Indians, Tigers and Bears

I really find it fascinating that we as Americans have always associated Native Americans with the wilderness and the outdoors. I mean, ask any normal 8 year old what an Indian is, and most likely he'll tell you that they are the people that live in tepees, ride horseback and shoot bow and arrows. I distinctly remember visiting my grandmother's school where she taught kindergarten when I was in kindergarten and making a vest with drawings of Indians fighting cowboys. I must figure then, that this is purely romanticized, and we teach this to our children as a fun way to teach history to make it more interesting? I also think that this rise in Indian romanticism came only at the time when I was a seven year old, as right now there is a push to help Native American culture revive from the thought that they hold powwows every week and it would be common to find a wigwam somewhere in the forest now. I feel that emphasis should be put on the successful Native American tribes in the country, such as the Menominee Indians in Wisconsin. I gained the opportunity to drive through the reservation this past summer, and I drove mistakenly into the wrong town. I looked all around myself at these amazing schools and what looked like great parks and clean streets, and I was surprised. I was under the impression that Native American life was terrible and they always could use some more money, but this proved otherwise. Native Americans deserve a renewal of what their culture really was and is.