Tricksters

I swear, Wile E. Coyote is a Native American trickster spirit! The more I read about the coyote trickster spirits, the more I see that goof chasing the road runner and getting creamed in the process. The Native Coyote is full of mischief and he gets himself into trouble all the time. He foolishly puts himself into bad situations and is led to disaster as the audience watches or listens with anticipation and a smile. The Coyote regularly gets killed and then comes back to life. Sounds a great deal like our Looney Toon!

Now I wonder if the rabbit trickster compares to Bugs Bunny?

Coyote & Rabbit

Coyote and Rabbit are a pair of stinkers in Native stories. Animals talk in their tails the tricksters do many things as well. They do foolish things and sinister things and then they sometimes do things that do not make a lot of sense. When they do show up, though, one is always looking for the other shoe to drop. Will the hero suffer or will the trickster fall into their own web? It is different every time...

Thomas King

You'll never believe what happened! After reading several very offensive books and wading through the forums of arrogant, ignorant, and angry Indians, I was furious and no longer interested in helping or even listening any more. True, not all of the American Indian literature has been vulgar and mean, but enough of them were horrible and I was turning dark in my opinion of the American Indian's plight. Then I read the words of Thomas King.

Of the many books we have been reading thus far, "The Truth About Stories" has been one of the better ones. Much like Sherman Alexie, I do not feel like I am under attack from King. He is entertaining, professional, and does not scoff at the white people who might be reading his book. He does what he sets out to do... he tells stories about telling stories.

This book has found the middle path. Wisdom flows and I feel enlightened. I heard his words and understood the subtle and not so subtle racist things that people said to him. I felt him shoot the deer and agreed when he set the rifle down. I felt mixed about Ishi, there was both good and bad. I almost cried when he talked about Louis and how he must have felt before he shot himself. I did not feel accused by these stories. I felt as if I was along for the ride as these stories were being told.

Thomas King is a wonderful story teller. As a teller of stories myself, I can only hope to achieve the ability to touch others through stories as he has.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus is a childhood hero of mine who has come under massive attack in the past decade. I am torn in my own opinions of him in this present day. When I was in grade school he was the man who discovered America and the reason we are all here! He was also the most courageous man of his day. He was willing to do what no one else was willing try. He was willing to prove to his culture that the Earth was round.

Like most great men of his day, the community at large thought he was mad. He fought hard to get permission to try to find a way to India by going around the world. No one else had the courage. He beat the odds. He found America.
Now he is belittled at every corner. He is the man who brought the evil white man down upon the Native American Indians. He took slaves, much like every other man in his culture. He fails at the moral standard of today. A man who beat the odds and changed the world has had his trophy taken away.

He wasn’t the first! The Vikings were the first! Well… yes, but the Europeans did not have this knowledge… so he was the first European to discover America.

He didn’t find America! He found Cuba! Sure… but he also found the “Americas” and was willing to try when no one else had the courage.

HE brought genocide to the Indians! No he didn’t. He was a curious explorer and a man of science. What other governments decided to do was not his fault.

Seven Circles

www.sevencircles.org

I found an interesting web site called "Seven Circles" and it is full of information. Native American events as well as phone numbers for the people setting up the events are there along with descriptions of some Native traditions and even a native joke of the month. While the events take place in California, they are a friendly group who is willing to answer questions. Their information is helping me in my final project.

We Shall Remain - Part 1

The first episode of this series was about the true story of the Thanksgiving story. While the American version only talks about the beginning, the Native story tells how it ended. The Wampanoag was the tribe who first saw the pilgrims, and many members of their tribe wanted to simply kill the English settlers off. The chief, however, felt the pilgrims were fragile and could be easily dealt with if they became disruptive.

An epidemic had been killing the Wampanoag off and they needed allies. Thus an alliance of convenience was formed between the two. Unfortunately they each had very different ideas on what this treaty meant. To the Wampanoag the treaty was a way for the two people to come together. They were becoming one people and this bond would unify them. To the English pilgrims, the Indians were simply an obstacle to be used and then discarded when they were through.

The first generation was able to live in peace because they needed each other. Once the English population swelled, they no longer needed the Indians and they were discarded. They had no tolerance for differences so they tried to convert the Indians to their way of life. They pushed and pushed until the new chief, Philip, was forced to declare war.

Interestingly enough, it was the intervention of the Mohawk tribe on behalf of the English that turned the tide of the war. Had the Mohawk not gotten involved, them English may have been pushed into the sea. It is a sad thing indeed that the Native American tribes contributed to their own demise in such a way.

So the real story of the first Thanksgiving ends with the children of the pilgrims killing all of the Indians who helped their parents survive... such a sad sad tale...

Qwo-Li Driskill

Qwo-Li is a difficult topic for me to write about. I almost decided not to blog at all about him because it means facing my personal prejudices and fears. As far as most men go, I consider myself to be one of the more sensitive ones. I'm ex-Army, chivalrous, and I firmly believe that every person in this world deserves the right to pursue happiness. This said, I have a confession.

Like most American men I find it very sexy to watch two women kissing and disgusting to watch two men kissing. It is a double standard but it that is what my biology does to me. However, I believe gay men and women have the right to happiness and I fought in the Army to defend that right. But even with these beliefs... Qwo-Li really freaks me out.

Part of this freak-out comes from the fact that I REALLY love his poetry. Some of the sexier bits of his writing are so well done that I get all tingly inside. However, my homophobic side gets me all twisted up inside when I remember this is a guy who likes other guys. It is all so confusing.

I think my biggest problem is that he chooses to dress as a woman. As a pagan, I have had to adjust my wardrobe, my appearance, my mannerisms, and my way of life to conform to the primarily Christian society. When I see someone getting hurt because they refuse to conform, it upsets me. Part of me gets angry at society, but part of me gets angry at the individual. I see acts of physical conformity to be part of the growing up process. While we are allowed to think whatever we want, we should accept that a boy in a dress is going to get his ass beat and he should probably stop wearing dresses in public.

While I do not condone the beating, I would probably do my best to avoid talking to him if I ran into him on the street. I see the boy in a dress to be a childish thing. Much like how I will never voluntarily walk through Harlem for fear of being shot, I do not feel a man should wear a dress.

So am I insensitive? Am I an ass? Maybe, but at least I gave 5 years to the Army so that these debates over rights and freedom could continue. Maybe in a generation or two things will be different. Maybe in a generation or two, the boys will not have to wish they were girls. Maybe... but I doubt it...

Oral Tradition of John Trudell

A funny thing happened in my poetry class. My poetry professor told us to write up a paper and presentation on present day great American poets. I decided to present John Trudell and my professor had never heard of him. She tried to talk me out of it, but the more I looked at her “alternative poets” the more I felt compelled to go back to John Trudell. Thus... I have finished my presentation and will be presenting tomorrow (April 15th).

Thus the tradition of Oral Teaching continues. I find irony and joy in this.

It is up to us to make a difference

I have been reading a few of my fellow classmate's blog entries and I figure I should put this out there instead of responding to the individual. Life is neither fair nor easy. It is up to the strong to use their power wisely and if you are angry about what is happening then it is your responsibility to live properly and help those who are being hurt.

My personal hero is King Arthur. I don't mean the all too realistic one with too many flaws, I mean the idealistic one who said, “the strong should defend the weak.” We are college students and we are in a position to become strong. It is our responsibility to defend the weak. The world is the way it is because people allowed it to get that way. It is up to us to change it. That is why we are here. We are here to learn and to make a difference.

Don't press the reset button, I like my Internet. Instead, get involved and try to make a difference. That is how we become better people. That is how we make this place we live into a better world.