LITR 4232 American Renaissance

Sample Student Research Project 2012
Journal

Joseph Bernard

6 April 2012

“Build therefore your own world”: The Evolution of Native American Fiction

Introduction:

          Long before the days of Plymouth and Jamestown, the native peoples of what was to be called the United States were constructing their own cultures rife with stories that conveyed not only powerful lessons, but preserved critical ideas and expectations about native culture for future generations to inculcate. Often, these stories were based on the physical environment around the tribe. Vine Deloria Jr comments on the aforementioned concept in his book God is Red: A Native View of Religion: “The most notable characteristic of the tribal tradition [including story] is the precision and specificity of the traditions when linked to the landscape…”(Deloria Jr, 122) More specifically, these traditions included a concrete conviction that history professor Steven Mintz points to: “[there is] a belief that there [are] close bonds between people, animals, and the natural environment, and that all must live together in harmony.” (Mintz) A harmonious existence with the environment was an ideal that Native American story attempted to convey; however, this unity of man and surrounding was a belief that came under fire when European colonization became a common-place feature on the North American landscape. As history progressed, the Native American peoples were pushed away from any kind of unity with their new neighbors, instead forced onto pieces of land called reservations and presented with new ideologies that were more “advanced” than their previous “savage” lifestyle. Nevertheless, the Native American tradition of story continued forward, albeit with different lessons and observations. Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz illustrate the previously mentioned point by saying this about Native American fiction: “Some [stories] have been told for thousands of years, and they are still being told and retold, reshaped and refitted to meet their audience’s changing needs, even created anew out of a contemporary man’s or woman’s vision.” (Erdoes and Ortiz, xi) So then, one could come to the conclusion that the Native American tradition of story did not change or vaporize underneath the burden of Anglo thought; rather, the content of those stories, both old and new, have evolved in accordance with the change of surroundings that have engulfed the Native American populace.

A bit of context:

          In order to fully appreciate the evolution of Native American fiction, one must be given a cursory overview of the historical context the Native American peoples have operated in over time. Even before European colonization was a concept, Native American peoples were constructing complex societies. History professor Steven Mintz says this about Native American antiquity: “Along the Northwest Pacific Coast…the ancestors of the Haidas, Kwakiutls, and Tlingits developed a distinctive culture oriented toward the water…It was in the arid Southwest that some of the earliest farming societies developed. The predecessors of the Pueblo and Navajo Indians were able to flourish in a desert environment…” (Mintz) The native peoples of the United States were intimately connected to the land and learned how to live in harmony with their surroundings in order to produce a rich way of life.

          Upon Columbus’ arrival in 1492, there were approximately seven to twelve million Native Americans living on what would be known as North American and Canada. As Columbus and by extension other colonists interacted with the native peoples, they took advantage of tensions that existed between tribes to further colonization goals. While the European colonists introduced such things as grazing cattle and swine, they also brought crippling disease to the land, killing numerous Native peoples.

          Mintz delves quite deeply into the conflict between European colonists and the Native American peoples, most of which this research project cannot delve into for sake of time. However, an overarching theme that can be seen in the sense that cooperation was not a concept that the Europeans desired to implement with the Native peoples of North America, as Mintz illustrates: “By the early eighteenth century…it was already clear that friendly relations and cooperation would be the exception, since…European colonizers were encroaching on Indian lands and radically disrupting the Indian ways of life.” (Mintz) As the European born peoples grew in number and strength, Native Americans were corralled and placed on meager plots of land called reservations. A vivid example that lives on in the American consciousness of the Native American displacement issue is the Trail of Tears. The National Park Service has this to say about the Trail: “In 1838, the United States government forcibly removed more than 16,000 Cherokee Indian people from their homelands. The impact to the Cherokee was devastating…and culminated the implementation of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which mandated the removal of all American Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to lands in the West.” (“Trail of Tears”)

          During the early twentieth century, the Native American peoples were the poorest economic social group in the country. Changing their condition dramatically were three important acts: the Indian Education Act passed in 1972, the Indian Health Care Improvement act passed in 1975 and the 1978 Indian Child Welfare act. All three acts paved the way for increased Native American achievement and success that has gone into the twenty first century(Mintz).

The Early Myths:

          Before the journal continues, the author must clarify a point of confusion that may occur. There are a multitude of Native myths that explore so many different topics that one cannot cover every single aspect of the Native American myth. However, due to the intimate connection between the Natives and nature, the author has chosen to probe two areas of early Native myth: that of the human condition and the physical world.

1-The Human Condition

As noted in the previous two sections, Native American peoples have woven intricate patterns of story that originate in antiquity and have endured throughout the turbulent test of time. Those stories that were spawned from antiquity cover a multitude of topics, but a gargantuan issue covered is that of the human condition, more specifically how the human is connected to nature and vice versa. Jenny Leading Cloud, a Native American story teller, has this to say about the early myths: “’…we Indians think of the earth and the whole universe as a never ending circle, and in this circle man is just another animal. The buffalo and the coyote are our brothers; the birds, our cousins…they are all relatives.’” (Erdoes and Ortiz 5) So then, the myths of antiquity possess a heavy focus on exploring how man and nature share an intimate connection. This becomes clear in the myths entitled “Rabbit Boy” and “Blood Clot”, both of which portray the birth and life of a supernaturally gifted young man who is born from a blood clot. Rabbit boy is found by a wandering rabbit who raises the boy with his wife and the gifted young man in “Blood Clot” is found by an old couple who follow buffalo tracks to a spot that holds nothing but a blood clot. What is of import to note is the cyclical pattern that the myths follow: both boys are found in nature and eventually set out to find a human tribe, said tribe receiving them eagerly before the young men go back into nature after some kind of trial. For instance, Rabbit boy is cut up to pieces by jealous villagers, said pieces reconstituting themselves into a body and riding up to heaven on a beam of sunlight; the boy found in “Blood Clot” transforms into a buffalo after someone on a hunt shouts “’Kill that Calf!’” and rides off to forever be with the buffalo (Erdoes and Ortiz 5-11). While both stories contain differing plot elements, the cyclical nature of the human condition comes to the forefront: man comes from nature, exists in nature and then returns to the naturalistic world he was born from.

          Another myth that attempts to clarify the closely knit relationship between man and nature is one entitled “Creation of the Animal People”. In this myth of the Okanogan, the Earth itself was fashioned out of a woman to be “’the mother of all people,’” by the Old One, a kind of deity. Not only were there humans and animals that lived on the earth, but also the “ancients”, who were half human and half animal (Erdoes and Ortiz 14-15).This blending of man and animal is a facet of the Native myth that is reflected in the myths explored in the previous paragraph, further reinforcing the concept that man and nature are inseparable. As if to write the notion of man and nature’s enduring connection on the hearts of all Native peoples, the myth states: “Thus all living things came from the earth. When we look around, we see part of our mother everywhere.” (Erdoes and Ortiz 15) Also of note is the mention of a deity who has creative power; some myths have no mention of a god, while others mention a singular god(example: Corn Mother of the Penobscot) or multiple gods. Specific to this myth, however, is the notion that the Old One created the Earth and everything on it, but Earth and nature are the sustainers. Take for instance how the Old One handles the obstinacy of the Ancients: “The difficult…was that most of the ancients were monsters, and there was much trouble…they were also very stupid. At last…he sent Coyote…to teach the Indians how to do things.” (Erdoes and Ortiz 15) It is not the Old One directly teaching and nurturing; it is Coyote, an animal that came from the Earth. So then, even in an instance where a supreme deity is involved, the intimate bond between man and nature is only confirmed, not severed.

2-The Physical World

          Native peoples of United States have attempted to explain their physical surroundings through a host of stories, each tribe putting forth a slightly different version of how the physical world came to be. However, these stories share similar characteristics, as previously explored in the section above. Water covering the world before anything existed is a common element in most Native myths, along with the creation of the world coming from a deity or multiple deities shaping said surroundings out of mud; however, deities are not the only creative forces employed in these stories. Animals and/or specially designated human beings who are almost treated like demi-gods in status (ex: Sky Chief’s daughter, who gives birth to two twins that are responsible for the dualistic plight of human nature) are also given responsibility for the creation of the Native’s surroundings. An interesting portion of the creative myth is dedicated to the “twins who combine both good and evil”, said pairings responsible for giving humans not only their physical context, but also the dualistic nature that humans possess. In this sense, the Native peoples were concerned not only with the physical matter of their surroundings, but also their nature, their essence. For the rest of this section, two stories will be explored that detail a creation story that involves the physical and one that details a “twin” myth. (Erdoes and Ortiz, 75-76)

          “The Jicarilla Genesis”, a myth circulated among the Jicarilla Apache, is a tale that quite uniquely expresses the creation of the physical world. Of course, as most Native myths state, the earth’s surface was covered with water; however, it is of interest to note that “all living things” were living in an underworld, said organic beings already possessing the ability to talk and interact with each other. As the myth progresses, the sun itself sees that there is a surface world that they can inhabit instead of the dank underworld, the entire host of nature desiring to get to this new frontier. After several attempts to break through to the surface, including planting mounds of soil that grow into mountains and building ladders with feathers, four storms emerge from the underworld and blow away the water, giving all of nature a place to call home. This myth is unique in the sense that all of nature’s elements, including celestial bodies and natural aberrations (tornadoes), are stuffed into an underworld and then burst forth onto the scene, but only after much effort. This account does not discuss any kind of creator, but rather implies that the physical world had just existed, which is a direct contrast to the Christian belief that God has always existed and the physical world is His creation.

          “The Good Twin and The Evil Twin” is a myth that the Yuma Indians recount as a creation story. Again, the story starts off with the earth covered in water, except this time there are only two beings: twins Kokomaht and Bakotahl, both good and evil respectively. Kokomaht creates the sky and land in perfect fashion, his brother fuming at this success and attempts to mimic his sibling, although imperfectly. This myth is quite unique in the sense that Kokomaht is directly responsible for the creation of specific Native tribes: “Kokomaht now made the Cocopahs, the Dieguienos, and the Mojaces. In pairs he created them.” (Erdoes and Ortiz 78) Again, the specific nature of the myth continues in the sense that the white man is mentioned as a part of the creation, although he is not as mature as the other Natives mentioned. This only emphasizes the idea that the Natives believed that all peoples were connected, even those who oppressed them.

          Returning to the flow of the myth, Kokomhat dies in order to teach his creation how to die themselves. His son, Komashtam’ho, takes over and attempts to wipe out the creation due to the threatening nature they possess, but is stopped, eventually turning himself into four eagles, representing the four winds. The twin, Bakotahl, is only mentioned at the end of the myth as “The Blind Evil One”, constantly stirring up trouble in the underworld. The story ends with a proclamation: “Everything that is good comes from Kokmaht, and everything evil comes from Bakotahl. This is the tale-how it was, and how it is, and how it will be.” (Erdoes and Ortiz 82). Although Bakotahl and Kokomhat’s relationship is not intimately explored, the myth establishes a contrast between two beings, two natures that exist inherently in human beings and nature itself(disaster and plenty).

The later stories:

          While conducting research for this project, the author came across a substantial lack of chronological marking when it came to Native American story, so placing most of these stories in a space of specific time was quite difficult, especially concerning any stories that came from between the time of colonization to the mid twentieth century. Knowing how dynamic and fluid the Native American story tradition is, it would not surprise the author if the early myths listed above and others that were circulated by their respective tribes were modified just slightly and continued forward. There is evidence of this theory in the sense that many of the myths in the anthology compiled by Erdoes and Ortiz make mention of the white man, said additions most likely made by Natives who had contact with Anglos. For the context of this project, the “later stories” refer to contemporary short stories and novels published in the twentieth century.

          These “later stories” are concerned with issues that have sat in the Native American consciousness over the course of their interactions with the European white man, such as the forceful repression with which the Native American culture was treated with, the loss and blending of Anglo culture with Native, as well as the overall sorrow that Native peoples feel about being fenced in on pockets of land. Any kind of story that expressed the Native Americans plight was rejected for quite some time, as Alan Velie points out in The Lightning Within: An anthology of Contemporary Native American Fiction: “Although Indians published autobiographies, novels, short stories, and poems throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century, their works were generally ignored by the American reading public…’Indian literature…seemed an oxymoron.” (Velie, IX) However, a breakthrough occurred due to the civil rights movement, raising awareness to not only African American culture, but other minority cultures in the nation. As traction gathered for Native American fictional expression, several authors came to the fore as exceptional examples of the “new” story tellers. These contemporary authors sought to explore the complex issues that faced Native American peoples in the twentieth century, all the while not forgetting to pay tribute to their identity rooted in antiquity; in other words, the stories that came from their minds are the evolved form of Native American fiction, taking into account both past experience and present surrounding.

Note: Again, due to the wide swath of Native American contemporary fiction, the author has only selected two of the most renowned Native American authors that can represent the best possible sampling of the later stories.

N. Scott Momaday:

          Momaday is widely considered to be the “dean of American Indian writers”, publishing novels, short stories and memoirs that have resonated among the Native peoples. Growing up on reservations throughout his childhood, Momaday went on to university and graduated from New Mexico in 1958 before heading to Stanford, where he earned his PhD in American literature. Due to his experience in both the Native American and White worlds, Momaday’s fiction reflects very accurately contemporary Native issues, one of which is the struggle to retain Indian identity while living in the white man’s world. One of his short stories entitled “Tosamah’s Story” details this conflict.

          Momaday describes a makeshift church that is housed in the basement of a brick building in Los Angeles, said church pastored by Tosamah, who is known as both pastor and “Priest of the Sun”. Right away, the reader is introduced to the mixing of identities as the story points to a sign hanging outside the entrance to the basement church: “Holiness Pan-Indian Rescue Mission…Saturday 8:30 P.M. ‘The Gospel According to John’ Sunday 8:30 P.M. ‘The Way to Rainy Mountain’” (Momaday 4) Both Christian and Native accounts stand side by side, preached at the same church and by implication given the same credence. Even the full name of the pastor is an amalgam of Native and White man, the pastor being introduced to his congregation in this manner: “‘The Right Reverend John Big Bluff Tosamah’” (Momaday 5)

          After Tosamah is introduced to his flock, he begins a sermon that discusses both the nature of the Apostle John’s revelation and a Kiowa legend told to him by his grandmother. The pastor makes a very interesting distinction between the two that point to a key issue concerning the struggle to preserve the Native American identity:

“She [Tosamah’s grandmother] was asking me to go with her to the confrontation of something that was sacred and eternal. It was a timeless, timeless thing; nothing…came between us…I could see that reverence in my grandmother’s eyes…It was that [reverence], I think, that old Saint John had in mind…But he went on…He could find no satisfaction in the simple fact that the world Word was; he had to account for it…not in terms of his imagination, but only in terms of his prejudice.” (Momaday 8-10)

White men do not see the world the way the Native peoples do; instead of allowing his environment to exist in a “sacred and eternal” space, he attempts to mold it into a fitting representation of what he thinks it should look like based on preconceived notions. The Native peoples experienced this concept in spades as European, and later on in history American, thought, attempted to superimpose their own beliefs on how the Native peoples should behave. In a sense, the power of the white man worked, as Momaday illustrates through the nomenclature associated with Tosamah and his church. The white man’s beliefs and values have been imposed on the Native American cultures; however, the Priest of the Sun delivers a powerful message to his brethren that resonate as an exhortation to all Native peoples attempting to retain their identity: “ ‘Now the white man deals in words…and in his presence, here on his own ground, you are as children, mere babes in the woods. You must not mind, for in this you have a certain advantage. A child can listen and learn. The Word is sacred to a child.” (Momaday 8) The “Word” mentioned here is not the Christian Word in this context; rather, Tosamah is making reference to the sacred stories of their ancestors that the Native American can still learn from. Although Tosamah preaches from the Christian Bible, he is quick to remind his flock that the stories of their ancestors must not be tossed to the side, that their identity must be preserved as a “sacred and eternal thing”.

Leslie Marmon Silko:

          Leslie Silko was born in 1948 and grew up in New Mexico, eventually graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in creative writing, choosing to devote her life to teaching the subject. Silko is best known for her novel Ceremony, which is a fictional account of a Native American veteran who attempts to reconcile his mixed heritage by undertaking a Native ceremony. For sake of not wanting this project to take up more space than necessary, Ceremony will only be recommended as a resource and not analyzed. Instead, the short story “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” will be utilized as an example of the evolved form of Native American fiction.

          “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” details a funeral that is performed for an old Indian man, said funeral acting as a symbol of both the tension and blending of Native and White cultures. Old Teofilo is the name given to the dead man, his relatives discovering his body underneath a tree. After securing the body, Teofilo’s grandson and grandson-in-law conduct an Indian burial preparation rite: “Leon took a piece of string … and tied a small gray feather in the old man’s…hair. Ken gave him the paint. Across the brown wrinkled forehead he drew a streak of white and along the high cheekbones he drew a strip of blue paint. He …watched Ken throw pinches of pollen into the wind…” (Silko 48) The ritual finishes off with a very heartwarming request: “Leon…smiled. ‘Send us rain clouds, Grandfather.’” (Silko 48) Here, the power of the ancestor and ancient ritual are demonstrated as alive and well; however, an element of the white man enters into the picture a few paragraphs later, where the reader is introduced to Father Paul, who says: “I hope I’ll be seeing you at Mass this week-we missed you last Sunday.” (Silko 49) There is a quiet tension that this statement introduces, seeing as it comes right after the Native ritual; it is almost as if the priest is attempting to remind Leon and Ken that their identity is not rooted in the “old” ways, but rather in the White man’s culture.

          Even with this friction between cultures, there is a blending of sorts that occurs on the very next page after the funeral occurs Teofilo’s grandson, Leon, hears a thought from his wife: “‘I said that I had been thinking about something…About the priest sprinkling holy water for Grandpa. So he won’t be thirsty.’” (Silko 50) The function of holy water is twisted to fit the Native American culture, although the water is coming from the White man; however, it is of interest to note that the wife respects the water as holy and wants it used as a ritualistic token, but not in the way the White man would have it. In this sense, there is a blurring of lines, a kind of utilitarian thought that says: “If the white man calls something holy, then certainly we can use it for our own rituals as holy.” This certainly reflects the amount of cultural blending that has taken place in these characters and quite possibly in some Native American cultures today.

Native American Fiction and Romanticism:

          Although the previous information covered can be used in a number of different contexts, the author predicts that the reader can ask a valid question: why bother mentioning any of this information in the context of Romanticism? The answer lies in the very nature of the works of the Romantic period. Take for instance the slave narratives, which chronicle the hardships of the early African American peoples or the women’s rights moments that Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Cady Stanton spearheaded through their works. Minority voices were breaking through, garnering public attention and giving America a new perspective on gender and race. By tracing the evolution of Native American fiction through history, one can learn to appreciate and value the voices of a culture that has only began to express itself fully once more, allowing those across the globe to see how a minority group in America has distinct cultural value and deserves to be recognized as a valid heritage.

          Not only does exploring the evolution of Native American fiction fulfill the spirit of Romantic period by giving voice to a minority culture, but by probing the Native history of story itself, one can see how the Native peoples of the United States have evolved with their surroundings, building on old mythos and superstition to furnish new and complex stories that retain heritage while exploring critical issues that face the Native peoples of today. As noted earlier in the project, the Native American peoples take what is around them, observe, and chronicle their experiences through story; whether those life events were in the ancient annals of history or in the twentieth century, Native American storytellers seek to express their experiences in the context they operate in. Ralph Waldo Emerson has this to say about the aforementioned subject: “Every spirit builds itself a house; and beyond its house a world; and beyond its world, a heaven… Build, therefore, your own world.” (Emerson) The Native American peoples built their own culture, their respective “world” through the realm of story, gathering whatever experiences they could and adding to the wealth of fiction by weaving together stories that reflect a rich past and continue to provide commentary on the struggles of the Native American populace.

Concluding thoughts:

          When starting this research project, the author thoroughly believed that things would come easily and naturally. After all, how expansive could this subject be? The author was dumbstruck at the immense number of books, articles and other resources that attempt to chronicle the Native American fiction experience. So much more could have been said in this project, but the author would most likely have garnered two hundred years of age before he was done. Much was learned through this exploration of Native American culture, but the author walks away with a sobering question: when will Native American fiction come to the fore as literature to be revered instead of placed in the “minority literature” section of a library? Why haven’t the American people embraced the Native culture as a part of American history? Is it because we are afraid of our mistakes? The author does not have the answers to these questions; instead, he only furnishes the material given and hopes that someday the Native American peoples will possess their rightful place in history.  

Works cited:

Emerson, Ralph W. "Selections from Nature." Texts for Craig White's Literature Class. UHCL. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.

Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Pantheon, 1984. Print.

"History & Culture." Trail of Tears. National Park Service. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.

Mintz, Steven. "Native American Voices." Digital History. University of Houston, 2007. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/native_voices/native_voices.cfm>.

Momaday, N. S. "Tosamah's Story." The Lightning Within: An Anthology of Contemporary

American Indian Fiction. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1991. 4-10. Print.

Silko, Leslie M. "The Man to Send Rainclouds." The Lightning Within: An Anthology of Contemporary American Indian Fiction. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1991. 47-50. Print.

Velie, Alan R., ed. The Lightning Within: An Anthology of Contemporary American Indian Fiction. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1991. Print.