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.