Who Owns The Past: Documentary Analysis

In reading a Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich you realize that history seems so much less complicated when you are the one standing back and reflecting on the past. You realize how easy it is to often forget that every single new idea, religion and war was a struggle that lasted generations upon generations. History is more than just a page or a story, its our account of the world. That goes to show how short life and history is, you realize that history is always repeating, war after war, peace then war. There are good and bad periods in history and its up to us to learn from them. In a way history is much like a human being it goes through stages, learns about life, and has inner struggles or wars about their ideas and their beliefs.

The study of history not only provides information about the past, but gives people knowledge and details that help shape lives, in the present and future. For the longest time it has been said that history is bound to repeat itself if it is not understood. Although the repetition of previous tragic historical events is an important reason to study the past, there are many others. As American playwright James Baldwin said, people are a part of history, but history is just as much part of them. This is one of the more fundamental reasons why the exploration of the past is vital to human beings. The study of history gives humans a sense of belonging, a feeling that

Human beings, desire to maintain a connection with the past is achieved through the languages spoken, the various cultures practiced, and sadly through acquiring of cultural property by the means of grave robbing. Native Americans wanted justice for these past mistreatments and control over their history. According to Chip Colwell, campaigning, repatriation of indigenous artifacts began in the 1960s by indigenous activism. Finally, on November 16, 1990, The United States Government passed The Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act. NAGPRA summarizes that museums must conduct an inventory of all native American cultural artifacts and remains. (Native) In addition, Museums send the inventories to federally recognized tribes, in

Did you know that the Natives took hold of ancient bones that probably weren’t even Native? Some people found a full skeleton a that’s about 10,000 years old at the bottom of the Columbia River. The Natives claimed that the old bones were their ancestor and took the bones to the buried. When the bones were found they were turned to scientists to study them. It was found out that were not of Native ancestors. In a 19 year battle the Native Americans won the battle and the bones were buried. We could’ve studied the bones to learn more about the place we live in. This issue is important because in the constitution it reads “...And without unnecessary delay.” but obviously it was delayed 19 years. Kennewick Man should not be repatriated because we don’t even know if the bones are Native and in section 10 of the Washington constitution it says “...Without unnecessary delay.” Also, we could learn more about washington through the bones.

According to Daniel R. Wildcat, “To American Indians, land is not simply a property or a piece of real estate. It is a source of traditions and identities” (Washington Post, 2014). In this citation, it describes how they should have their land returned because it has taken generations to build up these traditions. While Chris McGreal stated the U.S. government treated the Native Americans unfairly, Daniel R. Wildcat emphasizes how important the land was to the Native Americans. Wildcat deepens the significance of the land to the Native Americans and it indicates how impacted the Native Americans were when it was taken away. From these statements, one can infer their land holds more value than money could ever pay

The issue concerning the long battle between Native Americans and scientists seems to go back as long as scientists have begun studying the evolution of the human race. Generally the bones being study come from thousands of years ago and the Native Americans believe strongly that these remains belong to their ancestors. They do not agree at all with the scientists studying their remains and believe that their remains should be given a proper and final burial. In many Native American cultures, this final burial is the way to allow their ancestors to leave this world and to travel into the afterlife. It is a way of putting their soul to rest and allowing them to gracefully depart from this world. But if their remains are being studied and picked apart; the Native Americans believe that this will disturb the path of crossing into the afterlife and could potentially have a bad effect, as well as being very

The article “History Still Matters” by Bill Moyers expresses some important concerns in our societies over the loss of interest in history. Throughout the article Moyers explains the loss of interest but also shows the reader the subject is crucial for societies to progress. He uses deeper meanings to further understand the importance of history as well as expressing the reasons he thinks cultures have lost interest past events. The author also mentions that although people find no relations to history in today’s world, there are conflicts that can resemble current problems. It is also imperative to realize history has assembled our concurrent world. For those reasons we can have our own outlook and interpretations of history to further understand the progression and stage we are currently in.

There are many things that happened before our time that are just as important today as century ago. In order to understand what a big impact our history can have on us today we have to step back in time. It 's important to know the stories of those before us. I find it fascinating because it tells me so much of what it was like during that time. We need to hear these stories, preserve them, and pass them down to those that come after us.

History is important to the everyday life because of the ways it has changed how many things are now whether it happened a thousand years ago, or even a week ago. If nothing were to done to improve the problems, or if nothing was changed due to the major successes in history the world would be going nowhere. It is important to remember things that happen in history, especially the bad to prevent them from happening again.

Bringing historical to a personal level is a great way to make it relevant, and turn it from studying the dates to the actual ideas of the people and what they valued. A mans experiences in life are facts that he stores. Knowledge and one’s life experiences are better than looking it up in a book.

History has the unrelenting power to reenter our present lives and show that it is far from a dormant topic that is drilled into school students. The past has a purpose to teach us, to provide us with the knowledge of our failures along side our successes. The past is there to be sure that we do not continue to make the same mistakes endlessly. If we constantly look toward the future without remembering our country’s past experiences, than we are going to concede to repeat.

Many points in history are very important because of how they happened and what effects those historical events made possible in the future. Without history America would not know where we came from or how we got to where we are today. History helps us as Americans make decisions that could improve our future as a country, because without history to lead us in the right direction we could constantly make the same mistakes over and over again. There are many important times in history that greatly influenced how America has grown into the country we are today.

As a victim of sexual assault, this documentary was far from easy to watch. Not only did I relive the terrors of my own personal experience, but I was also able to capture the emotions behind the experiences of each victim that told their story throughout the documentary. The Hunting Ground was a true eye opener in regards to what truly goes on behind closed doors and how relentlessly one could turn their back on the situation. The Hunting Ground follows the stories of undergraduate rape survivors and their journey to justice. The documentary also sheds light upon the victim’s Universities and Colleges and how their school’s Sexual Misconduct and Violence policies had deeply failed them.

It is the backbone of all other subjects, such as English, science, math, government, even world languages. Historical knowledge provides the groundwork for all literature, it is vital in order to understand references and allusions, as well as to grasp the point of view an author is writing from. In essence, you can read a novel a hundred times, but you will never be able to fully appreciate it if you have no connection to the deeply rooted historical background of the plot. Then there are scientific discoveries. Who made them? Where did those scientists come from? What culture led to the discoveries? What war brought about the creating of nuclear bombs? What were the thought processes of the scientific geniuses? All these questions have answers that can be found through the study of history. Next, is the application for math, the Pythagorean theorem, the geometric knowledge gained from Euclid, the Greeks and Romans and how their past brought them to be mathematicians. These people and their mathematical work are part of history. Even the development of different forms of government is a direct result of the experiences of different cultures, and their gifted philosophers. Language itself has survived and adapted because of wars, conquered nations, and the changing borders of countries. The languages that have survived through to modern day have made it because of historical

Alejandra Dubcovsky author of To understand Science, Study history acknowledges that it is important to study history because history helps us understand past experiences. It does not change and it helps us progress in many different fields. “To be sure, knowing those stories and this history does not change the results of an experiment, alter biology, or change the laws of physics. But the stories--the historical sensitivity--emphasize the contingency and the human decisions, struggles, and misgivings found even in the hardest of sciences. STEM is neither excused nor separate from its past.” (Alejandra Dubcovsky paragraph 10). Often times we do not realize how much history impacts our lives daily and is accountable for where we are today as