Comment on Others' Blogs

I really enjoyed reading my classmates' blogs. Although, some of them I have only skimmed because of time constraints, I found many reoccurring themes. One that I think most of us agree on is how interesting it was to learn about John Trudell. I am one who had never heard of this man and I think he is a person that should be taught in history. He belongs with other human activists in the history books.
Another theme that seemed prominent is mascots. This topic can be very touchy but I think everyone's comments to those blogs that talked about mascots was handled well. I also now know to only wear orange on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Fridays...LOL.
I think there were a few good points about Debbie Reese's blog about American Indians depictions in children literature. I agree with those that say that it needs to be taken in stride. Most of the books were written in a different time and therefore also illustrated when the world had a different, and I believe less sympathetic, view towards others. I would like to think that the world is changing and that we, as a people, are becoming more aware of differences and instead of pointing them out or exploiting them, we are embracing those differences.

Can Sherman Alexie be taught in schools?

The video that we watched the other day got me thinking recently about whether or not a teacher could get away with teaching The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It is most certainly a very good read. I enjoyed reading the book myself. But, I don't think I could imagine myself teaching it to a group of sophomores in high school. Especially the "boner" part in the book. I wonder how a teacher could get around that subject and still teach the book. I definitely think that the book has many things to offer. Even though it is written by an American Indian, I think the biggest theme in the book is trying to belong somewhere. This is something that every teenager struggles with. Trying to find themselves, trying to fit in with a certain crowd, trying new things. I wonder if while teaching this book, it would be best to either ignore the section about boners or if you deal with it and move on. I suppose that it would depend on several factors. One would have to make sure that their school supported their choice to teach this book. One would also have to make sure that the students in the class can be mature enough to handle the book. There are so many topics that one could explore. Prejudice, Death, Bulimia, Alcoholism, Economic Status, the list goes on and on. I think it would be daring to teach a book like this but in the end, if it is done correctly, it would be very beneficial for teenagers to read Alexie's work.

Humor as a defense mechanism but also healing

After reading Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I have come to the conclusion that the humor used in the novel is used more as a defense mechanism and a way to avoid situations. There is a lot of humor throughout the book and by a few different characters. Obviously Junior/Arnold uses a lot of humor throughout the book. One instance that really stands out to me is when he enters the Wellpinit gym and his tribe turns their backs on him. The only thing he can do is start laughing, which soon sends his team into hysterics. I think it is one of those things like we talked about in class that instead of crying in a situation, he uses laughter. He does the same thing when he finds out that his sister died. He laughs hysterically in the car on the drive back to his house. I think it was his way of dealing with such an intense situation, especially after all the other losses he had endured during the year.
I also noticed, through the article that we read and the book, that Indians use a lot of one-liners. They are very quick-witted. It’s like one of those things where you know someone who doesn’t say much but when they do it’s pretty good. The humor seems to be pretty sharp and even though they make fun of themselves often, at the core is ultimately a dig at Americans. The article, “Custer Died for Your Sins”, states “one-line retorts are common in Indian country” (Deloria, 166). I definitely sensed that while reading the article. There were many examples, especially ones where the Indians were making fun of themselves. “When a people can laugh at themselves and laugh at others and hold all aspects of life together without letting anybody drive them to extremes, then it seems to me that that people can survive” (Deloria, 167). I find this quote to be true not just for Indians but for all people. When someone can make light of a serious situation, I think that is one of the best ways to get through life. Humor can be the one thing that can be healing even if it starts out as a defense mechanism.

Gender Roles in The Birchbark House

I found it very interesting towards the end of the book when Erdrich mentions that the men are gossiping and the women are talking. “The work came first, but then lengthening light in the afternoons kept the children at play outside and kept the aunts talking, the men gossiping, the grandmas reminiscing about their own playing days as small children when they roamed the sugar camps” (208). I thought the use of the word “gossip” to describe the men was telling. To me, gossiping is something that women do. You picture little old ladies sitting at the local diner talking over coffee about who is doing what with whom. I don’t think of men gossiping. Erdrich’s use of words paints a picture that may or may not be accurate. She mentions in the book earlier about how the men talk about ceremonies and treaties, but this use of the word “gossip” puts a new twist on what the conversations are actually about. Are the men talking about others as the word “gossip” implies, or are they merely talking about ceremonies? It blurs the line between genders. Mostly, women gossip but this use of the word suggests that it was commonplace for the Ojibwe men to gossip as well.

"How do we sell the stars?"

This quote from the John Trudell poem got me thinking. Ironically, I was driving home from work the other night and I heard on the radio an ad to "buy a star for someone you love." This made me laugh because we had just talked about this very concept in class. I had heard about this concept of buying your own star before and I was shocked that I heard it on the radio again. Especially with the economy the way it is. Does this company really expect that people are going to essentially waste their money on something that they can never physically touch let alone look at everyday? I started thinking about the method for which they "sell" stars. Does each country have certain amount of stars to sell? How are the stars divided among nations? I understand that there are a crazy amount of stars in the sky but whose decision is it to decide which stars are sold? I think that "owning" a star is a bizarre concept. Obviously it is just another way to make money. Apparently there must be people out there who are buying into this sort of thing. I wonder who those people are and why they think that they have the right to buy a star. It is, to say the least, a very weird phenomena.

John Trudell

The documentary about John Trudell was interesting. I could definitely draw some similarities between what he was saying in the film and the text. One of the first things I noticed is that he felt like he had “been born 100 years too late.” I got the feeling that he felt out of place in his life but that he accepted his role as a political activist because of these feelings. You got the sense that he respected his heritage and was willing to fight for independence. He took pride in his role and that showed when he talked. He was passionate for what he was doing but in a quiet kind of way.
It was really sad to learn about his wife and family. I think John Trudell and Tina Manning were probably soul mates. He said that he reconnected to the earth after “putting my love into the ground.” That reiterates everything that we’ve talked about so far about American Indians feeling connected to the ground and that everything revolves around the relationship with the earth. He seemed to be understated after his family died but still had purpose and meaning in behind what he was doing for the American Indian tribes.

Language

“Language is breath that is given form by thought” (Kidwell & Velie 83). I really liked this quote from the text. The languages of American Indians primarily were spoken and that is how it got passed on to the next generation. I found it interesting to read about metaphors and how metaphors were used to tell lessons to others and also form a relationship between the self and inanimate objects. I think every culture has used metaphors. It is a great medium to try to get a point across that may be abstract or hard to relate to otherwise. I imagine that trying to translate the languages posed a problem and with the many metaphors that the American Indian languages used probably added to the confusion. Language is constantly changing and if it doesn’t get used often it gets lost. Many of the Native languages are being lost because the only people that speak it are the elders of the tribes. I hope that some people are doing what they can to preserve their language so that it doesn’t become lost.