Unit 2: No thanks, No Giving (1ère Générale)

 Making Amends

Text A

This text is a speech by Kevin  Gover, a representative of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and who is himself Native American, member of the Pawnee nation of Oklahoma. It is an extract from “An Apology for the Treatment of Indians”, in 2000, in which Mr. Gover expresses his sorrow for the treatment that occurred to the Native Americans in the past. In fact, he recognized all the misdeeds done by the American government to the Native American tribes in the past. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created to defend the Native Americans’ rights in America and to denounce the consequences Native Americans had to undergo.

They took so long before apologizing/making amends to the Native Americans because they wanted to hide the truth, eventually they could not anymore because of the new generation of Native Americans who are now fighting for the truth to be heard. On top of that, as Thanksgiving has been an engraved tradition therefore they could not admit that it had a dark side.

Text B

This is an official document extracted from the Defense Appropriation Act of 2010. In this document President Obama wants to say sorry about what happened in the past to the Native Americans. In fact, he recognizes the violence, the mistreatment and the neglect committed against the Natives. Obama expresses regrets about what happened. He wants to build better relationships with the Natives to pacify them and reconcile the two groups.

It took a long time for the American government to apologize because they may have been ashamed of their unfair acts at the time. On top of that, we can say that Obama easily made amends to the Native Americans because he himself is part of a minority, which group, was also victims of discrimination. He understood clearly their situation then.

Vocabulary:

To make amends

To apologize

To ask for forgiveness

To make peace

To pacify the relationships

To cancel conflicts

To reconcile

To say sorry

Sorry

(We will continue the study of the thrif text on Tuesday. Be ready!)

Homework: Learn the lesson.