Photos Show Today’s Native Americans
时间：2019-01-12 作者：英语课 分类：2015年VOA慢速英语(十)月
Photos Show Today’s Native Americans
Matika Wilbur has a goal that will take her across the United States. She plans to photograph every federally recognized Native American tribe in the country.
She hopes that her photographs will help end the many stereotypes 2 Americans and others worldwide have of native people.
“When you see us represented in mass media, you see Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves and Twilight,” Ms. Wilbur said. “What you won’t see is doctors and lawyers and contemporary people living in the present.”
Her mission is called “Project 562.” That number represents the number of federally recognized tribes in the U.S. when the project began. Now, there are 566.
Ms. Wilbur herself is a Native American woman of the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes.
She has already been on the road for more than three years. Her journey, she said, has helped raise the spirits of young Native Americans. She said they are used to seeing stories linking Native people with poverty, alcoholism, lower life expectancy 3, and other social problems.
Ms. Wilbur is a high school teacher as well as a photographer. She hopes to see her images in educational materials in the future. She also hopes her photos will help reshape how young people, like her former high school students, feel about themselves.
“There’s something in this collective consciousness that still believes that Indians are lesser 4 human beings, savage 5, that we’re conquered,” Ms. Wilbur said. She said false and outdated 6 ideas of Native Americans make them feel bad about themselves.
Native American youth have the highest suicide levels in the country. Ms. Wilbur said she hopes her photographs of a diverse people will not only inform, but also uplift.
“Hopefully we can create something beautiful and positive, something that shows stories of hope and endurance,” she said.
Words in this Story
stereotype 1 - n. an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic
journey - n. an act of traveling from one place to another
savage - adj. wild; like an animal
conquer - v. to take control of (a country, city, etc.) through the use of force
diverse - adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other
endurance - n. the ability to do something difficult for a long time
- He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
- There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。
- Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
- It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
- The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。
- Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
- She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。
- The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
- He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。