Letter to Edna Chekelelee

Dear Edna Chekelelee,

            As I read some of your stories I recognized you often use a humorous tone, and although I did not have the pleasure of hearing you orally tell these stories, I could easily sense your light-hearted personality. Your use of wit was especially meaningful in my eyes because I believe it reveals a deeper quality that is often found among Native Americans. Though you are telling stories of your ancestors suffering, you find a way of inserting clever commentary to ease the listener or reader, preventing them from sensing any uneasiness for what their ancestors may have inflicted upon your people. Do you choose to tell your stories in this fashion or is just what comes naturally?

            Your choice of stories is also admirable. You enlighten your audience by telling them stories of the importance of nature, while also incorporating personal stories such as “Feathers,” which I believe is my favorite that I read. Your canny response of them wanting a chicken instead of an American Indian made me laugh aloud. The introduction says you’ve been telling stories for an extended period of time, so I’m assuming you have plenty you’ve collected over the years. Do you have a favorite, if so which is it?

            Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your stories because they have allowed me to gain a new appreciation and understanding of oral storytelling. If you have any recorded stories that you’re personally telling I would love to hear them.

Sincerely,

Alex Sierra

Reservations

            I wanted to take a closer look at reservation life after seeing the living conditions reflected in The Business of Fancydancing and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. In both of these examples poverty and poor living conditions were prevalent throughout the reservation, something I had not known because I’ve been raised in metropolitan areas along the East Coast, not a common spot for reservations. Below is a map that shows locations of reservations throughout the states, illustrating the distribution of reservations and their widespread presence in the Midwest to west, along with the lack of reservations around highly urban areas.

            In the United States there are a total of 310 Indian reservations spread throughout, which are populated by America’s poorest 1%. Typically, poverty stricken areas are at a higher risk for alcoholism, corruption, and school dropout rates, and because these reservations are closed off from Americans, the Indians that inhabit the land are even more at jeopardy because they don’t commonly venture far from their homeland.

            In addition, this land that they occupy is not the best for producing sufficient crops to support themselves. The lack of quality among the land is due to European settlers designating specific land for them to live among, usually the worst and poorest of quality.

            The poverty found within Indian reservations is different than the hardship we find in our cities. Their isolation is the most harmful because it prevents them from having opportunities arise that would assist them in bettering their lives. In order for them to truly seek a better lifestyle, they would need to leave the reservation where they would be an alien among our society and struggle to not only find a mean of income, but be accepted among a different culture as well. 
           In The Business of Fancydancing, Seymour left the reservation and was faced with struggles from different directions, one that included being disowned by his tribe. Granted, Seymour was presented with the opportunity to attend a university, which assisted his transition, but this is not a common occurrence. His childhood friend, Aristotle, also attended a university off the reservation, but eventually retreated back to what he knew on the reservation because he could not handle the transition from a life on the reservation to a life among the white man. 

What I've Learned So Far

            My perception of what a Native American is has changed. Before this course I was a bit naïve and thought they lived freely and happily among our society or on a reservation. After watching several of these films and reading books such as Tonto and Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven, I have realized that they are not only fighting an ongoing battle with the Western world, but they are also fighting a battle among themselves—one that involves identity. For so many years their ancestors farmed and studied the land they inhabited, evolving into one form of identity. The intrusion of white settlers among their soil pushed them away forcing them to leave the one thing they identified the most with, and developing into a greater loss of self.

            Just as I mentioned in class on p. 123 of Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, the Indian problem will not just simply go away. In fact, my expanding knowledge of Native Americans has grown drastically thanks to this course, including the realization that there is such a problem that still persists today. Who are we to put limits or borders on people? We are all equally as human and therefore deserve equal treatment and use of land. Until we recognize that our issues will continue to persist and problems among “races” will not seize.

            So far in this semester I have grown an appreciation for the strength and bond that native people have among one another. Regardless of all the issues they’ve endured, they have stuck together through it all and continue to recognize and show their pride in their ancestry and heritage. Their culture continues to be preserved through traditions, both oral and physical, ensuring future generations retain the knowledge and familiarity of their ancestors and where they came from.

Spirituality

                  Spirituality is a very difficult topic to discuss with others because of its close connection to religion, as well as the great personal impact it has on people individually. For some, spirituality may involve a particular religion, such as Christianity or Hinduism, but for others it could just involve a personal, or spiritual connection they feel within themselves. People’s background and point of origin can also greatly impact their view of religion.

                  As humans we don’t understand or can’t explain a lot of events or occurrences, therefore we have created religion. In one of my courses we just discussed the term “sui generis,” meaning something entirely of it’s own kind, in order to define what religion is. It’s something entirely set apart and different from anything else that human beings have encountered, and as thousands of years have passed, so has the development of religion.

                  Today, there are a wide variety of religions that one can follow or accept as true, which is unsurprising given the years of advancement among human beings. Some individuals regularly attend some ceremony or form of worship, while others make journeys in search of spirituality, such as Muslims making the trek to Mecca.

                  For myself, spirituality comes to me through the form of a journey that does not involve just one trip, such as going to Mecca, but rather my journey through life. This voyage I view as life is what’s going to strengthen my connection with others, along with the universe, through a series of events that will assist in my individual development. There’s a close connection with my spirituality and the list of values I chose for myself in my last blog. The significance of consciousness to me strongly correlates with how I wish to be spiritual because in order for me to be conscious, I must be aware of the here and now, making me responsive of the struggles, beauty, and people I encounter, assisting and strengthening my personal development. I consider myself to be a very open-minded individual because of this consciousness I choose to live.

                  In conclusion, I’m going to leave you with this link to a mediation song that I enjoy when I wish to feel a larger sense of spirituality and peace.

Values

                  We all have personal values we carry with us throughout life, impacting who we transform into and some of our decisions along the way. I had never actually sat down and thought about what was most important to me in my life, so when we discussed this in class on Tuesday and were asked to write our top five values, I struggled a bit. To some, these values could be meaningless, but to me they are what make my life significant. Here is a list of my top five values:

1.        1.  Health

2.        2.  Family

3.        3.  Respect

4.        4. Honesty

5.        5.  Consciousness

                  As I read The Sacred Tree, I really got a sense of what Native Americans value in their lives. Although there are other ideals and morals that they may follow, I got my own impression of what they would write down for their top five values. Below are these five values, along with a short explanation of why I believe this is a top priority of theirs.

1.         1. Interconnectedness—their connection with the earth and one another, along with a balance among all living things.

2.         2. Health—use of medicinal herbs and rituals.

3.         3. The present—the consciousness of being present in the here and now; living in the present.

4.         4. Human development—journeys and events transforms us into who we are.

5.         5. Memory—the power of the mind to remember and learn.

                  I believe that we share a lot of similar values, if not directly, then definitely in some form. The one that stuck out to me the most is the importance of consciousness/the present in both lifestyles. Being aware of our state of mind at all times and awareness of the here and now is definitely a top priority we share. Although these values do not pertain to every Native American, I believe that they are a somewhat accurate portrayal of what The Sacred Tree wishes to convey to the reader.