Native American History & Literature in Context

1. Native American History & Literature in Context HONORS JUNIOR ENGLISH

2. Historical & Cultural Context • Our American identity as we know it is a product of our past. Throughout our course, we will focus on literature which reveals how we arrived at our society and culture today. • We study Native American literature out of a respect for the indigenous cultures who were here before the European explorers… as well as a respect for their cultural and literary influence throughout the years.

3. Columbus’ Landing in the Bahamas, 1492 • Thought he’d reached the islands off the eastern coast of Asia, known as the INDIES • Called the villagers who greeted him INDIANS

4. Indigenous Americans inhabited this continent before anyone else. They endured many invasions from the Spaniards for the following primary reasons: 1. land 2. gold 3. crops (all of which were plentiful)

5. Civilization of the Frontier: A “Manifest Destiny” Image: American Progress, John Gast, 1872

6. Once explorers and settlers decided to stay and start building, the natives could do nothing-- although they usually tried to fight back. • Natives had a completely different set of values and traditions: - some wouldn’t fight back until they realized they would lose their land completely - they lived off the land and held it in high regard; earth was the mother - they never used more than they needed, and they never wasted anything

7. Colonial New England conceptions of indigenous peoples • View 1: Native Americans = lost tribes of Israel, waiting for conversion • View 2: Native Americans=children of Satan – descendents of fallen angels • Either way, justification to eradicate people and culture Image: The Death of Jane McCrea, John Vanderlyn, 1804

8. Southern colonial conceptions of indigenous peoples • “Noble Savage” • “Savage” meaning “uncivilized” • “Noble” meaning innocent, pure, wise, childlike, connected to nature, spiritual—but uncultured • Merely inferior rather than the intrinsically evil “ignoble savage” of New England • Open to European guidance and deliverance • Totally romanticized view Image: Baptism of Pocahontas, John G. Chapman, Capitol Rotunda, Washington D.C.

9. “Noble Savage”

10. The settlers’ flagrant ways and intruding methods of desecrating the land came as a huge blow to the Native Americans. • The Europeans also brought disease that natives were never exposed to before, which brought actual physical desecration to their people. • Over time (hundreds of years) land was progressively taken away from them and they were not only robbed of their sacred land and the traditions it embodied for them, but they were forced into assimilating into the emerging European-American culture. • Pre-contact indigenous population of North America: est. 10-15 million (about 2 million today)

11. Indian Removal Act of 1830 • President Andrew Jackson • Force Native American removal from East • Guise of protecting and preserving Indian cultures • Move west or give up all tribal rights • Removal as only way to “civilize” the “vanishing Indian”

12. This “manifest destiny” resulted in what would later be known as the Trail of Tears, or the mass forced exodus of thousands of Native Americans from their sacred land to government reservations. • From there, efforts to “civilize” them so that they could be mainstreamed into society continued.

13. Indian children were sent to boarding schools far away from the reservations so that the authority of their parents/elders would be undermined. Language, and consequently, cultural identity was legally confiscated. Children were harshly punished for using their own language and were separated tribally to immerse them in English only. • Although great strides have been made in recent years for Indian Sovereignty, Native Americans continue to struggle because of the events of the past.

14. Storytelling & Oral Tradition • Long before European explorers came to North America, Native Americans had a rich literary tradition of their own. Their stories, histories, and legends were shared and preserved through oral tradition. The storyteller is one whose spirit is indispensable to the people.

15. The Native Americans spoke hundreds of languages and lived in incredibly diverse societies with varied mythological beliefs. Despite their differences, their cultures and literary traditions had the following common elements: lack of a written language they believed in the power of words and they relied on memory, rather than writing to preserve their texts stories are not defined by the boundaries of written language; there are no ending pages and they are not contained within a limited, concrete, physical source.

16.  these stories belong to the collective people/the tribe  the oral tradition was a performance and is offered to the audience as dramatic events in time yet, the audience is not passive and has a role in bringing out the story  the storyteller is very important to culture and is one of the most honored and respected members of the tribe/society  the relationship between the storyteller and the audience is established through: voice emphasis, gestures, use of space, eye contact, and the audience can be representative of the characters in the story  there is no known original author  these stories are open to personal interpretation

17. These oral stories include the following types of texts:  cultural information (beliefs about social order and appropriate behavior) • historical accounts including migrations: how people got to where they are • lessons describe how and why things are the way they are • creation stories and the origins of societies (beliefs about the nature of the physical world)

18. NOTE = While oral stories are meant to be passed down through generations verbally, it is important to remember that written transcripts are not exactly representative of the oral performance. But a translation/ transcription of the stories is the closest we can come to sharing the Native American culture and tradition.

19. These oral stories were chanted, spoken, sung and repeated over and over until embedded into the memories of the next generations. The Native American oral tradition was the only way to pass on tribal history, heritage, and cultural practices. In order to continue hundreds of years of a tribe’s history the young must listen and remember the stories the elders tell and then pass them on.

20. Some Dominant Themes & Motifs: • relationships between humans and animals • respect and reverence for mother earth and nature • land as the strength of the people • village/community/tribe as sovereign • cyclical patterns: renewal and continuance • importance of tribal traditions and history

21. Contributions: Language Hundreds of words in the English language have Native American names Illinois -French for Illini or land of Illini, Algonquin word meaning men or warriors.Indiana -Means "land of the Indians." Michigan -From Chippewa words micigamameaning "great water," after the lake of the same name. Ohio -Iroquois word for "fine or good river."

22. Animal words with NA Origins

23. OUR FOOD and Native Americans Native Americans learned to grow and use many different kinds of food that many people eat today, never considering that they first came from Native Americans: potatoes, beans, corn, peanuts, pumpkins, tomatoes, squash, peppers, nuts, melons, and sunflower seeds. They also helped the European settlers survive in the New World by sharing their farming methods with them

24. DID YOU KNOW THAT NATIVE AMERICANS DEVELOPED AND COMMUNICATED WITH SIGN LANGUAGE? A system of hand signals was developedto facilitate trade and communicate between different tribal groups and later betweenNative Americas and trappers and traders. The same idea is used today for communicating with those who are deaf and unable to speak. The signs are different, but the idea is the same.

25. DID YOU KNOW THAT MANY NATIVE AMERICANS SERVED DURING WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II AND OTHER CAMPAIGNS? Even though many of them were not even citizens, more than 8,000 Native Americans volunteered and served during World War I. Well over 24,000 served during World War II. One of the most notable contributions during World War II was the service of the Navajo Code Talkers, a special group of volunteers who did top-secret work using a secret code in Navajo that could not be broken.

26. Native American Wisdom • “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” –Cherokee • “We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it form our children.” –Proverb • “If you live in the river, you should make friends with the crocodile.” --Proverb • “All things are connected…Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth…This we know. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.” -----Chief Seattle

27. HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR UNIT • Letter from King Ferdinand • The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, HBO film • SMOKE SIGNALS, film • Iroquois Constitution • “Native Intelligence”: Smithsonian Article • The Way to Rainy Mountain and House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday • Olauadah Equiano (Slave connection)