LITR 4332 American Minority Literature UHCL 2007 student web highlight

Introduction: As I considered the many reports regarding American Indian Literature, one aspect caught my attention: humor. I asked myself, “how could this cultural group find humor after facing the atrocities bestowed on them by the men responsible for taking their homes, slaughtering their people, etc.” I found two very interesting essays on the topic that collectively shed light on how the American Indians used literary humor to manipulate appropriate responses from the reader.

The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.
-- Virginia Woolf

Humor exists for survival purposes in Native American literature. Instead of succumbing to the destruction of their culture, they choose to survive through humor to prove that they are “resilient [and] actively working to adapt [to] their environment and themselves in a dynamic society” (Ferguson, 4893). In “Approximate…Tumor”, Jimmy’s use of comedy not only helps him to cope with cancer but also enables him to “survive and even triumph over debilitating circumstances” (Coulcombe, 97). Jimmy admits that laughter saved him and Norma from pain and cleansed their wounds (Alexie, 164). He becomes resilient by adapting to his disease through his jokes.

Humor functions as a coping mechanism in the way that it allows one to adapt to difficult material. In her short story, “Saint Marie,” Leopolda tests Marie’s faith by pouring boiling water over her and then later, when Marie fights back, Leopolda stabs her vengefully. Marie survives these trials and shows resiliency by her transformation into a saint through her stigmata wounds, which are created by Leopolda’s stabbing. While all the other nuns pray to Marie, the guilty Leopolda is forced to show reverence to someone of lower status (3097-99). Marie not only survives the ordeal but gains revenge in her creation as saint (Gleason, 65). Erdrich creates humor through Marie’s portrayal of a saint. She plays the role full heartily and even gives her blessing to the nuns by waving her bloody hand with a serious, “Peace be with you” (3098). Marie’s survival from Leopolda’s abuse not only represents her own resiliency but the resiliency of Native Americans to the intrusion of Christianity. By keeping the faith and traditions of their own culture, Indians have survived the conversion of Christianity. Erdrich’s display of sarcasm through Marie’s sainthood seems to be a slap in the face towards Western culture.

The use of a trickster figure in Native American literature also denotes survival through humor. According to Schimmoeller, the coyote is the most widely used symbol of a trickster because he is a “survivor-wild and precocious-and is associated with humor because in his adventuring he transgresses the natural limits of his world” (4145). The trickster is able to transform his or herself and not only perform as a jokester but as the creator of chaos. In American Indian Stories, Zitkala-Sha portrays the trickster figure through Blue-Star Woman’s nephews. They come to Blue-Star offering to help gain her land back by deceiving the government and creating false proof of the lineage of her ancestry (165-70). They explain, “In just the same way, we fight crooks with crooks. We have clever white lawyers working with us” (169). As Blue-Star agrees to give them half of her land if they succeed, she realizes that “in her dire need she had become involved with tricksters” (170). Her nephews create chaos as they come in out of nowhere offering to help just when she was beginning to accept her poor situation. The fact that they want half of her land is very tricky, especially when you would expect family to offer free aid. They are tricksters in the way they are able to deceive and travel between the Indian and dominate culture; however, they offer a chance for survival to Blue-Star. Similarly, Erdrich displays the trickster figure through her character, Marie in “Saint Marie.” Marie displays trickster qualities as she mischievously tries to kick Leopolda into the oven (Gleason, 60).

Humor creates social awareness among readers. According to Coulombe, “Laughter might discomfort and confuse us, but it also prompts rethinking, growth, and change” (103). Both Alexie and Erdrich use satire to raise awareness of the struggles among Native Americans both on and off reservations. Philip Heldrich refers to this form of comedy as Black Humor because irony and sarcasm is used to portray the debilitating effects of the dominant society on minorities. Black Humor conveys the chaos and feeling of loss among Native Americans (47).

In “Somebody Kept Saying Powwow,” Alexie humorously portrays the seriousness of alcoholism and its detrimental effects on the reservation. Alcohol not only destroys the lives of family and friends, but it also ruins the traditions and culture of the Native Americans. In the story, Victor is already drunk by the time he reaches the bar and continually asks, “Where’s the powwow?” (203-04). Because everyone is too busy drinking, they have no use for their traditions; so, their old ways eventually die. Alexie’s referral to Alcoholics Anonymous portrays the characters’ way of coping “with an alien, bicultural reservation environment” (Evans, 53). In “Somebody…Powwow,” Alexie mentions how almost everyone spends time in A.A. and uses their routine in social gatherings. Junior explains the routine:

“Hi, my name is Junior,” I usually say when I walk into a bar or party where Indians have congregated.

A few of the really smart-asses about the whole A.A. thing carry around little medals indicating how long they’ve been continuously drunk (204).

The characters do not take A.A. seriously perhaps because they feel there is nothing better to do on the reservation than drink, or because they feel awkward seeking help from an organization created by the dominant society to cure them from something that the dominant culture introduced to them in the first place. Alexie’s example of A.A. as a social function shows how serious alcoholism is on the reservation. [TK]

Native American authors use the trickster figure to add certain aspects of life into their literature. “Humor serves as an indirect form of communication because it conveys messages, usually of an emotional nature, that might be unacceptable if expressed or acknowledged directly. Native American Indians use humor’s ability to erase, cleanse, or change, or change what was embarrassing, oppressive, sorrowful, or painful” (Herring 2). An aspect of humor is used with the trickster figure. The trickster is traditionally used to educate the future generations orally. The coyote acts as a guide to show both young and old how not to act. Although he is humorous the coyote is able to educate at the same time. Tales are also used to explain natural questions such as how the stars got in the sky. The tales would explain that the coyote threw them in the sky. The coyote can influence the listeners to act correctly because of the situations the character gets himself into. (Thomas 46)

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Conclusion: As I examined the humor used in Native American Literature, I found that humor could be defined as ironic, satirical, or “funny.” These authors used humor to help themselves deal with the horrifying ordeals they faced as well as reaching the audience on a more entertaining level. The more an audience can relate to certain pieces of literature, the more powerful it becomes. Both of these essays portray the many ways humor can be used to exemplify societal, personal, and culturally significant problems in a remarkable manner. They also broaden the perspective of the reader creating a more intense understanding of the underlying meaning of the literature itself.