Vizenor's Trickster

I have one issue with Vizenor, and I think most of the class agrees--the Trickster in the Tales is not necessarily/hardly ever not cruel or unkind.  Most of the Tricksters are cruel, in our moral sense.  Coyote tricks his wife and sleeps with his daughters (an unforgivable act), Iktomi kills his best friend (Stone Boy), Old Man Napi takes advantage of a limping Coyote, thinking he can trick him.

Cherokee Forgiveness as the Sublime

I was registered for another Arts 310 accredited course this semester and I talked about why I thought that Cherokee Forgiveness, or any step in a forgiving direction from the American Indians, could be considered the "Sublime".

First, the Sublime as I discussed it is a philosophy or a way of interpreting art.  It means is “to elevate or exalt especially in dignity or honor” or “to convert into something of higher worth”.  I argued that in the face of the atrocities experienced by the American Indians that it truly shows how they have taken something awful and turned it into their exalted honor and dignity and ultimately makes this forgiveness of true higher worth.  

above is a picture of the Carlisle Boarding School

above is a sculpture piece titled "End of the Trail".

Cherokee Visit

My experience in Cherokee was fantastic and I want to go back soon. 

We drove through the Soco mountain passage, which was incredibly beautiful.  The roads were winding, the trees were green, the open spaces were incredible.  The sun shone on different parts of the mountains through the clouds and made it look like a quilt, or an animated scene from a Disney movie.  My car protested, being a 200k mile old Volvo station wagon with a standard transmission (stick-shift), but after a lot of coaxing it seemed to cooperate. 

Driving through Maggie Valley was an experience.  I knew that Maggie Valley holds an annual biker rally and I wasn’t expecting it to be so over-the-top gorgeous.  It is absolutely beautiful.  It was green and kind of exuded life.  It was difficult to focus on driving with so many beautiful, natural sights surrounding my car on the highway. 

I saw a lot of funny road signs on the way.  For instance: Santa’s Land.  A theme park; with a Rudolph Roller Coaster of some sort.  Fun Fact: it is also a zoo.  

The first place we visited was the Cherokee Heritage Museum, which was very informative.  I hadn't been to a museum in a while so it was nice to have that experience of looking and learning and visualizing all at once.  I really enjoyed it.  

The gift shop was a treacherous place where money just lifted itself out of your pockets.  I fortunately managed to escape with only purchasing 2 pairs of socks (much needed), a Cherokee Museum mug (Mugs are addictive), and a dream catcher key chain to replace the beaded lizard my sister made for me 4 years ago.  All in all, it was successful and I felt like I walked away with cool stuff that would always remind me of my visit and a wealth of new knowledge.

After that we drove to the Kituhwah Mound.  That was beautiful.  The grass was long and green and off in the distance some flowers were growing that looked kind of like queen anne's lace.  We walked around the mound, to show respect.  It was awfully depleted, due to plundering over the years and general disrespect of those who don't care about these kinds of things.  I felt like a little kid running through the grass after the group.  It felt good to be out there in the field with the feel of the sun and the breeze and the grass.  I felt closer to the surrounding area.

Finally, we visited the Casino.  The presenter, a tallish lady with light red hair, gave a good description on what the Casino does and, get this, they like to hire fresh out of college students--hint hint all of those that need a job soon!  But seriously, it seemed like a pretty cool set up that benefits the tribe and contributes back to the community quite a bit if they can.  I, however, was with one of the groups that was separated. We ended up, after weaseling our way up the VIP elevator entrance to the top floor, getting some Indian Tacos.  They were delicious.  If you did not try this, you missed out.  Trust me.  

Overall it was a good experience.  I enjoyed it, learned, and ate a lot.  

Cherokee This Week

This week our class is going to visit the Cherokee reservation in Western North Carolina.  I'm excited to see what a successful reservation is actually like.  We have talked so much about the innate poverty that comes with living on a "rez".

Part of me is expecting the Hollywood Indian but I am hoping for something more realistic, something true, something to write a lot about.  I want to see that these are people and not a commodity.  That's what I'm hoping for on this trip.  

A Letter to Edna Chekelelee

Dear Edna Chekelelee,

My class has just recently been reading Living Stories of the Cherokee and I really enjoyed your stories particularly. 

They were not too long; they were not short in meaning or worth, either.  They were perfect and told perfect stories.  I laughed at a few of them and some of them left me very somber.  Your stories had all the characteristics of a well written novel or a classic movie—light in some parts but not to be outdone by the sadness that is real in this world.

I can only imagine what you and your people have experienced in the past as well as the present, and I can only hope that in the future that things improve.  I love how in “Storytelling” you say that you grew up listening at the foot of old people and they would tell you to shoo and you would sneak back to listen.  I do not know if you were an eldest child, like I was, or a shy child, like I was, but I also used to want to be around the adults and listen to stories and hear real conversations more than just going off and playing with my toys.

Your stories have a wistful aspect to them.  The first one in Living Stories of the Cherokee, “Cherokee Language” is sort of silly and sad and far away all at once.  What were you thinking while you wrote it?  It reminds me of the Indian Boarding Schools, the part where you had to wash your mouth out with soap.  Similarly, but not even close, my father used to have to wash his mouth out with soap when he spoke French in his Catholic elementary school in New Orleans.  They tried to stamp it out of him too. 

The first few stories really connect you and your people to nature and the earth.  It sets a good tone for how someone who is not Cherokee should view the mindset, I think.  Is this what you were trying to do?  To introduce how a Cherokee person feels about the planet and the living things that comprise it before going into other stories?

After these introductory stories things start to get more serious.  It almost feels like a stand up routine—you start off light and then you bring in the serious topics, like the Trail of Tears.  Many of your stories towards the end are about the Trail of Tears and what happened.  I was wondering if you had heard quite a few from sitting by the elders when you were younger?  The image of the 150 year old basket is really moving in “The Trail of Tears Basket”.  I think of that coupled with the previous story “Elders on the Mountain” and the drumming and how the soldiers had guns.  I can imagine this basket and the people and the franticness of everything.  When you start to think of these stories, can you think about nothing else?  I feel as though this subject is something that you cannot shake for a long time once you start to talk about it.  I was wondering if that was the case for you and for everyone—once you start hearing and thinking and saying stories about the Trail of Tears, is it impossible to stop for a time?  Does it engulf you? 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  I hope it finds you well and that you are continuing to share your stories with the world.  I’m glad that I could read your stories and laugh and ponder about the things that you shared. 

Sincerely,

Justine Tullos 

Perseverance

The story of Iya and Cloud expresses perseverance because Cloud did not give up and followed him and tracked him and tried so hard.  He was dogged and patient and tired and he overcame this giant obstacle and got his wife, Plum, back and lived a happy life with her.

Was Cloud's decision to hunt and kill Iya foolish or brave?  I believe you cannot have one without the other and that the difference comes in whether or not you can determine if you can or can't win.  If Cloud would have traipsed into the situation with guns blazing, arrogant and childish, then it would have certainly been foolish.  But Cloud used his better judgement to seriously assess the situation and he came out on top, confronted a giant, and won--I consider him brave.  He was brave for going after his wife, even though I'm sure he could have found another one.

One thing I'm interested in is what was Iya?  In the Plum and Cloud story he seems to be characterized as a tornado.  With twigs in his hair and a big black mass that appears during a horrendous thunderstorm complete with hail and destruction, ripping women from their lodges and laying waste several homes in the process.

This is how I imagine Iya in this first story in the Perseverance Chapter.

Iya is mentioned in "The Meaning of Eight Miles" as a darkness to "overwhelm me and make me feel insignificant and not equal to the task (p. 35)".  This characterization reminds me of the darkness that is inside our souls, telling us we are not worth it, not good enough, not smart enough, not clever enough.  That little voice that tells you that you are just inadequate.  Iya is fear, hatred, destruction, sadness, self-loathing in this portion of the Perseverance Chapter.  The point of Iya is to overcome him.  It is to move past all of these negative things and come out on top and better than before, having cast aside all of these thoughts that were holding you back.

The Perseverance Chapter in The Lakota Way is about overcoming this darkness both as a story and in your life now and today.

The Lakota Way and Story Telling

While readin the Lakota way I seem to have been pulled into it quite quickly.  This book has pulled me in quicker than a bunch of the others we have read this semester.  I believe the reason why is because it is written just like someone telling a story.  The voice I have created in my head for the narrator is an elder, with a soft voice, and I am sitting in front of a fire or at a dinner table.  The way this book is written suggests contentment, at least to me.  Starting with the very first story, it reminds me of a style of story telling that may not necessarily be as exciting as, let's say, the Trickster Tales--but it is real.  It is about real people which makes it very interesting.

This particular kind of story telling pulls me in more than others because it focuses on real people and real events while not being too grandiose or too above my head.  There are explanations, the stories are not too abstract, and the history is not too dense.  It is very much so a beginner's listening guide to the Lakota, in my opinion.

One of the most intriguing stories is the second one about Crazy Horse, playing off of the humility of the first story.  The narrator makes him very human, very real.  He is no longer legendary or just in a history book, he becomes a person who is shy, who is humble, who is a leader not because he is asked to be one but because people trust him.  I really love that the narrator clarifies that Crazy Horse rarely ever decked his outfits out with extravagant decorations, or any decoration at all.  On page 11 there is a short paragraph higher up on the page that goes "For all his life Crazy Horse was painfully shy and probably spoke in public only twice.  Though he was entitled to wear the symbols of his many achievements on the battlefield--eagle feathers--he was known to dress plainly.  If he wore any decoration, at all it was usually a single feather."  The picture to the left is of Crazy Horse, reputedly.

Humility is made to be a main component of the Lakota's way of life.  It is important for every Lakota to practice.  It is described to us in the first story, the story of No Moccasins and Three Horns.  The story that Three Horns tells on his deathbed is that No Moccasins, once called Carries the Fire, saved him from an enemy tribe and that is the only reason he was able to grow and become a fine warrior with many achievements--because his wife allowed it to be so.  Three Horns then told all the elders that he wished for his wife to have all of his awards for years of being a warrior, he did not wish to be buried in any of those things he had achieved.  Beginning the book this way is touching and pulled me in.  I'm not sure if it was because I thought the first story sweet, that a husband would admit to everyone that he was not responsible for his own awards, or if I was intrigued.  I think I little bit of both.  I was intrigued that this was how the author chose to begin the book, but I am not disappointed.  It is obvious now that humility is an important aspect of the Lakota culture and that to understand the "Lakota Way" we must begin here.

Home

In Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit one section that particularly stuck out to me was "The Land and the People are Inseparable".  This section is about how, after moving to Tuscon from New Mexico, the narrator connects with the local tribe, the Yaqui, because everything about them makes the narrator feel at home.

The first thing that the narrator talks about are her surroundings.  She talks about the rattlesnakes that seem friendly and hospitable, the rocks by her house that are comforting to her.  She talks about all of these natural things that most of us may overlook if we're not looking for it--the little components that make home feel like home.

Next she talks about the feeling of home, how the community all being together really just hits hard for her.  The image she uses is that everyone walked out of their houses at the same time while she was driving through Old Pasqua to support a recently deceased community member's family.  They all walked towards the white hearse to show their support and to grieve together.  It really is a beautiful image and really sums up what a "home" should be like and feel like.

All of this really hits home for me.  I have never been uprooted like the Native Americans have been and are to this day, but I moved from New Orleans when I was 8 years old and still call it my "home".  It is the place I feel most comfortable, the place I feel most proud of, the place where I literally love everything and everyone I meet--from my great aunt to the newest stranger.  I take pride in that place.  Whenever I visit, it is like I never left. The entire community remembers when I was born, what my mother wore for her 16th birthday, the first time my brother and I learned how to ride a bike.  That is what "home" should feel like.

While I've been thinking about "home" I of course come back to the many ways that we've ripped this idea away from the American Indians.  We have put them on reservations, have bought and sold and destroyed their ancestral lands.  We have disrespected their way of life.  It is amazing that they can still form a sense of community amongst themselves at this point. To me, their belief in themselves and their way of life is inspiring and admirable.  In the face of losing what they were they have found a way to become something different and still very good.

Belo Monte

In our class we talk about the displacement and genocide of the American Indians in the U.S.  I just found an article that confirms that mistreatment of the native people of the world is still occurring: link.

That link will take you to an article regarding the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant that the President of Brazil has just okayed which will displace thousands of the Kayapo Indian Tribe that lives on the Xingu river.  Not only will the construction of this project uproot these people, but it will destroy 500 sq km of land due to flooding.  With all of that aside, it will also affect the rainforest's ecosystem.  Overall, probably the worst idea I've encountered today--and I had a dream that involved Ahi Tuna steaks with icing and blue sprinkles.

This coincides with the age old reason behind uprooting any civilization--lust.  Lust for land, for more resources, for control.  A need to wholly control an area and not caring one bit who it affects.

Indian Education

One of the most eye opening stories in Sherman Alexei's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is Indian Education, starting on page 171.  One of the questions my group was asked to discuss was why Junior described the students on the Reservation the way he does, "...a few can't read, one or two are just given attendance diplomas, most look forward to the parties.  The bright students are shaken, frightened, because they don't know what comes next."

Our group discussed a few points but primarily came back to the same thought that Reservations are inherently poor.  Students on the Reservation do not have the same opportunities as those who go to school elsewhere.  Their best shot is probably learning a trade and getting a job on the Res. themselves or getting a part time job at a store.  The kids who are bright and are graduating from the Reservation are probably terrified because the outlook is grim at best.

I found an article about the Indian boarding schools funded by the government on NPR--how these places are salvation for students.  Here's a link.  The girl they interview says that she had to get out of her Apache Reservation because most people commit suicide or are alcoholics.

One thing Junior discusses in the Indian Education story is how he was outcasted by his peers because he went off the Res. to get an education.  I think that while being ostracized is awful, it is better to have more of a chance at succeeding in your life instead of accepting a bleak fate.  

Guilt

Today in class we talked about guilt.

We talked about how we should feel in the face of atrocity.  We talked about how we should feel about the past and the present.

I'm not very good with expressing myself in a classroom discussion setting, but this is my view:

For the past, I can't take any responsibility.  For things that happen that are completely outside of your control, I don't think I can take responsibility.  But what I will take responsibility for is educating myself and educating others.  I've blogged previously about the role of documentaries in my understanding of controversial topics, of historical topics, of everything.  Whenever I watch something, or read something, or learn something new that moves me and makes me want to do something--I share it.  I share it on Facebook, on Tumblr, on Reddit, on Twitter, on whatever I can.  I share it by word of mouth.  I share it in perhaps other discussions where it is relevant.

As a human being, I want to help others understand what has happened in our history.  I want them to understand what happened in this country not just the the blacks or to the Japanese, but also to the American Indians, to the Irish, to the Italians.  I want people to know that due to human expansion across the entire planet, there are species of animals that are being completely wiped out.  That due to human greed, there are so many wrong things happening on this planet.  And to share this information, I feel responsible.

I feel responsible because ignorance is plaguing humanity and allowing for bad decisions to be made, for detrimental things to happen to our environment, to our governments, to our people.  This class just has furthered my frustration that I am so ignorant, that I didn't know what was going on with the indigenous people of this country.  That the Reservations are some of the poorest communities in this country, that American Indians are not given the same opportunities as white people--all of it was at least semi-new information to me.  And with every new discussion I seek out new information.  Right now I have about five tabs on my browser open all about the history of American Indians.  Right now, specifically, I'm reading about the American Indian Movement beginning in 1968.  How in the 1960's John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson both made efforts to help the state of American Indian affairs.  Johnson passed Executive Order 11399 which established the National Council on Indian Opportunity (NCIO) which attempted to focus on the plight of American Indians, trying to connect the issue with the trusts of the tribes and nations to civil rights as Johnson was unfamiliar with actual Indian issues.  It initially began as a civil rights and antiwar movement taken directly to the American public by means of the press.  They developed a 20 point list of their goals, twelve of which specified that treaty obligations were not being met by the American government.   All of this can be found on the wikipedia article and others online link.

Here's a photo of the AIM flag

and here's a video of their anthem:

Hurricane

Lone Ranger and Tonto begins with Victor being woken up by a "hurricane".

The first couple of pages the only hurricane I see are the family dynamics.  His uncles are having an incredibly loud fistfight outside.  One of my favorite quotes from this section at the bottom of page 2 is "He could see his uncles slugging each other with such force that they had to be in love."  This quote makes me think of how much abuse Victor's family has seen.  Is it a common excuse when people get into a fight?  They just fight because they love each other so much?  Or is it that only people who love each other can fight like that?  That they are so passionate about each other that they just unleash their emotions like a tropical storm?  Just some thoughts while first starting the book.

While reading this book, I feel like this entire thing is a hurricane.  Just a swirling storm of emotion and life and loss.  I just go back to the movie "Smoke Signals" where there is just so much.  So much of the past to come to terms with, so much of the future to look forward to.

2 minutes of listening

Today in class we started off with a listening exercise with a partner (or two) and reported back.  I talked with Alex Sierra and we ended up both having similar feelings--why were we not taught this in school?  Why was this part of our history swept under the rug and not explained to us as youths?  Why is the oppression of the American Indians continuing even until this day?

This class utilizes one of the few things that gets me angry and involved--documentaries.  Documentaries move me more than any other display of new information or controversy or history.  There is something so much more real about personal accounts/experiences than reading some facts in a book or some story that I have to analyze later.  I learn more from these intimate encounters, watching someone's expressions while they tell their story.  The most recent documentary we watched was this Link.  This video talks about the Native American Holocaust, and it blew my mind.  Learning about this sent my mind into a frenzy--why had I not heard of this before?  Why did it seem as though Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears were the only horrific things that happened to the Native Americans?  I thought back to my World History textbook in 9th grade and grasped for a memory of any of this and only could recall a page and a half regarding Chief Crazy Horse and Wounded Knee.  I still do not know much about the battle at Wounded Knee other than what I've seen in movies.  The Trail of Tears?  Described to me in school as just a big migration from ancestral lands to reservations.  I can't remember if anyone ever taught me about the hardships American Indians experienced on this "migration".

When I was a child, there were a few books I had called "If You Lived With The Sioux" and "If You Lived With The Cherokee".  The first was written by Ann Mcgovern and the second by Peter Roop.  The books gave me a basic overview of how these specific Indian nations lived and operated.  I've posted a picture of the front cover up above this section.  Anyone can buy these Scholastic books on Amazon for $6.99.  There is a three page Table of Contents section, telling the young reader that they are about to know about the Sioux's clothing, their lifestyle habits, their war habits, and finally what happened when "the white people came" and "a note from the author about the Sioux Indians today."  I don't have these books anymore, but I wonder if the author was honest.  I wonder if they are telling the truth in these books and not deceiving the youth of today and yesterday.

I found a blog on wordpress, here's a Link.  The particular article was written in 2008 and asks the question of where the Lakota Sioux are today.  The Sioux, as of 2008, are some of the poorest people in the United States, only 14% speak their original language, there is almost no work for adults, and the average Sioux man is twice as likely to end up in prison comparatively to a white man.  I can't remember what Ann Mcgovern's educational book on the Sioux said when I was a child, but I'm sure it did not tell half the truth about the actual conditions this particular nation of American Indians has been forced to live in.

Introducing Iktomi

I've only made it a few stories into the Iktomi section--the smart-ass spider man.  I'm not really sure what to think of him.  I feel like he solves a lot of his problems by killing dissenters, like Flint Boy and the Buffalo Chief whose wife he stole.  I'm not sure I like his way of handling things better than Coyote's.  Coyote didn't seem to be particularly violent--just tricky and deceiving.  Iktomi seems to be deceiving and with no scruples when it comes to killing people.  For instance, Flint Boy was a longtime friend of his, and he drowned him in the river.

Does anyone else feel a little weird about Iktomi?

Glen Cove

I typed in one of the tribe names into the Tumblr search engine, and this came up.  I thought this was interesting:

"Activists continue to defend the ancient indigenous burial ground at Glen Cove, south of Vallejo, California, against plans by the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (a local parks and recreation administration) to build a parking lot, restrooms, paved trail etc on the burial site. June 11th, 2011, marked the 59th day of protest at the site with over 250 people participating. Food for the protesters was brought in by a local Indian restaurant and by theSanta Barbara chapter of the American Indian Movement and the South Central Farmers. Indigenous groups with historical ties to the site include the Ohlone, Patwin (Wintun), Bay Miwok, Coast Miwok, Wappo, and Tule River Yokuts."

(Photo via Protect Glen Cove)

Reading While Sick

This week I was sick with the stomach flu--I will spare you the details.

Instead of wallowing around in pained self-pity, I sat down and read quite a few of these Trickster Tales.  Coyote and his antics kept me company while I felt incredibly under the weather.


I re-read several of the earliest Trickster Tales.  The one that I continued to like the best/find the most interesting was the Origin of the Sun and the Moon.  THe story seems to proceed with the same feel that the other tales do, with Coyote playing a trick and either getting away with it or suffering the consequences for it.  However, at the very end of the tale it takes a turn.  Two frogs wish to take two human men as their husbands.  They blind one man in one eye and the other has the frog stuck to his face.  Out of shame, both men decide they would prefer to be the sun and the moon.  The blinded man became the sun because "The sun, as we know, has only one eye (Erodes 11)."  To the right is a picture I found of the "Eye of the Sun" located in Monument Valley.  Here is a Link.  In relation to the frog sisters who wanted the two men for their husbands, here is a photo, and a link to that photo.

Since we had been talking a lot of about the etiological properties of myths for the past few classes, I thought that this particular story was appropriate.  The American Indians clarified that the eye of the sun is there because the man who is the sun is blind in his other eye, and the moon has dark spots because it is the frog sister on the other man.

We have always heard the phrase the "man in the moon" but I don't think I knew that there was a theoretical man in the sun until reading this story.  Also, the frogs seemed out of place in the story to me.  The transition was very poor and made it seem as though that bit of the story was just tacked on, perhaps as a later addition into the oral tradition.  When I read these stories I always wonder which parts were truly originally there and which ones were added as time passed by, as new people told the story, as new questions were asked of the storytellers.

Day Two

We finished all but 15 minutes of the documentary--class had let out and it's available to stream on Netflix. There were very compelling parts of the end.  The one that spoke most to me was about Chief Crazy Horse, Chief Thasunke Witko.  His name means that his horse is spirited, not crazy.  The Chief was an expert horseman whose horses all had spirit.  The narrator mentioned several times that most Native Americans do not even know how to ride a horse--something that cinema has made the Indians famous for.  There was a bit about a stuntman who specialized in horseback riding because he was sick and tired of seeing men dressed up like American Indians riding the horses in the movies.  He trains other young members of his tribe to ride so that in the future they can take his place.

We also read aloud as a class the Navajo Night Chant which takes the reader on a journey through the surroundings of the Navajo and helps him recognize the beauty there is to be had and shared in the world.  The sort of chorus begins with "With beauty before me, may I walk" and that sentiment echoes throughout the piece while the words flow with their natural rhythm.

First Day of Class

This Blog was created specifically to track my ideas through my American Indian Literature class at UNC-Asheville this Spring Semester of 2012.

The first day of class we watched part of a documentary about the American Indian portrayed in Hollywood Cinema.  I feel like the most effective part of the documentary, the portion that I saw, was how the interviewees were Native American themselves.  It was refreshing to hear their point of view on the subject of films starring Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson.  I specifically remember the reaction to how the plains indians were portrayed--with headdresses and headbands, war paint.  Plains indians didn't even wear headbands.  The interviewee at the time said something along the lines of "It's like Hollywood took the identity of several tribes and just made them into one thing: Indian."