Mapping the Land

9/11/2014

Brittany Sobolewski

9/13/2014 05:42:36 am

The story of the Sky Woman in Lisa Brooks The Common Pot was a major work that stood out to me. This creation narrative unlike most of the creation myths I have read involves a semi-birth. This birth coming from a falling woman. The animals all work together in trying to protect this woman from death and proceed to gather up mud from the ground. At the bottom of the ocean is where the mud lies and each time the animals try to grab onto it they can't until finally one sacrifices its own life to grab this mud. The mud lands on the back of a turtle and geese fly up to carry the Sky Woman safely down. Once she gives birth the Earth is essentially born. This mythos is filled with a creative idea for how the Earth came to be and as a culture of people it is quite imaginative in comparison to other creation tales. For a people like this to be considered inferior to European culture is quite a shame because there are quite a lot of beautiful tales and traditions passed on by these people.

Zack Teixeira

9/13/2014 09:35:44 am

Zack Teixeira
9-16-2104
Reflection

Having read the article “Poems as Maps in Indian Women’s Writings” I found myself agreeing with many of the statements made by the author Gould. It felt as though I was reading a poetic piece of writing rather than a dry academic article. It spoke about an earlier piece of writing in class, “Selu: Find the Corn Mother’s Wisdom” and it was interesting to see a professional analysis of it after we , as a class, did something similar. Also much of the article related poems to map, which was obvious given the title. However poems are so much more lyrical and less literal while maps are mainly visual. It wasn’t until I read the line “the interest the author has in her composition is clear; she hopes to influence not only how we follow her directions but also what we see when we “read” the world she presents”. I thought this was an intriguing way to describe her objective as I never thought of me going on hikes as reading the world. It also implies there’s a more personal connection to the world that simply traveling over it or thinking of it as an obstacle doesn’t convey. As the text goes on it mentions how poems communicate a sense of place not just with its physical features but its spiritual ones as well. In other words it is more important to know who was there and what happens rather than where it actually is. Again there is emphasis on personal connection rather than simply a location. Perhaps that why the subject is maps and poems, as poems act as the maps for Native Americans just in a different way most would expect. It also mentions how euro-centric thinkers were too narrow minded to wrap their heads around the idea of there being more than one world whereas natives saw there being several (animal, plant, etc.). As a side not I also found many of the poems analyzed in the text as very beautifully wrote. Gould goes on to describe these depictions made in the poems as “emotional landscapes” which I thought was a perfect phrase for the subject. Over all it made me appreciate Native American literature more and see it as something deeper than simply lyrical works shared around a fire for pure pleasure, instead these poems serve a very important purpose.

Katharine Trahan

9/15/2014 06:38:14 am

Reflection on The Common Pot and Poems as Maps

I thought The Common Pot was filled with symbols and a deeper meaning wth everything that was mentioned. It was definitely necessary for them to identify what a common pot is because I had no idea. After knowing that the Common Pot was something that feeds and nourishes. It then goes on to explain, the common pot is the wigwam that feeds the family, the village that feeds the community, and lastly that this all stems from the women. Ceremonies come into play within the same reading and I found it so interesting that they talk about balance. The balance within different energies and how they have to change and balance each other out within networks. As the reader, you could connect this to the native space. The story of Sky Woman can connect to my earlier comment about how some women are seen as the creators of the common pot. Women are seen as the focal points for the thought of the common pot. The native Americans have many stories, ceremonies and ideas that they pass down to the next group, all which connect to each other and tell about their rich culture. The common pot does a great job at connecting all three along with their native space.
Reading the poem in the article by Gould, it states that chief Mankiller expresses how the Native Americans worlds were already out of order even before the Europeans came and colonization took place. I also thought it was interesting when it is brought up that poetic maps are a way for the person to know their native space and to express their thoughts as a map in order to make sense of that balance that they all posses. My feeling toward poetry maps is that it's something that all Native American people can relate to it in some form or another. It can help those who are lost, find their way back to the balanced life.

Timothy Morrison

9/15/2014 07:03:47 am

I think Linda Brooks’s piece offers a considerable amount of valuable information. On a technical level, it is helpful to have the geographic and historical background covered in the article. Brooks cover a surprising amount of material in her piece, and her willingness to locate the original territories of the Natives is very informative. Additionally, the way she maps out the Native communities that existed along the Kwinitekw River greatly helped me understand the Native history of the Northeast, which contains a massive amount of history and names to consider.
This piece also shares similarities to “Rhetorical Powwows” in the sense that rhetoric and written forms come under discussion. Brooks seems to also understand how the Natives succeeded in communicating through various ways that the Europeans could not. She notes the significance of the wampum and the children using the pieces of coal on bark. This centralized focus on the lack of a formal writing system is very interesting when its implications are considered. It reflects a sensibility that is much more concerned with eliminating the unnecessary.

Merrilee Brown

9/15/2014 09:56:31 am

Merrilee Brown
Native American Lit.
Prof. Rain Anderson
September 15, 2014
After reading, “The Common Pot” by Lisa Brooks alongside, “Firstings and Lastings” by Jean M. O’Brien I feel I have learned some beautiful things about Native American society. “The Common Pot,” for instance, begins with the tale about the woman who falls from the sky (Brooks 2). This story is not only interesting in providing a theory as to how people and the earth came to be, but also has a strong theme of sacrifice. The scene that struck me the most was when Muskrat sacrificed his own life in order to provide the sky woman with earth (2). I cannot help but feel as if Muskrat’s sacrifice is similar to the many sacrifices that Native Americans made for the Europeans in regards to their land and resources.
Toward the end of Brook’s essay, within the section titled, “Reclaiming the Great Beaver’s Bowl (Western Wabanaki, 1744-1754)” there is a description of a captive Englishwoman giving birth while in captivity (O’Brien 37). This section reminded me of Muskrat yet again. Although the Englishwoman is a captive of the natives, they still provide her with a horse, shelter, a litter, and a pack saddle (37). The fact that the natives were compassionate to their pregnant captive proves yet again a native willingness to be giving, such as Muskrat was to the sky woman. The natives also went on to explain to their prisoners exactly why they were fighting to reclaim their lands; because the Europeans had taken these lands without paying for them (38). This section of the article reiterated the fact that the natives were mostly peaceful unless provoked, and also displayed the pure generosity of the natives.
The article we read from, “Firstings and Lastings” struck me as a reader through its discussions about the European views of the natives. This article spent a lot of time revealing the many prejudices of the European people on the Native Americans. It was frequently mentioned that the Europeans saw the natives as nothing more than uncivilized savages (O’Brien 4). After having read about the sincere generosity of the Native Americans in “The Common Pot” it was difficult to read about and take in the idea of the cruelty the Europeans unleashed upon the natives. For example, the Europeans viewed the natives from an extremely racial and prejudice standpoint, and considered themselves to be somewhat higher beings than the natives (4). The Europeans began thinking that they needed to enlighten the natives both by means of technology and through use of new religions (5). In interrupting the native way of life the Europeans failed to help the natives, and instead caused them many problems.
Both of these articles complemented one another as one displayed the beauty in Native American culture, while the other displayed some of the causes for the downfall of this culture. While the Natives appear to have been generous and kind, the Europeans saw themselves as superior, and therefore took advantage of the kindness of the Native Americans. Overall, I enjoyed reading about Native culture and stories more than reading about the European destruction of Native American culture. It is refreshing to be more enlightened about native ways in our modern society, rather than still believing the awful stereotypes that were placed upon Native Americans long ago.

Jenna Pelissier

9/15/2014 10:11:34 am

Jenna Pelissier

September 16, 2014

Professor Joyce Anderson

Native American Writing/Rhetoric

Homework Response #3

While reading Lisa Brooks’ “The Common Pot,” the ostensible importance of nature and wildlife to the Native American culture became that much more evident. The traditional Iroquois creation story, Sky Woman, stuck out to me the most. This story about Earth’s creation was unlike other ancient mythological tales because of its focus on the concept of reawakening and its incorporation of natural forces. Only a body of water exists beneath the sky, where one day, the inhabitant animals discovered a woman falling from the sky. At an attempt to save her, the animals began diving to the bottom of the ocean, grasping at handfuls of clay to provide for her. A muskrat, the only animal able to grab the mud, gives up his life to save this woman. Once the woman has been saved, she releases a seed she had carried down from the Sky World, and Earth is created.
This creation narrative is unlike any other I’ve read, and most intriguing do to its connection with wildlife and nature – two major components to the native lifestyle. The sacrifice of the muskrat seems to relate to the many sacrifices that Native Americans make for their people. This story also ties into the conception of the common pot – “that which feeds and nourishes.” The pot is known to be the Sky Woman’s body, the system by which one nourishes and reproduces. Women are the primary aspect of nourishment and reproduction – the creators of the common pot. It was interesting to see how the Native American culture treat women with the highest amount of respect, cherishing and honoring their bodies for their many functions.

Elizabeth Grillo

9/15/2014 10:12:53 am

In the Common Pot reading, the story of the Sky Woman was so interesting and pretty cool. I love how the water and the animals that occupy the water come together to help a woman step onto land. It was interesting to read. The common pot is that which feeds and nourishes. It is interesting how the Native Americans say that the wigwam feeds the family, the village that feeds the community, the networks that sustain the village. The common pot story told a lot of stories and facts about the Native American culture and the beauty behind it.
The excerpt from the Firstings and Lastings was the total opposite of the Common Pot. This article told stories about the cruelty that the Native Americans had to endure because of the stereotypes the Europeans had towards them. They viewed the Native Americans as ‘uncivilized savages.’ The Europeans viewed themselves as superior to the Native Americans and tried to help them by changing their cultures and beliefs, but this oppressed the Natives and ended up hurting them anyways.
Both readings were very interesting and gave insight to two very different past histories of the Native Americans.

A.J. Niakaros

9/15/2014 10:49:25 am

In all honesty, I was patiently waiting for the moment we would read another creationist story. This weeks reading assignment gave me exactly what I was looking for and more; a creationist story that also inflicted a different viewpoint on our history. In the reading of The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast, by Lisa Brooks, she introduces the concept of nativity and how it connects to being human. What I found interesting was that it seems like a very simple connection, so obvious that we don’t give it much thought. However, as it has happened normally since day one, I gave a very common, simplistic statement a little more thought. I took a deeper look into nativity and the creation story and reflected back to our first impression of the natives.
First off, I’m very fond of the new word I’ve come across: “alnobawogan… translated literally as the activity of being (or becoming) human.” (Brooks 2) It was this word being linked to other meanings like “human nature” or “birth” that really sparked my initial thought. (2) Now, I understand that these meanings are loosely the same, but the fact of the matter is that in the shortest terms, Native Americans are human. So, why were they treated like barbarians? Because they spoke a different language than Europe? Had a culture/society based on kindness and nature? Because they wore different clothes and make up? That’s what defines a society; that’s what makes us unique and distinctive from other cultures. It helped me further understand that eurocentrism made Europe selfish and arrogant; that they thought their way was the right and the only way to live.
With that said, the religious aspects of both cultures also help define those cultures’ social conduct. In the creation story of the Sky Woman, the aquatic creatures of the ocean accepted the Sky Woman as one of their own, while she used the mud and water to plant the seed that would give birth to land on the earth. (2-3) Corresponding that to the culture of the Iroquois tribe, they were very close to nature, but also very welcoming and kind to outsiders, including many Native Americans that first encountered the first European travelers. Just as in the creation story of the Sky Woman, they did not single anyone out as an outsider, but welcomed them with open arms and shared all that they had with the travelers. This connects back to nativity, as defined in the reading of The Common Pot, that it “provides a striking contrast to conventional constructions of Native ‘tradition’ as static and inherently mortal while confirming the idea of tradition as an ongoing process, both cyclical and transformative.” (Brooks 3) In other words, the Iroquois Natives believed that these traditions are subject to change through time, but the roots of these traditions repeat themselves over the years, in different forms. When Europeans travelled to Native American territory, the Natives did not see them as outsiders, but welcomed them into open arms. This is what made them charismatic; this is what the Natives defined as being human.

Scott Elliott

9/15/2014 11:01:09 am

Scott Elliott
September 15, 2015
Critical Response 3

In the centuries following the European’s taking over the continent and pushing the Native Americans back, there came yet another pressing issue: Natives being wiped from the record books and the overall disappearance of the Native. In the very beginning of the reading, it is said that while Native Americans might have been present during the transfer of lands from them to the English, it was “legal.” This is subject to debate as the only accounts we have are those of the English. While the Natives must be included when discussing the history of New England, it is a biased history. The Indians are told as being uncivilized and having an “illogical” view of how to treat the land. On the other hand, the Europeans have been portrayed as bringing civilization to the New World, and in general bringing culture and order. “Firsting” is almost exactly what it sounds like, the first things to happen in that area. This can be controversial though because the first example is given of Reverend Solomon Clark and his list of “firstings” of Northampton includes nothing but English points of view. The obvious problem with this is that there were already people living there! Firsts such as first marriage, first birth, or first death are obviously wrong because people have been there for years! This is incredibly ignorant as whoever writes any of these completely ignores the people who helped them first survive and taught them how to live off the land.
This reading reminds me of an earlier reading in the year, “The White Man’s Indian.” This resembles how when the European’s first came over and wrote or painted about the people they encountered, it portrayed them as being savages and uncivilized. The Europeans did not take time to learn the culture and portray the Natives in their true light being respectful of the people and the land. It all comes down to the settlers having a false sense of entitlement that would eventually be named manifest destiny, renaming everything along the way. I personally think this is wrong, and I am sure I share a popular opinion. Living in New England, I know there are Native American place names all around me, but I wonder how many have been named over? In addition, I wonder if any of the places around me will be named over in the future? I find it highly doubtful, but one can’t help but wonder.

Ronaldo Fontes

9/15/2014 11:38:36 am

Ronaldo Fontes
Professor Anderson
ENGL 326-001
15 September 2014
Critical Response - 9/11
Lisa Brooks’ “The Common Pot” offers many interesting perspectives about Native American life that I was largely ignorant to before I read her piece. First and foremost, her recanting of the creation myth of the Iroquois and the story of the Sky Woman were fascinating to read. In reading it, I cannot help but be reminded of Judeo-Christian creation stories and the differing implications that each offers. While most of us are familiar with the book of Genesis and God’s decree that men have dominion over the creatures of the earth, it is fascinating to see this reversed in the story of the Sky Woman. In her story, the animals play a central role. Without them, either she would have fallen to her death or had no one who could have provided the necessities of life for her. This story speaks volumes about native beliefs that all life, big or small, works together as one.
The story differs in another important way from western thinking about creation myth: its central figure is a woman. It is no surprise that Native Americans must have revered and admired the women in their societies. Conversely, many European societies were set up as patriarchies that openly shunned women. The Iroquois tradition seems to be going against this in a big way. In both a figurative and literal sense, it is the woman who gives life in Iroquois myth. Without her, there would be nothing else, and thus, women are given a prominent place is Native American hierarchy.
Another highlight is the importance of water in the story. What is interesting to note is that, ironically, water is used as a purifying agent in both European and Native American beliefs. Much like baptism, the Iroquois were said to wash their newborns in the rivers, welcoming them into a new world with a clean slate. This is further reflected in the myth of the Sky Woman, as she falls from the heavens into what is essentially a vast ocean underneath her. The importance of water cannot be overstated here. It permeates all aspects of Iroquois belief and shows us just how important this vital resource was to native people.

Kyle Tocher

9/15/2014 11:38:40 am

I have read this creation story before, and like many students in the class are sure to say, this creation story has an odd way of being very interesting. Origin stories have always been fascinating despite the culture or how they say it happens, but after reading “The Common Pot” a strange correlation between animal and man can be seen.
Unlike almost every creation story I’ve come across, this one has the animals as the first beings and it is only because of them that the Native Americans were able to thrive, this places an interesting emphasis on the relationship between man and beast. The relationship seems symbiotic, this symbolizes that the two had to work together to make the world the way it is, a lot of other origin stories have man triumphing over the simpler beast to be the survivalist on top.
As I expected from this course, my understanding of the Native American people has increased, and at a faster rate than I would have expected. I am very upset with how the Native American people were initially treated when they were such a nature-based culture. I myself am of the Wicca faith and am a massive believer in the power of the Earth around us. Like the Native American people I have received a large amount of hate for incorporating a love for the Earth into my daily life.
Seeing how in tune the Native American people were with nature has made me very happy and have made them much more relatable. I used to think they lived from the Earth, not with the Earth like “The Common Pot” explains.
It was more of the cultural meaning and foundation that I liked about this reading rather than the actual origin story itself. I look forward to reading another origin story in this class if there is one, they are very interesting and fun to analyze.

Caitlin Rose Bradley

9/15/2014 12:37:55 pm

It amazes me to see the ignorance of some people. The fact that Emory Washburn thought Native Americans had vanished from existence is beyond my belief. He probably had the stereotypical "Indian" image ingrained in his mind, and because he didn't see any painted men in feathers walking down the street with a peace pipe and a bow in his hand, Washburn assumed they had all been wiped out. How tragic. While the fact that Native Americans cannot all live today as they once did is quite tragic, this does not mean that they are gone from this land.
The assumption that Native Americans cannot be modern is ridiculous. We are descended from the settlers and immigrants to this nation, and we don't typically behave as a stereotypical settler or immigrant. We changed with the times, so naturally they did, too.
I found it interesting that the Native Americans considered "purity of blood" to be the way to tell one's nationality, while "non-Indians," which presumably means "everyone else," though I don't know how realistic that is, believe that being even a little African or Hispanic or Indian would make one to be considered such. In modern America, we are still very interested on "what we are," and many of us are a combination of different ethnicities, and proud of it. But because of these different views on what "qualifies" us as these ethnicities, I wonder how much of what we "know" about ourselves is accurate. My grandmother told us she was part Native American, but the story follows our other article which dictates that many people claim to have an "Indian grandmother" who didn't know what tribe or have documents proving it. So maybe I am, maybe I'm not-- who knows what my New Hampshire ancestors did? How much information can I gather about that side of my family? Is that really the only part of my family that is a blank, or are there other family secrets of which I am unaware? I'm sure that because of these opposing ideas of what makes one "count" as African American, etc, plenty of people have ancestors who were technically Italian but didn't acknowledge it, or who weren't really Irish but they wanted to be so they claimed they were. It would be interesting to explore that concept further. I've always been fascinated by heritage.
Although much information has been lost in history, personal and otherwise, a lot of information has also been preserved, through oral tradition(because descendents of the native people are, in fact, still alive, Washburn!) and written language. I am especially grateful for the stories which have been passed down. I love reading and comparing Native American creation stories with those from other cultures or other tribes. We can learn a lot about people by reading their mythology. For example, we can learn whether a certain group was polytheistic, matriarchal, democratic, nomadic and who was most respected in their culture based on the elements of their stories. Their beliefs are exemplified in their myths. We can discover what was important to them and how they lived and functioned as a community just by reading stories about their gods. But in addition to being informative, these stories are also usually entertaining, and can be enjoyed and valued on some level by everyone, even the youngest children. Preservation of information is a very important element of culture, so that future generations can learn from our wisdom and, or course, from our errors.

Nicholas Machado

9/15/2014 12:39:49 pm

In the essay “Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing” by Janice Gould, the importance, symbolism, and meaning of maps to Native American women writers and humans as a whole become clear. In the readings we have studied so far in ENGL 326, Native American writers constantly reference direction, compasses, natural balance, and a human “path” through life in their works. Gould attempts to decipher the meaning of these important aspects of American Indian women’s writings, and in doing so teaches a valuable lesson about the importance of finding balance across cultures and generations.
“Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing” depicts poetry of Native Americans as links to the past. Written works by Native Americans are tools to unveil cultural history of American Indians and their ancestors, and provide “maps” to help readers understand voices from places that existed once in a past that many of us cannot possible comprehend. The destination of the map being drawn by the poems of Native Americans is, of course, spiritual balance – harmony. In her essay, Gould provides hope that the values and teachings of Native Americans that have been displaced by modern civilization are not lost forever, but are simply hidden from sight. Because we cannot openly see or hear the ideals of American Indians who died generations ago, we can use poetry and story-telling to reach them, and recover what has been lost over the past few centuries. Through poetry, art, and language, modern Americans can find a way to connect with indigenous peoples, and are able to find spiritual balance that defies both time and space.
It never occurred to me until I read Gould’s work just how important the map assignment in ENGL 326 is in order to understand Native American writings and ideas. We are assigned to draw a map of native space and find origins, names, and backgrounds of geographical locations. By doing this, we can connect to the past, just as Native American poets do with their writing, and can learn to gain respect for histories and beginnings. In a sense, learning about the native space surrounding us is helpful in achieving true balance and serenity because it is an experience that puts us face to face with people who occupied the same living space as us centuries ago and opens our hearts and minds to the experiences of those people.

Stephanie Papasodero

9/15/2014 12:55:18 pm

After reading The Common Pot, I realized how much pain and loss the Native people felt. The things that they endured during this time was unjustified and cruel. All of the Natives no matter what village or tribe they were from would end up being connected by the common pot, “shared space means shared consequences and pain. The actions of newcomers would affect the whole.” In order to maintain the common pot was the awareness of the balance of give and take. Native people were good at maintaining the balance of give and take, they knew what goes around comes around and in order to keep balance they needed to respect and help one another. When giving a gift of delicious meat, the giver sets everything up and watches the receiver enjoy the gift and does not eat any of it because it is his gift to give not his gift to give and take. The Europeans on the other hand, did not understand this balance and their ideas, behaviors, and materials would potentially disrupt and destroy the common pot. The Europeans came to take, take, take, and take some more from the Natives. They wanted their land, their knowledge, their resources, etc. and believed the Natives should hand it over just because they asked or they would end up making them hand it over.
Writing had a huge impact on the Natives’ life. It all started at a village at Kespek with children using charcoal and write with it on birchbark. The children developed a system for writing and by using their own “characters” were able to remember The Lords Prayer. The children’s parents followed their lead and after 6 months birchbark scrolls traveled across the rivers and spread throughout the other villages. They would use the charcoal to make maps on the barks and use their maps to make long voyages without getting lost. They were able to travel long lengths to other villages and land. Writing was a new way of communicating for the Natives. They used it to create messages, record stories and common history. When the English started to focus on land and began to raid to take over their land, the Natives heard about this from stories coming up river from other Native villages that were being taken over. The English settlers were doing whatever means they had to in order to take over the land. They started wars and were killing innocent people because they would defend themselves and their village and did not want to give up their land. The settlers had more money, weapons, men, and power and knew they would get the land even at the costs of human life.
One good thing that came out of the raids was that when the English would invade a village the Natives knew they could go to the next, closest village and have a place to stay. Even though Natives are not all from one group and have different religions, cultures, beliefs, etc. when someone needs help they are there for them no matter what. With the combination of tribes came intermarriage. Intermarriage was best to make families out of strangers, to resolve tensions between groups and maintain ties across the lands. While traveling Natives would meet relatives from other tribes from the intermarriages and alliances formed to help each other with trade relations, places to stay if their land was invaded and assist with providing resources of food or supplies. Even though the English were strong the Natives’ relationships grew stronger and smarter. They began to capture English and would use them as ransom so they could get back the land that was rightfully theirs. When capturing the enemy, the Natives treated as if they were one of them and provided them with a horse, built shelter for them, and provide food and whatever resources they needed. Even when the Natives were trying to be the “bad guy” they still did the right thing and made sure no one would get hurt. The Natives did not want to participate in any type of war and wanted to stay neutral if war broke out with France and England. They knew that war would only destroy them and they wanted no part of it. What do people get out of war besides a winner? War brings a lot of death, costs a lot of money, and brings so much pain and suffering to both sides. The Natives wanted no part of that and I do not blame them. If only more people were like them then a lot of wars would of probably not had to of happened.

Casner Parfait

9/15/2014 01:10:44 pm

Jean M. O'Brien's 'Firsting and Lasting' was definitely an eye opening read for me, to say the least. I think this specific reading was intriguing due to the fact that it really dealt with and showcased the prejudices that the Europeans held against the Native Americans. From what I read I felt as if the Europeans were fueled by their own short sighted views of the Native Americans. They viewed them as lowly human beings or 'savages' who were far too inferior to be considered as an equal, and it is for this very reason why the Europeans thought they could take advantage of The Native Americans. They constructed their own negative views about the Native Americans and used this as an opportunity to try and 'enlighten' and enforce their personal ideals unto the Native Americans, which clearly caused complications for the Native Americans.

In "Firsting and Lasting" I believe O'Brien is stating that the Europeans were attempting to establish their own modernity while denying it to the Native Americans and trying to erase their history. This assigned reading definitely provided an in depth look at how unfairly The Native Americans were treated by the Europeans.

Nicholas Machado

9/15/2014 01:54:24 pm

I realized after going through the posts on the thread that we are supposed to be commenting on The Common pot. I misread the reading assignment and did my first response on Gould's essay, so here is my response on The Common pot for tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.

In the essay “Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing” by Janice Gould, the importance, symbolism, and meaning of maps to Native American women writers and humans as a whole become clear. In the readings we have studied so far in ENGL 326, Native American writers constantly reference direction, compasses, natural balance, and a human “path” through life in their works. Gould attempts to decipher the meaning of these important aspects of American Indian women’s writings, and in doing so teaches a valuable lesson about the importance of finding balance across cultures and generations.
“Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing” depicts poetry of Native Americans as links to the past. Written works by Native Americans are tools to unveil cultural history of American Indians and their ancestors, and provide “maps” to help readers understand voices from places that existed once in a past that many of us cannot possible comprehend. The destination of the map being drawn by the poems of Native Americans is, of course, spiritual balance – harmony. In her essay, Gould provides hope that the values and teachings of Native Americans that have been displaced by modern civilization are not lost forever, but are simply hidden from sight. Because we cannot openly see or hear the ideals of American Indians who died generations ago, we can use poetry and story-telling to reach them, and recover what has been lost over the past few centuries. Through poetry, art, and language, modern Americans can find a way to connect with indigenous peoples, and are able to find spiritual balance that defies both time and space.
It never occurred to me until I read Gould’s work just how important the map assignment in ENGL 326 is in order to understand Native American writings and ideas. We are assigned to draw a map of native space and find origins, names, and backgrounds of geographical locations. By doing this, we can connect to the past, just as Native American poets do with their writing, and can learn to gain respect for histories and beginnings. In a sense, learning about the native space surrounding us is helpful in achieving true balance and serenity because it is an experience that puts us face to face with people who occupied the same living space as us centuries ago and opens our hearts and minds to the experiences of those people.

Nicholas Machado

9/15/2014 01:55:50 pm

Let's try this again..... here is my response on The Common Pot. Again, sorry about the confusion.

In reading The Common Pot: Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast by Lisa Brooks, it both excited and surprised me to learn about the Native American attitude towards sharing. Native American cultures cherished reciprocal relationships with people, the Earth, and spirituality. According to the essay by Brooks, sharing was not simply a moral obligation; it was an act necessary to keep the flow of energy moving throughout the world, and to keep balance within all walks of life. People shared with one another at meals, through eating, speaking, and trading with one another. Indigenous people also shared with nature in many ways as well, through planting crops that fertilized the Earth and kept waters flowing healthily and steadily, and by caring for every living creature and non-living plot of soil. In many ways, nature also shared with people by feeding and clothing them, and nature shared with itself through the relationships that existed between natural resources and animals and vice versa.
The natural occurrences of sharing (exchanges of energy) within the world were near and dear to the Native peoples’ hearts, and it was thought that any disruption to the universal flow of energy could have catastrophic consequences. The introduction of the English to native space, then, was a curse to the American Indians who called that space home. In a number of ways, the Native American people struggled to continue holding tight to their idea of sharing space (even if that meant sharing with the English), while the English conquerors held tight to their belief that the more land you claim as your own, the more powerful you can become.
Brooks presents an interesting idea in her essay when she mentions the various ways the Native Americans were deceived by the English when it came to paperwork regarding land ownership. When native sachems signed legal documents, deeds, or agreements which allowed the English use of land, they naturally viewed the documents as signifiers of shared space between the English and American Indians. The English viewed property deeds as signs of ownership, however, and therefore were tricking the natives into giving them lands which they had no claim to whatsoever. This difference in point of view between the natives and the incoming English displays the struggle that existed between the two groups, and helps the reader to imagine the immense corruption of balance that resulted from English trickery and the English abuse of the native’s natural inclination to share. It is disheartening to think about what America might be like if balance had never been mutilated by English greed, and it is depressing to read in Brooks’s article about the various wars, destructive battles, and opposing forces that arose because of disrespect of simple, yet vital Native American ideals such as the need for shared energy in the world.

Keri Rutherford

9/15/2014 02:37:04 pm

I found “A Common Pot” to be intriguing and thrilling, as it unveils new knowledge on Native Americans. The concept of the common pot, which finds its roots in women, lives as an idea that encompasses peace, unity and compassion. As a method of give and take, it teaches all beings to live in a delicate balance, something that is lacking in the world today. One could only imagine how beautiful the current world would be if all humans abided by this common pot. Furthermore throughout this piece, women are shown to be at the root of influential happenings in Native society. The Sky Woman is just another creation story in which a woman is the cause of creation, which connects to the maternal nature of women. Women are unique in that they can carry and give forth the seed of life, just as the Sky Woman does. Native peoples recognize and cherish this renowned ability that women possess. Overall, I found these readings to reveal further stories and knowledge that excite and inform on the sophisticated and elegant ways of Native Americans, as my long held admiration and respect for these people expands.

Jacob Jarred

9/15/2014 09:05:47 pm

After reading this week’s assigned works, A Common Pot and Poems on Maps, I gained some insight as to what natural law’s and stories the Natives abide by in order to explain “the bigger picture,” as the Europeans did religion. We also learn of the struggle for land, and how some Chiefs and tribes managed to deal with it.
First, in A Common Pot, we are explained a term that is commonly used among the Natives. The Common Pot is essentially that which feeds and nourishes. The definition is so narrow as to describe women that feed their family, or so broad as to describe networks that sustain their villages. The article goes on to describe the respect Natives have for their “common pots.” They make sure to give thanks to the Earth and the nonhuman inhabitants that they depend on for food and other resources. We also learn of the struggle for land with the English in the Northeast, and how Natives attempted to maintain peaceful relations with the English while still keeping what was rightfully theres. Brooks illustrates the landscapes that which were fought over, as well as introducing terms such as “a Kettle of Peace.” The Natives drafted deeds and contracts to mull over with the English in order to keep the land that was rightfully theirs and eventually held counsel at Deerfield.
In Poems as Maps, Chief Mankiller addresses the problem at hand among the Natives and the world itself. The world is out of balance, which inevitably leads to all of their problems like the Euro-American invasion and the depleting of Native populations and land. He references Indian women’s writings as poetry as one method of getting back to the “right” way of thinking, feeling, and being. Once one is in tune when their own emotions and vexations, only then can think clearly to solve these problems.
In either instance, we as readers learn that under threat of displacement, Natives had to come up with their own resolutions in order to maintain inner peace and balance which they so greatly valued.

Amy Quill

9/15/2014 11:04:41 pm

I found the story of the sky woman very interesting and that it left an imprint in my mind. I really was thinking about the story after I had finished. The most interesting part was how the earth was born from the sky woman and how the animals worked together. Stories like this should be told today because they teach very good lessons. The natives communicated in ways that were foreign to the Europeans. Brooks seems to have a better understanding of those ways of communication which I found to be very intriguing. As I have said in my other responses is that these readings give me points of view that I was very unaware that I lacked. For example, like I said before in The Common Pot reading the story of creationism with the sky woman makes me think of other religions creation stories like the Catholics and other ideas that I have been taught. This story is very different but I respect the beliefs for that reason. Although they are very different certain symbols in the stories mean the same in both religions. For example, the symbol of water, it represents a purifying agent among different religious creation stories.
Gould’s story helped me understand the importance of connecting with our own native space because it puts us in the same mindset somewhat of the creative mindset of the natives. How they would write stories, poems, and hold ceremonies to connect with their native space and ancestors. In creating our own maps of our native space we will connect with the people of the past and become more aware of what use to be in our space that we live in today. Also, it will put us in the creative aspect of the mindset that the Natives would achieve by creating a visual map. I found these readings very eye opening once again.

Rachel Ivil

9/15/2014 11:04:51 pm

While reading Lisa Brooks' "A Common Pot" one part ofthe story that I favored the most was about Ktsi Amiskw. Cheryl Savageau states in a poem that Ktsi was a Beaver who built his dam and home in a large pond, which continues to grow deeper with time. The pond is more than large enough to supply water and nourishment to many others, but Ktsi patrols the edges and chases everyone away causing all the people and animals to go thirsty. The creator demands that Ktsi cut it out, and to punish him turns him into stone. So now Ktsi is forced to remain still and be nothing but hills in the now drained pond. For centuries Ktsi lies this way and is forced to witness his descendants fall apart. While they are being killed for their pelts, and turned into weapons, Ktsi begins dreaming about what the world would be like without beavers- then he is able to dream the river back- a safe place for his descendants to live... I like how this story about Ktsi shines light upon our need to share natural amenities. That God did not put things like land, or bodies of water on this Earth for just one person to thrive off of. That if we all can live selflessly, only taking what we need to survive, then we can all live happier. I also think the title "A Common Pot" can be used in this context as well. A common pot is a term used among natives to describe something that is able to nourish and help many people- much like Ktsi's pond. This pond, once Ktsi was forced to share it, was able to nourish and feed al of the people and animals just like God had intended it.

Brittney Melvin

9/16/2014 12:15:41 am

Brittney Melvin
Native Writing and Rhetoric
Journal Response
September 16,2014
While reading Lisa Brooks’ piece “The Common Pot” several elements of her work struck me as interesting. First of all, I found the presence of female empowerment in Native creation stories alluring. In the story of the Sky Woman, a female protagonist plants the seed which begins the existence of the earth. Brooks states, “Rather than being planted in a void by a divine male creator, the earth requires the conduit of a woman’s body and mind.” (3) This view of creation greatly contrasts stereotypical Judeo-Christian creation stories. Instead of the female character being the representation of evil or sinfulness, the Sky Woman represents life and vitality. This positive imagery creates a sense of equality or, at the very least, respect.
The importance of women in native society is readdressed throughout the piece. Women are responsible for creating and sustaining their families. The native concept of the connectivity between tribes and nature begins with the nurturing care of womankind. This correlates to the story of Selu and the necessity of her receiving the respect due to her.
The story regarding settler Susannah Johnson solidified the respect paid towards women. Although captured, Susannah was treated very kindly by her native captors while she was in labor. The Abenakis were attempting to reclaim land that was theirs. However, they still treated these strangers (and trespassers) with kindness and compassion. This story conflicts with the quote at the beginning of piece from LeClercq. Although the Native Americans rejected “French life” for “savage” life, the philosophies and cultures of the Indigenous were much more genuine and authentic than that of the disruptive and selfish settlers.

Caitlin Seddon

9/16/2014 10:30:55 am

In reading “Firsting and Lasting” by Jean O’Brien she begins with a story, which is the 200th anniversary of Bridgewater. This right off the bat caught my attention because I have grown up around here. Then Govern Washburn spoke and makes a very ignorant statement, that the Native people no longer exist, “nothing but tradition,”(O’Brien, 3). This relates back to the first day of class where we read the stereotypes, which are still mentioned today. One of them is that Native Americans no longer exist. The statement made in 1856 was just a stereotype because obviously Native Americans were still around at that time because they are still around today. He over looked these people who were standing probably right in front of him.
A common occurrence was firsting. “Southern New England is the ideal place to locate this study because it was there that people made the boldest claims to “firsting,” a central thematic of this book that in essence asserts that non-Indians were the first people to erect the proper institutions of a social order worthy of notice,”(O”Brien, 5). This caught my eye because one mentioned was Raynham, which is where I am from.
Another thing mentioned in the text is a reason why people believed Native Americans were extinct. One reason is that many Native Americans remarried over the years, and many to African Americans. This changed their skin color over many decades. Also said in the text is that in their choice to marry African Americans caused their children to be considered slaves. This was horrible because Native Americans have already gone through so much; they lost their land and families. They were killed and out casted for being different and having a different culture. Now they were being sold as salves. Going from one race that was tormented for decades to another race that was just starting to be tormented for being a different color of skin. It is as if the Native American’s could not catch a break.

Stephanie Papasodeo

9/17/2014 02:09:42 pm

After reading “Ain’t Seen You Since: Dissent among female relatives in American Indian Women’s poetry” by Patricia Clark Smith I really learned a lot about Native American Women writers and the style of their writing. The poems about mother-daughter-grandmother-aunt relations really interested me. It seems that the older generations are no longer keeping the Native traditions going or teaching the newer generations of their past ancestors and culture. I don’t blame it all on the “gramma” but also the new generation doesn’t make time anymore to learn about their past and are too busy with current society. It takes both of them to keep the Native culture alive and if they don’t, soon, there won’t be any ancestors left to tell of their history.
Today’s society is so consumed in the newest technology, buying the best of the best, and are so self-consumed in themselves that it is just so different from how simple life use to be for Natives. The balance of life is becoming the “unbalanced life” and does not look like it’s on the road to getting better. In “Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing” by Janice Gould talks about how Native Women write poetry focused on maps and cartography, but not the maps we think of. The maps and cartography they write about symbolically provide a direction or describe a known, remembered, imagined, or longed-for terrain. They want to make sure that people reading their poems know of how and what life was like in the past so that it is not forgotten. Maps help us find our direction of the past, present, and future and help describe and explain the kind of spiritual and material terrain we walked through before and now. The need to make our own maps is a reflection of the need to know and love Mother Earth and repaid our bond with her. Maps of the past show of what use to be there like locations of rivers that were ruined and the salmon that use to flow up and down the river all died, or where a tribe’s village use to be before settlers raided it and ran them out of their own land. In Harjo’s poem, maps offer words of advice and warning. She uses the term “next world” to represent present day society and how everything that is important to us today are material things and are not the things we should be focused on, but we need to remember Mother Earth and taking care of her first and foremost. We need to change our priorities and our way of thinking or the balance of life will become so unbalanced that there is no coming back from it.

Keri Rutherford

9/17/2014 02:54:01 pm

I find the concept of a poetic map to be a fascinating notion to wrap my brain around. When reading a poetic map, my brain must take the words I read to form images of the landscape within my mind. By doing so my imagination sparks, as I develop an understanding of the location referenced or created. My mind explores and creates throughout this process, when these images and thoughts pleasantly swarm my mind. The women who fashion these poems open vivid doors to their readers, for the land is perceived in an elegant and living manner. Chief Mankiller’s comments radiate truth from all angles. These poetic maps reveal a way in which to return to previous modes of life. Poetic maps serve as a reminder, not only to Indians, of a purer and more balanced way of life that is essential to all beings. Commenting on the notion of Mother Earth, these poems not only interact with an audience but also interact directly with Mother Earth. Mother Earth feels the energy, love and connections of these poems, as readers conversely experience a deep rooted connection with her. Thus, indulging Indians back into their past mindsets. Memories and histories can unveil within these poems as well. These poems contain an exquisite ability to illustrate the stories once lived by ancestors. The words of these poems navigate my mind, as my knowledge expands on the happenings of the Native’s past. All in all, these poetic maps possess an exquisite ability to illustrate mappings of the land and its history, which excites and expands the minds of readers.

Caitlin Rose Bradley

9/17/2014 03:13:18 pm

So I guess we're just posting these here... Here is my response to the poems:
These poems fit in with my stereotype of Native American poems because they all at least mentioned nature, whether it's animals or seasons or the sky. However, they were not all what I would have expected, especially the more contemporary ones. The subject material and components were surprising to me. I don't know why, because Native Americans are just people, they think and write the same way anyone else on earth does, but even still I have a hard time placing them in modern society. I didn't expect any poems about cars or tobacco or alcohol. I was expecting more traditional topics or older poetry, written before the settlers became too pushy.
The title poem of northSun's book was very concerned with heritage and race. I know that community and relationships are very important to many Native Americans, but I didn't expect that poem. It was a bit shocking for me to read it because it dealt with children losing culture. I've never thought much about Native Americans marrying externally and moving out and having children who don't know anything about tradition or survival like their grandparents. Of course it's totally normal, I don't know anything about how my grandparents or great-grandparents lived, my grandmother grew up on a farm but there's no way I could milk a cow. Yet I always assumed that someone so closely related to and descended from Native Americans would know all the implied information. These Native Americans are not different from me at all-- living in a city or town, going to school, speaking English, reading and writing and playing soccer, yet their grandmother lives with her tribe and can skin a rabbit and speak her own language-- a language of which the grandchildren know perhaps a few words and phrases. Their children will probably know none of it at all.
The grandchild in this poem is resisting being like her grandmother at all, which is something I cannot understand or relate to. I love my grandmothers and am very much like both of them, but the speaker says she prefers tequila to wine and jeans over a dress. However, she still wants to connect with her grandmother despite their differences. I think this is very important, especially because our grandparents are growing older and they won't be around forever. We need to value and appreciate them while they are here with us. We can learn so much from previous generations. They are living gold mines of wisdom. We should spend time with them while we are able to.

Brittany Sobolewski

9/17/2014 11:20:48 pm

Not sure if this is correct but I am going to post this here. Janice Gould's poetry speaks loudly on the subject of female strength and female bonds. Unlike European races that center on the male figure as the center of the universe, the Native American peoples centered their culture on the female or mother figure. Their creation story is about a falling woman that gives birth to the world. In folklore the land is all considered to be our mother earth rather than just land as the white man saw it. However, even though the Native people were considered female centered there were still problems with the relationships between women. In the poems women often butt heads especially mothers and daughters. Daughters consider their mothers to be controlling monsters keeping them growing while on the opposite side mothers consider their daughters to be constantly fighting and attacking. Gould considers relationships between people that are realistic in comparison to other authors. The poem about the grandmother was another interesting topic for discussion. The fact that the grandmother feels so separate from her grandchildren is another natural human emotion. There is a generation gap and with this gap come differences and a lack of understanding and breakdown within the family dynamic.

Scott Elliott

9/18/2014 12:04:07 am

Scott Elliott
September 18, 2014
Critical Response 4

I especially enjoyed the first poem, “Song of the Stars.” It is a relatively short poem, but packs a heavy amount of meaning into it. There is the repetition of “we” at the beginning of the four lines, automatically bringing a sense of community. This is important because as the Europeans began to settle in the their land and bring over even more colonists, the Natives were losing that sense of community. They were being pushed back farther and farther to the west, having no respect to the fact that the Natives had built a home on that spot. The last two lines, “We make a road/ for the spirit to pass over,” create the sense of a map, saying that the spirit follows you on whatever journey you make and whatever paths you carve into the world. This also creates a sense of something to look back on, being able to know that spirit is watching over you. This relates back the story about Selu, and how she shook off her kernels so that others may live. This story gave the Natives something to look back on and draw strength from, just like knowing that there was a spirit watching over them providing safety and strength.
Hogan has a poem that dives deeper into the disconnect from the land that several Natives might feeling. In one of the stanzas, “This is what I know from blood:/the first language is not our own./There are names each thing has for itself,/and beneath us the other order already moves./It is burning./It is dreaming./It is waking up.” This is saying that though there are new English or Latin names, beneath the science is the original knowing, and the original sense that everything is connected and came from the same place. The essay dives deep into the last three lines, saying that first we must burn away from the “map” or scientific names, we then might be able to dream about our “spiritual vision,” and only then will we be able to awake to what it means to be a human in the natural world. This reminds me of the “Eagle Poem.” This poem is about belonging to nature, and knowing that humans are not superior to it, just a part of it. From this knowledge, humans can be humble and kind towards the world, and become involved in the “circle of motion” that is life without disturbing it. This poem eve acknowledges other languages, saying that they too are part of another circle of motion. This does not slander the other culture or language, but simply states there is another circle that humans can be apart of, but altogether we come from the same natural world.

Katharine Trahan

9/18/2014 12:08:14 am

Response to Gould's poems

Reading the poem in the article by Gould, it states that chief Mankiller expresses how the Native Americans worlds were already out of order even before the Europeans came and colonization took place. I also thought it was interesting when it is brought up that poetic maps are a way for the person to know their native space and to express their thoughts as a map in order to make sense of that balance that they all posses. My feeling toward poetry maps is that it's something that all Native American people can relate to it in some form or another. It can help those who are lost, find their way back to the balanced life.
On the early pages of Goulds article, they spend a lot of time describing how poetic maps are there for people to learn about where others grew up and to get a sense of their native spaces. I liked the part where Miranda's poem is brought to the readers attention. It is a poem that speaks of displacement of native Americans in Southern California. It goes on to explain that with poetic maps, they can reclaim their native space and get that closeness of being "home" back. There can be so much more to a map if you take the time to hear someone's story. That is what I got from most of this article. I found the section "ain't seen you since" to be extremely interesting because it talks about the Anglo women, compared to the women of Native American descent. He says the Anglo poetry made women look like alien in their on culture with their own people creating the poems. This is completely opposite of Native American poetry mapping because women are seen as the Common pot, which we learned in the other article earlier in the week. Women are what nourishes the people, community and families. I thought this article was great and the poetry that Gould showed was helpful to compare vs the two different cultures and groups of people.

Abbie DeMagistris

9/18/2014 12:31:25 am

Abbie DeMagistris
Joyce Rain Anderson
ENGL 326
Sept 18, 2014
Homework #4
The common theme of mutual respect and balance are clearly prominent in this piece as well as the other pieces we have read in this class showing its importance in Native American culture. In Janice Gould’s piece Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing, She talks about mapping. While talking about mapping she mentions, Chief Mankiller’s outlook on the problems of society, which in a way relates to mapping, Chief Mankiller said, “We have never really understood that we are one small part of a very large family that includes the plant world, the animal world and our living relations” (Gould 24). This quote goes back to the selfish mentality of the European people, and possibly even Americans today. They choose to live for themselves even if it is at the expense of other non-human living things. Although he does note that the Native Americans sometimes get caught up in this mentality, it is mapping, realizing where they came from, and all that surrounds them, which allows them to stray away from this lack of balance in the world.
I like how Gould points to the inability to return home as a common theme of Indian Writing. Native Americans were displaced from their homes and their tribes quite often with their land being taken from them. With this displacement, however, comes the inevitable balancing of the old and the new, although sad to be moved from what was known it is important to embrace the new land and home.
In talking about maps and poetry, Gould shows how there is more to maps than just locations. My favorite line of the piece, which encompasses this belief, can be found on page 29 when it says, “Beneath the map imposed by science is a map in the blood that takes us back to a more original knowing-that we are not a separate creation.” It is saying that there is more to a map than the names of a place or what happened there. What are important is the people, or “blood,” that made a life there and the people, plants, and animals that dwelled in that place together. Going back to what Chief Mankiller said, mankind is not all that is living. The interconnectedness of people, plants, animals and other living things is what make up a place and the world as a whole.
As I continued to read, I noticed how Gould then goes on to talk about the appearance and relationships among women in Anglo poetry as opposed to American Indian women’s poetry. The alarming or distant relationship between women, or specifically mother and daughter, is one that is often seen in Anglo poetry but lacking in Indian women’s poetry. It is not non existent altogether, however, the kind of disconnect between women in American Indian poetry is portrayed as cultural rather than personal.

Brittney Melvin

9/18/2014 12:54:40 am

Brittney Melvin
Native Writing and Rhetoric
September 18,2014
Reader Response
While reading this week’s assignment “Speak to Me as Words” by Gould, I found myself contemplating the manner in which we treat nature in modern society versus the way Native Americans have revered Mother Nature for centuries. In previous assignments, we read about how when you refer to the earth as an “it” instead of a “her” you begin to lose the concept of the depth of life which surrounds us in nonhuman form.
The author of this piece states, “ Native women’s literary maps are constructs that symbolically provide direction or describe a known, remembered, imagined or longed-for terrain.” This displays the ability of Native Americans to draw valid parallels between the ethereal constructs of ideas and poems with the living concrete aspects of the land. Gould continues to state, “ By coming to terms with these inner regions and states of being, we poets offer ways to know ourselves as humans…” This description provides an example as to how Native Americans find correlations between themselves and the world around them in order to derive meaning and symbolism for their lives.
After reading Gould’s writing I feel as though I have a better understanding of the importance of maps and physical spaces. Because of the mobility of the lifestyle of Native Americans, space is an important part of their culture. Within that space lies the interdependent connections between the nature, animal, human and spirit worlds. “Forced removal” from the land has dramatically affected native culture; therefore, maps provide a connection to that painful part of the past.

Kyle Tocher

9/18/2014 01:13:26 am

Don't know if I'm posting this in the right place...

Some of these readings may be sickeningly long but they are yet to fail in interesting me. I never actually wondered what the Native American people did when it came to cartography and map making. The only way to successfully map back in those times was to walk around with a pen and paper in hand, and not even those supplies were guaranteed. If they did successfully map anything there was also a large chance that the map would not be to scale. I found it wondrous that Native Americans would use stories to describe how to get somewhere without needing to really on visuals, just verbal interpretations.
I imagined this to be much similar to using a GPS without actually looking at it, just listening to the robotic voice as you drive. Or even having someone give you directions on the street without him or her pointing to anything. This is even more intriguing when the Native Americans would travel miles in a day all by memory and knowing the words to a certain poem, story, or song.
Also while reading this I realized how much I really on visuals modernly and how envious I am of the Native Americans for living such a successful life without the need for any of that. I use maps, I read magazines, I watch TV, all of which require a visual aid, and Native Americans had none of this and lived their lives fuller than I currently am.
It also seems metaphorical in a sense, that the Native Americans were driven and guided by the songs of their people, that’s pretty rad! It makes a bond that can be shared by different families of differing cultures, “What story guides you to this place?”, that’s a pretty awesome question I wish someone asked me. “I got here because my IPhone said walk left.” Is a pretty lame answer.
The Native Americans did it better than us, and they managed to do it with nothing and with style.

A.J. Niakaros

9/18/2014 01:14:24 am

09/18/14
ENGL - 326
Reflection #4

As a writer, I learned very quick that some of the best stories come from or reflect personal life experiences, usually more significant or important to us. It’s very intriguing that a simple poem or a story can give you the same information as a map could. What’s even more intriguing is that it is a method that has been used throughout history, even today in some cases. Even though Native American women used poems and stories to give directions, the element of creativity still shines bright. In Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing, by Janice Gould, we get a closer look on how creativity was used as a guide for others.
As a whole, the piece explains how Native American women created poems and stories to map out their region(s) because they did not have or create maps. Personally, this is far more interesting than just reading a map, because at the same time, poems and stories bring us closer together as human beings. Using poems and stories as guides are far more engaging and interesting than “take a left at the statue.”
At the same time, using these creative mediums to give directions was sometimes used to disguise the fact that it was map. After reading this piece, the first thought that came to mind was the concept behind the song “The Drinking Gourd.” For context, “The Drinking Gourd” was a song created by African American slaves to sing during the brutal work day. As far as the slave owners were concerned, it was just a measly song, but the African Americans used it as a code to tell other slaves how to escape slavery via the Underground Railroad.
The connection I am trying to establish is that using creative mediums is a far easier, more secretive, and most rememberable way to retain information; today we call it auditorial learning. For the Native Americans, it was just a different way to map out the region, just how their language was just another way to communicate, or how their spiritual beliefs was just another way to worship a higher power. A common theme I am starting to notice within the readings is that the Native American as not different from us in a humanistic perspective. In other words, just like other/different cultures, they each have their own belief system, their own language, and their own methods in their everyday lives. It’s just a part of being human. The Native Americans simply just replaced maps with poems and songs. It’s just another way that Native Americans distinguished themselves as a unique culture, but in absolutely no way, shape or form, categorized themselves as anything other than human.

Casner Parfait

9/18/2014 02:26:58 am

Casner Parfait
Dr. Anderson
Engl 326
September, 18th 2014
I read the wrong assigned reading for today's class but nonetheless...the excerpt ‘Rhetorical Sovereignty’ by Scott Richard Lyons I believe discusses how the Native Americans want the sovereignty or control over writing and their meanings. Lyons discusses how the brutality and violence during the nineteenth century contributed to the distrust among Native Americans. This distrust led to the Native Americans becoming skeptical of the English written word. There wasn’t a correlation between the writings of the nineteenth century and the actual brutality and violence that occurred during that time. Lyons says that Native Americans would like rhetorical sovereignty due to the fact that they would like to survive and flourish as people. They would like to regain their losses that they endured during the 19th century, and regain their personal self respect. They also discuss how rhetorical sovereignty is the right or ability to determine their communication and desires. This makes sense within the excerpt because earlier on Lyons discusses how Luther Standing and his other Native American classmates had to choose “white” names at Castle Indian School. This was mind boggling to me due to the fact these young children were losing their identity and being forced to assimilate to the white culture, the Native Americans had no control or sovereignty over their own identity. This excerpt was saying in a sense that Native Americans in the United States were being limited in regards to their sovereignty simply due to the fact that it was the United States. Reading ‘Rhetorical Sovereignty definitely helped me understand the unfairness that is still continued presently in regards to Native Americans and their sovereignty.

Caitlin Seddon

9/18/2014 03:22:26 am

Gould states, “By coming to terms with these inner regions and states of being, we poets offer ways to know ourselves as human,” which I think can directly relate to our map project. Native Americans find connections between themselves and the world and nature around them in order to stem meaning from it. They understand that they are not the only people to inhabit this land. As European’s came to America and thought that they were settling on untouched land. They believe that they were the first to settle in a certain place, though they knew very well there where others before them. Situating yourself with the space around you gives you a better understanding of the history around you. It also can help you better understand yourself. You are learning more about the culture of where you live, and maybe grew up.
Another thing mention by Gould is that Native Americans were dislodged from their homes; they were unable to return to certain areas. European settlers took their land, usually by force and forced Native Americans to relocate to another region. This made me think of the map project because as I researched I found that Native American tribes were forced out of the town of Taunton and in so relocated to Canton. They were unable to return to a place they called home. This opened my eyes up to more native space. As I research I notice how it continues on. As Native Americans continue to relocate, I notice that native space is all around us. Every piece of land we walk on is land that Native Americans once walked upon to.
Gould focuses on nature itself. I can see a direct difference of how Mother Nature is treated. Native Americans held Mother Nature in great respect and we have taken that for granted now. I think this is an important aspect of Native American life because of the difference in how we treat her. They treated nature as a living, breathing person. As we destroy and build over her. The difference in treatment has blown up in our face now a day with global warming. Again can relate to our map project because we are able to see our hometown and research how we have changed it. It is completely different then when Native Americans lived here.
Gould’s piece is meant to open our eyes to native space and relate to the project. It does a good job at showing there is history to the land, may it be the name of the street or an event that happened.

Timothy Morrison

9/18/2014 05:17:55 am

Janice Gould contributes a wealth of interesting notions to ponder in her chapter titled “Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writings”. Her central discussion about the metaphorical and figurative significance of cartography in writing is very illuminating. It is interesting to examine how one concept can be used to help an individual explain themselves as a human, and, as Gould highlights, Native American writers further this idea to help them map out their own sense of identity. Interestingly, Gould notes that “in times of great social and political stress, when spiritual traditions have been undermined or are hard to adhere to, living a “reasonable, integrated life” is not easy” (Gould 24), and that “we need maps to help us find our direction, to help describe and explain the kind of spiritual and material terrain that we have walked through before and are walking through even now” (Gould 24). In this sense, the literal purpose of the map to document physical layouts, and its ability to help determine direction, becomes something highly figurative in the way of understanding identity. It can be a tool for the lost, and through mapping, some kind of resolution is found.

Additionally, Gould’s discussion regarding the spiritual qualities of American culture is an interesting, and increasingly relevant one. Undoubtedly, modern America, as well as many other modern, industrialized countries has adopted a more scientific approach to how they understand life. America, particularly, is in the midst of a constant culture clash between the sensibilities of long standing religious ideologies and the analytical approach offered by the scientific community. Gould, however, investigates the concept of spirituality, which governs a unique part of the human experience. From her discussion, she seems to be calling for a return to a spiritual sensibility that isn’t limited by religious dogma or scientific practice. Instead, the sense of spirituality she is questioning is based in how we can meaningfully understand ourselves in relation to the universe, or the natural world. I think this is an interesting notion, as I personally would consider myself to be a product of the modernized world that, currently, contains a rising obsession with cold, hard science. I think Gould’s call for a return to spiritual sensibilities is rational, however, because these sensibilities emphasize the importance of balance, which, regardless of however an individual defines themselves, is essential for a healthy relationship between human and nature.

Elizabeth Grillo

9/19/2014 10:19:37 am

Poems as Maps in American Indian Women’s Writing is a very interesting piece of work. Gould starts off with a couple of poems and I found them very interesting because I never thought of poems with direction and roads and landmarks as a map. She then goes on to discuss how people need to create a balance in this world because this world has spun out of balance and poems and maps are going to recover that balance. I love when Gould says that in order to recover this balance we must stop always looking for ways to describe how we came about and how the world works. We need to just believe in the stories we are told and have faith that someone gave us life and that there does not need to be a scientific explanation.
In the reading Rhetorical Sovereignty, I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic and sad for the Native Americans. The Native Americans had to go to a new school and pencils were the first Europeans technology that was introduced to them and they couldn’t believe what it was able to do. What saddened me was when they had to choose new Europeans names that were written on a board. Not only did they have to compromise some of their culture, but also they had to pick random names to be called for the rest of their lives. Our names are our identity and who we are, and they were forced to change theirs.
“Our strength was, and is, in alliance and in the ability to adapt to rapidly changing worlds. We borrowed European goods and ideas, and these became part of our cultural traditions. After all, all cultures must change if they are to survive.” This quote from the Down By The River story was one that stood out to me the most. It is sad that different cultures cannot get along unless they change some of their ideas and beliefs. Native American culture had to change to survive and this was the story of their lives.

Timothy Morrison

9/22/2014 01:11:21 am

At the heart of Lyons’ discussion is his analysis of how modern rhetoric can develop a sovereign sensibility, and what that means for Indians. Lyons interestingly notes “What we might need, then, is an understanding of the twin pillars of sovereignty: the power to self-govern and the affirmation of peoplehood” (Lyons 456). He continues, and further states that “without self-governance” (Lyons 456), and “without the people” (Lyons 456), everything that constitutes the structure of a “nation” falls apart. Lyons’ recognition of the importance of self-governance illuminates much of his examination of sovereignty, and how the concept of sovereignty has evolved throughout history. His discussion demonstrates a sharp contrast between the historical, and surprisingly modern, sensibilities of sovereignty. The Europeans and the Americans felt as if they had gained their sovereignty, and their mission was not only to protect it, but to utilize it as a tool for nation building. The Indians, according to Lyons, shared a vastly different understanding of the concept, and, in the current times, they are striving to achieve their own sense of sovereignty. In this particular example of dueling perspectives, it is interesting to see how we define sovereignty. From the ways the concept is used, or sought after, it becomes a stamp on how one nation value themselves. Lyons gives a detailed examination of sovereignty in his article, but I can imagine it running much deeper, particularly into another discussion about how nations can utilize their own sense of sovereignty for their own gains.

Additionally, Lyons’ discourse of the significance of rhetorical sovereignty in the past helps create a clear understanding of the ways in which the Europeans and, eventually, the Americans directly abused the natives and their ties to the land. Lyon’s details the ways treaties and deals were conducted with the Natives, and notes that “The lesson here seems obvious: namely, he who sets the terms sets the limits” (Lyons 452). This angle of viewing the past reveals a significant way in which writing and rhetoric played a part in the history of the Natives. Particularly, the Natives were being submissively forced into a permanent place of “lesser” status.

Nicholas Machado

9/22/2014 12:13:32 pm

Powell and Lyons

The essays by Scott Richard Lyons and Malea D. Powell assigned for today’s readings both discuss the importance of Native American peoples maintaining a sense of rhetorical sovereignty. Both essays highlight the desperate need for Native Americans to have a hand in defining their own culture and history, not just allowing European colonizers to make up their own version of indigenous peoples’ pasts. It is fascinating to see how both Lyons and Powell share common ideologies in their writing, despite the very different content of their texts. All differences aside, Lyons and Powell both found that Native American rhetorical sovereignty is not just something necessary for political equality and peace across cultural boundaries, but is something necessary for the survival of American Indians and their valuable ideologies and teachings.
In Lyons’s essay, he contrasts the European idea of political sovereignty with the Native American notion of sovereignty as a device used to preserve and represent an entire group of people. Rather than seeing sovereignty as a tool to aid in conquering and ruling as the European settlers did (and do?), American Indians see how sovereignty can be used to help a culture protect and define itself. In short, Lyons uses his essay to portray the American Indian desire to maintain balance and order by having a certain degree of respect for differences and boundaries. Lyons discusses the way white conquerors refuse to share the desires for peace and balance between cultures that many Native Americans have, and therefore shows us how a lack of sovereignty for Native American people can result in the eradication or disappearance of their culture as they know it.
Powell writes of the survival of Native American culture in her essay as well, but offers a fresh perspective on the topic. Powell believes that the survival of the traditional American Indian is something that can only be achieved through acceptance of change. Powell understands, although she does not necessarily agree with, the way times are changing, and she believes the key to rhetorical sovereignty is cooperation between American Indian and non-Indian scholars and thinkers. In her essay, Powell urges non-Indians to find a desire to understand indigenous peoples, just as indigenous peoples find ways to understand the ever-evolving world around them, dominated by white thought and law. As Americans in general, Powell sees one surefire way we can guarantee the survival of Native American culture – by working together.

Katharine Trahan

9/22/2014 12:57:33 pm

Response to Lyons’ Rhetorical Sovereignty and Powell’s River

As I was reading the article, Rhetorical Sovereignty, I felt bad for the Native American people. There was no need for them to have to be stripped of their identity. Having a name for yourself is what makes you the person you are. When we do not have the name to identify ourselves with, we can often become lost and have less meaning for our lives. The Native American people did not need yet another problem in their lives, but of course, they had to choose a white man’s name that meant nothing to them. As for the Native peoples writing, they had to attach onto it not their names, but their new names. Their words and thoughts were now given to a name that is not connected to the words at all. I like how it ended the article with “rather, a fair and correct history of the native American should be incorporated in the curriculum of the public school”(Eagle 254) because it shows that people need and want to see change.
In the second reading, River, I really liked how they take a moment and tell us to start learning from the people that were and are on our own land, rather than learn from the Greeks and various other groups who we spend so much time learning about. Not that there cultures and values aren’t important, but we have such a rich culture to learn about and grow from through the Native people. The Native people have so much to offer but we really do not take the time to research and learn from them. It is said that they want everyone to take the Native Americans more seriously and they address this to scholars as well. My favorite part of this essay is when Melea Powell mentions, “But my point in even briefly engaging this absence is not to launch an exhaustive critique of the discipline; it is, instead, to propose that we imagine, for a moment, a usable past in which Native peoples writings aren’t just included but are, instead, critically important.” This statement sums up that the native peoples writings should be of more importance to us.
Overall, I believe both of these articles were worth reading. It is nice to see that the Native people have a number of writers behind them rooting for them. I enjoyed the first article that I read a little bit more because of the topic of identity. I think it is important to note that the Natives were already struggling with their identities that this certainly did not help them one bit. They were kicked out of the only place they knew and were supposed to keep living and move on. For them to take the names of those who did this to them must have been such a hard thing to do and a hard pill to swallow.

Jenna Pelissier

9/22/2014 02:08:17 pm

Reading Response
“Rhetorical Sovereignty” and “River”

Although the context within Lyons’ and Powell’s articles were quite different, the underlying message was the essentially same: Native Americans need to withhold a sense of [rhetorical] sovereignty in order to maintain their cultural identifications and their independence as a people. “Sovereignty is a concept that has a history of contest, shifting meanings, and culturally-specific rhetorics,” (Lyons 458). When reading “Rhetorical Sovereignty” I immediately felt sympathy for the Native Americans that were stripped of their identities when gathered and thrown into boarding schools. Forcing the students to take on new, foreign, American names was utterly cruel and unnecessary, especially when none of these names were pronounced or explained to them. Although violent, I admire the Indians’ attempts to repudiate this unwanted American influence – such as torching the schools and attempting to run away entirely.
It is also important to the native culture that they are identified as a people – “a group of human beings united together by history, language, culture, or some combination therein – a community joined in union for a common purpose: the survival of flourishing of the people itself,” (Lyons 454). Taking these things [sovereignty, personal independence] away from the Native Americans was something that, when it comes down to it, never should have happened. If they wanted to learn the English language and go to school, that should have been an option available to them – not something that was forced. As a result, sovereignty is something that Native Americans are still trying to accomplish today
In Powell’s “River” article, she approaches the concept of sovereignty entirely differently – in order for Native Americans to survive as a culture and a people, they must accept and undergo change. She expands on the fact that in order to achieve rhetorical sovereignty, people must learn to cooperate and co-exist as different peoples, “because cultures that do not change cannot survive,” (Powell 40). I find this to be an extremely intriguing and valid point – in order to exist among other cultures, other people, in any situation, one must be willing to accept change and alterations.

Caitlin Rose Bradley

9/22/2014 02:28:05 pm

"Down By The River" talks about the Native Americans' ability to adapt and the necessity of culture to adapt for survival. The native peoples understood that they may have to compromise a little to keep most of their customs, or at least to keep their lives. They adjusted themselves and adapted to new laws and land in order to keep their communities going. The settlers did not adapt socially and probably would not have. They survived because they had the upper hand. Their culture was not threatened. They imposed their own culture and laws upon the native peoples.
"Down By The River" also discusses rhetoric as an art. Rhetoric makes meaning and connects the theoretical to the practical. It engages people in the meaning of practices. The author says "human beings learn to produce texts through both theory and practice, by listening and by doing." This meant something to me because this is how I learned to write speeches. By listening to speeches and watching speakers make compelling orations, I observed changes in voice intonation and patterns of speech and gesture and pregnant pauses. I then adapted these to fit my needs in my own speeches. I enjoy writing and delivering speeches, and I believe myself to be relatively good at them, but it wasn't something I formally learned before I jumped right into doing it. Culture can be passed along in this way as well. This is how we learn language and prayer and traditions. We learn through observing those whom we respect and look to for guidance. By imitating them ourselves, we teach ourselves how to do these things. This is why we give children toy kitchens and phones and "grown-up things"-- so that they can learn through practice.
When Native Americans gained the power of communication by learning the language, both oral and written, of the settlers, they had an effective tool on their side. They could then communicate their desires and their side of the story. They could no longer be ignored because they had been given a voice, and they effectively used rhetoric through their voice to denounce the injustices which had been done to their people by the settlers. In Writing About Writing last semester, we read accounts from native people asking the conquering invaders what they needed to do to live peacefully, arguing skillfully that they had been nothing but compliant and demanding fair treatment. The settlers and their native countries believed that these illiterate people were dumb, but they were highly intelligent and skilled in rhetoric, which they could prove once they achieved the ability to converse with the conquerors.
The other important factor in last night's readings is sovereignty. A man is not free unless he has a say in his own fate and fortune. The Native Americans had no freedom because the settlers dispossessed them of their land and culture and traditions. Then they imposed foreign laws on them, forcing their children to go to school and all but threatening them to convert to Christianity and conform to their ways. Therefore they had no sovereignty over themselves. They didn't have an election where they could vote for representatives or leaders or some sort of intercessor for themselves. This was the problem that led to women suffrage protesters and for African-Americans. Even America told England "no taxation without representation." To lack sovereignty is to lack freedom, and America is the land of the FREE.

Ronaldo Fontes

9/22/2014 10:48:41 pm

Ronaldo Fontes
Professor Anderson
ENGL 326-001
23 September 2014
Critical Response - 9/18
The assigned readings for today have brought to my attention numerous issues that I never gave much thought to in the past. The idea of rhetorical sovereignty is a new, but powerful idea for me. In essence, the idea that one’s identity can be muddled, over even lost, due to the corruption inherent in the authorship of a peace is both startling and sad.
Take for example something as simple as a name. In large part, many of us take for granted the fact that our names define much about us and who we are. They offer a connection to our past through our parents, and they inform others of our culture and ethnicity. In a sense, we are given names at birth that we slowly grow into. It is hard to look a close friend or family member and picture them going by a different name. Now, imagine for a second, if you will, how heartbreaking it must be to one day be taken away from the life you once knew, and not only be transported into someone else’s world, but to be given someone else’s name, too. Our names are a crucial part of our identity, and I would imagine that only when we lose them would we understand just how important they truly are. Taken a person’s name is akin to taking part of who they are, and historically, no good has ever come of this practice.
There is an intriguing point made about rhetorical sovereignty in the readings, specifically about how a people’s history is not just about them, but is part of who they are. When we remind ourselves just who is writing the history books, it becomes obvious that there is an inherent conflict of interest. Native Americans have had much taken away from them, but perhaps the cruelest injustice of all is in taking their history away through violence commited against their writing. It has often said that history is written by the victors, and in thinking about Native American history, it is sad to see how easily a people’s history can be corrupted.
In understanding rhetorical sovereignty, it starts to make more and more sense why native people have such seemingly insurmountable stereotypes that they, must unfairly, overcome. European powers have largely had the luxury to write their own history. Whether the events or not truly happened that way, their recorded history has largely been shaped by their own historians. Native Americans, however, have had no such privileges. Their recorded history is largely written about them, not by them. When factoring in all sorts of misunderstandings of culture, biases, outright racism, and more, it’s no wonder our children are taught history about the people who inhabited the Americas before the European settlers that at worst is just a gross generalization, and at best, utterly wrong and libelous.
As our society becomes more and more aware of the injustices commited against the native people of America, we will hopefully, slowly, start to make this right in the end.

Caitlin Rose Bradley

9/24/2014 11:54:27 am

I really enjoyed reading "The Truth About Stories." I, like the author, love stories about other worlds and travelling between worlds, and it wasn't because I loved planets or space either. I didn't have the rough childhood the author had, but I loved the idea of escapism through stories and theater. That's why I'm an English and Theater double major; I love telling stories.
The author is very good at storytelling; I like how he teaches us how to tell stories by telling us a story about a story he was told. He creates suspense by telling us that you create suspense by not telling everything at once. He is following his own rules successfully by teaching how to tell stories. I've heard the "Sky Woman" story told before in a few variations, but this version is by far the most compelling one I've heard. I love listening to storytellers because, like this author, they don't just tell the story. They interact with the audience. They speak to the audience, they don't just recite plot. They know what the audience may be thinking and they address it and make jokes about their story based on those thoughts.
The story is sexist, however. The foolish woman was too curious and she caused trouble, even though the heroic otter was female as well. When Charm gave birth to twins, the male twin makes good choices while the female twin, who isn't right-handed, messes things up and makes them more chaotic. At least she created waterfalls; "everyone likes waterfalls." But the boy makes roses and the girl makes thorns. This is just one interpretation of the story, and perhaps the original wasn't so anti-feminine, but somewhere along the line, one storyteller casted the female as a troublemaker and the male as a smart creator. This can be misleading, and may play into the stereotype that Native Americans didn't have a deep respect for women. This is how stereotypes and rumors begin; storytelling is like playing telephone. Oral tradition can be altered and much information is misconstrued.
This author is a skilled teacher because he is a skilled storyteller. Even while giving us dull information about dichotomies and rhetoric, he has captivated our attention with mere words. He isn't even standing in front of us; with ink and paper he could effectively communicate lessons to us by coloring with humor and authenticity.
Every story the author tells is enhanced in some way by his verbiage. Each one captures the reader and holds them to reading it. I found myself eager to get to the next point of action. He had me on the edge of my seat. Even when he wasn't telling a story; near the end he is simply rambling about being an Indian and how it doesn't affect him that he "looks like an Indian" because he's middle class. It affects his friends and relatives, but he isn't in any danger of racial profiling. And I wanted to read everything he said, because his style was so interesting. My mind didn't wander; I wanted to know what he had to say. That is the difference between a good storyteller and an excellent storyteller.

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