Down by the River

Ms. Powell makes me happy. She is not hostile and angry, she is a lover of stories. She has learned that stories are the way for us to learn about each other. Her power to hear and tell stories is wonderful. She is a true woman of the world.

Story 1 is a fine example of how we should all live and feel. Our lives, much like our bead work, are things that we tend to work so hard not to ruin that we make it all way harder than it needs to be. We exhaust ourselves, cramp our hands, focus really hard, and miss the whole point of what we were trying to learn in the first place.

Evelyn, an Okla-homa Miami elder, reminds us: “Honey, don't work so hard-it should feel just right when you do it, just like this, comfortable but controlled-you don't want your hands to cramp up. Everybody's different, y'know, but you want to be comfortable while you're beading...”

This is how we should live life... we should start by listening to our elders more.

Story 2 is about our intentions. Our egos are very fragile at times. Often we work toward an unrealistic goal of perfection and we fall flat in the process. If we could simply work for the joy of working or work as a form of thanks to those who came before us then we would work more easily. The irony is that in working for the perfection of our egos we generally end up messing our work up worse than if we just worked for joy.

Later in the article, we see La Flesche's stories about being of two races. She does not see this as a curse but as a blessing. With the education of two cultures swimming in her brain, she is able to call upon more information than either group could alone. By opening herself up to multiple points of view she is more flexible and happier.