Not So Happy Ending

Expanding off of the conversation in class about if Four Souls had a happy ending or not, I believe that for Fleur, the outcome was not happy. In the end, Fleur made herself very unhappy in order to get what she wanted, her land. In the second to last chapter Margaret states, “All the cruelty that lay in your heart toward those who wronged you, all the devotion to the land and to your stubborn idea comes to nothing before one truth—your first child does not love you and your second child doesn’t know you.” In this statement, Margaret is telling Fleur how all of the energy that she has chosen to put towards revenge and anger has negatively affected her children. Fleur neglected her children in the process of seeking revenge. The question that arises from Margaret’s quote is, was it worth it in the end? Yes, Fleur got her land in the end but in the process she relationships with some of the closest people to her.
I also feel that if the process of attaining her land was so negative then there is no way for Fleur’s land to have some sort of negative attachment to it. In the final chapter of Four Souls Nanapush says that Fleur “lives quiet in the woods. No road leads to her place. Hardly even a path.” The lack of road or path to Fleur’s land signifies how she is alone. I also think that this quote gives off a sense of no hope for happiness for Fleur. She might live quietly, but no one can reach her as she is essentially alone. For Fleur, all of this revenge and negativity does not bring happiness to her, as there isn’t even a path to reach her.

Response to "Requiem for a Leg"

The story that caught my attention this week was, Requiem For a Leg. This caught my attention because it highlighted how ignorant and selfish some individuals can be. For example Nugush stated, “This leg has no name, no face to go with it.” Even when the story of the leg was pieced back together during the trial Nugush failed to recognize the name and face that the story created. I was really surprised when the judge sided with the family. I guess native people have been ill-treated and taken advantage of for so long, that I expected the judge to side with the oppressors.
I also think that the leg didn’t just merely represent a leg, but the Native American people as a whole. A quote that made me come to this conclusion is, “What of humanity, of imaginative interaction between humans and their worlds? What of the meaning of the leg to the people who knew the person who walked, ran, and lost that leg? Has your science brought us to this? Where is your humanity?” I think that this quote is presented in order to bring attention to how Native American people are being treated. The leg represents a small aspect of a larger fight for justice and humanity. It shows how vital the strive for humanity continues to be.

Ines Peterson and....Avatar?!

I can relate to “What Part Moon,” by Inez Peterson because she constantly needs to defend her identity as a Native American woman. I am Mexican and Chicana but because of my light skin I am always asked questions like Peterson such as, “What part Mexican are you?” Most people are shocked to find out that I am not part Mexican, but all Mexican as both of my parents were born and raised in Mexico. As Peterson states, “My life experience though comes from being a part of a community of Native American peoples.” Like Peterson, my experience of growing up in a Mexican community has played a key role into how I identify today.

Growing up as a Mexican American in the United States has many challenges as I sometimes feel as if I do not fit into either the Mexican or American world. This relates to Peterson that is mixed blood because she is constantly facing challenges in which she has to question whether she fits in or not. After reading this piece it has given me a new perspective on what I can say to those that ask me what part Mexican I am. I am Mexican and Chicana with all of my heart 

Avatar… I think this is an interesting topic to bring up in a Native American Studies class. This movie just made me really sad and angry. I knew the story line going into it and it turned out to be exactly what I expected, where the people in power decide that they are better than the natives and bulldozer over their sacred land. I definitely feel like there were a lot of subliminal messages in Avatar but the fact that so much harm was caused upon the native people makes me dislike the film. It makes me reflect on the past and how this has occurred too many times in history. And what are we doing about it now? Making a movie about it? That’s going to solve a lot!

Avatar, I am not a fan.

Are you?

Davis...liberal? Conservative?

In watching the film this week on the occupation of Wounded Knee I am so glad I was able to learn about the events that occurred during this important event in history, but am also upset with the outcome of the immediate situation after the occupation and how such a vital historical moment is not taught in schools today. One thing that made me particularly upset were the tactics used by the government towards the Indians occupying Wounded Knee; such as ordering the reporters to leave Pine Ridge. In this situation the media held a large amount of power as they were the Indians only connection to the rest of the nation but also served as a form of safety since the government was not going to open fire on national television. How convenient for the government to order the reporters to leave town…Again the media holds a great amount of power as the government knew exactly what they were doing.

Again, it is unfortunate that students do not usually learn about these issues until college since their high schools do not teach it. But then again, who writes the history books that are taught in high schools? I can specifically remember a time in high school during my US history course that I was browsing my textbook. As my father worked in the fields when he first came to this country I am particularly interested in the topic of farm workers and therefore during my US history class in high school I looked up Cesar Chavez in the index. Not to my surprise, there was a two sentence description on the United Farm Workers. It is not fair that someone else gets to pick and choose what they deem to be important in American History as in this process they leave out my history and many other individual’s histories. Issues such as the Americanization of the Indian and immigrant youth should be in today’s textbooks.

This brings me to a topic that was brought up in class this week about how we are lucky to live in California because it is a much more liberal and accepting place. After learning about California history one soon finds out that in many cases the West was just as discriminatory as the South. I am not educated enough on the history of Native Americans in California, to speak on their experience in California but when it comes to the topic of Chicano studies I know that Mexicans were discriminated in the Southwest just like African Americans were in the South. For example Jim Crow laws were not just used in the South, but also in the Southwest as like in the South, Mexicans were not allowed to eat in certain restaurants or drink from the same drinking fountains as whites. Many may think that California is much better off today, but in reality the state was founded on racist principles that are still institutionally embedded in many ways. For example the University of California, Davis and the city of Davis has a deep racist past. For the purpose of keeping my blog somewhat short I will not go into detail about this topic but will leave a link in which you can find a document discussing California’s racial history and higher institutions. If any of you choose to read this study I hope you link some of what you see in Davis today with its history and maybe see Davis in another light. Through reading this study and because of my personal experiences here, I do not think that Davis is a liberal town, but rather quite conservative.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1310299

The portion about Davis is towards the end

Survivance in Sculpted Stones

When I initially read this poem I didn't think much about the significance of 'glyph' in Victor Montejo's poem. I knew that glyphs were the Maya form of writing but it wasn't until learning more about glyphs in my NAS class on ethnohistory of native peoples of Mexico that I realize their significance to the Maya culture and I can now connect glyphs to survivance. The glyphs are a vital aspect of Maya culture as they document historical facts such as the rulers or b'akab' of the cities and the time in which they ruled. This is a form of survivance in Sculpted Stones and in Maya culture becasue it is an enscribed document of Maya civilization. This brings up the question of why we may value written documentation higher than oral documentation of history? A reason we may value written more than oral documentation is for example if an entire civilization were to become extinct then we are still left with written documentation such as glyphs that can document history. Hopefully we will have a chance to further discuss this topic in class next week.

Response to Elias Boudinot's "An Adress to the Whites"

After hearing the history behind Elias Boudinot's story in class on Thursday I believe that since Boudiont committed a capital crime he received the punishment that he deserved. I do not think that Boudiont and the 31 other people from the Cherokee nation that were involved in the treaty made the decision in the best interest of the Cherokee people. I think the 32 thought about themselves first, and the rest of the Cherokee nation second. Unfortunatly the action of 32 directly resulted in the death of 4,000 Cherokee people. In regards to the question that was brought up in class, I do not think that the treaty prevented a larger amount of deaths that would have occured if the Cherokee people would have stayed and fought for their land. Even if this would have been the case, and more people would have died if they stayed and fought for their land they would have died for the dignity and human rights of their people, rather than being forced to Oklahoma and dying along the trail.

Blog Title

The reason why I chose UBerNas5 as the title of my blog is because UB is short for Upward Bound which is the non profit organization that I work for. My job is a huge part of my life so I chose to include it in my blog title.