CATLIN V DODGE
... Firstly, I will look at Catlin’s written sources in order to gain an appreciation of what he thought of the Indian lifestyle. ... ” This sentence is a compliment to the Indians, and gives us an indication as to a certain aspect of Catlin’s personality. It informs us that Catlin does not base his judgements on prejudice and things he has heard elsewhere. ... However, Catlin can be contradictory and just a few sentences later he calls the Indians “warlike, cruel, revengeful, relentless yet – honourable, contemplative and religious being.” There are two ways at looking at it; that Catlin considers the Indians to be just that, cruel and revengeful and that they are not good people. ... At the moment, I feel with this source we do not get an excellent idea of Catlin’s views of the Indians, as he is fairly contradictory. After reading the other sources, we get a much better idea as to Catlin’s views. ... ” After reading the other sources, we get a The astoundingly good horsemen that the Indians were, “astonished” Catlin, and he was in great admiration of their warlike nature. ... ” However, one thing that Catlin does not admire is the treatment of the old Indian people. ... ” In conclusion I feel that Catlin describes the Indian lifestyle in a fair manner, giving us some positives and negatives about several aspects of their way of life. Dodge, is a marked contrast to Catlin when it comes to their opinions about the Indians. ... ” Dodge labels the Tribal government that existed as “peculiar and eccentric”. ... ” Despite all these criticisms, Dodge does make a few albeit rare comments of praise. ... In conclusion, Catlin’s positive outlook overshadows the weaknesses he points out, yet the opposite can be said for Dodge, who has more flaws to point out than compliments of the Indian way of life.