Dan: http://keepitonthedl.wordpress.com/
Dan posted a great comment on a Spike TV program that pitted a gladiator against an Apache warrior. I think it shows just how absurd Western culture sometimes is that this was both aired and avidly watched. In the end, it represents to me some of the deepest and most abiding difficulties that Westerners have when interacting with other cultures.
Haley: http://nativelit.motime.com/
Haley had some great things to say about The Truth About Stories. I found I agreed with much of what she said, especially her comments about how King ends his chapters. We need to think about how stories affect our lives. After all, everything we have ever known is a story that tells us how our world works. If we're believing stories that lead to injustice, hate, and pain, why do we continue to listen to them?
http://english266ailac.blogspot.com/
Jennifer talked about one of Joy Harjo's poems, and what she said about a purpose for everything really struck me. I think this is at the heart of many American Indian traditions, which value life and seek to protect and preserve it as much as possible. We all have a purpose, although what it is may often seem unclear. More often that not, we need to sit back a moment and just listen to the world speak to us to hear what that purpose is.
4/13/09
We Shall Remain
I watched the first episode of We Shall Remain tonight. It was an account of the early contact between Wampanoag Indians and the colonists at Plymouth. The documentary covered from the first contact in 1620 up until the 1680's after the close of King Philip's War.
Rather than a normal documentary, We Shall Remain is set up more like a movie interspersed with director commentary. Key events in the history are reenacted, and the intervening time is covered by a variety of scholarly and American Indian sources. The American Indians dressed as traditional Wampanoag and also spoke the Wampanoag language with English subtitles. Overall, the documentary was extraordinarily well done and gave a fascinating account of the evolving nature of European/American Indian relationships in the Early Colonial Period.
The most powerful moment was the explanation of how the English treated the Wampanoag chief Metacom (King Philip) after he had lost his war against them. The English executed Metacom and then left his head on a spike in Plymouth for 20 years as a warning to other American Indian tribes. It's difficult to comprehend how the English could accuse American Indians of barbarism when they seem to have cornered the market on it.
Rather than a normal documentary, We Shall Remain is set up more like a movie interspersed with director commentary. Key events in the history are reenacted, and the intervening time is covered by a variety of scholarly and American Indian sources. The American Indians dressed as traditional Wampanoag and also spoke the Wampanoag language with English subtitles. Overall, the documentary was extraordinarily well done and gave a fascinating account of the evolving nature of European/American Indian relationships in the Early Colonial Period.
The most powerful moment was the explanation of how the English treated the Wampanoag chief Metacom (King Philip) after he had lost his war against them. The English executed Metacom and then left his head on a spike in Plymouth for 20 years as a warning to other American Indian tribes. It's difficult to comprehend how the English could accuse American Indians of barbarism when they seem to have cornered the market on it.
Going Home
I found Qwo-Li's poem really interesting because it seems to so succinctly describe his feelings and frustrations about the removal. It is an event that has not ever been treated as the monstrosity that it was. We seem too ready to just let the problems of the past fade away, rather than accepting that they happened and dealing with their aftermath.
In class, some have questioned Qwo-Li's anger, but I think it is more healthy to speak as you feel, rather than leave your rage bottled up. Besides that, he is rightly angry. The Trail of Tears and the other injustices perpetrated by European Americans are simply wrong. There is no way to justify the forced removal of thousands of people (Which our country did). Any more than there is a way to justify the enslavement of millions of fellow human beings (Which our country also did). We need to look at our country's history and try and understand the wrongs done, rather than just ignore or try to rationalize them.
In class, some have questioned Qwo-Li's anger, but I think it is more healthy to speak as you feel, rather than leave your rage bottled up. Besides that, he is rightly angry. The Trail of Tears and the other injustices perpetrated by European Americans are simply wrong. There is no way to justify the forced removal of thousands of people (Which our country did). Any more than there is a way to justify the enslavement of millions of fellow human beings (Which our country also did). We need to look at our country's history and try and understand the wrongs done, rather than just ignore or try to rationalize them.
4/8/09
Violating Gender Norms
If anyone was interested by the comments I made in class about homophobia and transgressing gender norms, the article I referred to was called "Because That's What We Do To Faggots" by Riki Wilchins. I read it in an anthology on writing, but I'm sure it's on the web somewhere.
It brings up some interesting points about what people really fear about gay men and women. After all, if we don't think they're going to make us gay, what is so dangerous or scary about them? What can't they live their lives in peace?
It brings up some interesting points about what people really fear about gay men and women. After all, if we don't think they're going to make us gay, what is so dangerous or scary about them? What can't they live their lives in peace?
4/4/09
Smoke Signals
In my ENG 375 course, we watched Smoke Signals, a movie that Sherman Alexie wrote. The movie has a lot of the same features as Absolutely True Diary: a focus on humor, problems with alcoholism, and trying to establish an identity as a person. The performances are very good all around, and the movie is touching.
I also noticed some aspects of the storytelling that we've been discussing in relationship with American Indians. Many different narratives from different times are interwoven seamlessly into the movie. Past and present shift as the story determines they need to. Also, there is a lot of flexibility about the "truth" of stories. One of the characters is constantly telling stories, many of them false, but they always help get a point across that needs to be made. Sometimes, truth, in the universal sense, trumps truth, in the factual sense. There is also a strong theme of metaphor used to help people make sense of their worlds. All in all, it's interesting to see American Indian storytelling on the big screen and compare it to what we get from Western filmmakers.
I also noticed some aspects of the storytelling that we've been discussing in relationship with American Indians. Many different narratives from different times are interwoven seamlessly into the movie. Past and present shift as the story determines they need to. Also, there is a lot of flexibility about the "truth" of stories. One of the characters is constantly telling stories, many of them false, but they always help get a point across that needs to be made. Sometimes, truth, in the universal sense, trumps truth, in the factual sense. There is also a strong theme of metaphor used to help people make sense of their worlds. All in all, it's interesting to see American Indian storytelling on the big screen and compare it to what we get from Western filmmakers.
4/1/09
For Those Who Are Interested...
In my adolescent lit. class, Dr. Coats mentioned a web site called Oyate that give an American Indian perspective on portrayals of American Indians in children's and young adult books. The site has a lot of good stuff on it, especially the Watch list. The Watch list is a list of books that have inaccurate or unfair portrayals of American Indians in them. Books on the list range from Indian in the Cupboard to The Sign of the Beaver. Accompanying each book on the list is an explanation of the problems with the portrayal of American Indians. As a teacher, I think its really helpful to have a list of books that hinder my students' understanding of American Indians today. I'm glad that this site is out there.
3/31/09
Real Control
In the first place, I'd like to say that I've always found the idea of coercive population control antithetical to the concept that people are born with natural rights. That being said, it was nice to have someone outside of my tradition come in and argue about other issues that population control brings up (And the biases it reveals, especially the quote from Paul Ehrlich at the end of the article).
On a larger note, I felt that this piece was a perfect complement to those of Allen and LaDuke. Allen positions indigenous feminism as an historical tradition, one that drove many American Indian cultures. She reaches all the way into the present day, but does not spend so much time in defining what battles are being fought. Both LaDuke and Smith pick up the task and carry it forward. I see Smith's Rape of the Land as a laying out of the war, while LaDuke constructs one particular battlefield where the conflict is being waged. The complex nature of these conflicts reflects the complex world that we now live in. No longer is it just a fight between American Indians and the government, but also against Multinational Corporations and a kind of extreme yuppie environmentalism. In their own way, they are even more destructive than the government, especially the environmentalists. As Smith pointed out, the environmentalists seem to have no place in nature for American Indians to inhabit. Nature should be pristine(Read: NO PEOPLE). In the end, the goals are the same, though the methods may have become more sophisticated.
I think it is a testament to the power and ability of American Indian women that they are such effective spokespeople for their way of life. Hopefully, their efforts can create a new age of American Indian prosperity and peace.
On a larger note, I felt that this piece was a perfect complement to those of Allen and LaDuke. Allen positions indigenous feminism as an historical tradition, one that drove many American Indian cultures. She reaches all the way into the present day, but does not spend so much time in defining what battles are being fought. Both LaDuke and Smith pick up the task and carry it forward. I see Smith's Rape of the Land as a laying out of the war, while LaDuke constructs one particular battlefield where the conflict is being waged. The complex nature of these conflicts reflects the complex world that we now live in. No longer is it just a fight between American Indians and the government, but also against Multinational Corporations and a kind of extreme yuppie environmentalism. In their own way, they are even more destructive than the government, especially the environmentalists. As Smith pointed out, the environmentalists seem to have no place in nature for American Indians to inhabit. Nature should be pristine(Read: NO PEOPLE). In the end, the goals are the same, though the methods may have become more sophisticated.
I think it is a testament to the power and ability of American Indian women that they are such effective spokespeople for their way of life. Hopefully, their efforts can create a new age of American Indian prosperity and peace.
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