Ceremony part 5

Within this section of reading the idea of stolen land was a major subject. Tayo is going though his process of healing and dealing with both his trauma from war but also trauma from his cultures history. "They were never the same after that: they had seen what the white people had made from the stolen land. It was the story of the white shell beads again... stolen from a grave and found by a man as he walked along the trial one day" (Leslie Marmon Silko 156). Nobody really owns anything, procession is just a state of mind. The land was not stolen it was just used in a new way. To the Indians it seemed as if it was stolen because the new way did not match their ways and they felt they had no control over that. "Every day they had to look at the land from horizon to horizon, and every day the loss was with then; it was the dead unburied, and the mourning of loss going on forever. So they tried to sink the loss in booze, defending the land they had already lost" (Silko 157). They drink to deal with the loss of land and only blame white people for taking it away. Defaulting to drinking only reassure the stereotype and solidifies the white mans reasoning to why they deserved the land over the Indians. With every loss, there are multiple factors that pays apart in it. "And it was then the Laguna people understood that the land had been taken, because they couldn't stop these white people from coming to destroy the animals and the land. It was then too that the holy men at Laguna and Acoma warned the people that the balance of the world had been disturbed" (Silko 172). It was not necessary that the land had been taken but the way of life in that area changed. It went from the natives ways to the white cultures so quickly and without integration that the Indians felt they had been wronged.

Tayo is starting to heal and it takes many factors to accomplish this. Betonie is helping him see that other ways to heal outside his culture. "Caterpillar spreads out dry corn husks on the floor. He rubbed his hands together and tobacco fell into the corn husks" (Silko 167). The caterpillar is helping the corn, witch is the way of life for both Pueblo and Navajo tribes. In Pueblo culture the caterpillar is believed to be bad and hurt the corn, where in Navajo culture it is believed to have great powers and help the corn. Tayo need aspects of both cultures to help himself heal. Many people are helping Tayo heal as well. "Being alive was all right then: he had not breathed like that for a long time" (Silko 168).  After spending the night with the women Betonie had told Tayo about, he had a new, brighter outlook on life. She had helped him live in the present and focused on that and not his traumatizing past. The lost cattle have also lead Tayo towards healing. "He had been so intent on finding the cattle that he had forgotten all the events of the past days and past years" (Silko 178). Focusing on the cattle gave Tayo an outlet to escape his past and replace it with motivation and good memories. Many things have to work together in order for true healing to occur and that is finally happening for Tayo. 

  

Ceremony part 4

Tayo had began to heel being with Betonie. He knows what Tayo needs in order to get better. " the ceremony isn't over yet. He was drawing in the dirt with his figures. Remember these stars he said. I've seen them and I've seen the spotted cattle; I've seen a mountain and I've seen a women" (Leslie Marmon Silko 141). Betonie is guiding Tayo thought his path of  healing and showing him what he must do while still giving him the space to do it on his own. "But the effects of the witchery of the evil thing began to leave his body. The effects of the witchery of the evil thing in his surroundings began to turn away" (Silko 142). Tayo is learning how do deal with the evil i his life and that is allowing him to heal and the evil to seem less present. Tayo wants to be healed. "Leroy and Harley were happy; they had wine and six-packs, and they didn't watch her the way Tayo did." (Silko 144) Lust and drinking are distractions and block the path of healing. Tayo wants to heal and therefor is not focusing on distractions and just on his mental health.

Indians were treated differently after war. They got no respect after returning home. "They had been treated first class once, with their uniforms. As long as there has been a war and the white people were afraid of the Japs and Hitler. But these Indians got fooled when they thought it would last." (Silko 153) After returning home from war, there survive and honor was forgotten and they were back to only being seen as the stereotypical lower class Indian. Indians suffered and sacrificed during the war as well and had nothing good to turn. "she knew where to find them-which downtown bars they liked. She knew the veterans' disability checks came out around the first of the month." (Silko 151) They used money they got from the war to forget the war. They had no real support system and this lead many of them down a dark path. Indians not only dealt with war trauma but also with trauma for their history. "So they tried to sink the loss in booze, and silence their grief with war stories about their courage, defending the land they had already lost." (Silko 157).  They let drinking take over to forget the hardships they went thought over seas and to forget the struggles of their past as well.

ceremony part 3

As time goes on thing are continuously changing. Even before white settlers became a part of Indian life, ceremonies were changing. "But long ago when the people were given these ceremonies, the changing began, if only in the aging of the yellow ground rattle or the shrinking of the skin around the eagles claw, if only in the different voices from generation to generation, singing the chants. You see, in many ways, the ceremonies have always been changing" ( Leslie Marmon Silko). The ceremonies had been effected by many other things prior to white settlers. Indian nations noticed a huge change as white settlers came to their land and blame them for the change because it was such a drastic and hard change to live though. "But after the white people came, elements in this world began to shift;and it became necessary to create new ceremonies" (Silko 116).  As white people came into natives lives, they made an impact and forever altered the natives lives. There was no ignoring these new people and going on with life as if a drastic change had not occurred. Changes were made to keep up with these new influences. "So, long time ago they got him back again but he wasn't quite the same after that not like the other children" (Silko 120). Once you have experienced something, no matter what it is, you are forever changed. That change becomes a part of you and influences the rest of your life.

Race is just a social label put on people. there once was a time where race did not exist at all. "Thirty thousand years ago they were not strangers" (Silko 114-115). Long before modern cultures, we were all on species. Everyone shares the same ancient ancestors, there were no differences between the people we all evolved from. You can not put a judgement on a whole race because it is only how society defines a person not what controls them. "Nothing is that simple he said, you don't write off all white people, just like you don't trust all Indians" (Silko 118).  All races have good and bad, evil isn't secluded to a specific race. It is in everyone and the color of ones skin has no influence on their actions or how they deal with it. The social construct of race is what is wrong with people and why change and healing is so hard. "he would never get well as long as he used words like we and us" (Silko 116). As people continue to view themselves as separate, they will never be able to come together and fix the problems in society. Race is just a cultural ideas and has no real significance in peoples life. Once people accept that and believe there are no differences, healing can start.

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.

Dancing With Wolves part 2

Dancing With Wolves uses pathos to connect the viewer to the struggles and hardship the Sioux went thought when settlers came to their land. There is a scene where Lt.Dunbar dance around a fire when he returns from his time with the tribe. Before this was seen as savage but this film made it a beautiful scene that showed Dunbar connecting with the tribe and also spiritually to nature. Another use of pathos in the movie is Two Socks; the wolves. When he is killed it shows the senseless killing and pain. Killing another for no other reason than not understanding each other. There was no respect, pain and killing was done for sport. The movie also uses pathos to get the viewer to really think about the to very different cultures and how they clash. In the scene where the Sioux found the buffalo the settlers had killed just for there fur and tongues, it shows the differences in views the two cultures have. The natives respect everything they kill and never waste any part of the animal. The settlers on the other hand just kill them so they can make a profit and don't worry about the rest of the animal that could help preserve the Sioux way of life. The scene is so sad and heartbreaking that it makes one think about how the two sides are so different and the violence that came from that.

Dancing With Wolves breaks a lot of stereotypes surrounding native nations but still misrepresents the tribe throughout the movie. The movie makes it seem that Lt.Dunbar teaches the Sioux how to use guns for the first time. In reality the Sioux had been trading for guns for a while before this movie takes place. The tribe were already good shooters and don't need someone to teach them how to use a gun. Another misconception is the fight between the Sioux and Pawnee. The movie shows the Sioux as weaker and afraid of the Pawnee. Battles between these two tribes had been going on for a along time and they were pretty equal in terms of warriors. The Sioux were not afraid of them, they had won many battles prior to when the movie takes place. Other thing that was looked over until the end of the movie was the fact that white settlers were not the first people the Sioux had to fight for their land against. The majority of the movie the Sioux are depicted as this being their first encounter with people other than the neighboring tribes. The Sioux had to battler the Spanish, Mexicans, and Texans all before white settlers came to their land.  This was the first film that showed natives as something other than savage but it still has its imperfections and doesn't depicted them completely accurate.