Last Readings and Final Reflections

The last two readings of this class, N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, have reiterated the importance of storytelling by demonstrating the power texts can contain. In the case of Silko's Ceremony, the text is truly powerful as a healing text that enables readers to join the protagonist Tayo on his journey to healing. Hence, these two texts further depict the importance of keeping storytelling traditions alive in Native American texts. And ultimately show us that Native American texts are valuable despite what some scholars or critics may argue.

On a separate note, I have really enjoyed all the readings and assignments in this class. Unlike the UWP course I took freshman year, I was able to become engaged in the readings and often found myself relating to much of the the material. Furthermore, our instructor Christine made the task of writing so much more enjoyable than I had ever thought it possible. She's truly one of the best instructors I've had all year. Therefore, I will always remember this as one of my favorite writing classes. 

Well, that's all for now. Good luck to everyone on the last paper and the final!

Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony

When I first began reading Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremeony, the first thing that attracted my attention was the use of non-linear time in the novel. The story constantly jumps between the past and the present and thereby intertwines the various embedded stories into the main framework of the novel. Although at first this is a difficult style to adjust to, it soon becomes easy to navigate between the stories and make connections between Tayo's past and his present.

Another thing that attracted my attention within the first few pages of the novel was the imagery of the white smoke. When Tayo was in this state, "...visions and memories of the past did not penetrate there....there was no pain" (15). Furthermore, the Western 'medicine' provided for him in the Veteran's Hospital only served to further drain his memory and allowed him to remain 'invisible'. I found this to be a noteworthy moment because it redirects the reader's attention to issues regarding the use of Western medicine over traditional Indigenous healing practices. Of course, as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Western medicine could not provide the healing that Tayo truly needed.    

"Report: Police Shoot Baby Deer in Oakland for No Reason"

I must admit, I was very surprised to hear the story of the murdered fawn in Patricia Killelea's "Report: Police Shoot Baby Deer in Oakland for No Reason". Moreover, after watching the footage on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHZTNRdWR-0&feature=related), my surprise quickly turned to outrage. The idea that a fawn could ever pose a “public safety threat” is something beyond my comprehension. As Killelea shows in her poem, this fawn was the very image of innocence. It was obviously lost and needed assistance to return home. However, the police officers did not help the lost fawn and instead used it as target practice. The manner in which power was misused and abused by the officers reflects the lack of interconnectedness with all living beings in Western culture. Furthermore, this lack of interconnectedness is what allows for situations like these to continue to occur. Hence, in order to prevent these atrocities from reoccurring, we must move away from dominant ideologies and acknowledge other belief systems so that balance may be restored.

#2: The Popol Vuh & El Q'anil:Man of Lightning

I really enjoyed reading Adrian Recino’s version of the Popol Vuh and Victor Montejo’s El Q'anil this past week. I found the manner in which each of the stories presented the creation ‘myth’ of the Mayan peoples (Quiche Maya and Jakaltek Maya) to be very interesting. Indigenous values and worldviews are deeply embedded into both the Popol Vuh and El Q’anil. However, in El Q’anil , Montejo establishes direct ties between his people (Jakaltek Maya) and Xalja’ (their land base). These kinds of connections are not established within Adrian Recino’s version of the Popol Vuh. What might be a plausible explanation for this? Perhaps Recinos lacked the motivation to make these connections since he is an allied writer and not an indigenous one. On the other hand, since Montejo is a Jakaltek Maya; he has the knowledge and motivation to establish these ties.

Decolonizing Our Minds #1

I chose the title “Decolonizing our Minds” because I believe it to be very important to this course. As students, we need to be aware of the need to decolonize our minds, especially when examining Native American Literature which may not adhere to the general conventions of literature. Hence, we should also be aware that while literature is most often examined from a Euro-centric point of view, it should be examined within its own context. 

For this reason, I especially enjoyed reading Linda Smith’s 25 Indigenous Projects which describes Storytelling (#4), Writing (#11), and Representing (#12) as ways in which cultural survival, self-determination, healing, restoration and social justice are pursued by Indigenous peoples. I found the listing of storytelling (which intersects with both Writing and Representing) as an Indigenous project to be very interesting.  Storytelling is very important since it allows cultural beliefs and values to be passed down from one generation to the next. Furthermore, as Smith states, “The story and the story teller both serve to connect the past with the future, one generation with the other, the land with the people, and the people with the story” (p.145). Thus, I believe storytelling and oral tradition to be a vital part of Native American Literature because it allows for a more accurate depiction and representation of Indigenous people from their own perspective.