A sweat lodge, which is also called by many other names, is a ceremonial sauna used by many Native American tribes. Depending on the tribe, the lodges come in many different shapes and sizes. Stones are heated and usually put into the middle of the structure to create a sauna. Although, it’s not known completely what happens in a sweat lodge, it is believed to be used for prayers, ceremonies, and offerings to spirits. I found some really cool videos on youtube that show different structures and unique differences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAtqf_VJcHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvHmBGVC3LQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXU7eoh6-U8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zpOMDAHrGg&feature=related
This last one has different sweat lodges used around the world. I like this video because it shows the variety between cultures everywhere.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Porcupine House [Review] by Louise Erdrich
The Porcupine Year is a historical fiction text and the third novel Louise Erdrich has produced through The Birchbark House Series. Readers, who have never read the first two books or aren’t familiar with the series, do not have to worry about getting caught up. However, if readers have read the first two books, Erdich picks up right where she left off, without a single hitch in her story. Omakayas and her family have led an adventurous life which is constantly being uprooted and disheveled by the white settlers. The Porcupine Year does not disappoint and keeps the series alive, giving Omakayas an ending worthy of any woman.
Right from the beginning, Omakayas and Pinch travel into danger. Thankfully, the Gods have spared their lives, and Pinch receives a medicine animal, a porcupine. From the first chapter on, Pinch is now named Quill because of his medicine animal. Omakayas and Quill reunite with their family and together they begin traveling north towards Aunt Muskrat’s camp because of the white expansion slowly suffocating in around them. Deydey (Omakayas’ father) knew the journey was going to be rough, but the events hindering their progress are numerous. The family encounters another tribe, a short adoption of two orphaned children, a fiery escape, and traitor whose wild actions result in the death of a truly beloved character. Throughout all the circumstances thrown at Omakayas’ family, they remain strong and motivated. Rather than continue writing Omakayas’ life in seasons, The Porcupine House, concentrates on winter. Within all the chapters, Erdrich uses subtitles to grab attention to important events. Erdrich has an Author’s note at the end, which supplies information on the Ojibwe language and it’s dialects. A glossary also offers pronunciations and definitions of Ojibwe terms. The book also illustrates the book with black and white pictures throughout.
Right from the beginning, Omakayas and Pinch travel into danger. Thankfully, the Gods have spared their lives, and Pinch receives a medicine animal, a porcupine. From the first chapter on, Pinch is now named Quill because of his medicine animal. Omakayas and Quill reunite with their family and together they begin traveling north towards Aunt Muskrat’s camp because of the white expansion slowly suffocating in around them. Deydey (Omakayas’ father) knew the journey was going to be rough, but the events hindering their progress are numerous. The family encounters another tribe, a short adoption of two orphaned children, a fiery escape, and traitor whose wild actions result in the death of a truly beloved character. Throughout all the circumstances thrown at Omakayas’ family, they remain strong and motivated. Rather than continue writing Omakayas’ life in seasons, The Porcupine House, concentrates on winter. Within all the chapters, Erdrich uses subtitles to grab attention to important events. Erdrich has an Author’s note at the end, which supplies information on the Ojibwe language and it’s dialects. A glossary also offers pronunciations and definitions of Ojibwe terms. The book also illustrates the book with black and white pictures throughout.
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Sacred Hoop Review/Summary/Critique
The Sacred Hoop, by Paula Gunn Allen, is a very intense and insightful read. Thinking back on my reading, a couple of key words come to mind: feminist, feminine spirituality, folklore/mythology, religious spirituality, historical, and of course Native Americans (mostly Laguna Pueblo, which is part of the tribe Paula Gunn Allen asserts herself with). In writing her novel, she explores topics and historical information that is not widely known and develops ideas that most people may only conceive but never fully communicate in such a form as mass media.
Paula Gunn Allen uses her Laguna Pueblo heritage, information her mother has taught her and the information she has learned through her schooling to create a gynocentric, contemporary novel full of issues. She also uses other contemporary authors and poets to add more substance. She uses authors like, Silko, Momaday, Wendy Rose, Welch, and Morning Dove. By using some of these authors/poets works in her own, it gives her more credibility and solid resources to back up her opinion and findings.
What I really liked about the book, was the fact that Allen used a multitude of resources and a variety of topics to keep every chapter interesting. She is easier to read than other writers and makes sure explains all her ideas/concepts so no topic may become over someone’s head. She gives plenty of examples and many details on every chapter.
My only critique, I feel the book may be a little to feminist for me. I’m all for women’s rights and equality among the sexes, but I’m not about to go out and join a rally or riot in front of the White House. Also, I know I’m not tribal and therefore I cannot fully understand where she is coming from exactly but sometimes I feel like there is an underlying attack to the white race for reducing the Native American culture into a very ethnocentric world. I believe that whole issue is way more complex and is given only the perception of Allen, who is Laguna Pueblo.
The Sacred Hoop, by Paula Gunn Allen, is a very intense and insightful read. Thinking back on my reading, a couple of key words come to mind: feminist, feminine spirituality, folklore/mythology, religious spirituality, historical, and of course Native Americans (mostly Laguna Pueblo, which is part of the tribe Paula Gunn Allen asserts herself with). In writing her novel, she explores topics and historical information that is not widely known and develops ideas that most people may only conceive but never fully communicate in such a form as mass media.
Paula Gunn Allen uses her Laguna Pueblo heritage, information her mother has taught her and the information she has learned through her schooling to create a gynocentric, contemporary novel full of issues. She also uses other contemporary authors and poets to add more substance. She uses authors like, Silko, Momaday, Wendy Rose, Welch, and Morning Dove. By using some of these authors/poets works in her own, it gives her more credibility and solid resources to back up her opinion and findings.
What I really liked about the book, was the fact that Allen used a multitude of resources and a variety of topics to keep every chapter interesting. She is easier to read than other writers and makes sure explains all her ideas/concepts so no topic may become over someone’s head. She gives plenty of examples and many details on every chapter.
My only critique, I feel the book may be a little to feminist for me. I’m all for women’s rights and equality among the sexes, but I’m not about to go out and join a rally or riot in front of the White House. Also, I know I’m not tribal and therefore I cannot fully understand where she is coming from exactly but sometimes I feel like there is an underlying attack to the white race for reducing the Native American culture into a very ethnocentric world. I believe that whole issue is way more complex and is given only the perception of Allen, who is Laguna Pueblo.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Feminism, but in a good way.
Usually I’m not into that whole feminism scene. By that I mean, I support basic women’s rights like believing that every women should receive equal pay to men, but I don’t go overboard by trying to take the word man out of words. When reading Sacred Hoop, I was very astonished to see that women were once the majority leaders in the tribes. They held high positions and were allowed to cast votes. This all happened until Columbus settled in and his followers of Christianity broke the tradition. Now that I reflect on the discussion from Monday and readings from the book, women are always seen as the givers of life and always given the duties to take care of what they produce. I never knew their culture transformed into what society is today. Although there are some unconventional families and people in society, I just thought it was really cool when women were allowed to hold higher positions of authority than men.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Three Sisters (aren't really sisters)
The Three Sisters are actually three vegetables: corn, beans, and squash. Although this is very common amongst all Native American cultures, it’s said to have been started in the the Haudenosaunee (hah-dee-no-show-nee), or "People of the Long house". There is a lot of history and folklore surrounding this cultural idea. What’s really cool is the Native Americans don’t use plowing, but rely on the mother nature to care for the growth and development of the crops. Because all three seeds are planted together, this makes the soil even more fertile and many insects resist ruining the crop. This is why the plant is so successful in growing strong as well as the belief that each sister cares for their seed.
“-sisters who would never be apart from one another- sisters who should be planted together, eaten together and celebrated together.” -Gary Gangnier
“In late spring, we plant the corn and beans and squash. They're not just plants- we call them the three sisters. We plant them together, three kinds of seeds in one hole. They want to be together with each other, just as we Indians want to be together with each other. So long as the three sisters are with us we know we will never starve. The Creator sends them to us each year. We celebrate them now. We thank Him for the gift He gives us today and every day.”
- Chief Louis Farmer (Onondaga)
Sources:
http://ddl.nmsu.edu/kids/webquests/wqthreesisters_k.html
http://www.cqsb.qc.ca/svs/434/fn3sis.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=4TNTbLYvufgC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=Onondaga+three+sisters++folklore&source=bl&ots=GM1r3-eNP6&sig=dVT1JPBPYHQOyXoS50IRRDXPFSk&hl=en&ei=8gmvSaCKD8yJngf28OW2Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA70,M1
“-sisters who would never be apart from one another- sisters who should be planted together, eaten together and celebrated together.” -Gary Gangnier
“In late spring, we plant the corn and beans and squash. They're not just plants- we call them the three sisters. We plant them together, three kinds of seeds in one hole. They want to be together with each other, just as we Indians want to be together with each other. So long as the three sisters are with us we know we will never starve. The Creator sends them to us each year. We celebrate them now. We thank Him for the gift He gives us today and every day.”
- Chief Louis Farmer (Onondaga)
Sources:
http://ddl.nmsu.edu/kids/webquests/wqthreesisters_k.html
http://www.cqsb.qc.ca/svs/434/fn3sis.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=4TNTbLYvufgC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=Onondaga+three+sisters++folklore&source=bl&ots=GM1r3-eNP6&sig=dVT1JPBPYHQOyXoS50IRRDXPFSk&hl=en&ei=8gmvSaCKD8yJngf28OW2Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA70,M1
Down By the River
Native peoples, and their stories and histories are not a social studies unit of an interesting sub-category. [. .] We are American history. [. . .] Every track and trace of the American experience runs through our communities, our culture. We have been the transformers so much more than we are ever credited to have been. I am so tired of our image as the transformed-the lost, the dead, always those who are acted upon, always those who have been pushed to the edges, where we can be watched compassionately, nostalgically, seen as little more than a decorative fringe. (Susan Power, qtd. in Howe 45)
Honestly, I never saw the Native Americans as a mere social studies unit, but when I think back to high school, that’s what they were. We didn’t learn about the cultures or any specific tribe. I learned more about events that Native Americans were involved in or the always popular, constant relocation to new reservations. I guess that is a really shallow thing to view a culture as, but I didn’t know any better, or wasn’t taught any better. And I can see where Native Americans are tired of always being perceived as the victims, when they were always being forced by the American government. For a time period all the Native Americans were pushed and personally I’m surprised more hadn’t revolted because of it. Native Americans aren’t fringe, something you use to decorate your house with. This is a living, breathing culture, that is trying to preserve their heritage and identity. Malea Powell uses numerous quotes in her work, Down by the River, but I liked this one the best. It’s straight to the point, and doesn’t ask for sympathy. History has evolved because of the Native Americans and there should be more recognition of that.
Honestly, I never saw the Native Americans as a mere social studies unit, but when I think back to high school, that’s what they were. We didn’t learn about the cultures or any specific tribe. I learned more about events that Native Americans were involved in or the always popular, constant relocation to new reservations. I guess that is a really shallow thing to view a culture as, but I didn’t know any better, or wasn’t taught any better. And I can see where Native Americans are tired of always being perceived as the victims, when they were always being forced by the American government. For a time period all the Native Americans were pushed and personally I’m surprised more hadn’t revolted because of it. Native Americans aren’t fringe, something you use to decorate your house with. This is a living, breathing culture, that is trying to preserve their heritage and identity. Malea Powell uses numerous quotes in her work, Down by the River, but I liked this one the best. It’s straight to the point, and doesn’t ask for sympathy. History has evolved because of the Native Americans and there should be more recognition of that.
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