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Role of language and culture
Personal narratives on tradition
Function of storytelling in language and literature from a pueblo indian perspective
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1. Why is it significant that the Pueblo tradition of story telling makes no distinction between types of stories, such as historical, sacred, or just plain gossip? 2. Discuss the distinctive qualities that define the way stories are told in Native American cultures. How do these differ from what you might have thought of as a traditional story? As Silko says, "Where I come from, the words most highly valued are those spoken from the heart, unpremeditated and unrehearsed. Among Pueblo people, written speech or statement is highly suspect because the true feelings of speaker remain hidden as she read the words that are detached from the occasion and audience. " (pg 1 ) Now days, whenever you turn on TV or Radio, and there is somebody giving speech, it is read off the paper that has been written by a professional and proof read by a lawyer or two. Silko is absolutely and right, and I agree with her that the speaker does not express what she or he had in the heart and wanted others to hear. For pueblo people, storytelling is very important. "Pueblo expression resembles something like a spider web - with many little threads radiating from the center, crisscrossing each other. As with the web, the structure emerges as it is made and you must simply listen and trust, as Pueblo people do, that meaning will be made." (pg 1 ) From reading this essay, I noticed that one of the distinctive ways stories are told at Laguna Pueblo, many individual words have their own stories, and there are few dimensions of story telling, which always includes the listeners, and story identity. No matter what kind of story is being told, it always has the origins. And since everything and everybody have different origins an... ... middle of paper ... ...son does not want to study hard to earn a degree and then get a better job that pays a lot more than the minimum wage job, then I feel sorry for those people. Some people are afraid of studying because it is a very hard work, and they come up with different excuses such as no opportunity to go to school, or it costs too much, but the harvest of it is very sweet. And if people were more goal-oriented, then they could definitely achieve all of their goals! After reading all of the essays and poems that we were required to read about Native Americans, I came up with the conclusion that the main point of all of the essays is how bad their lives are. But they do not do anything to change it! They just complain and complain and complain! But what have they done about their lives?! Nothing! And that is their problem and they do not have goals that they can achieve!
The Laguna Pueblo tradition of storytelling doesn 't just create a shared culture for the members of the community. Sharing stories also develop the idea of the community to include previous generations and the natural world around them.
Winona Wheeler’s essay, “Cree Intellectual Traditions in History” analyzes the oral history of First Nations Elders. She specifically questions the identities of the Elders telling their story and how they have attained the stories that they are telling. Wheeler’s thesis is that the Elders are not mere storages of knowledge, they are humans. And as the days go on, few of them remain which makes it even more relevant to take in what they have and pass it on to the newer generations.
In Thomas King's short story "Borders," a Blackfoot mother struggles with maintaining her cultural heritage under the pressure of two dominating nations. Storytelling is important, both for the mother and for the dominant White society. Stories are used to maintain and pass on cultural information and customs from one generation to another. Furthermore, stories can be used both positively and negatively. They can trap individuals into certain ways of thinking, but they can also act as catalysts that drive social change within society.
to a native interpretation told through the oral tradition and a Native-American point of view, the
"Man corn", warfare and atlatls were not the only interesting aspects of the Anasazi culture. The history and lifestyles of the Ancestral Puebloans may have contributed to their mysterious disappearance. Their societies were more complex than most humans realize.
Native Americans have been fighting to keep their culture since the beginning of their contact with settlers in America. For this assignment, I watched the documentary, "Horse Tribe", and the documentary, "Language Healers". Both documentaries were made in 2014 and they both talked about different tribes trying to regain a sense of their culture. For the purposes of this assignment, I will analyze the different documentaries and assess the struggles that each group faced in their efforts to preserve their cultures.
King, Thomas. “Let Me Entertain You. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. 61-89. Print.
Storytellers tended to have a special place in their societies, whether they were held in high regard or shunned for their lifestyle choice. Regardless, these people could inform the audience about cultural traditions, values, behaviors, etc such as the griots found in some Hawaiian cultures. They could also take advantage of the opportunity to attempt to persuade people to act a certain way or adopt a particular world view. Finally, quite often storytellers were looked upon to entertain at social gatherings to tell humorous stories, such as jesters.” ( http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-significance-storytelling-oral-tradition-396206 )
Not every Indian tribe has developed a formal way of communication among its members. In fact, one tribe that embodies this is the Pomo tribe (Pomo, California"). With little recorded memorandums, the Pomo Indians carried on information by mouth across the next generation (“Native American Profile: The Pomo”). They have become well-known for one of their adroitnesses, which is weaving elaborate baskets (Pomo, California"). One thing which the Pomo value greatly is kinship, as it was held to be of great importance (“Religion and Expressive Culture”). The Pomos additionally held assorted forms of trade, ranging from great feasts to expeditions across adequate land. The way of the Pomo Indians continues to march on, carrying their rich culture
“Perhaps there is no other group in the world that has quite so diverse and rich culture as that of the Native Americans. With their gilded history that is rich in strife, struggle, and triumph, the Native American culture is indeed very colorful” (Bantwal). Native American culture is very diverse and it has a very colorful history. It is extremely diverse and in fact the term Native American is a broad term that is used to cover all Native tribes in America. Throughout history there has been conflict not only among the different tribes but also there was plenty of fighting against the white men. Much of the fighting between the Native Americans and the white men was due to misunderstandings, mistrust, and miscommunication. Many thousands of years ago “the nomadic ancestors of modern Native Americans who hiked over a “land bridge” from Asia to what is now Alaska” (History.com). Once they reached Alaska they slowly spread out across the continent of North America. They spread out and separated into different tribes who all have many of the same core ideas but the main thing that separates them is their location in the country. There are Indians from the plains, the pacific coast, the southwest, and the northeast and different locations also. One main idea that is pretty much the same for each tribe is the closeness and respect they show for the land they live on. The history of the Native Americans as a whole is pockmarked by conflict. The conflicts between the tribes were very common and happened because of land disputes or just because of the close proximity of the tribes. But when the white men entered the picture this is where miscommunication and mistrust came into play. The white men wanted the land that...
Native American oral tradition are stories that are passed down from generation to generation. Instead of being written down, they are transmitted orally through Native language. Their oral traditions record the culture, beliefs and history of the Native Americans. Oral traditions reflect the belief that the natural world has humans and animals as well as respecting speech as a powerful literary form. They also provide explainations about the world and its orgins and teach moral lessons while conveying practical information. In addition to all of this, Native American oral traditions can change. An example of oral tradition is shown in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Towards the end of the book Junior is describing a lake
In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.
Storytelling is as much part of the tradition of the Native community as it is their identity. Storytellers and their prophecies are used to navigate the modern world by aiding in the constant obstacles that continue to make Native people question themselves and their belief systems. The best way to explain this concept is by starting at the end.
A great majority of Native Americans literary works share the presence of faith and belief, which they consider in the Native American culture as the motivator to understand life. The spiritual sanctuary in Native American culture occupies a very important part in their culture and controls their routine life. Natural phenomenon, which the Native American culture believes, has a great power and affects their destiny. The holy people, wise elders and chiefs in the Native American tribes, are the compass and they are known for their knowledge. This paper is going to analyze three great examples of stories that present the uniqueness of the Native American culture: "The Flood" by Joy Harjo, "The Sacred Weed", and "The Singing Spirit" by Charles A. Eastman. In these three stories, the elders’ stories not only create the presence of the spiritual sanctuary in the Native Americans culture, but it also helps the tribe members to preserve their unique identity.
They might think that it is not worth their money. Some may argue that it is because by getting an education or degree you would have a better chance of making more money and having a better future. Statistics show that more than 3.5 million high school graduates, found that poverty remains a more important indicator of whether a student will go to college than high school demographics or location (thehuffingtonpost.com). This is also another reason why education is so stressed in our society today. If more people start to think like this, it can only end in a bad way. Statistics show that by the age of 26, high school graduates have failed to enroll in college because of their financial standing