This week we reflected on pages 1-80 and also read pages 105-118 of Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. Themes throughout the book were revealed and many important quotes were pointed out. During the class discussions I noticed that ignorance and denial seemed to be a trend in Native American life. All of the Native Americans in the bar are a great example. They use alcohol and having sex with blond women to ignore the truth about their lives and how they will never be more than what they are right now, "Native Americans", meaning that they will just be discriminated against and live in a cycle of poverty and alcohol until their lives come to the end. They also blame the whites for change not only in their land but in their racial purity too. However, they don't realize how much they are changing inside of themselves too in their values, culture, and morals.
On pages 105-118, Tayo goes to the medicine man to prepare for a ceremony. he very observant medicine man learns about Tayo's struggles. The medicin man talks about how everyone is angry that the white men have took their land. "...Tayo, we have done as much fighting as we can with the destroyers and theives: as much as we could do and possibly survive" (Silko 118). This relates to how Tayo has fought this struggle with in him for so long that he is about to lose himself and that he needs to stop the internal battle if he wants to live on with his life.
(I know it's a Spider-man photo but I thought it fit the subject well)
This week we read pages 40-105 in the book Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. In these pages, it became obvious how relevant racism was in the life of Tayo and other Native Americans. The author also reveals how the characters hide their sorrow from the war and the truth behind all of their lives.
The reader doesn't get to realize the full extent of the racism in this novel until they reach these pages. Before the Native Americans began wearing a military uniform, people never cared about them. "White women never looked at me until I put on that uniform..." (Silko, 37). All that the white women really were attracted to was the status of the military uniform which reveals that the white women would otherwise avoid the Native Americans because they were "inferior". Emo is shown as a dominant Native American who thrives off killing enemies. "...Some men got sick when they smelled the blood. But he was the best; he was one of them. The best. United States Army" (Silko, 57). This part of the book breaks the stereotype for Native Americans that states that they are all peaceful and respect their enemies as opposed to men in white warfare who kill their enemy without even knowing them or acknowledging them.
The Vietnam War made some of the Native Americans feel like heroes, but when they came back from the war, they realized that they were not heroes, but still the same discriminated Native Americans from before. The men block out the truth by drinking and having sex with white women. Tayo creates a satirical story to encompass the truth of why they are acting this way, "They went off to the war...Bars served them booze, old white ladies on the street smiled at them. At Indians, remember that, because that's all they were. Indians...These Indians got treated the same as anyone...They were America the Beautiful too, this was the land of the free just like the teachers said in school. They had a uniform and they didn't look different no more" (Silko, 38). The other Native Americans already knew all of this but they just wanted to shove away the truth because all it brought was pain and sorrow to them.
This week the class watched Reel Injun which revealed many things I didn't know about how Native Americans live and are affected by the media.
Many of today's Native Americans live on reservations. These are some of the most poor places in America and the people live in less than good conditions. Many of the reservation cars only run in reverse because the Natives probably can't afford to fix it. It has been tough for the Natives to retain their culture as they have been pushed in to confined living spaces. The only thing that has kept them going through all the hardship is comedy. Learning to laugh at what is happening around them has helped to lighten the burdens and sorrows that they carry with them.
America's view of Native Americans has been skewed by the media, especially the cinema. Native Americans are made out to be savages and people with low intelligence and primitive cultures. For example, in Looney Toons, Bugs Bunny is killing Native Americans casually and they are trying to shoot him with arrows. Another example is John Ford's movies which portrayed Native Americans as nothing but dirty people and that the only good "Indian" was a dead one. In one scene an injured Native American is found beneath a rock and Ford shoots him multiple times in the head. It is surprising how prominent stereotypes were against Native Americans were and how easily manipulated Americans views of them were.
This week the class began to read Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko.
Tayo, a half-blood Native American boy is scarred by the war in Vietnam when his role model, Rocky, gets his skull smashed by a Japanese soldier right in front of him. It seems that Tayo mourns his "brother", Rocky so much that it makes him ill. Tayo blames himself for letting Rocky die on the road when the Japanese soldiers had taken them as prisoners of war. He does this because he believes that he could've done something to prevent all of this from happening even though he truly couldn't have. In fact, the corporal said that Rocky was dead before his head was crushed. I believe what makes this the most traumatizing for Tayo is that his Auntie purposefully kept him inside the house and excluded from society because he is half-blood. This made Rocky his only friend and now he lost the only thing that really kept him motivated to live his life. It is very easy to see how Tayo could have P.T.S.(D.) after the Vietnam War.
The Native American war veterans all drink at the bar heavily together. They talk about the white women they have "done" and how America is stealing their land. They do this to wash their sorrow from the war away. They all know that the women just love the military uniform, not the man inside of it. They just chose to ignore it because they don't want to dwell over the bad times of their past. Emo, who sits with the men is diametrically opposed to Tayo in regards to moral values. He always insults Tayo for his bloodline and how he acts because of Rocky's death. Emo had no problem killing an enemy and it was almost a cake-walk to him. However, Tayo couldn't stand to kill an enemy because he would think about the enemy and how similar they are to him. Tayo begins to drink more and more in order to suppress his sorrows because he believes it is the only current way he can try to forget about what happened.
This week we watched the second half of Dances With Wolves. John Dunbar was a changed man and had transitioned into his new perfect life. This is when the climax of the movie happened and it revealed a struggle that John Dunbar had to face.
Before Dunbar had been in contact with the Sioux, he feared and awed at the frontiers. He hoped to make peace with the Natives but, he didn't expect to become a part of their society. After saving one of the the Sioux women, the Sioux were curious about Dunbar. They shared items of their culture and made closer connections. Dunbar was awoken one morning by a stampede of Buffalo. The scenery was hazy and purple. Dunbar ran up the hill as Buffalo ran past him. This symbolizes how it was dreamlike and euphoric because there was a shortage of food and now this event was happening. The fog represented his confusion as all of this was happening. He notified the Sioux of the "tetonka" and they went on a hunting mission. He gains the trust of the Sioux and their most stubborn member, Wind In His Hair, when he saves his son, Smiles A Lot, from a wild buffalo. This is the where Dunbar becomes a part of the Sioux. He begins trading, socializing, an engaging in their activities.
After being accepted into the tribe, Dunbar has to face a fork in the road. The Sioux are moving because of the Union Soldiers expanding into their land and Dunbar decides to make a trip back to his station to retrieve his journal. He did this because it was a record of how he became part of the Sioux culture. However,his horse is shot and he is taken prisoner and treated very badly. This resembles how discriminating the soldiers were. He was being beaten and disgraced because of his change in culture even though he used to be a soldier himself. Later, some illiterate soldiers are using his journal for toilet paper which shows the lack in respect they have compared to Native Americans. Dunbar is later rescued at a river crossing and his journal washes down the river. Earlier the wolf that gave him his name, Dances With Wolves, is shot which represents his history of being Dances With Wolves is being washed away. He decides he must leave the tribe because they will try to find him as an excuse to raid the Sioux. This shows his care for his family and the sheer helplessness of the situation. Dunbar had to face a struggle that would not turn out good for him either way when he had to make a decision to abandon his people. It shows how he has transformation the inside and ho much he valued the way of the Sioux.
Navajo
The Navajo are the largest recognized tribe in the U.S. with about 300,000 tribal members. Navajo literally "Planted fields". Before contact with Europeans, the Navajo were mainly hunters and gatherers. The men took the leadership positions and were warriors/hunters while the women were farmers/caretakers. They lived in houses made out of earth called hogans which were dome shaped.
Apache
The Apache were very religious and believed that spirits were everywhere. Apache men were trained warriors at a very young age and all members were expected to defend their village. They were very talented in arts and crafts. In the 1850's the Apaches turned to scalping and raids as they were being pushed off their homeland.
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot's four independent tribes all spoke Algonquin. They often wore animal hides for clothing because of how cold the weather was. The Blackfoot were known for being hard to get along with. They fought the Assiniboine, Cree, Crows, Flatheads, Kutenai, and the Sioux.
This week the class has been all about Dances With Wolves. Both the setting and how things are represented show the differences between the white and Native American cultures.
The settings show the difference between how the white men live and how the Native Americans live. When John Dunbar is first entering the western frontiers the establishing shots and music present the awe of the newly discovered land away from most of white civilization. The shots show amber waves of tall grass, peaceful babbling brooks, and valleys. He has never seen land so wild and beautiful and he feels in touch with nature. Living near the Sioux and the Pawnee make Dunbar live in fear because because he doesn't know what to expect of them. After he earns their trust he becomes part of the Sioux tribe and indulges in their culture and leaves most of his behind. His new environment with the Sioux gives him a new family that he is sworn to protect. He is very committed to them as compared to the U.S. Army in the civil war where he attempted suicide. I found it amazing that just the setting someone is in can change who they become and what they're influenced to do.
(This made me think about how John Dunbar must have felt when in touch with his true spirit and nature)
Much was represented by images in the film. The Sioux all took pride in their hair and it is a trophy of their accomplishments and a story of their life. They all had straight hair which they could decorate with feathers or beads. This is why some tribes like the Pawnee scalped their enemies for a trophy. This is similar to John Dunbar's diary. It tells his entire transition from a soldier to Sioux and is very sentimental to him. In contrast, the soldiers of the U.S. Army valued things for their function instead of sentimental values such as when they kill several buffalo and only take their hide and nothing else. Instead of letting the animal go to waste, the Sioux use all body parts of the buffalo for tools, decorations, tipis, and other items. They also thank the animal and believe that it dies for a worthy cause so it is very disrespectful to kill a buffalo and not use parts of it. However, the two opposite cultures do have a few intersects. They both value family highest over all else. When Wind In His Hair's son is about to be killed by a buffalo, Dunbar shoots the animal right before it can reach him and to show his appreciation, Wind In His Hair offers its heart as a gift to Dunbar as a sign of trust. Before this happened Wind In His Hair disliked Dunbar. Another time at the camp, Dunbar trades his soldiers coat to Wind In His Hair in exchange for his necklace. This symbolizes two cultures ignoring their differences and living in harmony to trust each other. Throughout the film, there were many examples of cultural differences, but personally I found myself awestruck and inspired by the fact that they came together and somehow gained trust from one another.
