque, one could interpret that the Europeans were given the land, or that the Europeans established forts, trading posts, and colonies to live as one with the Indeginous peoples however, that was not the case.     Consequently, Carr&8217s statement holds true. The authors of the exhibit choose how to present this portion of history. They decide in what context to display the facts. Obviously the authors feel that a sanction on the wall is enough to express years of struggle and strife. If visitors to the Smithsonian had no previous knowledge about the confl ict between Native Americans and the Spaniards, does this take away explain the real situation?      From this plaque I am taught secret code of the hardships that the Natives endured. I do not learn that thousands of Indigenous lives were taken at the hands of the Spaniards simply to acquire land that wasn&8217t theirs. I do not learn that families and tribes were broken up in order to teach the Europeans how to survive. To my dismay no artifacts, pictures or any other case of visual display told this side of the story. It is the responsibility of the authors of this exhibit to accurately call for the facts and clearly elaborate on them.