Final Draft

Avatar Position Essay

Brett Rider

Introduction

The Na’vi in Avatar were treated similar to the way first nations people in North America were treated when the Europeans first arrived in North America.  In my paper I will talk about the significance of cultural contact, colonialism, ethnocentrism, and marginalization and how it was represented in the movie Avatar. 

Body Paragraph #1

Cultural Contact

The way the Sky People interact with the Na’vi when they first get to Pandora was similar to the way the Europeans and First Nations people of North America interacted.  The Sky People are only there to get the resources, so they try to push the Na’vi away. 

Body Paragraph #2

Ethnocentrism (White Man’s Burden)

The movie Avatar shows a lot of evidence of ethnocentrism.  The Sky People think they are better and are just there to get the resources.  White Man’s Burden is another example of ethnocentrism.  The Europeans thought that they needed to take care of the First Nations.  One way they did this was by having residential schools for natives.  They also did this in Avatar.  The Sky People think they are helping the Na’vi by doing this but really they aren’t. 

Body Paragraph #3

Colonialism and Marginalization

The Na’vi have already colonized Pandora but in a different way then we are used to hearing about.  When we think about colonization you think that you have to build houses and try to get any resources possible.  The Na’vi live in a tree and the Sky People think this is weird because they are use to houses and having all your necessities were the Na’vi hunt for all their food.  As the Sky People try to get the minerals they marginalize the Na’vi for their own benefit.  This is a lot like what happened in North America when the Europeans came they wanted the resources but the natives were in the way.  When the Sky People push the home tree over they are marginalizing the Na’vi and hoping to push them away so they have access to the resoures they want.

Avatar final draft

Social 10-1 Avatar Essay

Alden Mueller

In our history we had many historical events. And in the movie Avatar the director James Cameron made many innuendos toward our history, through the modern day technology. In this essay I will be stating the references that he was portraying in the movie, they are; culture contact, colonialism, assimilation, ethnocentrism, marginalization and white man’s burden. I will be explaining the relationship between these key points and the movie Avatar.

In the movie Avatar the humans and the Na’vi come in contact many times. When we first arrived on Pandora, they had a good approach to the native people. They brought in Gracie to teach them in the schools the humans provided, and in return they taught her some of the ways of their culture. Though the humans on the planet only came for one purpose, to look for the expensive metal Unabtainium. Once they start getting fed up with the slow works of the avatar humans with their work, the start using their big advantage, Weapons. With this advantage over the Na’vi people they can’t defend themselves. The sky people, as the Na’vi call the humans; force them out of their home with gases and missiles.  What this is representing is when the first Europeans came to North America and took advantage of the First nation’s people with trading beaver fur for little to nothing.

Ethnocentrism has been through time for many years.  People often think they are bigger, better than someone else. They think that they’re better than them, just because they are different. The movie Avatar it shows that the sky people are bigger and better and can do whatever they please to the indeginus people. In our history an example of this would be, … Marginalization is where you push away, ignore, or force someone into a lesser power. In the movie there is an example of this when jake first met the Na’vi they didn’t listen to what he had to say. A other is the sky people ignored and pushed away the scientists about their plan to try to convince the Na’vi to leave the home tree. These two terms work well together because when on happens the other usual follows.  

White man’s Burden is when you think that it’s your duty to take care of another race. We did this to the First nations People of Canada. We came in, took their land and their rights. We put them on a chunk of land that we didn’t want and told them they had to live there. And on this land they had all the necessities of living, but they weren’t allowed to vote. They could stay a “Status Indian” on the reserve and live, or lose all this and become a true Canadian and be able to vote. If they decided to drop their status they wouldn’t get a job, because nobody would hire them. The Government was trying to assimilate the natives, but in the end it didn’t work. They are still thought less of by some of us Canadians, but some of them have moved off the reserve and is making a living. The rest of them that are still on the reserves are thought out to be alcoholics and drug users. The stereotype for these people has blown up out of proportion.

In each of these topics I have talked about they all have something in common, Globalization. All for areas of it has been cover, Social with coming in contact with different cultures, political by coming in and trying to control the first nations, economics with , and environmental by taking over the land that was the Native’s.

(Still a work in progress)

FINAL DRAFT

Avatar Position Paper

BY: Jordan

Introduction

In our history the First nations experienced cultural contact, marginalization, and

assimilation when the Europeans came to America. That part of our history is

portrayed in the movie Avatar very well. The Na’vi experienced the same things

as the First nations when the sky people came to Pandora. The sky people

started to force the Na’vi out of their home to get what they wanted.

In the essay I will talk about cultural contact, marginalization, assimilation, and how they affected the Na'vi.

Body #1

Cultural contact – In the movie cultural contact is portrayed when the sky people came to Pandora. The sky people created “Avatars” that had the same physical appearance as the Na’vi, to try and learn about them.

Body #2

Marginalization- The sky people came to Pandora to mine (don’t know the name of the rock) and the Na’vis sacred tree was growing on the richest place of (rock) on Pandora. The Na’vi didn’t want to give up their sacred home tree, so the sky people tried to push them aside and take what they wanted.

Body #3

Assimilation- The Na’vi declined when the sky people offered them English schooling.

Conclusion- In the essay I talked about how cultural contact, marginalization, and assimilation effected the Na’vi.

THERE WILL BE MUCH MORE COMING SOON TO THIS LOCATION!

final draft

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Social 10-1 Position Paper _ Avatar
By: Ronni Burrows

             The greatest challenge we face today is ensuring that globalization becomes a positive force among all the people in the world, but what might happen years from now? The movie Avatar; created by James Cameron, shows a comparable attribute between our historical globalization, where we are now, and what has yet to come. This movie has rooted a large amount of messages and hidden judgments of what our world has been doing to past civilizations. As well, what we might continue to do if we don’t grasp into each others diversities and try to work with what we have. I’ll be contrasting Avatar to historical moments in time, including cultural contact, ethnocentrism and the thoughts of “White Man’s Burden”, according to Rudyard Kipling, and how it all relates to the aspects of globalization.

Clashes between cultures and civilizations have taken place throughout time in our humanity. In the movie, Avatar, humans and unfamiliar species are forced together by venture. Set on the planet of Pandora, Sky People are sent out to threaten the existence of the local tribe, Na’vi and take what they call unobtanium, a valuable mineral that would give the Sky People a quantity of money. How does this relate to our world?  In our North American history, Europeans were dispersed out to settle land, and during that time the Europeans discovered what they referred to as, “savages.” Like portrayed in the movie, Sky People also referred the Na’vi as ‘savages’ and they were known for their relationship to the land just like the First Nations. In our past, Europeans take over First Nations’ land and found a place in their civilization without the approval of the First Nations people. They took what resources the “savages’” had and traded them for Europeans’ wants. The Europeans made up written treaties to try to make agreements with the First Nations people, as well, the Sky People in the film tried to get the Na'vi to overlook their true intentions and listen to their offer of agreements. In neither situation did it turn out good in all aspects of civilization.

In today’s society we can see cultural contact a bit differently. Cultures merge and unite to create a society where people of different ethnicity can share and people can be their own individual or collective identity, in most countries at least. What we can call creating a mix of 2 different cultures crafting a new one; hybridization, was shown during Avatar when the bodies of Jake and a few other trained individuals are made into a combination of their previous human body and a mix of an Avatars structure. The term, “I see you,” a meaning spoken by the Avatars, expressing I see into your soul, your heart, and we are one. "I see you," is a phrase with a deeper meaning along the lines of "I understand who you are." This film represents the idea that we are all connected to each other as human beings. However, when Avatars and Sky People acculturated and adapted to one anothers traditions I noticed a sudden depopulation after such previous events such as the war. In the end, only a few Sky People were chosen to stay since not all were willing to accommodate. Which brings me to my next point, ethnocentrism.

While many people recognize the problem, they may not know that ethnocentrism occurs everywhere and every day in our civilization. We all are born into a human culture, and it is the culture that shapes our self-awareness and understanding of other individuals. Ethnocentrism is a key reason for the division amongst groups in our societies today and in our past. Long ago, Europeans oversaw other races and marginalized them to a lesser importance.  Traces of this sense of European ethnocentrism are still evident today. In the film, Na’vi fought heavily armed machines with bows and arrows, which displays the difference in their tradition and also displays how much more powerful the Sky People felt they were compared to the Na’vi. Today, we all are ethnocentric when we use our cultural standards to make generalizations about other peoples' cultures and customs. For example, as stated by Southern Nazarene University, most Canadians and Americans often talk about British drivers driving "on the wrong side" of the road. Why not just say "opposite side" or even "left hand side"? With most current events such as the ongoing war and terror, it is difficult for some members of our civilization to think of the “less civilized” nations as anything but oversimplified labels. What I believe Avatar becomes about is the intention to show that the western world’s society should advance itself into learning more about those who it looks down upon, because like the movie showed, the Na'vi may of been able to teach the Sky People invaluable lessons about things they did not yet know anything about. We can’t all be considered the best ethnicity, and some people won’t ever be able to accept that.

“If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” a quote that the public use all the time in our civilization. Humans’ appear to give the urge to improve things that aren’t in need of improvement. White Mans’ Burden, a term spoken by Rudyard Kipling, a meaning implying that an ethnicity feels they have the responsibility or duty to take care of another race. In the film Avatar, the Sky People believe that it was there obligation to give the Na’vi people schools and teach them English. That somehow the Na’vi weren’t adequate enough before the Sky People showed up. It is also portrayed in the motion picture that they are in need of someone else to save them in the end, someone that isn’t one of their own ethnicity. But why didn’t the film portray the message as the Avatars saving themselves? In our past, a lot of what has happened to our world has been because of a “White Man’s Burden.” One’s own ethnicity believes it’s okay to assimilate another culture, and that marginalizing another race was of their best interest. Being a part of a European background, I’ve learned lots about colonialism and looking at my own educational knowledge, I can relate back to when the Europeans decided the First Nations needed to drop their own identities and learn European ways. Europeans didn't give the First Nations the option of choosing to receive education or the option to practice their own traditions and make their own identity.

Our world has suffered many implications in its existence. Comparing the award-winning movie Avatar to our past, present, and future civilizations, you really do notice a lot of positions taking place. Not only does the film hold many hidden communications but our world also has countless hidden messages we still need to discover and release.  After discussing these aspects of globalization, cultural contact, ethnocentrism, and white mans burden with you, I leave you with these questions. Who are the savages, who are the best nation, and who are the uncivilized?

Avatar final draft

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Avatar essay

Adam

Avatar is one of the most elevated action movies that actually show many morals and a resemblance to our world today. The movie Avatar is a popular movie about the Na’vi people and the sky people who live on the land of Pandora together. In the movie Avatar there are lots of examples of ethnocentrism. The humans assume they are dominant over the Na’vi tribe; they express this by attacking and destroying home tree. Cultural contact plays a huge part in the movie Avatar. It relates to our past by the cultural contact of the First Nations and our interactions with them in the past. The world of Pandora is covered in many tribes of people. The humans think that they have to teach them to learn their ways because the humans consider themselves better than the Na’vi. Just like the in the poem the white man’s burden the humans think they need to control the lives of the lesser people in this case the Na’vi. The movie Avatar is jam packed and full of excitement. It is a fantastic example of all three cultural contact, ethnocentrism, and the White Mans burden.

"Up ahead was Pandora. You grew up hearing about it, but I never figured I'd be going there." This is one of the quotes Jake Sully (the Avatar) said on his way to Pandora this is the beginning of his journey. This moment is the beginning of the true interaction between his culture and theirs. The Na’vi start to trust Jake they teach him their culture and Grace comes to the camp and teaches the people how to speak English and their ways of life. This cultural contact was very fine in the beginning as they started to trust Jake, but the general had a different plan as Jake started to learn the ways and gain the trust of the Na’vi, and then the general decided it was taking too long. He sent in trucks to push down some of the trees and plants. Jake is quite upset and he goes berserk to destroy the cameras on their trucks. Then they accuse Jake of being a traitor. At this point the cultural contact between the Na’vi and the sky people had become horrific. This way the humans used to push the Na’vi away is called marginalization. The humans did not understand the ways of the Na’vi and how they were so connected to the land, they also did not see how much killing the land also hurts the Na’vi tribe. The humans were not aware what they had done; there for the cultural contact between these two cultures became extremely bad really fast. The interaction between these two cultures turned out very badly.

The next example I found that is presented in the movie is ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the belief that your culture is superior to all others. The humans in this case are the example with the belief that they are above the Na’vi. They at first try to teach the Na’vi English and try to teach them how to interact just like we do. Ethnocentrism is expressed through the humans actions after recognizing the Na’vi don’t believe in the same religion, don’t speak the same language, and have a distinct appearance compared to humans. In so many ways the Na’vi are so different from the humans but they are also very much the same. Both the Na’vi and the sky people live on Pandora, but the humans do not understand the deep connection the Na’vi has with the land. They are so unaware that every missile they shoot at home tree damages not only the land but also the people and animals that interact with it. Ethnocentrism is brought upon the Na’vi and they are forced away. The humans declare themselves better and desperately attempt to push the Na’vi out for good.

The final main modern relation to the movie Avatar is the white man’s burden and how the humans believed they had to teach the Na'vi how to act like them. The white man’s burden mostly relates to the way the humans believed it was their responsibility to take care of the Na’vi. This is similar to the relationship between the Europeans and the First Nations; how the Europeans thought it was there duty to take care of the first nations. In relation to the movie the Europeans built residential schools for the first Nations people. Just like in this motion picture the Europeans believed that the First Nations should be assimilated and taught the religion and language of the Europeans. The Na’vi could have easily been left alone but the greed of the sky people became a distinct factor in the tragedy and disappointment of the film. This is a key example of The White Man’s Burden associated with the establishment of Canada and the motion picture Avatar.

Throughout the movie there are many examples of all three major topics, cultural contact, ethnocentrism, and The White Man’s Burden. In the movie we see that the Na’vi people are over looked also mistreated and neglected by the humans. This movie quite clearly shows and relates to our world today but mostly our past and the way we treated the First Nation’s people and how poorly we made decisions in our past. The reactions and way we interacted and treated the first nations an the way the sky people treated the Na’vi was unreasonable way of treating and dealing with the Na’vi and Natives. The discrimination of the Na’vi, and the force the sky people used to push them out just for the resources, was an unnecessary way of dealing with the dilemma. All around, this film is a great clip if you can recognize the symbolism and the messages that are in the movie.

Final Rough Draft

Social 10-1: Position Paper

                                                                                By Jeri Blackmore

                                                               

Globalization in its simplest terms is the combining of cultures for the overall growth of society via cultural contact.  James Cameron directed the movie Avatar with ties loosely relating to globalization through the western colonialism theme.  Throughout this essay I will be exploring the key concepts of contact between cultures: ethnocentrism, marginalization, and colonialism relating back to the film.  Avatar conveys key plot lines from important events in history and how they shape our overall worldview in this time period. 

            In history, Europeans always thought of themselves as the greatest and most deserving species.  Natives were forced out of the land the tribes lived on to assimilate and become more like the English.  Ethnocentrism is shown through the lack of accommodation and respect for the native peoples freedom and culture.  Shown in Avatar, The Na’vi live peacefully off of Pandora as the Natives did on our land until the sky people (humans) decide to brutally take away their home for the use of natural resources.  The sky people knew that their machinery and weapon technology was far advanced from the Na’vi’s that they would have no chance to win.  Land to humans is power.  The superiority of a race was based on the material aspect of having land and making money before any empathy was shown to people who had a life there. 

            James Cameron used marginalization to show the human dominance over the avatars.  The humans were obviously more powerful as they pushed aside the inhabitants to get to and profit from the Hometree.  Residential Schools were also a form of marginalizing as for they took children away from their homes and families for the integration into a Canadian society.  This was supposed to be a way to depopulate the natives and strip them of their individual beliefs and values.  Marginalization of a group, race or culture prohibits globalization and development of any kind. 

            Control from the government can strictly decide the freedoms a person or group may possibly obtain.  Before and during the early 1900’s in an attempt to gain more control the government strictly regulated the existence of First Nations tribes.  In the film, the army has more control than the scientists because of weapons.  Controlling the Na’vi population was easy for the humans.  Confusion stopped the avatars from identifying the threat and having a chance to remain in control.  The influence a governing system broadcasts is the general view society will absorb. 

            Cultural contact diminishing equality between races is not okay.  Marginalization, colonialism, and ethnocentrism were used in history to forge a divide between humans.  Avatar is a form of entertainment that shows some flaws in our history.  Historical events created our way of life and worldview.  The globalization of society continues to grow today through contact between cultures.  Reminiscing on the past, we can learn from the mistakes and educate ourselves so division of this extent will not happen again. 

           

essay final draft -Ellen Lee-

Movie ‘Avatar’ is analyzed to historical globalization.

The Movie ‘Avatar’‘s story is about how Jake Sully changes from a human to an avatar.

Jake Sully was one of the sky-people before he was one of the Na’vi tribe.

The movie can be compared with historical globalization as it shows Jake’s process of change to an avatar. For example, I think when the sky-people try to contact with the Na’vi to make Avatars looks like the Na’vi this is an example of cultural contact.

When Grace and the sky-people built a school for the Na’vi tribe to learn English and the sky-people want to control the Na’vi. This is an example of colonialism. In the movie, the sky-people’s army general thinks “We don’t need to learn Na’vi tribe’s culture, we have to get resources. It seems like ethnocentrism.

When Jake came to the Na’vi tribe’s place, they ignored him. It seems like marginalization.

The sky-people are looking for resources so they find planet Pandora. Where there are useful minerals and they meet the Na’vi.

This is similar to historical globalization which included cultural contact, colonialism, ethnocentrism, and marginalization.

In the movie, when the sky-people came the planet of Pandora to find some resources, they made an avatar like Pandora’s native, Na’vi to contact them. And the sky-people built a school for the Na’vi to teach English. Because the sky-people want to control the Na’vi.

This is similar to Japan and Korea relation and First Nation of Canada.

First, Japan and Korea relation is when Korea was Japan’s colony, Japan force to change Korean name and learn Japanese. But this part’s cultural contact is occurring by Japan.

Second, First Nation of Canada is Canadian built residential school for first nation of Canada to control them from 1890 to 1931. Canadian taught proper English to first nation of Canada’s children. History of Canada about First Nation of Canada and the movie have resemblance about built a school for low-power people to teach English and control them. So these are examples of cultural contact and colonialism.

When Japan invaded Korea, Japan also forced to learn their culture. Because Japan thoughts “Korea’s culture is not important, Japan’s culture is important than Korea’s culture so they must learn our culture” this thought is made elder Korean use Japanese word. For example my grandmother sometimes uses Japanese words in her routine. And this thought is similar to in the movie the sky-people army general thinks “We don’t need to learn the Na’vi tribe’s culture” so they attack home-tree, the Na’vi tribe think sacredly. So the sky-people and Japan think our culture is better than low-power people’s culture. So this is an example of ethnocentrism.

Before the sky-people’s army general attacks home-tree, Jake got a mission to him about he have to persuade the Na’vi to leave their place. So Jake approaches the Na’vi. But the Na’vi think Jake is outsider. So they didn’t think their family and ignored him. And after they know Jake’s purpose, they didn’t hear Jake’s warning from the sky-people attack the Na’vi. This part is similar to first nation of Canada. Canada has lots of first nations of Canada’s area. The nations who live in their area. They can get some money to Canada government. But if they get some money to government they have to live in the reservations of Indian. It seems like marginalization. Because the first nation of Canada are neglected in the white man’s society.

In the movie, the sky-people’s action to the Na’vi related with Japan required to Korea, the European and the first nation of Canada relation about cultural contact and colonization. And the sky-people’s army general thought related Japan’s thought about ethnocentrism. And the Na’vi tribe’s action to Jake related with setting to build reservations for Indians who also called first nation of Canada about marginalization. So, I think James Cameron may want to criticize about historical globalization. So it is reason why I choose my essay topic.

Avatar Essay Final Draft

Avatar Essay final draft Jake Williams

Jake Williams

The oppression of any peoples from any time or place is wrong and we should all know it! In this essay I will be exploring the different aspects that relate to our past and in the movie Avatar, as in the oppression of native peoples, ethnocentrism, colonialism cultural contact and marginalization. There is a very close relation between this movie and how our pasts played out, the humans in this movie travel to the planet Pandora and try to mine all of the unobtainium from this planets core because they believe their race is more important and they need it more.

  

The humans in this movie felt that the needs of their planet and existence outweighed the needs of the Na’vi peoples; this turned out as a terribly bad way to think for humans in this movie and usually does the same in our lives, for in this movie and most times in life thinning that you or your ethnic background is better than others will not turn out well for you like for example the Nazis, They believed that there so called Aryan race was superior to all others and tried to eliminate all inferior races, this as we all know did not turn out well for them and never will. Specifically in this movie the humans believe that their need for unobtainium outweighed the Na’vi’s need for life and religion this in common terms is ethnocentrism, like when the Europeans first travelled to America and tried to control all the land and felt that there need for space was more important than the First nations way of life and religion

    

The Humans set of colonies on Pandora with what seems like no care for the areas surrounding them and thought for the cultures they would be affecting which made the first contact between these two cultures to most likely be an unpleasant one starting of a harsh relationship. The contact between the Na’vi and the Humans was from what you see in the movie Avatar a very flawed and harsh reality. The humans only cared about themselves and the resources of the planet Pandora, not caring for the race of humanoids the Navi or there way of life, their religion or there people just what they had to gain from. Pandora. This relates greatly to how Europeans took advantage of the First Nations of America and used them in their circle of mercantilism, they bought the furs of beavers and other animals and shipped them back to Europe for a small cost, when in Europe the furs get turned into a product as in Hats or fur coats and sent back to America to be sold at a high rate of profit. This leads to the downfall and poor quality of life for the initial workers how killed the beaver and forces them into a state of poverty, that in a way is a form of marginalization     

The simplest way of identifying marginalization in this movie in the physical sense, the Humans had a home base set up on Pandora from which you can see is huge and takes up a lot of the land. They are forcing the Na’vi away from the area and therefore forcing them away from the humane society, in a more sophisticated level the humans are taking away the religion and the way of life the Na’vi have always had and making there society more harsh and undesirable marginalizing them in a way and they forced the Na’vi into schools and tried to make them part of their society but they always but their own race first, the humans always put their race first and there needs before the  needs of the Na’vi, just like how once again I am going back to the Europeans in America When they forced the First Nations into residential schools and forced them to become almost European and then when they did become European they forced them to do slave labour or have no jobs, barely a part of society and the Europeans (as seen in social class) endorsed the residential schools as a happy place and a place where the First Nations people  went from being “Flea bitten Savages” to a modern day gentleman or lady. Covering the whole thing up so the higher class people thought it was okay. Another example of marginalization is when the Americans went to Africa and kidnapped Africans to sell as slaves and when they were freed from slavery, if they ever where they were forced into the lower classes of society and forced to work for less money sit in the back of the bus use different washrooms et cetera.

In this day and age and from all of the mistakes we have made in our history we should know that no person or persons should be discriminated! But as a race humans are still very young and not the best at preserving our planet and resources and I do hope we will eventually find a way to explore planets and find resources to help use prosper but not if it turns out like the movie Avatar and we end up discriminating another species for the resources on there planet. I feel that this movie has a great lesson to teach use about or past and how to prevent anything like this in the future, it is a harsh reminder that ethnocentrism, colonialism and marginalization is  wrong and We should all understand that.

Rough/final Draft

Avatar Essay

Shayla Derr
 

            Our historical globalization is important to how our society and culture is formed and shaped to this day. The movie Avatar, directed by James Cameron, has strong connections to our historical globalization. It represents our past, but the movie is set in the future. The “Sky People” tried to develop cultural contact and colonialism with the Na’vi people of Pandora. Avatar ties to our historical globalization through conflicts of ethnocentrism, marginalization and apathy. It shows the past, repeating itself.

           The“Sky People” (people from Earth, given the name Sky People by the Na’vi), expressed ethnocentrism on a wide scale, throughout Avatar. All the Sky People were are after a precious metal, called Unobtainium, which is located under the surface of Pandora.And mainly under the Hometree. But the Hometree was basically a home to the Na'vi. And the only way to get to the Unobtainium was to destroy the Hometree. Jake Sully, a main character in Avatar, took on the identity of a Na'vi, to gain access to the Hometree. Also to develope cutltural contact with the Na'vi. But no matter what the Sky People offered, the Na'vi were not interested. Soon the Unobtainium was top priority and the rights, beliefs, land and culture of the Na'vi, didn't mean a thing to the Sky People. The Sky People thought their rights over weighed the rights of the Na'vi. "White Man's Burden" ties into ethnocentrism as it is: the duty to take care of people of a different race. It ties into ethnocentrism because the Sky People felt they had to get the Na'vi to like them, so they could dominate and be "the best". The ethnocentrism levels that were distributed by the Sky People put the Na'vi into a lesser place of power.

           “So what? They can move to another tree!” quoted from Avatar’s Parker Selfridge. The Sky People didn’t see the importance of the Hometree or the Na’vi’s relationship with the land and nature. They marginalized the Na’vi’s rights and went ahead and took over the land. They showed little empathy for the Na’vi and how the Na’vi lived off the land. This relates to when the Europeans forced the First Nations onto reserves and set the First Nations below them in class and society. But the Sky People are not the only ones at fault for pushing away a different culture. The Na’vi didn’t want anything to do with the Sky People.“Your fault! You are like a baby; making noise, don't know what to do. You should not come here, all of you! You only come and make problems. Only.”Avatar’s Neytiri snaps at Jake Sully when she has killed the wolves to save him. Neytiri here shows the Na’vi’s hatred for the Sky People and the Sky People’s carelessness for the Na’vi’s land. Although it is not a sign of marginalization because the Na'vi are not putting the Sky People into a position of lesser power.

            The Sky People set up colonies on Pandora, on the Na’vi’s land, caring little about what they were affecting. This made the cultural contact between the two cultures strained and unpleasant. The Sky People thought of the Na’vi as dumb savages, and didn’t care about their connections the nature and land. This outraged the Na'vi, and they took a stand. Jake Sully integration with the Na'vi and discovered how precious everything was and what his own people were destroying. He too rose up and fought for what he now believed. 

           The actions that were made in the movie Avatar by the Sky People, relate to the actions of the Europeans when they came to North America. The Europeans thought their rights overpowered the rights of the First Nations, much like the Sky People with the Na’vi. They pushed the First Nations rights, religions and culture aside and marginalized the First Nations, which also relates to Avatar. And lastly, they made little effort at cultural contact with the First Nations to try and learn and empathy their religion and ways of life. Instead, the Europeans set up colonies and forced them onto reserves. Putting them into lower class and society. The movie Avatar has a strong connection to our past. Even though our history is in the past, Avatar is set in the future. It is history repeating itself. And I think it is important that we remember what happened and never let it happen again.

Avatar Essay Draft

Introduction:

If you think about it the movie Avatar somewhat reflects our history relatively well. The Na’vi tribe and the first nations peoples of Canada were both somewhat related to each other from how they were treated by other people of different ethnicities. Some people may not think about how they relate when the watch the movie just because they want to see it or just for entertainment. But a couple of the ways that the First Nations and the Na’vi People in the movie Avatar relate are through cultural contact, ethnocentrism, and marginalization.

Paragraph One: Cultural Contact & Colonialism

Cultural contact is the contact between two or more cultures and colonialism is when someone puts a settlement or colony on another land other than your own. In Avatar the Na’vi tribe comes into cultural contact with the Sky People when they came to their planet to take the resources underneath the land where the Na’vi have created a home and live. The Sky People went onto Pandora as avatars to interact with the Na’vi and learn their ways and to try to teach them the human ways and they go in as almost a way of colonialism. Later Jake goes in as an avatar and he learns the way of the Na’vi and they accept him into the people and he changes the way he thinks about them and adopts a new respect for how they relate to the land. The way the Sky People and the Na’vi tribe come into contact is almost the same way that the First Nations and the Europeans came into contact in our past. The Europeans came into Canada and interacted along with the First Nations trying to trade and settled into the First Nations people’s land the same way that the Sky People sent some of their people onto Pandora with the Na’vi but that’s not the only way that the Na’vi and the First Nations relate.

Paragraph Two: Marginalization

Marginalization is placing something or someone into a position of importance, influence, or power. When the Sky People realized that Pandora had some valuable resources under their land they thought that it was okay for them to take away the nature from the Na’vi people to get to the resources so they sent Jake Sully in as an avatar and got him to learn the way of the Na’vi and tried to get them to trust Jake so that when he told them that the Sky People were coming they would leave the land so that the humans could have what they wanted from them. They marginalized Jake and placed him into a position of responsibility kind of like how the Europeans sent out ships of people to explore around and they thought they could take anything from anyone they wanted to which is ethnocentrism.

Paragraph Three: Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is when someone or a group of people believe that their ethnicity is better than everyone else’s. The sky people thought that they were better than the Na’vi so they thought they had to send people in to teach the people the way that they lived and expected them to adopt the way they lived because they believed that the way they lived was the right way and that everyone else should live the way they do and when they didn’t adopt their ways the Sky People thought that they could just take everything away from them the same way the Europeans thought about the First Nations. Both the Sky People and the Europeans took away the land and nature away from others, and the Na’vi and the First Nations both had extremely close relations to the land. The Na’vi and the First nations were both extremely exposed to Ethnocentrism because the people that were taking everything away from them both believed that they could do anything that they wanted to other people of other ethnicities and that their way was always right.

Conclusion:

The First Nations and the Na’vi, along with the Sky People and the Europeans were alike in ways but people may not notice that at first thought. Some people have to look harder at the ways that ethnocentrism, cultural contact, and marginalization relate to our history and also to the movie Avatar. But you have to remember that what happened to the Na’vi people also happened to the First Nations people of Canada in our history.

essay by jace

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“One does not sell the land people walk on”- Crazy Horse. One major difference between the Aboriginal people and the explorers from Europe was that Aboriginal people feel no ownership to the land, they are only borrowing and it must be returned. The white explorers feel it is there duty to build the natives schools and teach them English. This all relates to the movie avatar because the humans come to Pandora to mine the unobtainium, they feel that they should teach them English because they feel that it is the best language, this is not the case. The Naí vi people feel like they are being marginalized and their planet is being colonized. In this essay I will tell you how the movie avatar relates to moments in our own history through the themes of ethnocentrism, colonization and cultural contact.

Ethnocentrism is that one believes that their race or culture is better than all others. In the movie avatar the humans call the Naí vi fly bitten savages, blue monkeys and other insulting names that show ethnocentrism. They want to show the Naí vi how they should live and they should go to school and learn English. This is very similar what happened in Canada’s history, they sent young aboriginal children to boarding schools to learn English.

Colonization is where two or more people inhabit the same area. The Naí vi have lived on Pandora for a very long time and the humans suddenly show up and start knocking down trees, mining for unobtainium, and killing their people.  The way the Naí vi have lived has been changed forever.

Cultural contact between the humans and the Nav’ vi should never happened, they are completely opposite people and a lot of things vary between them such as religion, food, shelter, technology, and weapons are just a few. All these things are new to the indigenous people of Pandora, but the humans know how the Nai, vi lived because they have seen how the aboriginal people have lived long ago in history. The aboriginals of North America and Pandora are very similar.

Over time we have seen these themes repeat themselves in our own history. The movie avatar represents the themes of ethnocentrism, colonization, and cultural contact in a realistic manner and portrays real themes from our own history.

Essay Final Draft

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Avatar Position Essay

Brett Rider

Introduction

The Na’vi in Avatar were treated similar to the way first nations people in North America were treated when the Europeans first arrived in North America.  In my paper I will talk about the significance of cultural contact, colonialism, ethnocentrism, and marginalization and how it was represented in the movie Avatar. 

Body Paragraph #1

Cultural Contact

The way the Sky People interact with the Na’vi when they first get to Pandora was similar to the way the Europeans and First Nations people of North America interacted.  The Sky People are only there to get the resources, so they try to push the Na’vi away. 

Body Paragraph #2

Ethnocentrism (White Man’s Burden)

The movie Avatar shows a lot of evidence of ethnocentrism.  The Sky People think they are better and are just there to get the resources.  White Man’s Burden is another example of ethnocentrism.  The Europeans thought that they needed to take care of the First Nations.  One way they did this was by having residential schools for natives.  They also did this in Avatar.  The Sky People think they are helping the Na’vi by doing this but really they aren’t. 

Body Paragraph #3

Colonialism and Marginalization