I learned in this essay that space and interpretation can play a big role in how you view a cultural identity. The Foxwood people, or the Pequot, were a historical troubled people. It mentioned how their tragic past was associated with words like "genocide." They were warriors who were always driven from their lands and taken away so many things. Now they are granted a Casino that has so many "spaces" like a huge mall and lights and sounds that seem to be an attempt to compensate for their tragic past. Even a word like "Grant" is used by the white culture to show that they "gave" these lands and casino to the the Pequot people. The Pequot talk about it as a "settlement", not a grant. This goes back to space and interpretation. The white culture has created an interpretation of these people's culture as an exotic tourist attraction and money-maker. Nothing close to what actually occured and how history took its toll. The phrase of "Gaming in its Natural State" uses the Native American stereotype to lure in customers and create a welcoming atmosphere that you are in a genuine place. These things were also represented in misrepresented warrior statues, artifacts, clothes, and objects made in China or elsewhere. The great mall for this casino seems to me to be the biggest "space" used in the whole essay. THe mall creates a cultural space that the white culture created and made their own identity for the Pequot people. They created, or rather re-created, these things to make the Pequot's cultural identity more user friendly for profit and alluring people to the casino. They exoticized their culture and artifacts for the benefit of the casino and business, which was said to revitalize the Pequot culture, when all it is doing is really re"interpreting" it with the space provided by the casino, like the mall. I do not see how the creators of the casino can believe that by providing the biggest casino in the world can compensate the Pequot people for such cruelty and punishment throughout thier history and much believed "genocide." Their cultural identity has been dominated for centuries, and it only leads to believe that unfortunately they are still dominating it with their vast amount of "space" and re-created "interpreation" of the Pequot people for the white culture and casino benefit.
Question 1: How much does the space and re-creating of the warriors, artifacts, etc. affect the cultural identity of the Pequot people and if they really want to preserve their original identity anymore at all?
Question 2: Is there any possibility that the Pequot tribe, seemingly to be cultural dominated throughout history, can take back their cultural identity and stop the recreating of their culture by space and recreated interpretation?
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