Camping in Bandelier – Don Tucker – 1

This last spring I went camping at Bandelier National Monument in North-Central New Mexico in the heart of the Jemez Mts. During the visit I became acquainted with some the history of the pueblo peoples that had lived there. I also had the opportunity to walk ancient foot paths and view both the undisturbed ruins and recreations of village throughout the canyons. The Monument is basically an homage to self-taught historian and anthropologist named Adolph Bandelier who came to the region in the 1880’s to survey the customs and social organization of the Natives in the region. In all, Bandelier documented over 166 archeological sites in the Southwest. My visit got me thinking of how the American park service considers naming National Parks and decides what should be considered an American treasure. I find it kind of surprising that the park is named after the anthropologist that studied the people of the region and not after the actual people of the region. This sort of reminded me of one of the first class lectures and exercises we had that discussed the role of the historian and historiographical bias. Not only was this place inhabited by the pueblos here for at least hundreds of years, but many of there descendants still reside here on and off reservations.

Post #2- Petroglyph Love

First, I have the pictures from Indian Princesses.  They will be coming either later this week, or next week.  Don’t hold your breath though…

Today I was reviewing Chapter One for our Midterm next week, and I decided to write about pictograph/petroglyphs.  In August, I went on vacation to Albuquerque, New Mexico and I actually hiked around The Petroglyph National Monument!  The PNM is “archeological sites and an estimated 24,000 carved images,” of which I probably saw 100.  My brother and I were able to climb up these smaller volcanic mounds, where the petroglyphs were carved after volcanic ash covered the rocks.  We had a blast trying to figure out what some of the carvings meant.

Yeah...No idea what that is...

It’s really neat that these petroglyphs still exist, and you can touch them.  The book talks about “Tsagigalal,” which is the famous grinning face.  You’ve seen it, go Google it.  Anyways, I didn’t find Tsagigalal, but that’s probably because that petroglyph is found in The Dalles, in the Northwest Coast.

These images make you wonder what in the world they represent, any why they were carved.  My guess is they were either stories, or were religious icons.  According to the PNM website, “petroglyphs are central to the monument’s sacred landscape where traditional ceremonies still take place.”  So I was right!

I will conquer native history

Yes, that’s me doing a Captain Jack on top of a petroglyph.  Be jealous. Next week: I’ll post old pics of me in Indian Princesses, and get my dad’s side of the story.

Love,

Alanna

P.S. Here’s the link to the PNM: http://www.nps.gov/imr/petr/

Reciprocity in modern film

Hi everyone! My name is Candace and I’m a senior in Journalism, and I’ll be another of the bloggers for our class this semester. I am going to try my best to link our class discussions/readings to other related facets of Native American studies or history that I think will add to our understanding of the subject. I hope I don’t bore you too much along the way!

I think we can all agree that one of the main ideas we discussed this week in class and read about in Chapter One of The People was the idea of reciprocity. As an avid movie-goer I couldn’t help but noticing the similarities between the early Native Americans and the characters in a movie I saw a few weeks ago: “Avatar.”

For those of you have not yet seen or heard about “Avatar” (now the #1 grossing movie of all time), the film takes place in the future on a moon-like planet called Pandora, which is inhabited by native people called Na‘vi.  The U.S. Government has taken great interest in the planet because of certain valuable and extremely profitable substances located there, so they send a team of trained scientists and an ex-marine to go to Pandora and investigate the ways of the natives and to convince them to allow the U.S. to take their valuable minerals. The Americans in Pandora soon become enthralled by the simplistic lifestyle the Na‘vi people practice, especially the way they live in mutual respect and perfect harmony with the plants and animals on their land.  This reciprocity bond between the Na‘vi and nature was the major similarity I noticed between the Native Americans described in The People and the natives depicted in “Avatar;” the Na‘vi people say prayers for the animals they must kill just the same way as Native American hunters ritually thanked deer they killed for the gift of sustenance its death brought the Native Americans.

Soon enough, however, it becomes apparent to the Americans on Pandora that the American government is not going to wait much longer to get the valued substances from Pandora, and if they have to, they are going to annihilate the entire Na‘vi population to get it.  Obviously the whole “Manifest Destiny” idea of whites conquering native lands is truly highlighted here. If I had to pick which one of the four key words we discussed in class this week (progress, encounter, collapse, or invasion) was in play in this portion of the movie, it would be invasion without a doubt.

I’m not going to ruin the movie for those of you who have yet to see it, but I definitely recommend checking it out for yourself and seeing what other similarities you notice from our readings this week and the Na‘vi culture. If you take me up on this offer, I suggest that you look into how ceremonies were extremely central to their spirituality and way of life and to also take a close look at the roles women played in the tribe.

These similarities between “Avatar” and Native Americans come across so clearly that I’m not the first one to make the connection between the blockbuster and Native American history. While some agree with me that the movie was a positive parallel portrayal of Native American life, others see it simply as yet another film depicting white man as a hero in the liberation struggles of oppressed people of color.

Like I said, I suggest seeing it yourself and coming up with your own conclusion.

Candace

Allison Hedge Coke

Today at 4:30 Allison Hedge Coke was at the Illini Union bookstore. To explain who she is, I’ll borrow the words of Patricia Monaghan; “If William Blake were a twenty-first-century American Indian woman, he would be Hedge Coke.” 

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this event in the Visiting Writing Series hosted by the Department of English. I wish I had been able to go, or at least had the foresight to post this blog earlier, so you might have had the chance. I did, however, find some of her poetry online. I was surprised to be able to connect aspects of her poem Legacy with Alexie’s Flight and the “Indian People Before the Arrival of Europeans” motif in many ways. Below is a snippet of one of Coke’s poems. 

So, your ancestors
were fresh off the
boat, huhn, the
Mayflower, huhn,
mine were here to meet them

…

Today due to
the monumental
change inflicted upon us
by the European transplant society mark us like targets
to be used, cruised, abused
conned, and taken advantage of
even by some of our own people

(“Legacy,” 60, 64)

Most clearly pointing to “Indian People Before the Arrival of Europeans” is Coke’s line, “mine were here to meet them.” I think this statement is powerful. It made me think, “U.S. citizens are always talking about being a good American, but that term has only meant what it means for the past 300 years. Aren’t Indians the most ‘authentic’ Americans?”

The last lines “and taken advantage of / even by some of our own people,” reminds me of Flight, when Zits says, “I think of how Crazy Horse was speared in the stomach by a U.S. Cavalry soldier while his best friend, LIttle Big Man, held his arms” (Alexie, 31).  Clearly both of these things point to the pain the Native American people suffered at the hands of the invading Europeans, but I think it subtly shows that actually being of Native American heritage is painful in general. Zits is clearly straddling two different cultures, literally because he is a “half-breed orphan,” but also because he doesn’t know himself or where he belongs. 

Though Zit’s voice and perspective is dynamic, and Coke’s poetry is varied, both of these examples I’ve pulled show an undeniable bitterness towards the treatment of Native Americans by white people. 

I tried to find Coke reading this poem online, but all I could find was a selection from her poetry compilation Dog Road Woman. I decided to embed it anyway, because Coke has an amazing rhythm to her poetry. 

Until next week,

Jeanine

Alexie, Sherman. Flight A Novel. New York: Grove, Black Cat, 2007. Print.

Richards, Moira. “DOG ROAD WOMAN by Allison Hedge Coke.” RATTLE: Poetry for the 21st Century. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. <http://rattle.com/blog/2009/06/dog-road-woman-by-allison-hedge-coke/&gt;.

Traditional Values in Contemporary Action

Hello, this Aaron Steinbrecher.  I am a freshman in Psychology and I am from Chicago Illinois.  The American Indian Center of Chicago is a cultural center devoted to the preservation and celebration of the Native American culture.  I was involved with this organization through a teacher in grade school, as well as with friends of Indian heritage in high school.  I have always appreciated and admired this tight-knit community, and their mission strikes a powerful note:

Our Mission: To promote the fellowship among Indian people of all Tribes living in metropolitan Chicago, and to create bonds of understanding and communication between Indians and non-Indians in this city. To advance the general welfare of American Indians into the metropolitan community life; to foster the economic and educational advancement of Indian people; to sustain cultural, artistic and avocational pursuits; and to perpetuate Indian cultural values.

Just as the Iroquois Confederacy aimed to unite the six tribes with peace and reciprocity, the American Indian Center aims to do the same with all Native Americans in Chicago.  When I first read this statement, I immediately thought of our reoccurring themes of kinship and reciprocity.  The American Indian Center extends the value of kinship to all Native Americans as well as non-Indians to further broaden their family and understanding of their culture.  This directly ties in to reciprocity—they have created this community for the benefit of everyone, and in turn they want people to be involved and devoted to help “advance the general welfare of American Indians”.  Reinforcing these values is critical to keeping the American Indian culture alive, and keeping this culture alive is nationally, if not universally beneficial.

http://www.aic-chicago.org/index.php

-Aaron Steinbrecher