Native American Literature

Native American Literature Day 1 “Native America is not so much a geographical destination as a cultural one. To find it, you have to experience it”

Historical & Cultural Context • Our American identity as we know it is a product of our past. Our class 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.

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

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

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 and they were forced into assimilating into the emerging European-American culture.

Indian removal was legalized with the Removal Act of 1830, which stipulated: 1. the tribe “consent” to move 2. new land was to replace the old

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.

Indian children were sent to boarding schools. 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.

Storytelling & Oral TraditionDay 2 • The first Native American literature was kept alive through word of mouth, called oral tradition. Stories were passed on from generation to generation as sacred history. Only recently have these stories been written down.

The Native Americans spoke hundreds of languages and lived in diverse societies with varied mythological beliefs. Despite their differences, their cultures and literary traditions had the following common elements: 1. lack of a written language 2. they relied on memory, rather than writing to preserve their texts in this regard, there are no ending pages and they are not contained within a physical source. 4. the storyteller is important to culture and is one of the most honored members of the tribe

-Each tribe/society has its own set of beliefs -Native Americans think of the earth and universe as a never-ending circle and man is just another animal. “As you know, we Indians think of the earth and whole universe as a never-ending circle, and in this circle, man is just another animal. The buffalo and the coyote are our brothers; the birds, our cousins. Even the tiniest ant, even a louse, even the smallest flower you can find—they are all relatives. We end our prayers with the words mitakuye oyasin—all my relations—and that includes everything that grows, crawls, runs, creeps, hops, and flies on this continent. White people see man as nature’s master and conqueror, but Indians, who are close to nature, know better.” -Jenny Leading Cloud—White River Sioux

-Some stories have universal characters that never change: 1. Coyote, crow, rabbit= tricksters 2. Sun= male 3. Earth= female 4. Grandmother= nurturing (represented as a spider)

Myth -sacred story that is true to those who believe it -set in the remote past -deals w/ gods, animals, and supernatural -always religious Legend -perceived by the teller as true -set in the historial past -involves humans -sacred

Folklore -everyone knows it’s not true -set in historical past -used for entertainment or moral lessons -secular (separate from religion) Culture Hero -God marries a human- they have twins. -One twin is good and the other is evil -They meet/fight and evil usually dies or is banished. Good becomes cultural hero.

Terms to KnowVision Quest: Young boys before or during puberty are encouraged to enter a period of fasting, meditation, and physical challenge. He separates himself from the tribe and goes into the wilderness with no provisions. Here he is challenged to survive while meditating and fasting until he sees a vision that will guide his development for the rest of his life. He also seeks a guardian spirit who will remain close and supportive for his lifetime.

Sweat Lodge: A ritual of physical and spiritual purification. Meditation in small structure where hot rocks are placed in the center and water is poured over them to make steam. • Sun Dance: Religious renewal ceremony where the participant demonstrates his devotion.

Native American Wisdom-Quotes • “The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as was…The earth and myself are of one mind.” --Chief Joseph, Nez Perce • “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

“The Earth our Mother is holy and should be treated as such…all forms of life are our brothers and sisters and have to be respected…Life is a holy, sacred experience…we must live our lives as a religion, that is, with a constant concern for spiritual relationships and values…we must live lives that bring forth both physical and spiritual beauty. All life has the potentiality of bringing forth Beauty and Harmony, but [humans] in particular [have] also the ability to bring forth ugliness and disharmony.” --Forbes

“You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the Nation’s hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.” —Black Elk, Oglala Sioux Holy Man, 1863-1950

“Plants are thought to be alive, their juice is their blood, and they grow. The same is true of trees. All things die, therefore all things have life. Because all things have life, gifts have to be given to all things.” --William Ralganal Benson Pomo • “This rock did not come here by itself. This tree did not come here by itself. There is one who made all this, Who shows us everything.” --Yuki

“The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of the forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the land that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild sunflowers; he belongs just as the buffalo belongs.” --Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux Chief

For Further Reading & Study: • The Way to Rainy Mountain and House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday • The Surrounded, by D’Arcy McNickle • Reservation Blues and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie • Storyteller and Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko • Neither Wolf Nor Dog, by Kent Nerburn • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, HBO film • Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Native American Literature