Reader: Simone Rieck

Respondent: Christina Martinez

Recorder: Kirby Johnson 

“Lakota Sister / Cherokee Mother”

By Victoria Lena Manyarrows

Unsettling America, pages 286-287

Biographical Information:

            Victoria Lena Manyarrows was born in April 1956 in North Dakota.  She obtained her Master’s Degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University in 1993.  She also took several art classes at the City College in San Francisco and at other community colleges.  She received the Astraea National Lesbian Foundation Emerging Writers Award in poetry in 1994.  She is best known for her poem, “Songs from the Native Lands.”

            Manyarrows stated that her work reflects her background and work as a Tsalagi/Eastern Cherokee/Italian lesbian woman.  In her presentation last fall, Amanda Mooring expressed, “Victoria Lena Manyarrows is a true definition of the term ‘double minority’ found in Objective 2a.  She can also be classified as the ‘new American’ who crosses, combines or confuses ethnic or gender identities (Objective 4a).”

            Regarding her work, Manyarrows stated, “For me, writing and visual art has always been a vehicle for political and personal change, as well as spiritual exploration and expression.  Writing helped me to integrate my spiritual identity and sense of self with my political awakening and involvement in the feminist, American Indian and lesbian movements and communities.”  She considers her art as not only her voice, but also the unheard voices of others that may have shared her experiences.

Literary Objectives:

Objective 3.  Cultural group’s relation to time – The daughter is recognizing her culture and traditions, where the mother is trying to forget the past and become a “modern woman.”  The daughter considers herself “the daughter of her (mother’s) people.”

“Warrior spirit and straight hair.”

Objective 4.  Assimilation or resistance – The mother assimilates, “trying to become a modern woman not a mountain woman an indian woman…”

Interpretation:

            “Lakota Sister/Cherokee Mother” shows the struggle faced by many minority families.  The mother figure seems to want to move forward with time, where the daughter seems to be moving backward toward more traditional roots.  This difference causes a struggle between the two. 

Questions:

Does anyone understand the meaning or significance of the title?

What is the significance of the mother telling her daughter that she had “wandered in, lost?”

Discussion:

In response to Question 1 (title meaning) –

Dr. White asks if there are any clues as to what the title means in the poem.  Simone found no clues, but did research on the Lakota and Cherokee tribes and found that the Cherokee tribe is more peaceful and that the Lakota tribe is a resistant tribe.  Geri brought up the fact that many white people claim Cherokee heritage and that is somewhat of a joke to the American Indians.  She then suggested that the title symbolizes this relationship – the Indian living as a white person.

In response to Question 2 (significance in telling daughter she’s lost)  –

Dianna brought up how parents are always teasing their children by telling them they are adopted.  Parents usually do this because the child is so different from the parent.  Dianna went on to explain that maybe this is what the mother was hinting at when she told the daughter she was lost.

Christina brought up Baby of the Family, and the class began discussing tradition vs. modern –

Geri stated that the issue is not one of past/tradition versus modern.  She further explained that it might be about the narrator’s struggle between floating out there on her own and staying rooted in her Indian heritage.

Discussion turned again when the title was brought back up –

Dr. White suggested that the title may be somewhat feminist.  Simone stated that the title refers to the narrator as being a sister of the people and that it also refers to the brothers of the tribe.  Dianna felt that maybe the narrator’s people don’t understand why she doesn’t assimilate because they have already been through what the narrator is experiencing and it is just easier to assimilate.  Jerry brings up the East/West division and suggests that the narrator is moving away from mother, unlike the previous poem read (Todd’s prsn.).  Dr. White admired the application of Objective 3 to the poem, and Simone wrapped the discussion up by stating that the mom is moving toward the future while the daughter is not.