The Falcon
John Tanner was only seven years old when the Shawneese Indians kidnapped him. Having not been able to go through many of the growing pains of being a young adult, he was thrown into a situation where he was mistreated, beaten, and worked almost to the point of almost death. After he had spent nearly two years of his life in a terrible situation where he was treated like an animal, he was sold to a family of Ojibwas. They immediately treated him like an equal, something Tanner never faced before. Throughout his life, John Tanner has been faced with many personal experiences that influenced the way he presents the Ojibwa to the readers of his book, The Falcon. Specifically, the two years of his life that he spent with the Shawneese and the way he treated because of his true cultural identity, white, may have skewed his perception of the Indian population as a whole.When Tanner was a child, at this point still with his original family, he frequently moved around a lot. Never having much responsibility, except watching his little brother, he lived like a child should. However, when the Shawneese Indians took him he was faced with a different type of life all together. When Tanner first arrived in the Shawneese village he wa
Another important issue to look at is Tanner's cultural identity. Throughout the time he spends with the Ojibwa he always appears to be on the outside of the culture, trying to catch up with those who were born into it. Throughout the time where he is engulfed within the Ojibwa society, the other people in the tribe always look at him as different. At one point in the book, Tanner tells us that he has completely forgotten the culture and language of the white man, leading us to believe he is Ojibwa, but this is not the truth. One thing that caught my attention in the book is the section where Net-no-kwa tells Tanner that she has had a dream in which a spirit has told her where to find a bear. The boy proceeds to check out his mother's dream by searching for the exact place his mother describes. He comes to a spot that appears to be almost identical to the place described by his mother and, literally, stumbles on a bear in its hole. He proceeds to kill the bear in its sleep. To his surprise, Tanner later finds out that Net-no-kwa had already scouted the territory and trapped the bear so her son could receive his first bear kill. This is something that would have never been done for a young Ojibwa boy, but something that was done for Tanner. With his first bear kill, he would feel more comfortable with the tribe and the tribe would feel more comfortable with him. There is a clear di
Some common words found in the essay are:
Shawneese Indians, Ojibwa Shawneese, John Tanner, Falcon Specifically, Tanner Net-no-kwa, Ojibwa Tanner, john tanner, shawneese indians, tanner faced, feel comfortable, bear kill, cultural identity,
Approximate Word count = 943
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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