“Dear John Wayne”

By Louise Erdrich

  Reader: Susie Gibson

Respondent: Sarah Michell                  Recorder: Trina Tiemann

Biographical Information:

Louise Eldrich was born in 1954 in Little Falls Minnesota.  She grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota.  She was the daughter of a German American father and a Chippewa mother. Her parents were teachers at a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school, which is were she attended.  She attended Dartmouth College where she earned her BA; she then attended John Hopkins University where she received her master’s degree in creative writing. After graduation she remet one of her professors, Michael Dorris, from Dartmouth and they got married.  This started not only collaboration in marriage but also in writing.  After 15 year of marriage and 6 children they separated. In 1997 he committed suicide. She has written numerous novels, short stories, and poetry and has won numerous awards for her writing.  She is one of the few American Indians writers who is widely read.

Objective 1a: Involuntary Participation in Dominant Culture

Objective 1b: Voiceless and Choiceless

Objective 3b: Native American Narrative: Loss and Survival

This poem presents how the young Native Americans react to a John Wayne movie at a drive-in.  While at this movie the patrons are burning spirals to keep the mosquitoes away, but the hordes of mosquitoes always break through. Almost like the hordes of white settlers breaking through the unmarked barrier for more land.  At the beginning of the poem the Native Americans win the first battle and swarm down on the settlers who then die beautifully. But as in history the white man ends up winning the war. 

As stated by Mary Arnold in a previous class the sign of the bear in the Hopi culture stands for the vision of the world’s end.  After this sign John Wayne enters and is bigger than life, at least as big as the screen. This could stand for the end of their world as seen by the Native Americans.

After the movie they get back into their cars and feel speechless and small, which feeling small is part of leaving a movie for most people, but the speechlessness comes from the Native Americans once again watching history as the white man tells it.

As stated in How America Was Discovered by Handsome Lake the white man brought liquor as one of the vices and then used it against them. “We’ve got them where we want them, drunk, running”, this was the goal of the white settlers to force the Native Americans off the land.  Then they will give them everything they want and think they need.

Questions:

Why would Erdich use John Wayne instead of one of the other popular cowboys?

Sign of the Bear stands for the Hopi vision of the world’s end, so why do you think she uses the SAC missiles as an example for the Native Americans when in the end the white people won?

Class Discussion

Question 1 – Why would Eldrich use John Wayne instead of one of the other popular cowboy?

Student:            Isn’t he part Indian? That might have something to do with it.

Student:            He defines cowboy.

Dr. White:            He defines America.

Question 2 - Sign of the Bear stands for the Hopi vision of the world’s end, so why do you think she uses the SAC missiles as an example for the Native Americans when in the end the white people won. 

Student:          I think she’s talking to Indians on screen who come out of nowhere and attack unsuspecting settlers.

Susie:             She’s not looking at the end of the movie?

Dr. White:       Shifting perspective; keep seeing each group the way the other one sees it, the screen was enormous.

Student:          Actors are dirty and rugged but have bright white teeth (contrast).

Student:          Part of the sign of the bear; it’s an oxymoron.

Susie:             They didn’t really win anything.

Dr. White:       Fair take on loss and survivial

Student:          The poem flowed wee, easy to read, adjectives are good for example the arrows whining

Dr. White:       Dartmouth was originally an Indian College

Student:          How about the reference to the car (Pontiac)?

Susie:             They were at a drive in movie, many Americans drove big cars

Student:          Pontiac was the name of an Indian Chief

Dr. White:       Eldrich uses a lot of action around cars; she a terrific writer, easy reading, always good quality, very funny and popular writer.

Student:          This was a dark film, the 4^th stanza she talks about his “blue squint” it was confusing

Dr. White:       I thought it was describing John Wayne’s eyes

Student:          The last two lines, is she referring to white people’s hearts or Indians?

Susie:             I read it as John Wayne actually speaking.

Dr. White:       Seems to come from another voice.

Susie:             The first 3 make sense but the others don’t, it doesn’t show that it changes characters.

Dr. White:       Those are the kinds of questions to ask.

Student:          Maybe the first 3 lines are a quote from the movie.