ceremony part 2

As part of the Laguna Pueblo culture, actions of one effect the whole community. Tayo's mom is a great example of how they all feel at fault when one strays from the culture. "The Catholic priest shook his finger at the drunkenness and lust, but the people felt something deeper: they were losing her, they were losing part of themselves" (Leslie Marmon Silko 63). They are all connected and feel the blame when one assimilates to white culture and leaves their native beliefs behind. The Laguna people take it upon themselves to fix the problem and don't leave her on her own to deal with things herself. "For the people, it was simple, and when they failed, the humiliation fell on all of them;what happened to the girl did not happen to her alone, it happened to all of them" (Silko 63). The community is all connected and it is not just about the individual. His mom went thought what many natives did during this time period. They were all put in catholic schools where they were forces to assimilate and caused them to lose both cultures and be in a shadow world. "Shamed by what they taught her in school about the depolarable ways of the Indians" (silko 63). They were taught they their ways were wrong and so being native was wrong but they were also not accepted in the white culture as equals so they were left with nothing and no place to feel at home.

Natives were always went to the worse areas or war and separated from the white soldiers. There was racism even when it came to wanting to fight for the same country. "Anyone can fight for america,' he began, giving special emphasis to 'America,' 'even you boys, In a time of need, anyone can fight for her" (Silko 59). Even thought he is not trying to be raciest, the recruiter is saying that they are different and will be taken but not necessary wanted. He talks to them in a manner that puts them on a different level than white soldiers. "Now I know you boys love america as much as we do, but this is your big chance to show it!" (Silko 59) He makes it so they are not they same by saying "as much as we do". they are separated, us and them. Natives as well as African Americans were a;ways sent to the worse war zones that had terrible conditions. They were never able to rank up or be anything other than a soldier on the front line. "I want to be a pilot.' he paused and look at the recruiter. The recruiter didn't look up.'Sure, sure,' he said 'you enlist now and you'll be eligible for everything" (Silko 60) They would lie and promise that they could be anything they wanted but that was never the case. Natives were separated and not giving equal opportunity that white men got.

Reel Injun

There are still many stereotypes around native nations, especially in cinema, but they have grown and evolved overtime. During the 50's and the time of the John Ford movies, the Indian was always depicted as savage. Jim Jarmusch went against this by saying" I wanted to make an Indian character who wasn't...the savage that must be eliminated, the force of nature that's blocking the way for industrial progress"(Reel Injun) Movies always depicted natives as uncivilized and in the way of the correct way of doing stuff. Later, in the time of the cowboy, Indians were always the losers. Jesse Wente says "When you're kids and you're trying to play Cowboys and Indians, and if you're an Indian kid-well, doesn't that mean you're going to lose all the time?" (Reel Injun) Natives were never view as the hero or the "good guy", they were the enemy; the one the hero always had to defeat. In the next era, natives were all depicted as warriors. Adam Beach says "We'll never be able to change the fantasy of who and what Indians are. That fantasy will always be there, we will always be on the cover of novels saying 'Cheyenne Warrior'" (Reel Injun) The ideas and fantasies of Indians in all the different eras will always live on. It is not that as a new depiction comes along the old one is forgotten. All of these accumulate and the stereotypes just grown instead to change.

The renaissance time period was the start of the new native movies. These movies were made by natives for the native community. Chris Eyre says that the movies "tell out stories, our way" (Reel Injun). Native stories were no longer only be told from the outside and the perspective of someone that was in within the community. The real stories that were being pasted down though generations were now the ones being told in films. The films were not only about the stereotypes or trying to break them. Adam Beach says they are about "human beings showing human emotion" (Reel Injun). These films took way from the controversy and stereotypes and just focused on the stories and characters. It did not matter that they were natives, they were human beings and that was what was depicted. Unlike Smoke Signals, that was made to show the reservation as it was at that time, The Fast Runner was made to persevere history. Natives started using film as a way to record their history in a community were these stories were always just passed down by story telling and never written.  These stories meant something to the directors and actors to the point where they would do anything to tell the story. "That's not an actor, cause an actor wouldn't do that" (Reel Injun).  In this quote Chris Eyre when the fast runner ran across ice with bare feet in the freezing cold. There were no effects, the actor really did it. He endured this in order to make the movie they way the story has always been told. The Fast Runner has permanently preserved the stories that would have vanished with it.

Ceremony- Leslie Marmon Silko

Thought out the beginning of the book the reader gets a scene of the racism in Tayo life and how war has made that fade in his eyes. War made all the soldiers connected to thee point where there was no race. "The humid air turned into sweat the had run down the corporal's face while he repeated his dream to them. That was the first time Tayo had realized that the man's skin was not much different from his own". (Leslie Marmon Silko 6) The conditions were so terrible it made a little difference like race not matter, they were connected though the hard situation they were all in. The things they were experiencing were so brutal that it made skin color unrecognizable. "even white men were darker after death. There was no difference when they were swollen and covered with flies". (Silko 7) Tayo realized that all the racism he grow up with was insignificant, people were dying no matter what race they were. Tayo even noticed there was no difference between the Japaneses soldiers and himself. "Tayo started screaming because it wasn't a Jap, it was Josiah, eyes shrinking back into the skull and all their shining black light glazed over by death" .(Silko 7) Tayo saw his uncle when he looked at the Japennse soldier that had been killed. He saw the connection they had, and that race did not set people apart or make one better than another. Tayo grow up with racism but going to war and living though such a hard time with men of other races made him open his eyes to the fact that there are no differences.

Many believe that story telling is a important way to heal. This is a strong belief in the Laguna Pueblo religion. "They aren't just entertainment. Don't be fooled. They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death. you don't have anything if you don't have the stories" . ( Silko) Stories are a reminder of who you are and a source of hope when you have nothing left. They connect you with your past and shine light on your future and that is why they can be so healing. "he could not feel anything except a swelling in his belly, a great swollen grief that was pushing into his throat". (Silko 8) Tayo was feeling physically ill and need to tell his story and relive the grief he had been holding in and enduring all alone. Stories don't just heal after a tragic event, they also help support you though a tough situation. "He made a story for all of them, a story to give them strength. The words of the story poured out of his mouth as if they had substance, pebbles and stone extending to hold the corporal up, to keep his knees from buckling, to keep hid hands from letting go of the blanket". (Silko 11) stories are a way to distract and detach people from the suffering they are going thought and give them hope as something to look forward too.