Trickster Class Discussion

Trickster Class Discussion:

Janee Deck, Jodie White, Erik Rasmussen

Introduction to the book:

Our group loved the editor's note at the end of the book because he was considerate of a culture that wasn't his and he put a great effort at keeping the authenticity of each story. He didn't want to culturally appropriate the stories, which showed how he was not a selfish editor.

“The book is bigger than he is; the stories tell so much. The book is a representation of a group effort that brings people and cultures together for a bigger picture and bigger project”

Meaning of Animals:

 https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/meaning-of-animals.htm

Significance of the "Trickster"

https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/trickster.htm

Questions:

1. What was your favorite story? Why? Was it because of the morals it hints to...was it because it was creative and refreshing?
   
   
2. What is the significance of the stories as pertaining to Native American culture? What is the importance of keeping these stories authentic and retold?
   
   
3. Do you think having non-Native-American illustrators ruin or cloud the authenticity of these stories and does it help create a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the Native American culture by Western views? Why?
   
   
4. With the dilemma of cultural appropriation in our society, how do these stories help us create a more accurate image of Native American culture? What do you think we need to do as a society to be more fully aware of Native American culture, then and now?

A Look at the Night Sky

In Search of Darkness: An Interview with Paul Bogard

This is the link to the interview with Paul Bogard who wrote a book that deals with light pollution in our modern world and what possible effects it will have on our future night skies. 
It is a great read so please consider. I would love to hear what you think of it.

http://v-e-n-u-e.com/In-Search-of-Darkness-An-Interview-with-Paul-Bogard  

Contemporary Connections: Tracks and the Dakota Access Pipeline Project

Photo by Standing Rock Rising (Facebook page), taken Feb. 1st 2017

Facebook: "Veterans Return to Standing Rock" https://www.facebook.com/fusionmedianetwork/videos/1809456462413657

Published on Feb. 13th 2017

U.S. Army veteran John Plouff, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jake Pogue, Texas Army National Guard veteran Roni Mathis, and U.S. Navy veteran Sean Sullivan share their experience thus far helping the Native Americans at Standing Rock, encouraging their fellow veterans to come out and help as well. Sullivan comments, ". . . is the same feeling that I feel whenever we're doing -- when I did good things in the military." Footage is shown of the veterans helping to transport water and other materials. Sullivan additionally comments, ". . . listen to First Nations and indigenous people because they have the knowledge on how to heal and go forward -- heal this country the right way, the good way."

In Tracks, Erdrich immediately captures us with a strong sense of despair. "We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall. It was surprising there were so many of us left to die" (p. 1). Opening with Nanapush's narrative, he says, "My girl, I saw the passing of times you will never know. I guided the last buffalo hunt. I saw the last bear shot. I trapped the last beaver with a pelt of more than two years' growth. I spoke aloud the words of the government treaty, and refused to sign the settlement papers that would take away our woods and lake. I axed the last birch that was older than I, and I saved the last Pillager" (p. 2). However, this chapter was set in the Winter of 1912. In addition to the weakened numbers of their people due to disease, Native Americans struggled with their relationship with the United States government - the Trail of Tears in 1830 forced Native Americans to disconnect with their ancestral homelands and relocate to another area. This relocation killed over four thousand en route. Struggles have not ceased since, with Native American lands now being smaller than ever and with the attempts to lead the Dakota Access Pipeline through sacred Native American land, despite is being illegal. Nanapush is a very wise character -- his experiences in dealing with the U.S. government provide an elder's input on just how much things have changed for them. It was almost as if he could foreshadow the persistence of the government's quest to gain land, but he didn't have the support of large crowds protesting and helping to protect his land. It makes me very interested to see how this all plays out, considering our (unfortunate) new leadership in office.

Contemporary Connections: Tracks and The Trump Travel Ban

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38950433

In recent news a travel ban denying citizens from 7 individual countries has been instated by President Trump and then, thankfully rejected by a White House top advisor. I believe the travel ban in particular along with the rejection of it has a strong connection to Tracks by Louise Erdrich. In the beginning of the book Nanapush says a line that I found to be very important throughout the rest of the story. He says, "The land will go. The land will be sold and measured." Here Nanapush is talking about the Native land, which did originally belong to the Natives of this country, being divided up and measured by the intruding white man. Native American people have always been connected to the land, a part of the land, and respected nature. When the white man comes and starts to strip away something that had always belonged to them, they were be forced onto small, unkept reservations. I find this to be a fear Nanapush had and was expressing to Flur so that she was not kept in the dark when this process began.  

The article provided links to these lines said by Nanapush by the parallel of freedom. The Natives were free living on the land, being one with the land until the white man came and started to take it away. In terms with the article, Trump and his administration was removing the access to a new start from a large number of people from seven individual countries. In a sense he did not give them the option to be free from their pasts.

The last connection I took from the article was the top White House advisor who rejected the ban. On a larger scale I view it as, contrary to the Trump Administration, not everyone in the United States views people from those seven countries as being inferior. Just as, not everyone agrees that it was right of us to take away the land from the Native American people. The term "take away" when looked through the eyes of high school textbooks, is more so focused on "cultural diffusion" and the determination to reach the west at any cost. Only later in life, like in books, documentaries, and Native American Culture college classes that some may take, do people see the real side of what "colonizing America" meant to those who already lived there. We forgot, or more so, our textbooks purposely forget to mention, that we were destroying lives and families and cultural ways of life in order to have what we see before us today.

Contemporary Connections: Reel Injun and Disney's Pocahontas

It is a well known debate across generations: should the Disney Pocahontas movie? Is it purely insulting with no redeemable qualities?
Reel Injun mentioned the controversy for only a moment but made an excellent point. Disney Pocahontas painted the American Dream of the Native American princess and not a solid depiction. There are definitely two sides to that coin. Is Pocahontas offensive to Native Americans? Yes. Did it inspire generations of young girls and people? Yes. Here are just a few examples: 

Pros of Disney Pocahontas: 

• strived for peace between people
• uses her brain instead of weapons or fists to solve problems
• does represent (even if considered poorly) a real heroine
• calls people out on racism
• athletic and thrill seeking
• broke the Disney mold for how princesses look. 
• John Smith really did become friends with her father and tribe

Cons of Disney Pocahontas: 

• very inaccurately shown as older which is turn makes the story less uneasy that events took place when she was 11 and not what appeared to be early 20's.
• her best friend appears to be the every flowing leaves and wind accompanied by magic glowing lights
• made her the only one to see both sides and ways of thinking
• there were many more fights between the tribes and colonial settlers 
• perpetuates a dishonest and self-serving myth at the expense of the Pohawtan nation
• promoted damaged stereotypes of the Native American nation
• love triangle

TV tropes Pocahontas fulfills (both negative and positive):
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Pocahontas

The real vs. Disney Pocahontas: 
http://pocahontas.morenus.org/

In my Disney 2016 trip in November I found you can still meet Pocahontas. More than a decade later she is appreciated and relevant, inspiring young girls and all kinds of people to look into and learn about the real Pocahontas and her tribe. My cousin, thanks to her Guatemalan heritage, looks just like Pocahontas thus the Disney princess her daughters love is Pocahontas. They don't rely on old styles of distressed damsels for childhood inspiration and morals, but a strong willed, fierce woman who's not afraid to speak mind and stand up for what she believes in. Not only an animated woman, but one who lived in real life.
She might fall under means to an end. People were and are still offended by the Pocahontas movie and understandably so. I am still inspired by her in both the animated and the real girl. There is a difference between accepting a fantasized version as truth and taking it with a grain of salt. Disney Pocahontas should be loved and inspired for who she is as a character and story completely apart from the real life Pocahontas who should be known and appreciated by her real traits and story and not those imposed by Disney. I believe each can be loved and teach lessons without hating the other. 

Contemporary connections: Dakota Access Pipeline and Tracks

Movies express indigenous people very poorly, increasing stereotypes. Portraying them as savages and wise and a sense to nature. Native Americans clothing are even designed negatively giving them a complete different appearance from how it really appears. In Reel Injun it talks about how Native Americans were not allowed to leave the set unless instructed. Nor were allowed to act as anything opposing from the script. If they chose to do so, they would get shot by a guard that was keeping an eye on them. These movies, and cartoon shows, affect not only the culture but their beliefs and who they are as people. it affects them emotionally knowing they have done nothing to be treated so unfairly.

I bring this up to support my claim that white men are constantly just taking from indigenous people, they are not being considerate over what indigenous needs are but rather what can bring them money.

Native Americans has struggled for a very long time. I say "has", because they are still facing some very unfair situations currently. During the Trail of Tears they had to evacuate from their own land due to the government wanting their land. This is strongly immoral, because many of them were forced to leave a land they were at first, and made this land there home,.This is also inhumane because many of them became very ill and died while engaging on the trail. 



The idea of the Dakota Access Pipeline being built on Native American land infuriates me. Here we see that history repeats. Native Americans specifically denied this request to pursue and even fought several times by protesting for this to still occur on Native soil. This shows how inconsiderate our government is and how very little do we cater to those who are poor. Not only does the government take their image away by Negatively expressing how Native Americans act in movies. But also by taking away their culture and traditions.

Allowing the pipeline to be built shows that the government will alter their promise to the Native American people if it means getting more money leading their way.

Regardless of Indigenous people mentioning how this will hinder their water supply Trump still plans to continue. Investing the pipeline on their land means that their rights are being ignored. Rights were informed so that everyone can come to some agreement, to respect one another needs, and how to develop a well structured society; by installing the pipeline shows the opposite.  According to Los Angeles Times article states that,
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted Energy Transfer Partners formal permission Wednesday to lay pipe under a North Dakota reservoir, clearing the way for completion". Ignoring the needs of the people Trump still manages to get people on board. Cheyenne River Sioux Chairman Harold Frazier strongly argues, "is our life. It must be protected at all costs." But in this case, it seems as if  cost matters more than caring for the needs of our people.


Actions about a pipeline on Native American land can relate to the book known as Tracks. In the book they are trying to fight for their land from the white men.  When Nanapush says, "The land will go. The landwill be sold and measure." Relates to the Dekota Access Pipeline because even though the government knows it can alter their water supply what matters most to them is the money their going to receive from having it. The well being of the people in their country doesn't matter but instead how much income can occur.

In Tracks when Fleur is playing cards with the white men they end up losing. It appears as if all is right until she leaves and she is alone. They take Fleur when she is most vulnerable beating her up and raping her. The men could not stand the thought of losing especially to an indigenous person. Very similar to our current situation. Native Americans have land but the white men can't stand the thought of losing out on money, ( just like when they were playing the card game and they felt like they were going to lose). When they were planning on putting the pipeline but then their were large protest happening to try and stop it, it brought fear, (when they thought they were going to win, and Fleur started catching up). They placed the pipeline on their land not caring that it will hurt their water supply, (when Fleur won the game they waited for her to be alone to beat her up). The white men would rather feel like the bigger person that remains in control of the situation. They would prefer gaining money then thinking for the well being of others.

Just like the Trail of Tears (land), culture, and traditions, Dakota access pipeline (Rights) are all being taking from Native Americans. The government keeps taking from indigenous people and ignoring that their in the wrong. the government needs to start taking responsibility for their actions. And stop picking on indigenous people!

Native Americans face issues with pipeline

Contemporary Connections: Tracks and the Bond Between Mother and Child

After reading Tracks, I realized that it was one of the most interesting books I have ever read. It was such an interesting book because I had never read a novel solely about Native American struggles and from the point of view of different Native American characters. The part that stood out the most to me was when Fleur became pregnant, went throughout her pregnancy and then ultimately had a miscarriage. This part stood out the most to me because of different stories I had heard about miscarriages from friends and family. Every heartbreaking story I hear always resonates with me and when Fleur had her miscarriage, I felt like I could feel the pain that she was going through because of the pain I had heard about from my family and friends.

I decided to look at art work by Native American artists because in my opinion, sometimes a piece of art can deliver a message more powerfully than words ever could. While browsing through different pieces of art one painting in particular stood out the most to me. It was a painting by Beatien Yazz. Beatien Yazz was born in 1928 on the Navajo Reservation. During the last 20 years of his life, Beatien Yazz suffered from severe eye problems which made his skills as an artist even more impressive. I was instantly mesmerized when I saw this painting because it is a Native American mother cradling her newborn baby while multiple birds surround the mother and child. I thought that this was beautiful because the birds that surround the pair look like hands that form a circle which reminded me of the circle of life. By that I mean being born and dying is a part of life. In Fleur's case she had to feel the pain of her child dying so early on, but that pain is a part of life. Her strength and perseverance after the death of her child was inspirational to me and that truly made me love Tracks because of how raw and relatable her struggle is. 

Contemporary Connections: Tracks and What You Pawn I Will Redeem by Sherman Alexie

What You Pawn I Will Redeem is a short story by Sherman Alexie chronicling the day of a modern Spokane Indian named Jackson Jackson as he tries to get back his grandmother's regalia. Jackson is a homeless man that comes across his grandmother's powwow regalia that was stolen from her fifty years ago in a pawn shop window. The pawnshop owner tells Jackson that if he can come up with the money by the end of the day he can have the regalia, and even gives Jackson a twenty to start him off. The rest of the day Jackson spends and remakes money until he's left with twenty dollars again which he goes back to the pawnshop with. Despite Jackson's lack of funds the owner gives him his grandmother's regalia because he knew Jackson worked hard to make the money. Jackson is so overjoyed he puts on the regalia and runs into the street and dances while everyone stops and watches.
Alexie provides a look into the life of an American Indian in our modern day, which is so fascinating because modern society often looks upon Indians as an idea of the past. What is even more surprising is how similar the life of Jackson was to that of the characters in Tracks, a story set so far in the past. Jackson suffered in poverty and homelessness and was striving to retrieve an object close to his heart taken from his family, much like Fleur and her family. Fleur fought to keep her home and struggled to survive, as Jackson struggles to win back the regalia while staying alive on the streets. Native Americans are not an idea of the past, but still have to struggle through the same issues of the past and have been for generations.

Contemporary Connections: Tracks and the Dakota Access Pipeline

DAPL Article

Reading Tracks, I have noticed several comments made by the characters about the American government taking their land. When convincing Native Americans to sign it away, the government would have them think that the money is worth the loss, though in the long run, it isn't. Nanapush says at the beginning of the book, "Our trouble came from living, from liquor, and the dollar bill,"(p. 4). Two out of three of these things were made accessible by European settlers. They introduced Native Americans to the higher concentration alcohol that led to the high risk of alcoholism among them. The disrespect of Native American culture and land by white people in this book correlates to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near Sioux land. People of and not of the tribe have been protesting this for months for a reason. Finishing the pipeline means the potential of contaminated drinking water and the disturbance of sacred land. This disregard for the safety and lives of other people is shown in Tracks again when everyone living with Fleur and Eli gather around to see which parts of the community don't belong to them anymore. It can also be connected to the story told in this video by Jennifer Lawrence. When filming in Hawaii, she disregarded the status of  sacred rocks by sitting on them, something she was specifically instructed not to do. While telling the story, she found it funny that by disgracing these rocks, she almost knocked out the sound technician.

Other things to take into account include the sense of otherness in the story. Fleur, in the beginning, was seen as untouchable, in a sense, because of her oddness. Whether or not the speculations of her having supernatural connections are true, they seem to be happening because of the fact that she is mysterious and acts differently than the rest of the community. Pauline also evokes a strong sens of otherness for herself before others do it for her. Halfway through the story, Pauline becomes a very devout Christian(?) and further pursues her "white half." She separates herself by calling everyone else Indians rather than us. Pauline's rejection of her ethnic heritage is almost the opposite of how people today embrace theirs.

Litigation Between Native Americans and the Government

After reading Tracks, I feel like I have gained a perspective on the Government/Native American relations, in regards to the "pushing the Native Americans off of their lands and onto reservations, that, before now, I have never given too much thought about. Erdrich brings readers into a mix-match tribe of 'resistant' Native Americans and shines light on some of the actual legal process of how these Native Americans were losing their lands and why. Traditionally, students are simply taught that the Native Americans were stripped of their land and forced to live on "reservations". The majority of students never thought beyond what was taught, myself included.  When thinking about it now, especially after reading Tracks, - of course it was more complicated than the evil simplicity that was spewed into our young minds during our youth.  After thinking about the complete process, the billing, indebted tribes, shaded tribal zones, and the logistics of how the encroachment occured, this assignment became really easy.

What I was looking for was any sort of public legal situation, and not just a headline. Recently, The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe joined the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their lawsuit against the Dakota Access Pipeline Easement. The reason this stood out to me was simply reading about the litigation, the court system, and the obvious urgency of the tribes versus the notorious (but also obvious) sluggish pace of America's legal system. 'A temporary restraining order until a hearing is held at the court's earliest convenience.' Is a line that is burned into my head after reading the article. While it's good to see that our "vanishing" Native Americans are still 'resisting', it is depressing to see that they are using the legal system that is virtually in place to hinder them in order to help their own cause. Essentially, they are lighting their torches from America's bonfire and trying to dimish said bonfire by using their given flames in 'battle'.



The article I used, among others, was found online.
abcnews.go.com - This was a headline article on their site.

Contemporary Connections: Sherman Alexie and Tonto Fistfight in Hollywood

Sherman Alexie as a child (Source: https://twitter.com/sherman_alexie)

A constant struggle within the Native American community is the identity of Native Americans and the question of authenticity. How do the First People fit into the larger scheme of America, adapting to American culture without betraying their own heritage?

Patricia Monture Angus quotes Robert Allen Warrior in her essay "Native America and Literary Tradition" : "Both American Indian and Native American discourse continued to be preoccupied with parochial questions of identity and authenticity...and to establish why someone or something is 'Indian.'"

The identity of Native Americans, especially in old novels and any movie regarding their heritage is whitewashed to fit the generalized and monetary needs of mainstream America. The whitewashing of Native Americans dates back into the early western movies and dime novels, but it has a profound effect on the current generation of Native American's who saw this as the only way to consume Native American culture in mainstream media.

Sherman Alexie writes about his experience of growing up with these dime novels in his article for the L.A Times "I Hated Tonto (Still Do)": "The handsome, blue-eyed warrior (the Indians in romance novels are always blue-eyed because half-breeds are somehow sexier than full-blooded Indians)... Of course, after reading such novels, I imagined myself to be a blue-eyed warrior nuzzling the necks of various random, primitive and ecstatic white women."

Alexie also reflects on his childhood and how the old western movies shaped his image of Native Americans and his hatred for Tonto: "I know of at least one Indian boy who always imagined himself to be a cinematic Indian warrior. Me. I watched the movies and saw the kind of Indian I was supposed to be... I mean, I knew I could never be as brave, as strong, as wise, as visionary, as white as the Indians in the movies. I was just one little Indian boy who hated Tonto because Tonto was the only cinematic Indian who looked like me

Jay Silverheels was a prominent Native American actor and the original Tonto, and though the character was racially slandered with his monosyllables and ridiculous antics, a real Native American played him. However, the character's tainted history is now worse off because Hollywood decided to cast Johnny Depp as Tonto in the 2013 reboot of The Lone Ranger.

In 1998, Alexie comments on his childhood thinking when he saw a white man playing a Native American in Hollywood, how he didn't care, "I mean, Tom Laughlin did have a nice tan and he spoke in monosyllables and wore cowboy boots and a jean jacket just like Indians. And he did have a Cherokee grandmother or grandfather or butcher, so he was Indian by proximity, and that was good enough in 1972."

Johnny Depp is a white man who has a nice tan.

That shouldn't have been good enough in 1972, and it should never have been an option in 2013. Jay Silverheels himself helped establish an actors studio in California specifically for Native American Actors and Actresses to hone their craft, but I'm sure they were all too busy to be in a Hollywood Blockbuster. So now Sherman Alexie cannot even say that he hates Tonto for looking like him, he just hates him.

Here is the trailer for The Lone Ranger, listen to Tonto's dialogue, because it's all kinds of racist and awful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjFsNSoDZK8

Sherman Alexie's wonderful article "I Hated Tonto (Still Do)" : http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jun/28/entertainment/ca-64216

Alice Falco- Contemporary Connection and "Reel Injun"

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/race-society/native-americans-media-stereotype-redskins

The above link will redirect you to an article entitled "Native Americans: Negative impacts of media portrayals, stereotypes." This article speaks about the misinterpretation and the lack of correct representation of Native American tribes in mass media. The article also speaks about the psychological impacts misinterpretation and "relative invisibility" can have on Native American youth growing up today.

This article reminded me of the movie "Reel Injun" we have been watching in class. "Reel Injun" and the article often speak about similar issues on how mass media has misinterpreted Native American tribes. One of the key points in the article that stuck out to me stated, "When Native Americans are included in media depictions, they are usually shown as a particular type of Native American- for example, as Sioux, Navajo, or Apache. This narrow representation does not reflect the wide diversity among the hundreds of tribal cultures that exist within the borders of the United States." This reminded me of what was said in "Reel Injun." In the movie, they stated that in many films, the Native America actors wore the same, generic "Native American" outfit and there was no representation of different tribes. When Native Americans are depicted in films, the men often are shirtless with paint on their bodies and have headdresses on while riding a horse. The women are depicted as having feathers in their hair and a tan dress with moccasins on. Having a standard "Native American outfit" severely diminished individuality and differentiation of tribes. Also, simply calling the Native Americans in the films as just "Native Americans" or "Indians" does not show that there are many different tribes, all of which have different dresses and cultures. In my opinion, the lack of representation of specific tribes diminishes the knowledge and understanding non-Native Americans have of them.

Another key point the article makes that connects to "Reel Injun" states, "Native Americans experience 'relative invisibility' in the media. When they are included, they are generally portrayed as historical figures- individuals from the 18th and 19th centuries who wear buckskin, ride horses or live in teepees. When they are shown as modern people, they are often associated with addiction, poverty and lack of formal education." This statement connects to "Reel Injun." One key point the film speaks about was how Native Americans in old cowboy films were represented as being silent, amazing horse riders, and spirtually connected to nature. This stereotype has also stuck around for years after the films were released. Showing these stereotypes in mass media to non-Native Americans is damaging and harmful to the culture and the indigenous people who are part of different Native American tribes. It make Native Americans seem to be almost mythical creatures rather than another human being. As for modern times, there are Native American tribes that do live in poverty, however that should not be the only image non-Native Americans think of. Indigenous people should never be clumped into several demeaning stereotypes, however that's often how mass media portrays them which negatively impacts people's knowledge about them.

The article "Native Americans: Negative impacts of media portrayals, stereotypes" and the film "Reel Injun" both provide valid points of the damage misinterpretation and lack of representation of Native American tribes can have on non-Native American people as well as Native Americans today.

Taylor Golisano - Contemporary Connections "Tracks and How Native is Native?"

What makes you a Native American?

Who is able to tell you the definition of your own identity? From living on the reservation as a non enrolled Native, I have a bit of insight into that. For my whole life I considered myself to be Native  American and Italian. Until I moved to the reservation I never knew what that meant or how hard it is to define yourself as a member of that community. CNN said that "it is the tribes right to determine who its citizens are and who are not." My tribe, Seneca goes by the blood side of your mother. Although my blood comes from my mothers side it does not come from her mother. It comes from her father so even though I am as much Native as other people may be and even more than some people who are actually enrolled I had to constantly fight to prove my identity to the people around me. It tends to be easier for me because of  my appearance but for people like my sister and Pauline from "Tracks" it is much more difficult. Unlike my sister Pauline gives up on trying to be accepted into the community and tries to find her own path in the "white world". She thinks that if she tries to be accepted into another community that her voice can be heard and she will fit in but she eventually found out that she is not treated any better in Argus than she was on the reservation.

Fitting in and being accepted has a huge part in the reason why young non enrolled Natives or Natives who live off territory often go through identity crisis. It does not feel good to be apart of a community who does not see you fit to be apart of it. When Pauline acts out against the community it is her way of trying to get recognition in the community and how she deals with her other internal struggles. If it was easier to be accepted into Native communicates it might not be a problem but i can see when the tribal leaders are weary about that. Too many people would just claim to be Native and not do anything for their communities just to reap the tribal benefits. Hopefully in the future I can  Native children who are going through identity crisis' and make it easier for them to deal with and be accepted by their communities.

Contemporary Connections: "Tracks" and the Loss of Native American Land

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/05/trump-advisors-aim-to-privatize-oil-rich-indian-reservations.html

The link above will direct you to an article regarding the plans to privatize Native American land. Native American reservations cover a measly 2 percent of the United States. However, within this land, there is about a fifth of the United States oil, gas, and vast coal reserves. The new president of the United States (Donald Trump) is being advised to free those resources. By “freeing” these resources, Native American lands will be put into private ownership; this will take the land away from public treatment. This plan of private ownership is clearly made to “boost energy production” (as stated in the article), but it may end up deeply effecting and dividing Native American leaders, which, according to the article, “hold a range of opinions on the proper balance between development and conservation.” Although the plan of privatization could bring in a substantial amount of revenue, many Native Americans view such efforts as a "violation of tribal self-determination and culture." According to Tom Goldtooth, (a member of the Navajo and Dakota tribes, who runs the Indigenous Environmental Network), "privatization has been the goal since colonization - to strip Native Nations of their sovereignty."

American colonialism can often be used as a feature for Native American literature. In Louis Erdrich’s “Tracks,” the struggles forced upon Native Americans caused by American colonialism is shown throughout the book. In the beginning of the book, we immediately learn about the deadly sickness the Native American people had to endure. Nanapush then talks about food scarcity, diminishing animal populations, and land being stripped from the Native American people (whether they liked it or not). On page 2, Nanapush says, “…I saw the passing of times you will never know. I guided the last buffalo hunt. I saw the last bear shot. I trapped the last beaver with a pelt of more than two years’ growth. I spoke aloud the words of the government treaty, and refused to sign the settlement papers that would take away our woods and lake. I axed the last birch that was older than I, and I saved the last Pillager.” This particular quote has been mentioned numerous times while discussing "Tracks" in class. Not only is this quote incredibly powerful, but it stresses the effects of American colonialism almost as soon as we start reading the book. This suggests that the whole idea of having resources taken away from the Native peoples will be used as a theme throughout the book. Nanapush then describes another main character, Fleur. The loss of land greatly affected the relationship between Fleur and her daughter; her rich land was taken. Her land was a source of personal pride and food. It was taken as a result of the unjust laws of the government of the United States. Fleur abandons her only child believing that the loss of her land/home is a loss of everything else, including motherhood. As shown in "Tracks," the colonization and taking of Native American land has done nothing but negatively effect the Native American people. As shown in the article, it is seriously believed that the privatizing of Native American and will also result in disaster for the Native people. "Tracks" supports the idea that American colonialism is a common theme in Native American literature… Native American literature usually supports the history of the Natives; sadly, history tends to repeat itself.

Contemporary Connections: Who Decides Who Counts as Native American? and Native American Identities

Who Decides Who Counts as Native Americans?

          This article begins by highlighting the specific issues one man is facing to enroll his children as members of the Nooksack tribe. Four years ago, he applied for his children's enrollment and was told that there wasn't sufficient evidence to substantiate their tribal claims. The tribal chairman explains that he is at war, a war he is fighting to protect his people from an invasion of people he claims are not even Native American. Many Native Americans face difficulties when attempting to trace their ancestry because of governments efforts to extinguish, assimilate, and relocate tribes and by a scarcity of historical documents. The article goes on to explain that to federally recognized tribes, the ability to determine who is and who is not a part of the tribe is essential to what makes tribes sovereign entities. But to individuals, membership means citizenship in the tribe and all the emotional ties and treaty rights that come with enrollment. To these individuals, losing their enrollment means losing part of their identity, because for many Native Americans recognition by a tribe is the most accepted way for a person to prove they are Indian. 

          This article shows the continuous struggles Native Americans face in establishing their identities in an ever changing, modern world. In Tracks, we constantly see Pauline struggling to establish her identity, as well as her place in the world. Pauline states early on that "she was made for better" than the Native American life. From that point on, we primarily see Pauline struggling to distance herself from her heritage. However, we also see Nanapush and Fleur struggling to hold on to their ties to their people, primarily by passing on knowledge and by holding onto their land. However, this book does not depict instances of tribe enrollment and belonging, which to many Native Americans is a key component of their identity. This book shows how much Native Americans have lost: their land, their children, their way of life. But, I think that we sometimes forget Native Americans are still losing aspects of their cultures and are still struggling with their identities. Many tribes are losing their languages and now people are even losing their ability to claim their heritage and their belonging to their tribe. 

     

         Furthermore, this article highlights the lasting damage that the government has caused the Native American people. Most people are aware that Native Americans were relocated to reservations and that this deeply impacted their lives.In the book, we see the damage losing her land has on Fleur. However, I believe it is safe to assume that few people are aware of how hard the government worked to erase the Native Americans history and culture. By relocating and working to extinguishing tribes, the government created issues for modern Native Americans trying to establish their heritage. The governments actions years ago caused issues for modern Native Americans who are simply trying to belong to their communities and embrace an important aspect of their identities. 

Maia Steese - Contemporary Connections: Tracks & The Indian Healthcare Improvement Act

Indian County Media Network: "Making America Sick Again: What a Repeal of the Affordable Care Act Could Mean"
https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/travel/making-america-sick-repeal-affordable-care-act-mean/

The Issue

Although President Trump has only been in office for a few weeks now, he has made it very clear to Americans, his intentions of repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). What he and congress don't seem to realize (or even care to realize) is by repealing the act not only will many Americans have to suffer the loss of affordable healthcare, but so will the Native American community. By repealing the ACA, it will also repeal the authorization for the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), which is included under Obamacare. Like Grijalva said "Destroying the Affordable Care Act will indeed make America sick again, and it could make Native Americans sickest of all."


Originally the IHCIA was passed in 1976, but prior to recent authorization and changes of this act, the IHS programs have been expired for at least a decade. Since the affordable care act reauthorized the IHCIA, there have been many advancements made. Under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), about 2.2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives ( In 35 States) are provided with services including inpatient, emergency, ambulatory and dental care. Indian Health Service (IHS) programs also provides preventative care aimed at reducing the high rates of infant mortality, diabetes, hepatitis B, alcoholism, and suicide in Native American communities. The IHS funds are put towards construction and maintenance of hospital and healthcare centers, and even water supply and sanitation facilities. 

What does this issue have to do with Louise Erdrich's Tracks? And how does this issue connect?

Since the beginning of the Americas, it has become apparent that the American gov't hasn't had much concern for the Native American community. Whether it was the forced removal (1830 Indian Removal Act) of Native peoples from their land,  the countless massacres of Natives over the decades, or even the spread of disease onto the Natives during the Colombian Exchange, it's apparent that the community has been abused (and still is) mentally, physically, and emotionally by the U.S. gov't. In Louise Erdrich's Tracks, immediately in chapter 1 we are told by Nanapush the story of the spotted sickness that hit the Anishinabe people in the winter of 1912. In this section of the reading, the spotted sickness is described to have killed off whole families. The sick families that were left, then were forced close together to contain the sickness. On pg. 3 Nanapush talks of Pukwan (a tribal policeman) having to carry out the instructions of an U.S. agency. He nailed up an official quarantine sign to a cabin, filled with the bodies of those consumed by the sickness. In this moment I could see that the U.S. gov't has never really been concerned about the health of the Native community. Here we see the Anishinabe people consumed by the spotted sickness, and the U.S. gov't offering no help towards the Native community. They instead sent instructions for the tribal police to contain the sickness and get rid of those who have already passed. Connecting the reading to the article regarding the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), it's apparent that the U.S. gov't has never really provided adequate healthcare for the Native community. Although this isn't a big connection, I wanted to bring up this issue, so that people could become aware of the healthcare benefits the Native community is given (or lack of) today. Ultimately if the affordable care act is repealed, all the advancements made towards the IHCIA will be lost and so will the benefits of affordable healthcare. Once again, we can see how the American gov't has turned its' back on the Native American community once again.

Contemporary Connections: "Tracks" and the Diamond Pipeline

Fight against Diamond pipeline expands

The above link discusses the Diamond pipeline that will run from Cushing, Oklahoma to West Memphis, Tennessee. Along the way, the pipeline will be "crossing several sensitive waterbodies" that provide water to Native American communities. The article describes the dangers of this project, pointing out that one of the companies constructing it has a "history of major spills" and that the area in question has been frequently subject to earthquakes. According to Mekasi Horinek, a river near the White Eagle Ponca headquarters in Oklahoma has already been subject to eight "major fish kills" in the past few years. The pipeline will also cross the Trail of Tears, along which hundreds of Native Americans are buried in unmarked graves that will be desecrated by the pipeline's construction. No tribal officers were consulted by any companies behind the project before it was approved.

The circumstances of this project provide new insight into the prevailing significance of the Chippewa's loss of land in Tracks. Horinek describes how authorities lie to him and the other victims of water contamination in his area. "[They] always tell us they can’t pinpoint where the contamination is coming from," he says. Non-Natives are attempting to keep the Ponca Nation in ignorance, just as non-Natives in Tracks constantly take advantage of the Chippewa people who, for the most part, don't understand the contracts they are signing. Even Father Damien tries to reel Nanapush into working for the government, not expecting the old man to see the "snare" in his suggestion. Disrespect for meaningful Native land is also a common theme between the article and the book. It is against federal law not to consult tribal leaders in cases such as the Diamond pipeline construction, says Ashley McCray, but no one behind the project felt it necessary to abide by that law, and they accordingly disregard the deep disrespect of disturbing Native graves along the Trail of Tears. The characters in Tracks face a similar problem when they are forced to either pay an "impossible" price or lose the Pillager burial site. "Pillager land was not ordinary land to buy and sell," says Nanapush, but he knows the whites forcing them into this position would not understand. Obviously, this kind of misunderstanding continues today. The fact that early-twentieth-century events as described in Tracks are still so relevant a hundred years later truly brings to light the unchanging treatment of Native Americans and their land. Realizing this parallel may allow us to read more closely and come to a deeper understanding of white-Native relationships both in the past and in the present.

Janee Deck-Contemporary Connection: "Tracks & The Dakota Pipeline"

The Los Angeles Times: “Thousands Turn Out in Downtown L.A. to Protest Trump's Orders on Keystone, Dakota Pipelines”

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-dapl-protest-los-angeles-20170205-story.html

Important Quotes from article:

“Thousands of people converged on downtown Los Angeles on Sunday to protest the proposed $3.8-billion Dakota Access Pipeline, which activists across the country say threatens the water supply and sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota.”

“The Dakota Access project more recently became a national rallying point not only for environmental groups but for Native American tribes who said it threatened grounds they hold sacred. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has set up a camp to protest the pipeline, and the battle over it has become violent at times, with protesters clashing with police”

What do these quotes mean and how do they connect with our class and the novel, Tracks?:

For a long time now, Native American Tribes have struggled with the selfish actions and behaviors of the American Government. These actions can date to 1830, during the government’s “Indian Removal Act,” which was also known as the “Trail of Tears,” a painful “relocation” of multiple Indian tribes. In the novel Tracks, the government is allotting the land, paying the Native Americans for their land and they are basically “wiping” the Native Americans away. The narrator, Nanapush in “Tracks” made a telling point, when he said, “Money burns like tinder, flows off like water, and as for the government, the wind is steadier (Pg. 33).” This is an example from the Native American's perspective, of how the government is unreliable to the different tribes; they are selfish and do not appreciate or care for the Indigenous people of America.

The Native Americans have had their cultures and traditions taken away, which has caused many conflicts and emotional turmoil for them. This article, shows another of too many examples of the government acting in an egocentric manner. The Dakota Pipeline has said to have threats with the water supply within the sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Once again, sadly, the government seems to care mostly about themselves, and their economy of making money, rather than the world’s environment and also its people and their rights. I hope the people of America and the government can soon take account for their actions and become more aware and educated on the people and cultures surrounding them.

If anybody needs a copy of Tracks for the reading on Friday, they can borrow mine! Let me know at fopp1742@fredonia.edu or in the comments and we can figure out where/when to meet up.