Rhetorics of Survivance

Before I get into talking about Powell's discussion of Winnemuca, Picotte, Eastman, I just want to comment on how interesting it is reading Powell's work. I really like the way she intersperses small bits of narrative in between parts of her essays to help the reader stop and think a moment about what she has said. I also like the way she calls everyone "folks", instead of people, communities, or whatever else. Coming from the country myself, it has so much more of a relaxed and polite feel. Finally, I enjoy the way she points out that everything is just a story, regardless of the esteem in which we hold it. She's right, and I hope that we take that point with us and share it with others.
As to her discussion of these early American Indian authors, I find that they helped me to better understand the position that American Indians found themselves in in the last century. Using Powell's example, I tried using the same perspective to understand the pressures all minorities were under when looking at the writings of some early American female authors. I found similar patterns, with the authors unable to completely articulate their points, but still finding rhetorical contact zones through which they could successfully establish their own indenpendent identity through the dominant rhetoric. It was helpful having Powell's examples to follow, and I'm very thankful because she made one of my midterms a lot easier.