Balancing modern and traditional living

It’s difficult to hoose because they “wanna be a part of one world cause it’s all shiny and fast but afraid to let go of the other world that’s slower and more familiar. “(pg. 4). This new world, it’s fast paced, technologically advanced and overwhelming and it’s exceptionally diverse from the peace and calm of life on the reserve. Garnet wants to assimilate to modern society because “[he] was embarrassed about being an Indian… ” (pg. 19) and at various times he was Hawaiian, Polynesian, Mexican or

Chinese; basically anything other than the “scary lookin’, dirty, drunk, fghtin’ in the streets or passed out in the alley'(pg. 22) Indians that his foster father has shown him a while back. The speed of the world is getting faster and faster with the Whitemans inventions and it’s hard to differentiate between worlds, the lure of the unknown is great and this modern time is unfamiliar to the ‘born to the land’ Indians. Media is, by far, an important source of a lot of our self-education nowadays and we rely on this ermanent source of information to help us learn more about other cultures, beliefs and topics.

But it can also be a problematic device as rumours and stereotypical opinions can be spread with a click of the mouse. Back then, books were the major source of information, and when the only books written are by white-men who only are one viewpoint of many in the world, things can get pretty one-sided and it’s hard to know what’s actually an accurate source of truthful information. Manda Van Os Balancing modern and traditional living By mandavanos