4 SOULZ

i heart this book, and what it has to say.

at first it was sort of hard to start reading it because i was just ready for it to be another "native american tragedy story" or whatever, but once i started getting into it, it was hard for me to stop.

i sincerely enjoyed reading the nanapush narrative. in my opinion his voice was humorous but accurate. the way in which he would talk was crude and in some ways unclear at times but it just added to the mysticism and wiseness that only an old indian dude can give. he was ready to talk about his feelings on every subject and also do anything that would prove himself (in the case that he steals the wine). it is only appropriate that nanapush would be the one who would talk in the "epilogue" and not fleur or margaret or polly. more than any of the other characters, i would trust his word.

which brings me to my second favorite narrator in polly elizabeth. in the beginning, the author sets up for the reader to dislike the woman because she is an apparent bigot. however, it is not her fault, as it is society that puts these norms into her mind, and she is only a product of her society. i mean she is from the upper crust of society and lives in a sweet house. she can't like indians because all of these things that they own are taken from them. if they liked indians they wouldn't mistreat them and take their shit. anyway, polly is probably the most touching narrative in the story, because her character shows true dynamic by changing how she feels and how she acts towards most characters in the book. she turns from rigid to flexible and uptight to loose. and in only this way does she find true happiness. i think her part of the story could work on so many people today, which is why i like it. it was really touching that she marries fanton (who she used to hate) and accepts fleur as her sister (which she used to think was less than human). in the end she takes them both as equals and probably even more.

anyway, i really enjoyed the story. it was really good, it pertained to all aspects of life. and i like how fleur wins her land back in a card game, that her retarded son wins! that's such a twist, and really original, thumbs up.

old women day

i thought it was super funny that it was old women day and i also enjoyed gina's shawl.

these stories that the old woman, mabel, weaves are pretty insane. i don't blame any of the people who don't understand what is going on in her tales because she is probably so old she doesn't know what she is talking about. no, that is probably mean and also wrong. i'm pretty sure it just means that old people are much wiser than us, and they just have a better grasp of life than we do--maybe because they are old and they've accepted that life is almost over for them. anyway who knows, poor sarah was old and she was pretty happy about dying... but i think that's because her life was super shitty.

conclusion: respect your elders

re: wounded knee

i'm sure there will be a lot of responses to the movie that are just like the one i will be writing here.

first off, i was completely unaware of the fact that there was a takeover of wounded knee. i'm so surprised that this was never brought to my attention in any of my history/social science classes since grade school. maybe i wasn't paying enough attention, or maybe i was paying attention just fine and it was 'THEY' who are at fault. i don't know who 'they' are, and i don't want to be cynical, but c'mon people, this was a big event for america's history.. especially for the original americans, the native americans.

moving onto the original massecre of wounded knee... it pisses me off that the 7th calvary still has their medals of honor. when i looked up "medal of honor" on wikipedia, it says..

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."^[1]

so gunning down a bunch of unarmed women and children and men means you are gallant and brave? yuck. i see no reason why they should still have this award, and it's ridiculous that the 7th calvary would even be rewarded in the first place. knowing all of these things doesn't make me feel hopeless for our country, no i haven't given up, but who else feels like there's something that needs to change? i mean there are no do overs in life, and the things that have happened will stay like that forever, but i think there's something that can be done.. but what? i don't even know the status of the native people today. is it good/bad? well, i know how the overall status of the world is, and it's not good. so lets change it. cue dramatic background music. we deserve the medal of honor more than the 7th calvary ever will.

death of apess

i know that gina only mentioned it briefly, but when i heard about the death of apess it struck me as strange. how could such an influential man die in obscurity? actually, i'm not sure if he was so famous. which brings me to another important point, what if apess was alive and defending indians today? would he change social reform for native americans? i feel like he was definitely ahead of his time and with today's technology and education, apess would at least be an influential social worker or something. but also, after reading apess' "eulogy on king philip" i thought it was one of the better classic texts that i've gotten to read. which made me also think why i had never heard of him before? is it because he was a native american? even his DEATH isn't known for sure. maybe i'm going too far, but i think that if apess was a white man, all of these things surrounding his life would be clear and his texts would be held in a higher regard. what do you guys think? was he just another guy who felt strongly about something, or was he something more, but because of his genetics he was held back from achieving his full potential?

Boudinot

The discussion that we had in class made me rethink Boudinot's address.

It is apparent in Boudinot's writings that he is writing for his people, but the way in which he writes and asks the audience for support is unlike the ideals and values of his people. By saying that the Cherokee nation is becoming stronger, and then coming to the whites as an inferior or on all fours begging for support does not show that strength. If Boudinot is saying that the Cherokee nation is ready to contribute and maybe compete with its bigger neighbor, then it would only make sense not to grovel, but to come with charisma and confidence.

There is no reason to act inferior when the stereotype is already in place, instead of being the dog with its tail between its legs, Boudinot should have been the pitbull with his teeth showing. I'm not suggesting that Boudinot's address to threaten the whites, but instead of listing off numbers of wagons or cows, or telling people how much he loves God, he could tell them how proud his people are, just like them. Boudinot cannot change the minds of whites by staying in his place, instead, Boudinot should have came to them as equals, as a proud people with ideals. In the end, I'm sure it would not have changed a thing, but it bothers me when an oppressed people remain oppressed and take on the mentality of the oppressed.

They just needed a John Sully.

why i chose the title i chose

well, i chose the title "ideas on indians" for my blog because the class, and our blogs especially, deal with responses to readings on native americans. i thought the title should be straight to the point, and i was also trying to be funny but i couldn't think of a funny name. "ideas on indians" also uses alliteration, which i thought was also interesting since it rolls off the tongue. but most of all, i think the title fits the purpose for which this blog was made to do. which is a place to collect my thoughts on the readings for the class.

-ricky li