In the assigned reading for this week, the passage about the mountain lion stood out to me most notably. Tayo reveres the mountain lion as the hunter’s helper, whereas the Texan views the animal as a prize to be won and as a sport. The stark contrast in the way Tayo and the white men view the mountain lion is a perfect metaphor for the cultural differences, as well as the contrasting mindsets, that each group of people hold. For Tayo, the natural world is to be respected and revered because the Earth provides everything needed to survive. The Indians believe that mother nature is the strongest force and that she can withhold her gifts when disrespected (i.e. withholding the rain). In contrast, the white man sees nature as a possession to be dominated. To the Texan and the white culture in general, nature is seen as something that can be consumed. Tayo becomes very angry when he thinks about the greedy views that the white men have. He calls them “destroyers” and fears that “the earth and the animals might not know; they might not understand that he was not one of them” (pg 189). That being said, how did modern white/western culture stray from the reverence and respect held for the Earth if we started out by living off the land and depending upon it just like Indians? Why is our relationship with nature so much different than the Indians? Is there a way that we can gain that respect and relationship with nature back?
After the ceremony with Betonie, Tayo has reoccurring dreams about the speckled cattle that Josiah once had. “He dreamed of the speckled cattle. They had seen him and they were scattering between juniper tree, through tall yellow grass, below the mesas near the dripping spring. Some of them had spotted calves who ran behind them, their bony rumps flashing white and disappearing into the trees. He tried to run after them, but it was no use without a horse. They were gone, running southwest again, toward the high, lone-standing mesa the people called Pa’to;ch” (Silko, 134). Later, Tayo meets the woman in Betonie’s vision and again dreams about the cattle. “He dreamed about the cattle that night. It was a continuous dream that was not interrupted even when she reached out for him again and pulled him on top of her. He went on dreaming while he moved inside her, and when he heard her whisper, he saw them scatter over the crest of a round bare hill, running away from him, scattering out around him like ripples in still water” (Silko, 168). What is significant about the cattle? Why does he dream about them after the ceremony and when he is with the woman? What do those cattle mean to Tayo and why does he want to track them down and get them back? How are the two dreams about the cattle similar and/or different? Why? Why are these cattle important for Tayo’s journey and healing process?
“He lay there and hated them. Not for what they wanted to do with him, but for what they did to the earth with their machines, and to the animals with their packs of dogs and their guns. It happened again and again, and the people had to watch, unable to save or to protect any of the things that were so important to them” (Silko 189).
Josiah bred spotted cattle to be a stronger breed in order to survive the droughts in New Mexico. The cattle were stolen by a white man when Josiah died so Tayo sets off to find the cattle. After finding the cattle, Tayo is accused by white patrolmen of trespassing on white land. Eventually the patrolmen get distracted by a mountain lion which leaves Tayo injured. As he rests, Tayo thinks about the impact that white people have on the natural world. In particular, Tayo thinks about their exploitation of land, natural resources, and animals. White peoples’ view of the natural word vastly contrasts the views of the Pueblo Native Americans. In what other ways is white culture portrayed in the novel? What are the main values of white culture in contrast with Pueblo culture?
Another way in which settler-colonial influence and culture is portrayed within the book is the way in which some Native Americans tried to relate to the colonizer. This is blatantly exemplified in Rocky’s character, who is a full-blooded Native American, but refuses to adhere to traditions and cultures, and values science-based Western knowledge more than the communal and other forms of knowledge that were historically and culturally appropriate within the community he and Tayo grew up in. One passage that seems to contrast the two cultures exemplified in the book is illustrated on page 85, in the dialogue between Josiah, Tayo’s uncle, and Night Swan.
““Whore! Witch! Look at what you made me do to my family and my wife.”
“You came breathlessly,” she answered in a steady voice, “but you will always prefer the lie. You will repeat it to your wife; you will repeat it at confession. You damn your own soul better than I ever could.”” (Silko, 85).
In this passage, it is important to highlight the blatant reference to christianity that Night Swan is referring to while talking to Josiah. The christianity is part of the colonizer’s culture/values, and is shown in this passage as well as some other passages in the book to be a tool of the colonizer in the process of assimilation. Some of the main values of Native American/Pueblo culture lie in being connected with the land and the natural environment, and using forms other than natural medicine for healing ie., when Tayo sees a medicine man in the book. Additionally, following scientific knowledge instead of traditional knowledge is a stark contrast between white values and Native American/Pueblo culture. This was a really good and thought-provoking response!!
Although parts of the novel are set during prohibition, alcohol is always readily available in bars along the reservation line. The fact that none of the bars are situated inside the reservation marks alcohol and alcoholism as problems imported by whites. The men who are most affected by alcoholism are those who have returned from fighting in World War II, which reaffirms the idea that it is not a problem indigenous to the Native Americans. Without any effective cure, either from the white doctors or from the old ceremonies, especially in warfare, many of the Native American men self-medicated with alcohol. As Tayo explains, alcohol dulls some of the pain and anger the veterans feel. However, alcohol is not a viable solution to the problem. For women, it is part of the slippery path into prostitution and destitution, as in the cases of Tayo’s mother and of Helen Jean. For men, it is an agent of internalized racism and of deadly apathy, and it is an enabler of violence that inevitably turns on themselves. Alcohol repeatedly is presented to Tayo as a distraction from his ceremony. Silko presents a number of Native American characters with drinking problems, what do you think the significance of this is, and what do you think alcohol and alcoholism represent overall?
In a pre-colonial era, indigenous peoples made fermented wines, meads, and beers that weren’t especially alcoholic. These drinks, consumed for health and ceremony, were not as potent as the colonialist’s because they used distillation techniques. When Europeans and Americans interacted with tribal populations, they made large amounts of alcohol available to them while their land was being stolen and their culture destroyed. This commodity was then traded amongst settlers and natives for goods. Alcohol was a way to cope with encroaching colonialism. It’s devastating to see the evidence of this in Silko’s Ceremony and in history. I think alcohol represents the virus that is colonialism. Settlers introduced alcohol (and other cruel ideologies/wars/assimilation programs) and it destroyed the culture, population and thus the land. Alcoholism is significant because it is a model for how oppression and imperialism infiltrate an indigenous people.
Great question! I think that the alcohol, along with other symbols of modernity, display the “intoxicating” effects of the colonizers ways. I mean this in the way that consumerism has replaced our connectivity with the Earth, how colonizers numb their senses instead of address their problems head on like their distant war strategies that disconnect them from their actions. Modernization is alluring and swallows people up until they cannot escape, this can be compared with the drunken state produced by alcohol; it seems to be great, but is only causing greater problems that can only be seen when you finally “sober up”. It is easy to become engrossed in the ways of the colonizer, and like alcoholism, it is a disease that takes over and destroys livelihoods. The veterans that seek refuge in alcohol’s ability to forget their trauma caused by the white man’s war, and further proves the toxicity of the colonizers methods. Despite characters like Emo or Harley serving their country in war, they were still not protected from the oppression they faced back home, giving them little options to cope. While some readers may think that by stereotyping native americans in the book as alcoholics only reinforces the stereotype of these people as “drunken indians”, I think that is an attempt to shed light on the cause of this illness as being introduced by the White man’s dispossession of Indian culture. The only way for these people to ease the pain of their dispossession is to indulge as a way to forget/distract from the root causes of their impoverishment. I believe the symbolism of alcohol in this book is to recognize the identity crises held by Native Americans to want to be accepting in white society, but also keep their traditions in tact. This book is a constant battle between the dichotomy of Modernity vs. Tradition, and alcohol is the way to soften the stress of this cultural struggle.
In the film Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action Barry Dana, Chief of the Penobscot Nation in Maine was talking about the Penobscot River. Barry was talking about how the Penobscot River was sacred to their tribe, but he says to the industries that they see the river as a pipe or even sewer to the ocean. I think it was really interesting to have that comparison especially in the word choice Chief Barry uses. The negative or cacophony-like word choice emphasizes how the industry views the river and the environment overall. Compared to the Penobscot Nation, where Chief Barry uses the word sacred, which shows how the natives see the river differently in a positive and endearing way. The difference in word choice reveals the industries perspective on environmental resources such as the Penobscot River, which is an economic benefit, whereas Native Americans appreciate and even honor these resources. I think it was really frustrating to see that the Penobscot River is being polluted from the pulp paper manufacturing and an addition to that the cancer rates of the Natives in Maine is really high because of the pollution.
Connecting this part of the film with the image that was in Hannah’s presentation I think it was really interesting to see how that image resembles how the industry sees the Native Americans. Instead of seeing Natives as equals they seem them as an issue, obstacle or barrier that they have to get rid of by placing them in reservations. Thereby making this separation between industry or white people and the natives instead of working together or trying to come to an agreement. Instead the natives agency and voice is taken away and they become oppressed.
Connecting these ideas with what Silko says on page 122 the text read; “…we can deal with white people, with their machines and their beliefs. We can because we invented white people; it was Indian witchery that made white people in the first place.” I think this quote is really interesting because proceeding that quote there is a poem that talks about how “Indian witchery” made white people. I think here Silko is saying that the competition between the Natives such as the competition between resources and land resemble the competitive behavior of white people.
What are your thoughts about this quote? Do you think Indian witchery did create white people? Additionally, how can industries such as the paper pulp manufacturer become more aware and be more inclusive about how their pollution is affecting the lives of the Penobscot Nation?
The story of Tayo drinking in the bar with Emo and Harley, he erupts (p.38). This seems to be the first time that Tayo is able to express some of his pain and anger. Tayo talks of liquor (p.37), as “medicine for tight bellies and choked-up throats…” where he could “[crawl] inside and [watch] the storm swirling on the outside and he was safe there; the winds of rage could not touch him”. In some ways, this contradicts the actual results of the “medicine”, as Tayo seems more touched by rage then ever. At the same time, we could look at this outburst as part of Tayo’s healing process, where he is able to finally express himself (despite the way things escalated, as we find out later).
I wonder if we could look at alcohol as a sort of medicine for Tayo, or does it end up causing more harm than good?
In “Ceremony”, Betonie explains that white people are the product of Indian witchery. There is no reason to fear their machines or their beliefs. He then recounts their creation story. A part of this story reflects on white peoples’ relationship with the Earth.
“Then they grow away from the earth
then they grow away from the sun
then they grow away from the plants and animals.
They see no life
When they look
they see only objects.
The world is a dead thing for them
the trees and rivers are not alive
the mountains and stones are not alive
The deer and bear are objects.
They see no life.
They fear
They fear the world.
They destroy what they fear” (pg 135).
The story describes white people as detached from the Earth. They no longer have a connection to the natural systems or animals so they do not perceive them as living things but rather as objects. It is this change in perception that allows them to disrupt these systems and bring harm to the animals. How is this detachment described in the story relevant to the relationship some people have with the Earth today? Is there a way for this relationship to be changed for the better of the Earth and those who inhabit it?
In “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action,” they show how the Native’s land was taken over from them to build industries such as factories and mines. They were forced to work and under terrible conditions that they were exposed to toxicity such as Uranium. The Natives went to court multiple times to fight for their land and their rights. This can be compared to Betonie when he said, “Indians wake up every morning of their lives to see the land which was stolen, still there, within reach, its theft being flaunted. And the desire is strong to make things right, to take back what was stolen and to stop them from destroying what they have taken.” (117-118). He goes on to say how “all evil resides with white people” (122) and there are separate groups that stem from it. One who gives up fighting and becoming one with nature and one who uses nature to commit evil acts. The world seems to have been brainwashed by the stigma created by white people and judgements from their actions to the Natives. Tayo has been discriminated against all his life for being half white; however, he was raised with Indian customs. What can be done to fix the relationship between the people and with nature? How have the hardships he encountered because of his race affected his health? Why does the change of traditions need to affect the health of others, in the film and the book?
In “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action” there a few different stories about how different groups of Native Americans were given land from the US government that was once theirs and soon the government realized that there was either natural resources on the land or great places for factories. Either way there were pollutants that were released into the landscape, once again hurting native people and killing the land they are so deeply connected to. The government has a long history of doing wrong by Native Americans whether it be out right genocide or environmental racism from toxic run off or unsafe working conditions in mines. This relates back to the Ceremony, Tayo and some of his childhood friends suffer from extreme PTSD from fighting in Japan, however they do not receive the treatment they need from government, this is just like the cases of the environmental racism that effects tribes today, the government know there are people in need of help but does not care because they are more concerned with profits. In Tayo’s case the government was more concerned with winning the war and not rehabilitant him and his fellow veterans. My question is will the government ever right there wrongs? Will the government ever give the indigenous communities across the US the land that they deserve, clean, unpolluted land? My next question is how does capitalism play into the oppression of the Native Americans across the US? Will capitalism actually prevent the US from righting its wrongs against the Native Americans?
In “Ceremony,” Silko describes the world as “fragile,” and explains the meaning of the word like this:
“The word he chose to express ‘fragile’ was filled with the intricacies of a continuing process, and with a strength inherent in spider webs woven across paths through sand hills where early in the morning the sun becomes entangled in each filament of web” (Silko 32).
In the indigenous language, the word fragile carries a deeper meaning than it does in english. Like a spider web, something that is fragile could be easily broken, yet still deeply connected to other things. Silko could be relating this to the indigenous people’s situation. They are deeply connected to each other and to the land they live on, but it can be taken away so easily by the US government and those in power. How do the indigenous people represent this deeper, strong fragility that Silko describes? What makes their world fragile, and has it always been this way or is this a new way of thinking about the world?
One particular passage that stuck out from this week’s readings was the story that was perceived to be told by a witch when Tayo was setting around the fire with an old gentleman (page 125). This passage started with an explanation of white people;
“Then they grow away from the earth, then they grow away from the sun, then they grow away from the plants and animals. They see no life, when they look they see only objects. The world is a dead thing for them, the trees and rivers are not alive, the mountains and stones are not alive. The deer and bear are objects. They see no life.”
The passage continues (almost like a prophecy) explaining the sole reasoning as to why the white people do what they do. I am using this passage as my reflection because it connects perfectly with the movie about the different Indian reservations and how white people wanted to take control and use their land for profit and nothing else. Within the movie and every time that talks about a different Indian reservation, they review how the white people try to take control over territory and use it to drill for oil and coal. The only difference is that the movie talks about the success of the native people in fighting for their right to keep the land free from any mining. The story from the book does not reflect on any success in protecting the land but it goes into explicit detail about villages will be wiped out, resistors will be viewed as enemies and their blood will cover the soil of the land that they try to protect. The story is too long to rewrite for this reflection but each passage can be somehow connected to each story within the movie “Homeland”. My two questions are strictly this, If industrial companies tried to understand the land and participate in practices to help renew the land they destroy, would their relationship with natives/who oppose drilling and the land be improved, or are we too far gone to fix it? Also is there a way to incorporate Indian values into large drilling and exporting operations to help improve their use of the land they drill or excavate on?
In the Homeland documentary, one of the main themes throughout all four segments was the stark contrast between the Native’s connection to their land/ culture and the people they were fighting against that were only interested in legality, money, power, and traditional American interest. In each section of the film the Native people had such a rich culture and deep connection to the land they were fighting to protect. The white people just see a natural resource they can exploit and jump on it and start extracting it without considering any outside implications. One side was concerned with spiritual connections, culture, and justice while the other side was more worried about legal papers, politics, and money. This contrast just really hit me while watching. This can also be tied into something that old Betonie said to Tayo while they were sitting by the fire cooking ribs in Ceremony. Betonie says, “They only fool themselves when they think it is theirs. The deeds and papers don’t mean anything. It is the people who belong to the mountain (pg. 118).” The white people in the documentary see all the land as theirs so they believe they can come in and use it however they want. They have created systems that will allow them to do so and the only way the Native’s can challenge them is to play within a system that was created to work against them. In the second section of the film with the Gwich’in Athabaskan Tribe in Alaska, Evon Peter talks about how they have to change their natural way of living in order to get up early and keep fighting against the destruction of their land. They have to keep the same pace as their opponent so they don’t get behind. They have to play the white people’s game in order to hopefully achieve their goals. But, to the Natives those legal papers don’t mean a thing. The only things that hold value are spirituality and a connection to the land. The two outlooks could not be more different. So, I guess my question is just do you think white people who focus more on legality and systems can ever properly coexist with Native people who focus on the opposite? What would that dynamic look like if they were to coexist peacefully?
In the Film, there seemed to be a theme of value on western education. There seemed to be a key player in the conflict on each reservation that had a strong background in western knowledge through some means or another. Even going as far as to help share this knowledge with those joining them in attempting to fight destruction to their lands. The argument was that this knowledge was crucial if there was any hope of effectively combating the corporations or governments trying to outsmart and outmaneuver these people in order to exploit their land. Similarly, in Ceremony, when discussing the topic of raising cattle on the family’s land, Rocky is described as having an aversion to the traditional practices, raising the point that there was a lack of education, he says this to the family on page 69, ““Those books are written by scientists. They know everything there is to know about beef cattle. That’s the trouble with the way the people around here have always done things—they never knew what they were doing.”” Inspiring the internal reaction by Tayo detailed on page 70, “Tayo was suddenly sad because what Rocky said was true. What did they know about raising cattle? They weren’t scientists.” Obviously education is important in this day in age, especially when legal and technical knowledge is indispensable against major corporations and governments with an abundance of resources for legal battles. Ensuring children can attend school on reservations is important so that they can be prepared for the inevitable world outside with varying lifestyles and issues. Do you think it’s possible though that this damages a child or teenagers’ view of their ancestral traditions? Or devalues tribal knowledge in certain areas? If so, is this an unavoidable side effect of western education or is it something that could be mitigated?
On pages 122-128 in Ceremony, there is the creation story of white people, told through a Native American story. What is the significance of framing the invention of white people by the Native American culture? On page 122, the old man tells Tayo about the trickery of witchcraft saying, “They want us to believe all evil resides with white people. Then we will look no further to see what is really happening. They want us to separate ourselves from white people, to be ignorant and helpless as we watch our own destruction. But white people are only tools that the witchery manipulates; I tell you, we can deal with white people, with their machines and their beliefs. We can because we invented white people; it was Indian witchery that made white people in the first place.” How does this quote play into the theme of a mixed cultural landscape and how does it offer advice to allow Native American culture to exist beyond destruction? What role does Tayo play in this? What does Tayo represent?
The film Homeland is a very powerful and moving documentary about 4 different Natives groups and their struggles with environmental degradation and racism. It is hard to label what occurs as environmental degradation because much of the film is focused more on the topic of environmental racism; how many Native culture are fighting for their rights and traditions which they have practiced for thousands of years. I had several thoughts, while viewing the film, on how Gandhi, Fanon, Thoreau, and other would react to this conflict. I really think Fanon would have the loudest voice in speaking to the film. Much of what we see in the film is violence and the degradation of one culture to fuel the another. Although much of the protesting would be nonviolent, I believe that the only way to get the industries attention would be through violent acts. This film is also troubling because it is occurring on American soil. This is not to say that America should be held in a different light and that no acts of corruption, degradation, and racism occur here but that people are blindly willing to over look what is happening. Winona LaDuke speaks to this blindness by saying, “So we may seem far away and distant, and we never permeate the American media. We don’t exist. But in reality, our reality is also your reality” (1:24:32). This quote speaks volumes to many issues. It is not the issue of several groups of minorities, but an issue as a whole that we all contribute to even in blind ignorance. If it is happening to them, who is to say it will not happen to others if left unchecked. Being from Appalachia, I can also see violence and degradation in my own community from large industries. I hope that sustainable and just changes can occur to benefit all these communities.
“The people asked,
“Did you find him?”
“Yes, but we forgot something.
Tobacco.”
But there was no tobacco
so Fly and Hummingbird had to fly
all the way back down
to the fourth world below
to ask our mother where
they could get some tobacco.
“We came back again,”
they told our mother.
“Maybe you need something?”
“Tobacco”
“Go ask caterpillar”
(pg 151)
I found this part interesting and applicable to human behavior even now a days. We seem to always be asking for more and never content with what we have, once we find what we are looking for we continue to push and ask for more. In this poem it seems that Fly and Hummingbird want tobacco and go to any lengths to try and get it, as far as going to the fourth world below. This poem also says that there was no tobacco, so does this mean that they are seeking something that does not exist? This is also interesting because prior to this poem in the book they said, ” ‘Sometimes I have to shake my head,’ she’d say, ‘because human beings deserve exactly what they get’ “(151). She had helped them and they were “dirty stupid people” in her opinion. This makes me think that this poem is making fun of human nature and who we are. Tobacco is not good for us yet we will actively seek it out no matter the challenge, just like alcohol and other things in our lives.
As I watched the film “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action”, it became clear to me that the Native’s land is sacred. More specifically, the example of the Penobscot River is a representation of just how important the land really is. In other words, the Native people also heavily rely on the land, yet they do not just use it as a way to benefit, but they actually appreciate the meaning of the river. Unlike many people, the Native’s appreciate the actual natural value of the land, regardless of the money. Yet, the white man only sees the land as an economic benefit, further representing the divide between beliefs. Because of this, my question is, how do you think the perspective of the Natives changed? Has the land and the river become less sacred over time? Is it because of the behaviors of white men that this was caused?
Are the roots of the issues presented in this film primarily extractive environmental practices or the social and political autonomy/self-determination of indigenous tribes? While a binary, either/or framework will obviously limit our ability to understand this film and the issues it brings up fully, what is the foundation? Gail Small’s work as an attorney for the Northern Cheyenne Nation in Montana fighting against methane gas wells makes clear that her community lacked the political (and economic/resource) power to be able to defend themselves against multinational energy companies and their influence in national environmental policy in the US. On the other hand, though, if environmental laws barred methane gas wells, oil drilling, uranium mining, and industry that contaminates watersheds (like the paper factory in Maine), then the native people this film focuses on would not have to defend their lands in the same way.
At the very beginning of Ceremony, Tayo has a nightmare. That night, the singing came first, and he could hear a man singing in Spanish. The singer kept repeating “y volveré” (6). Later, on page 96, when Tayo goes to bring the Night Swan a message from Josiah, he hears the scratchy Victrola singing the words “y volveré.” The Spanish words he keeps hearing means “I will return.” Tayo wishes for the return of many things: his mother, the rain, his friends, and family members who die in the war, the way he used to be treated by white Americans when he was in uniform. Most of all, after he physically returns from the war, he wishes for the return of himself mentally.
On page 15 when the doctor is trying to speak with Tayo, he only answers in the third person insisting that “he is invisible.” The use of the third person signifies that Tayo isn’t really talking, and he isn’t really there. Tayo is still mentally at war with himself. Tayo is repeatedly coming back to the words “y volveré.” What is the significance of his experience with the Night Swan, and hearing these words specifically in her apartment? What contribution does the Night Swan have in Tayo’s spiritual journey of returning back to himself?
During Red Cloud’s War (1866-1868), the only war with the US military that American Indians were able to force the American’s to sue for peace, a number of Lakota leaders were taken to the great cities of the industrialized US in the hopes that they would be able to understand the astounding numbers of the white men and the unfathomable magnitude of their industrial achievements with the aim of breaking their spirit to fight. Upon their return, Red Cloud called them ‘the men who saw too much.’ (The Heart of Everything That Is, 2013). This is echoed in Ceremony when Silko writes, “[I]t was everything they had seen- the cities, the tall buildings, the noise and the lights, the power of their weapons and machines. They were never the same after that: they had seen what the white people had made from the stolen land.” (156)
How does the sheer spectacle and scale of modern industrialized society demoralize indigenous people in their quest to preserve their cultures? How much does this factor in to the hopelessness and despair experienced by so many?
When watching “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action,” I couldn’t help but connect the experiences of former uranium miners at the doctor’s office with Tayo’s experience with Western medicine. During the mid-20th century, many Diné people living on Navajo Nation were forced into uranium mining in order for the United States to bolster its nuclear capabilities. In order to further the cause of United States imperialism, the miners were exposed to poisonous uranium debris without any PPE and received few contributions for their sacrifices. This reminded me of Tayo experiencing PTSD from fighting with the US army overseas and receiving little culturally relevant support from the government that he fought for. These two cases demonstrate the willingness of the settler state to exploit the people who are Indigenous to America in order to further subjugate people in far away lands. Seeing the elderly Navajo men who are now experiencing serious medical difficulties as a result of their past as miners go to sterile Western medical offices to fix their ailments in the documentary made me wonder if those men were seeking Diné specific care as well. Considering how Tayo’s illness could not be solved by Western medicine alone, and I wonder if using Navajo traditions could fix these issues for the former miners. Or do Western problems (like uranium mining and World Wars) require Western solutions?
On page 87, Auntie begins telling Tayo about his mother and her interactions with the “white men and Mexicans”. Auntie tells Tayo that his mother was ashamed of the Indian ways that were taught to her in school (88) but also sadness in herself for caring about her old “deplorable customs” (89). Auntie says that Tayo’s mother knew “truth in their fists and in their greedy feeble love-making” (88). Why is it significant that no one had told Tayo the story of his mother and her lover(s)? Is it because of a deep-running pain caused by the white men? Is Tayo seen as a product of his mothers’ bad decisions or following in her footsteps? Does Auntie view Tayo as “less Indian”?
Throughout the film “Homeland” we see the Native American tribes fighting to protect their land from energy companies drilling for oil and dumping waste in the waters. The film shows the power of community, as these tribes unite together to fight for their rights, however it also shows the struggles that come with being a minority group without much political power in trying to enact change in law and policy. The film shows how bureaucracy can suppress people when there is political or economic gains to be made, such as retrieving oil for energy supply, regardless of the opposition. Should issues relating to Native American land being drilled upon and polluted be more mainstream? And would issues like this be easier to fight if the entire country was united, rather than just the Native American tribes who are directly affected?
Pages 122-128 of Ceremony goes into detail about the creation of white people, speaking on how the witch people from all over the world got together and showed off their wicked creations. Then, the final one, instead of creating something, told a story and in turn, brought white people to life. The description of them really struck me:
“Then they grow away from the earth… They see no life – when they look – only objects… They fear – They destroy what they fear. They fear themselves… They will carry objects which can shoot death faster than the eye can see…” And so on. It paints a grim picture of white people (understandably so). It ends with the witch shaking its head, saying that they were already coming. What do you all think of this passage? All of the witches seemed to fear this creation the most… Why do you all think this is? (It’s a rhetorical question for the most part, as the poem explains that nothing good is in store from them, but I’d like to know others’ interpretations of this passage as well, as I found it fascinating and all-too-true).
In Ceremony, Silko deconstructs whiteness to better understand the violence of whiteness. First, there is the aspect of anti-culture: “they will try to stop you from completing the ceremony” (125). Next, the rigidness. Silko shows how this is violent because it leads to death because “things which don’t shift and grow are dead things” (126). Similar to river channelization which hinders the life of the river, whiteness channelizes people and prevents life. The rules of whiteness extends its violence with how it regulates and fences off land. To counter this idea Silko asserts that “the deeds and papers don’t mean anything. It is the people who belong to the mountain” (128). Trying to understand where this behavior and set of ideas stems from, Silko goes into the story of where white people came from. How white people came from competition (134). “This world was already complete even without white people. There was everything” (133) Silko implies that there was a world before whiteness therefore there can be a world after whiteness. It is important to deconstruct whiteness because whiteness will destroy all of us because “They fear / They fear the world / They destroy what they fear / They fear themselves (135). How? What is the first step in this collective process? Has that step already been taken? Who initiates this deconstruction?
Throughout the book, Tayo has reoccurring dreams about speckled cattle. One instance was after the ceremony with Betonie; “He dreamed about the speckled cattle. They had seen him and they were scattering between juniper trees, through tall yellow grass, below the mesas near dripping spring. Some of them had spotted calves who ran behind them, their bony rumps flashing white and disappearing into the trees. He tried to run after them, but it was no use without a horse. They were gone, running southwest again, toward the high, lone-standing mesa the people called Pa’to’ch” (134). Another was after Tayo met the woman from Betanie’s vision.
What is the significance or symbolism behind the cattle? What is the reason for the speckled cattle specifically to be a reoccurring dream for Tayo?
In Ceremony, we see that preserving tradition is essential in saving the Native American community. It seems to be that when tradition is forgotten it brings destructive droughts and disaster. In what way does the book emphasize the use of tradition and how does conflict contradict other things like racism? Many of the traditional stories and ceremonies in the book revolve around ensuring adequate rainfall for the reservation. What do you believe is the symbolism of the hummingbird that Tayo sees and then experiences rain shortly after? After the use of tradition in a ceremony, the rain returns, and Tayo remembers a key thing that he had seemed to forgotten that Josiah once told him, that too little rain and too much rain can be disastrous.
In Ceremony, yellow and sunlight seems to be a recurring theme as Tayo repeatedly desrcribes the way the sun shines through windows and the feeling of warmth associated. For example, on page 171 when he was drinking coffee at the woman’s house he details “Sunshine from the window made a big square on the floor, and something in the silence of the room was warm and comfortable like this sunlight”. There are two other examples of this where Tayo notices this: “…the square of light grew steadily warmer, more yellow with the climbing sun” (5) and “…the square of sunshine on the wall grew larger and diffuse…” (17). Could this bright yellow sunlight and warmth represent Tayo’s healing process and transition into becoming more happy and comfortable with himself? What is the significance of this being repeated throughout the novel?
The experience of reading Ceremony is very disorienting and confusing. Silko often jumps from different scene, even different time periods without explanation or warning. What role does Silkos writing style play in character formation of Tayo? It seems as though Silko chaotic writing style is used so the reader can be in position to understand Tayos thought, emotions, and experiences. Especially, when Tayo starts to speak in the Third person, “He can’t go. He cries all the time. Sometimes he vomits when he cries” (14). Do you see this correlation? If not, what else do you see in Silkos writing style?
So much of Native culture is based around respect for the environment, a strong sense of place and rooted in tradition. Both Ceremony and the film Homeland reinforce this. What are some examples of what happens both short and long term when Native tribes are displaced from their land, removed from their traditions and lied to by the US government? What are steps that could be taken to make reparations to indigenous tribes in order to promote strong communities?
The film entitled “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action” covers several stories, including the fight to keep strip mining off a Cheyenne reservation in southeastern Montana. The reservation is surrounded by “Montana’s largest power plant, five massive strip mines, and the largest coal fire generating complex in the country” as stated in the film. The placement of energy plants was influenced by former Vice President Dick Cheney, who held a closed door meeting regarding energy policy in the United States. Although nobody was able to understand what happened during these meetings, due to the fact that it was not open to public opinion, it can be deduced that Cheney pushed for increases in natural gas extraction with influence of environmentally racist ideologies. Winona La Duke stated in the film that Native American reservations are a frontier for the desired extraction of energy resources by the United States. In what ways does environmental racism affect energy policy decision making with the United States in regard to Native American livelihood? How is it possible for power plants to encroach upon land that is not theirs legally?
Throughout Ceremony, Silko emphasizes the importance of being in harmony with nature and shows how harmful it can be when the relationship is out of balance. Silko also stresses the mechanized destruction of white people and their disregard of the impact they have on the natural world. When watching “Homeland,” I was intrigued by the use of certain modern devices, like the ATVs and freezers, by the Gwich’in Tribe. While Silko encourages the adaptation of certain cultural elements (like the ceremonies) over time by Native peoples, the use of these certain devices, which make some things easier for members of their community, also creates a dependency on the delivery of oil. In the documentary it is mentioned that if the generator fails, the freezer will shut off and their food supply for the winter will go bad. While Indigenous groups arguably contribute the least to climate change and the Gwich’in tribe is not responsible for the melting of the permafrost, do you think that Tayo would argue that the Gwich’in’s use of modern conveniences and reliance on ‘the white man’ is causing a clash between them and the natural world around them, leading to their current ecological crises?
In the film “Homeland,” most of the depictions of interactions between different cultures (white and Indigenous) are destructive. The white interactions with Indigenous peoples hurt their communities, by degrading their land, ignoring their desires, and discriminating against them. In “Ceremony,” Betonie tells Tayo the story of how white people came into existence. The story is chilling, and feels almost counterintuitive for Betonie to tell Tayo, because of the disdain Tayo has for his mixed heritage. Betonie continues on to tell Tayo that not all white people are bad, and Tayo must not think so. Despite what Betonie tells Tayo about not hating all white people, are all interactions between white people and other cultures negative? If so, are white people capable of having positive interactions with other cultures? If not, why?
On page 135, when speaking of the creation of white people by witches, it says
“They fear
They fear the world.
They destroy what they fear.
They fear themselves.”
I found this story of creation really interesting because it is unlike any other creation story I have ever heard. I think it speaks a lot of truth to how white people destroy everything around them, including themselves. The story paints the history of colonialism like a horror story, which it definitely is. What connections from this story of creation can be drawn to how Western (mostly white) religions, paint creation and are formed on the practice of colonialism?
In “Ceremony” Silko writes “It was a cure for that, and maybe for other things too. The spotted cattle wouldn’t be lost any more, scattered through his dreams, driven by his hesitation to admit they had been stolen, that the land – all of it – had been stolen from them.” To set the scene, I chose this quote because for me, it symbolizes strength, survival, and cultural differences coming together. This quote symbolizes how through the use of hybridization, the southwest was able to use their knowledge of the land and and animals to create something able to survive in harsh conditions and in turn the western man ended up stealing what was “better” than his, Tayo’s family cattle. I speak on this, because it also represents how western culture often displaces indigenous peoples, leaving them empty handed. To take this a step further, I see the spotted cattle as a connection between these cultural influences and a possible way for meshing the two together. I see the brown spots on the cattle as representing indigenous cultures while the white spots, I see as representing western culture. I took this this quote as a way to shows how we can learn from Native, or indigenous peoples by using their wisdom about how to live off the land and coming to solutions to work together, rather than exploitation, and cultural dominance. So, my question for this week is why in this scene, why are the cattle so important to Tayo? Do they just represent a need for the family cattle and survival, or do they represent something that could bring cultures together rather than apart; healing not only Tayo himself, but healing the cultural gaps?
SD 3800 Voices in Sustainable Development 
In the assigned reading for this week, the passage about the mountain lion stood out to me most notably. Tayo reveres the mountain lion as the hunter’s helper, whereas the Texan views the animal as a prize to be won and as a sport. The stark contrast in the way Tayo and the white men view the mountain lion is a perfect metaphor for the cultural differences, as well as the contrasting mindsets, that each group of people hold. For Tayo, the natural world is to be respected and revered because the Earth provides everything needed to survive. The Indians believe that mother nature is the strongest force and that she can withhold her gifts when disrespected (i.e. withholding the rain). In contrast, the white man sees nature as a possession to be dominated. To the Texan and the white culture in general, nature is seen as something that can be consumed. Tayo becomes very angry when he thinks about the greedy views that the white men have. He calls them “destroyers” and fears that “the earth and the animals might not know; they might not understand that he was not one of them” (pg 189). That being said, how did modern white/western culture stray from the reverence and respect held for the Earth if we started out by living off the land and depending upon it just like Indians? Why is our relationship with nature so much different than the Indians? Is there a way that we can gain that respect and relationship with nature back?
After the ceremony with Betonie, Tayo has reoccurring dreams about the speckled cattle that Josiah once had. “He dreamed of the speckled cattle. They had seen him and they were scattering between juniper tree, through tall yellow grass, below the mesas near the dripping spring. Some of them had spotted calves who ran behind them, their bony rumps flashing white and disappearing into the trees. He tried to run after them, but it was no use without a horse. They were gone, running southwest again, toward the high, lone-standing mesa the people called Pa’to;ch” (Silko, 134). Later, Tayo meets the woman in Betonie’s vision and again dreams about the cattle. “He dreamed about the cattle that night. It was a continuous dream that was not interrupted even when she reached out for him again and pulled him on top of her. He went on dreaming while he moved inside her, and when he heard her whisper, he saw them scatter over the crest of a round bare hill, running away from him, scattering out around him like ripples in still water” (Silko, 168). What is significant about the cattle? Why does he dream about them after the ceremony and when he is with the woman? What do those cattle mean to Tayo and why does he want to track them down and get them back? How are the two dreams about the cattle similar and/or different? Why? Why are these cattle important for Tayo’s journey and healing process?
“He lay there and hated them. Not for what they wanted to do with him, but for what they did to the earth with their machines, and to the animals with their packs of dogs and their guns. It happened again and again, and the people had to watch, unable to save or to protect any of the things that were so important to them” (Silko 189).
Josiah bred spotted cattle to be a stronger breed in order to survive the droughts in New Mexico. The cattle were stolen by a white man when Josiah died so Tayo sets off to find the cattle. After finding the cattle, Tayo is accused by white patrolmen of trespassing on white land. Eventually the patrolmen get distracted by a mountain lion which leaves Tayo injured. As he rests, Tayo thinks about the impact that white people have on the natural world. In particular, Tayo thinks about their exploitation of land, natural resources, and animals. White peoples’ view of the natural word vastly contrasts the views of the Pueblo Native Americans. In what other ways is white culture portrayed in the novel? What are the main values of white culture in contrast with Pueblo culture?
Another way in which settler-colonial influence and culture is portrayed within the book is the way in which some Native Americans tried to relate to the colonizer. This is blatantly exemplified in Rocky’s character, who is a full-blooded Native American, but refuses to adhere to traditions and cultures, and values science-based Western knowledge more than the communal and other forms of knowledge that were historically and culturally appropriate within the community he and Tayo grew up in. One passage that seems to contrast the two cultures exemplified in the book is illustrated on page 85, in the dialogue between Josiah, Tayo’s uncle, and Night Swan.
““Whore! Witch! Look at what you made me do to my family and my wife.”
“You came breathlessly,” she answered in a steady voice, “but you will always prefer the lie. You will repeat it to your wife; you will repeat it at confession. You damn your own soul better than I ever could.”” (Silko, 85).
In this passage, it is important to highlight the blatant reference to christianity that Night Swan is referring to while talking to Josiah. The christianity is part of the colonizer’s culture/values, and is shown in this passage as well as some other passages in the book to be a tool of the colonizer in the process of assimilation. Some of the main values of Native American/Pueblo culture lie in being connected with the land and the natural environment, and using forms other than natural medicine for healing ie., when Tayo sees a medicine man in the book. Additionally, following scientific knowledge instead of traditional knowledge is a stark contrast between white values and Native American/Pueblo culture. This was a really good and thought-provoking response!!
Although parts of the novel are set during prohibition, alcohol is always readily available in bars along the reservation line. The fact that none of the bars are situated inside the reservation marks alcohol and alcoholism as problems imported by whites. The men who are most affected by alcoholism are those who have returned from fighting in World War II, which reaffirms the idea that it is not a problem indigenous to the Native Americans. Without any effective cure, either from the white doctors or from the old ceremonies, especially in warfare, many of the Native American men self-medicated with alcohol. As Tayo explains, alcohol dulls some of the pain and anger the veterans feel. However, alcohol is not a viable solution to the problem. For women, it is part of the slippery path into prostitution and destitution, as in the cases of Tayo’s mother and of Helen Jean. For men, it is an agent of internalized racism and of deadly apathy, and it is an enabler of violence that inevitably turns on themselves. Alcohol repeatedly is presented to Tayo as a distraction from his ceremony. Silko presents a number of Native American characters with drinking problems, what do you think the significance of this is, and what do you think alcohol and alcoholism represent overall?
In a pre-colonial era, indigenous peoples made fermented wines, meads, and beers that weren’t especially alcoholic. These drinks, consumed for health and ceremony, were not as potent as the colonialist’s because they used distillation techniques. When Europeans and Americans interacted with tribal populations, they made large amounts of alcohol available to them while their land was being stolen and their culture destroyed. This commodity was then traded amongst settlers and natives for goods. Alcohol was a way to cope with encroaching colonialism. It’s devastating to see the evidence of this in Silko’s Ceremony and in history. I think alcohol represents the virus that is colonialism. Settlers introduced alcohol (and other cruel ideologies/wars/assimilation programs) and it destroyed the culture, population and thus the land. Alcoholism is significant because it is a model for how oppression and imperialism infiltrate an indigenous people.
Great question! I think that the alcohol, along with other symbols of modernity, display the “intoxicating” effects of the colonizers ways. I mean this in the way that consumerism has replaced our connectivity with the Earth, how colonizers numb their senses instead of address their problems head on like their distant war strategies that disconnect them from their actions. Modernization is alluring and swallows people up until they cannot escape, this can be compared with the drunken state produced by alcohol; it seems to be great, but is only causing greater problems that can only be seen when you finally “sober up”. It is easy to become engrossed in the ways of the colonizer, and like alcoholism, it is a disease that takes over and destroys livelihoods. The veterans that seek refuge in alcohol’s ability to forget their trauma caused by the white man’s war, and further proves the toxicity of the colonizers methods. Despite characters like Emo or Harley serving their country in war, they were still not protected from the oppression they faced back home, giving them little options to cope. While some readers may think that by stereotyping native americans in the book as alcoholics only reinforces the stereotype of these people as “drunken indians”, I think that is an attempt to shed light on the cause of this illness as being introduced by the White man’s dispossession of Indian culture. The only way for these people to ease the pain of their dispossession is to indulge as a way to forget/distract from the root causes of their impoverishment. I believe the symbolism of alcohol in this book is to recognize the identity crises held by Native Americans to want to be accepting in white society, but also keep their traditions in tact. This book is a constant battle between the dichotomy of Modernity vs. Tradition, and alcohol is the way to soften the stress of this cultural struggle.
In the film Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action Barry Dana, Chief of the Penobscot Nation in Maine was talking about the Penobscot River. Barry was talking about how the Penobscot River was sacred to their tribe, but he says to the industries that they see the river as a pipe or even sewer to the ocean. I think it was really interesting to have that comparison especially in the word choice Chief Barry uses. The negative or cacophony-like word choice emphasizes how the industry views the river and the environment overall. Compared to the Penobscot Nation, where Chief Barry uses the word sacred, which shows how the natives see the river differently in a positive and endearing way. The difference in word choice reveals the industries perspective on environmental resources such as the Penobscot River, which is an economic benefit, whereas Native Americans appreciate and even honor these resources. I think it was really frustrating to see that the Penobscot River is being polluted from the pulp paper manufacturing and an addition to that the cancer rates of the Natives in Maine is really high because of the pollution.
Connecting this part of the film with the image that was in Hannah’s presentation I think it was really interesting to see how that image resembles how the industry sees the Native Americans. Instead of seeing Natives as equals they seem them as an issue, obstacle or barrier that they have to get rid of by placing them in reservations. Thereby making this separation between industry or white people and the natives instead of working together or trying to come to an agreement. Instead the natives agency and voice is taken away and they become oppressed.
Connecting these ideas with what Silko says on page 122 the text read; “…we can deal with white people, with their machines and their beliefs. We can because we invented white people; it was Indian witchery that made white people in the first place.” I think this quote is really interesting because proceeding that quote there is a poem that talks about how “Indian witchery” made white people. I think here Silko is saying that the competition between the Natives such as the competition between resources and land resemble the competitive behavior of white people.
What are your thoughts about this quote? Do you think Indian witchery did create white people? Additionally, how can industries such as the paper pulp manufacturer become more aware and be more inclusive about how their pollution is affecting the lives of the Penobscot Nation?
The story of Tayo drinking in the bar with Emo and Harley, he erupts (p.38). This seems to be the first time that Tayo is able to express some of his pain and anger. Tayo talks of liquor (p.37), as “medicine for tight bellies and choked-up throats…” where he could “[crawl] inside and [watch] the storm swirling on the outside and he was safe there; the winds of rage could not touch him”. In some ways, this contradicts the actual results of the “medicine”, as Tayo seems more touched by rage then ever. At the same time, we could look at this outburst as part of Tayo’s healing process, where he is able to finally express himself (despite the way things escalated, as we find out later).
I wonder if we could look at alcohol as a sort of medicine for Tayo, or does it end up causing more harm than good?
In “Ceremony”, Betonie explains that white people are the product of Indian witchery. There is no reason to fear their machines or their beliefs. He then recounts their creation story. A part of this story reflects on white peoples’ relationship with the Earth.
“Then they grow away from the earth
then they grow away from the sun
then they grow away from the plants and animals.
They see no life
When they look
they see only objects.
The world is a dead thing for them
the trees and rivers are not alive
the mountains and stones are not alive
The deer and bear are objects.
They see no life.
They fear
They fear the world.
They destroy what they fear” (pg 135).
The story describes white people as detached from the Earth. They no longer have a connection to the natural systems or animals so they do not perceive them as living things but rather as objects. It is this change in perception that allows them to disrupt these systems and bring harm to the animals. How is this detachment described in the story relevant to the relationship some people have with the Earth today? Is there a way for this relationship to be changed for the better of the Earth and those who inhabit it?
In “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action,” they show how the Native’s land was taken over from them to build industries such as factories and mines. They were forced to work and under terrible conditions that they were exposed to toxicity such as Uranium. The Natives went to court multiple times to fight for their land and their rights. This can be compared to Betonie when he said, “Indians wake up every morning of their lives to see the land which was stolen, still there, within reach, its theft being flaunted. And the desire is strong to make things right, to take back what was stolen and to stop them from destroying what they have taken.” (117-118). He goes on to say how “all evil resides with white people” (122) and there are separate groups that stem from it. One who gives up fighting and becoming one with nature and one who uses nature to commit evil acts. The world seems to have been brainwashed by the stigma created by white people and judgements from their actions to the Natives. Tayo has been discriminated against all his life for being half white; however, he was raised with Indian customs. What can be done to fix the relationship between the people and with nature? How have the hardships he encountered because of his race affected his health? Why does the change of traditions need to affect the health of others, in the film and the book?
In “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action” there a few different stories about how different groups of Native Americans were given land from the US government that was once theirs and soon the government realized that there was either natural resources on the land or great places for factories. Either way there were pollutants that were released into the landscape, once again hurting native people and killing the land they are so deeply connected to. The government has a long history of doing wrong by Native Americans whether it be out right genocide or environmental racism from toxic run off or unsafe working conditions in mines. This relates back to the Ceremony, Tayo and some of his childhood friends suffer from extreme PTSD from fighting in Japan, however they do not receive the treatment they need from government, this is just like the cases of the environmental racism that effects tribes today, the government know there are people in need of help but does not care because they are more concerned with profits. In Tayo’s case the government was more concerned with winning the war and not rehabilitant him and his fellow veterans. My question is will the government ever right there wrongs? Will the government ever give the indigenous communities across the US the land that they deserve, clean, unpolluted land? My next question is how does capitalism play into the oppression of the Native Americans across the US? Will capitalism actually prevent the US from righting its wrongs against the Native Americans?
In “Ceremony,” Silko describes the world as “fragile,” and explains the meaning of the word like this:
“The word he chose to express ‘fragile’ was filled with the intricacies of a continuing process, and with a strength inherent in spider webs woven across paths through sand hills where early in the morning the sun becomes entangled in each filament of web” (Silko 32).
In the indigenous language, the word fragile carries a deeper meaning than it does in english. Like a spider web, something that is fragile could be easily broken, yet still deeply connected to other things. Silko could be relating this to the indigenous people’s situation. They are deeply connected to each other and to the land they live on, but it can be taken away so easily by the US government and those in power. How do the indigenous people represent this deeper, strong fragility that Silko describes? What makes their world fragile, and has it always been this way or is this a new way of thinking about the world?
One particular passage that stuck out from this week’s readings was the story that was perceived to be told by a witch when Tayo was setting around the fire with an old gentleman (page 125). This passage started with an explanation of white people;
“Then they grow away from the earth, then they grow away from the sun, then they grow away from the plants and animals. They see no life, when they look they see only objects. The world is a dead thing for them, the trees and rivers are not alive, the mountains and stones are not alive. The deer and bear are objects. They see no life.”
The passage continues (almost like a prophecy) explaining the sole reasoning as to why the white people do what they do. I am using this passage as my reflection because it connects perfectly with the movie about the different Indian reservations and how white people wanted to take control and use their land for profit and nothing else. Within the movie and every time that talks about a different Indian reservation, they review how the white people try to take control over territory and use it to drill for oil and coal. The only difference is that the movie talks about the success of the native people in fighting for their right to keep the land free from any mining. The story from the book does not reflect on any success in protecting the land but it goes into explicit detail about villages will be wiped out, resistors will be viewed as enemies and their blood will cover the soil of the land that they try to protect. The story is too long to rewrite for this reflection but each passage can be somehow connected to each story within the movie “Homeland”. My two questions are strictly this, If industrial companies tried to understand the land and participate in practices to help renew the land they destroy, would their relationship with natives/who oppose drilling and the land be improved, or are we too far gone to fix it? Also is there a way to incorporate Indian values into large drilling and exporting operations to help improve their use of the land they drill or excavate on?
In the Homeland documentary, one of the main themes throughout all four segments was the stark contrast between the Native’s connection to their land/ culture and the people they were fighting against that were only interested in legality, money, power, and traditional American interest. In each section of the film the Native people had such a rich culture and deep connection to the land they were fighting to protect. The white people just see a natural resource they can exploit and jump on it and start extracting it without considering any outside implications. One side was concerned with spiritual connections, culture, and justice while the other side was more worried about legal papers, politics, and money. This contrast just really hit me while watching. This can also be tied into something that old Betonie said to Tayo while they were sitting by the fire cooking ribs in Ceremony. Betonie says, “They only fool themselves when they think it is theirs. The deeds and papers don’t mean anything. It is the people who belong to the mountain (pg. 118).” The white people in the documentary see all the land as theirs so they believe they can come in and use it however they want. They have created systems that will allow them to do so and the only way the Native’s can challenge them is to play within a system that was created to work against them. In the second section of the film with the Gwich’in Athabaskan Tribe in Alaska, Evon Peter talks about how they have to change their natural way of living in order to get up early and keep fighting against the destruction of their land. They have to keep the same pace as their opponent so they don’t get behind. They have to play the white people’s game in order to hopefully achieve their goals. But, to the Natives those legal papers don’t mean a thing. The only things that hold value are spirituality and a connection to the land. The two outlooks could not be more different. So, I guess my question is just do you think white people who focus more on legality and systems can ever properly coexist with Native people who focus on the opposite? What would that dynamic look like if they were to coexist peacefully?
In the Film, there seemed to be a theme of value on western education. There seemed to be a key player in the conflict on each reservation that had a strong background in western knowledge through some means or another. Even going as far as to help share this knowledge with those joining them in attempting to fight destruction to their lands. The argument was that this knowledge was crucial if there was any hope of effectively combating the corporations or governments trying to outsmart and outmaneuver these people in order to exploit their land. Similarly, in Ceremony, when discussing the topic of raising cattle on the family’s land, Rocky is described as having an aversion to the traditional practices, raising the point that there was a lack of education, he says this to the family on page 69, ““Those books are written by scientists. They know everything there is to know about beef cattle. That’s the trouble with the way the people around here have always done things—they never knew what they were doing.”” Inspiring the internal reaction by Tayo detailed on page 70, “Tayo was suddenly sad because what Rocky said was true. What did they know about raising cattle? They weren’t scientists.” Obviously education is important in this day in age, especially when legal and technical knowledge is indispensable against major corporations and governments with an abundance of resources for legal battles. Ensuring children can attend school on reservations is important so that they can be prepared for the inevitable world outside with varying lifestyles and issues. Do you think it’s possible though that this damages a child or teenagers’ view of their ancestral traditions? Or devalues tribal knowledge in certain areas? If so, is this an unavoidable side effect of western education or is it something that could be mitigated?
On pages 122-128 in Ceremony, there is the creation story of white people, told through a Native American story. What is the significance of framing the invention of white people by the Native American culture? On page 122, the old man tells Tayo about the trickery of witchcraft saying, “They want us to believe all evil resides with white people. Then we will look no further to see what is really happening. They want us to separate ourselves from white people, to be ignorant and helpless as we watch our own destruction. But white people are only tools that the witchery manipulates; I tell you, we can deal with white people, with their machines and their beliefs. We can because we invented white people; it was Indian witchery that made white people in the first place.” How does this quote play into the theme of a mixed cultural landscape and how does it offer advice to allow Native American culture to exist beyond destruction? What role does Tayo play in this? What does Tayo represent?
The film Homeland is a very powerful and moving documentary about 4 different Natives groups and their struggles with environmental degradation and racism. It is hard to label what occurs as environmental degradation because much of the film is focused more on the topic of environmental racism; how many Native culture are fighting for their rights and traditions which they have practiced for thousands of years. I had several thoughts, while viewing the film, on how Gandhi, Fanon, Thoreau, and other would react to this conflict. I really think Fanon would have the loudest voice in speaking to the film. Much of what we see in the film is violence and the degradation of one culture to fuel the another. Although much of the protesting would be nonviolent, I believe that the only way to get the industries attention would be through violent acts. This film is also troubling because it is occurring on American soil. This is not to say that America should be held in a different light and that no acts of corruption, degradation, and racism occur here but that people are blindly willing to over look what is happening. Winona LaDuke speaks to this blindness by saying, “So we may seem far away and distant, and we never permeate the American media. We don’t exist. But in reality, our reality is also your reality” (1:24:32). This quote speaks volumes to many issues. It is not the issue of several groups of minorities, but an issue as a whole that we all contribute to even in blind ignorance. If it is happening to them, who is to say it will not happen to others if left unchecked. Being from Appalachia, I can also see violence and degradation in my own community from large industries. I hope that sustainable and just changes can occur to benefit all these communities.
“The people asked,
“Did you find him?”
“Yes, but we forgot something.
Tobacco.”
But there was no tobacco
so Fly and Hummingbird had to fly
all the way back down
to the fourth world below
to ask our mother where
they could get some tobacco.
“We came back again,”
they told our mother.
“Maybe you need something?”
“Tobacco”
“Go ask caterpillar”
(pg 151)
I found this part interesting and applicable to human behavior even now a days. We seem to always be asking for more and never content with what we have, once we find what we are looking for we continue to push and ask for more. In this poem it seems that Fly and Hummingbird want tobacco and go to any lengths to try and get it, as far as going to the fourth world below. This poem also says that there was no tobacco, so does this mean that they are seeking something that does not exist? This is also interesting because prior to this poem in the book they said, ” ‘Sometimes I have to shake my head,’ she’d say, ‘because human beings deserve exactly what they get’ “(151). She had helped them and they were “dirty stupid people” in her opinion. This makes me think that this poem is making fun of human nature and who we are. Tobacco is not good for us yet we will actively seek it out no matter the challenge, just like alcohol and other things in our lives.
As I watched the film “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action”, it became clear to me that the Native’s land is sacred. More specifically, the example of the Penobscot River is a representation of just how important the land really is. In other words, the Native people also heavily rely on the land, yet they do not just use it as a way to benefit, but they actually appreciate the meaning of the river. Unlike many people, the Native’s appreciate the actual natural value of the land, regardless of the money. Yet, the white man only sees the land as an economic benefit, further representing the divide between beliefs. Because of this, my question is, how do you think the perspective of the Natives changed? Has the land and the river become less sacred over time? Is it because of the behaviors of white men that this was caused?
Are the roots of the issues presented in this film primarily extractive environmental practices or the social and political autonomy/self-determination of indigenous tribes? While a binary, either/or framework will obviously limit our ability to understand this film and the issues it brings up fully, what is the foundation? Gail Small’s work as an attorney for the Northern Cheyenne Nation in Montana fighting against methane gas wells makes clear that her community lacked the political (and economic/resource) power to be able to defend themselves against multinational energy companies and their influence in national environmental policy in the US. On the other hand, though, if environmental laws barred methane gas wells, oil drilling, uranium mining, and industry that contaminates watersheds (like the paper factory in Maine), then the native people this film focuses on would not have to defend their lands in the same way.
At the very beginning of Ceremony, Tayo has a nightmare. That night, the singing came first, and he could hear a man singing in Spanish. The singer kept repeating “y volveré” (6). Later, on page 96, when Tayo goes to bring the Night Swan a message from Josiah, he hears the scratchy Victrola singing the words “y volveré.” The Spanish words he keeps hearing means “I will return.” Tayo wishes for the return of many things: his mother, the rain, his friends, and family members who die in the war, the way he used to be treated by white Americans when he was in uniform. Most of all, after he physically returns from the war, he wishes for the return of himself mentally.
On page 15 when the doctor is trying to speak with Tayo, he only answers in the third person insisting that “he is invisible.” The use of the third person signifies that Tayo isn’t really talking, and he isn’t really there. Tayo is still mentally at war with himself. Tayo is repeatedly coming back to the words “y volveré.” What is the significance of his experience with the Night Swan, and hearing these words specifically in her apartment? What contribution does the Night Swan have in Tayo’s spiritual journey of returning back to himself?
During Red Cloud’s War (1866-1868), the only war with the US military that American Indians were able to force the American’s to sue for peace, a number of Lakota leaders were taken to the great cities of the industrialized US in the hopes that they would be able to understand the astounding numbers of the white men and the unfathomable magnitude of their industrial achievements with the aim of breaking their spirit to fight. Upon their return, Red Cloud called them ‘the men who saw too much.’ (The Heart of Everything That Is, 2013). This is echoed in Ceremony when Silko writes, “[I]t was everything they had seen- the cities, the tall buildings, the noise and the lights, the power of their weapons and machines. They were never the same after that: they had seen what the white people had made from the stolen land.” (156)
How does the sheer spectacle and scale of modern industrialized society demoralize indigenous people in their quest to preserve their cultures? How much does this factor in to the hopelessness and despair experienced by so many?
When watching “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action,” I couldn’t help but connect the experiences of former uranium miners at the doctor’s office with Tayo’s experience with Western medicine. During the mid-20th century, many Diné people living on Navajo Nation were forced into uranium mining in order for the United States to bolster its nuclear capabilities. In order to further the cause of United States imperialism, the miners were exposed to poisonous uranium debris without any PPE and received few contributions for their sacrifices. This reminded me of Tayo experiencing PTSD from fighting with the US army overseas and receiving little culturally relevant support from the government that he fought for. These two cases demonstrate the willingness of the settler state to exploit the people who are Indigenous to America in order to further subjugate people in far away lands. Seeing the elderly Navajo men who are now experiencing serious medical difficulties as a result of their past as miners go to sterile Western medical offices to fix their ailments in the documentary made me wonder if those men were seeking Diné specific care as well. Considering how Tayo’s illness could not be solved by Western medicine alone, and I wonder if using Navajo traditions could fix these issues for the former miners. Or do Western problems (like uranium mining and World Wars) require Western solutions?
On page 87, Auntie begins telling Tayo about his mother and her interactions with the “white men and Mexicans”. Auntie tells Tayo that his mother was ashamed of the Indian ways that were taught to her in school (88) but also sadness in herself for caring about her old “deplorable customs” (89). Auntie says that Tayo’s mother knew “truth in their fists and in their greedy feeble love-making” (88). Why is it significant that no one had told Tayo the story of his mother and her lover(s)? Is it because of a deep-running pain caused by the white men? Is Tayo seen as a product of his mothers’ bad decisions or following in her footsteps? Does Auntie view Tayo as “less Indian”?
Throughout the film “Homeland” we see the Native American tribes fighting to protect their land from energy companies drilling for oil and dumping waste in the waters. The film shows the power of community, as these tribes unite together to fight for their rights, however it also shows the struggles that come with being a minority group without much political power in trying to enact change in law and policy. The film shows how bureaucracy can suppress people when there is political or economic gains to be made, such as retrieving oil for energy supply, regardless of the opposition. Should issues relating to Native American land being drilled upon and polluted be more mainstream? And would issues like this be easier to fight if the entire country was united, rather than just the Native American tribes who are directly affected?
Pages 122-128 of Ceremony goes into detail about the creation of white people, speaking on how the witch people from all over the world got together and showed off their wicked creations. Then, the final one, instead of creating something, told a story and in turn, brought white people to life. The description of them really struck me:
“Then they grow away from the earth… They see no life – when they look – only objects… They fear – They destroy what they fear. They fear themselves… They will carry objects which can shoot death faster than the eye can see…” And so on. It paints a grim picture of white people (understandably so). It ends with the witch shaking its head, saying that they were already coming. What do you all think of this passage? All of the witches seemed to fear this creation the most… Why do you all think this is? (It’s a rhetorical question for the most part, as the poem explains that nothing good is in store from them, but I’d like to know others’ interpretations of this passage as well, as I found it fascinating and all-too-true).
In Ceremony, Silko deconstructs whiteness to better understand the violence of whiteness. First, there is the aspect of anti-culture: “they will try to stop you from completing the ceremony” (125). Next, the rigidness. Silko shows how this is violent because it leads to death because “things which don’t shift and grow are dead things” (126). Similar to river channelization which hinders the life of the river, whiteness channelizes people and prevents life. The rules of whiteness extends its violence with how it regulates and fences off land. To counter this idea Silko asserts that “the deeds and papers don’t mean anything. It is the people who belong to the mountain” (128). Trying to understand where this behavior and set of ideas stems from, Silko goes into the story of where white people came from. How white people came from competition (134). “This world was already complete even without white people. There was everything” (133) Silko implies that there was a world before whiteness therefore there can be a world after whiteness. It is important to deconstruct whiteness because whiteness will destroy all of us because “They fear / They fear the world / They destroy what they fear / They fear themselves (135). How? What is the first step in this collective process? Has that step already been taken? Who initiates this deconstruction?
Throughout the book, Tayo has reoccurring dreams about speckled cattle. One instance was after the ceremony with Betonie; “He dreamed about the speckled cattle. They had seen him and they were scattering between juniper trees, through tall yellow grass, below the mesas near dripping spring. Some of them had spotted calves who ran behind them, their bony rumps flashing white and disappearing into the trees. He tried to run after them, but it was no use without a horse. They were gone, running southwest again, toward the high, lone-standing mesa the people called Pa’to’ch” (134). Another was after Tayo met the woman from Betanie’s vision.
What is the significance or symbolism behind the cattle? What is the reason for the speckled cattle specifically to be a reoccurring dream for Tayo?
In Ceremony, we see that preserving tradition is essential in saving the Native American community. It seems to be that when tradition is forgotten it brings destructive droughts and disaster. In what way does the book emphasize the use of tradition and how does conflict contradict other things like racism? Many of the traditional stories and ceremonies in the book revolve around ensuring adequate rainfall for the reservation. What do you believe is the symbolism of the hummingbird that Tayo sees and then experiences rain shortly after? After the use of tradition in a ceremony, the rain returns, and Tayo remembers a key thing that he had seemed to forgotten that Josiah once told him, that too little rain and too much rain can be disastrous.
In Ceremony, yellow and sunlight seems to be a recurring theme as Tayo repeatedly desrcribes the way the sun shines through windows and the feeling of warmth associated. For example, on page 171 when he was drinking coffee at the woman’s house he details “Sunshine from the window made a big square on the floor, and something in the silence of the room was warm and comfortable like this sunlight”. There are two other examples of this where Tayo notices this: “…the square of light grew steadily warmer, more yellow with the climbing sun” (5) and “…the square of sunshine on the wall grew larger and diffuse…” (17). Could this bright yellow sunlight and warmth represent Tayo’s healing process and transition into becoming more happy and comfortable with himself? What is the significance of this being repeated throughout the novel?
The experience of reading Ceremony is very disorienting and confusing. Silko often jumps from different scene, even different time periods without explanation or warning. What role does Silkos writing style play in character formation of Tayo? It seems as though Silko chaotic writing style is used so the reader can be in position to understand Tayos thought, emotions, and experiences. Especially, when Tayo starts to speak in the Third person, “He can’t go. He cries all the time. Sometimes he vomits when he cries” (14). Do you see this correlation? If not, what else do you see in Silkos writing style?
So much of Native culture is based around respect for the environment, a strong sense of place and rooted in tradition. Both Ceremony and the film Homeland reinforce this. What are some examples of what happens both short and long term when Native tribes are displaced from their land, removed from their traditions and lied to by the US government? What are steps that could be taken to make reparations to indigenous tribes in order to promote strong communities?
The film entitled “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action” covers several stories, including the fight to keep strip mining off a Cheyenne reservation in southeastern Montana. The reservation is surrounded by “Montana’s largest power plant, five massive strip mines, and the largest coal fire generating complex in the country” as stated in the film. The placement of energy plants was influenced by former Vice President Dick Cheney, who held a closed door meeting regarding energy policy in the United States. Although nobody was able to understand what happened during these meetings, due to the fact that it was not open to public opinion, it can be deduced that Cheney pushed for increases in natural gas extraction with influence of environmentally racist ideologies. Winona La Duke stated in the film that Native American reservations are a frontier for the desired extraction of energy resources by the United States. In what ways does environmental racism affect energy policy decision making with the United States in regard to Native American livelihood? How is it possible for power plants to encroach upon land that is not theirs legally?
Throughout Ceremony, Silko emphasizes the importance of being in harmony with nature and shows how harmful it can be when the relationship is out of balance. Silko also stresses the mechanized destruction of white people and their disregard of the impact they have on the natural world. When watching “Homeland,” I was intrigued by the use of certain modern devices, like the ATVs and freezers, by the Gwich’in Tribe. While Silko encourages the adaptation of certain cultural elements (like the ceremonies) over time by Native peoples, the use of these certain devices, which make some things easier for members of their community, also creates a dependency on the delivery of oil. In the documentary it is mentioned that if the generator fails, the freezer will shut off and their food supply for the winter will go bad. While Indigenous groups arguably contribute the least to climate change and the Gwich’in tribe is not responsible for the melting of the permafrost, do you think that Tayo would argue that the Gwich’in’s use of modern conveniences and reliance on ‘the white man’ is causing a clash between them and the natural world around them, leading to their current ecological crises?
In the film “Homeland,” most of the depictions of interactions between different cultures (white and Indigenous) are destructive. The white interactions with Indigenous peoples hurt their communities, by degrading their land, ignoring their desires, and discriminating against them. In “Ceremony,” Betonie tells Tayo the story of how white people came into existence. The story is chilling, and feels almost counterintuitive for Betonie to tell Tayo, because of the disdain Tayo has for his mixed heritage. Betonie continues on to tell Tayo that not all white people are bad, and Tayo must not think so. Despite what Betonie tells Tayo about not hating all white people, are all interactions between white people and other cultures negative? If so, are white people capable of having positive interactions with other cultures? If not, why?
On page 135, when speaking of the creation of white people by witches, it says
“They fear
They fear the world.
They destroy what they fear.
They fear themselves.”
I found this story of creation really interesting because it is unlike any other creation story I have ever heard. I think it speaks a lot of truth to how white people destroy everything around them, including themselves. The story paints the history of colonialism like a horror story, which it definitely is. What connections from this story of creation can be drawn to how Western (mostly white) religions, paint creation and are formed on the practice of colonialism?
In “Ceremony” Silko writes “It was a cure for that, and maybe for other things too. The spotted cattle wouldn’t be lost any more, scattered through his dreams, driven by his hesitation to admit they had been stolen, that the land – all of it – had been stolen from them.” To set the scene, I chose this quote because for me, it symbolizes strength, survival, and cultural differences coming together. This quote symbolizes how through the use of hybridization, the southwest was able to use their knowledge of the land and and animals to create something able to survive in harsh conditions and in turn the western man ended up stealing what was “better” than his, Tayo’s family cattle. I speak on this, because it also represents how western culture often displaces indigenous peoples, leaving them empty handed. To take this a step further, I see the spotted cattle as a connection between these cultural influences and a possible way for meshing the two together. I see the brown spots on the cattle as representing indigenous cultures while the white spots, I see as representing western culture. I took this this quote as a way to shows how we can learn from Native, or indigenous peoples by using their wisdom about how to live off the land and coming to solutions to work together, rather than exploitation, and cultural dominance. So, my question for this week is why in this scene, why are the cattle so important to Tayo? Do they just represent a need for the family cattle and survival, or do they represent something that could bring cultures together rather than apart; healing not only Tayo himself, but healing the cultural gaps?