The Indigenous View On Humanity In “Dancer” and “New Year's Eve 1984”. Are you defined by your past experiences and relationships, or do you shape your own identity? A part of learning to be human is going through positive and negative experiences and relationships. The Literary Lens Indigenous Criticism analyzes a text through the lens of ancestral narratives and lived experiences. “Dancer” by Vickie Sears is a story about a foster kid finding herself and her voice through finding passion in powwow festivals with the help of family. New Year’s Eve 1984” by Tory Sebastian debriefs the story of a young boy's childhood and his experiences leading up to his father's death. Through an Indigenous literary lens, the stories "Dancer" by Vickie Sears …show more content…
The indigenous lens focuses on how to be human and what defines humanity. In “Dancer” and “New Year's Eve 1984” we see past experiences affecting people's ability to be what is considered “normal”. “Mom bought Dad a freezer because she loved him. It was a Sears catalog special. One day he got drunk and blew it away with his rifle” (Sebastian 1) This quote from “New Year's Eve 1984” demonstrates the anger of his father towards his family. Throughout the story, his father is depicted as consistently filled with anger and intoxicated almost all the time, Davidescu 2 with little mention of any positive qualities. The story briefly covers his father's past and we discover that he went to a residential school and met his wife there. The indigenous lens focuses on the fact that all we are is our past experiences and stories. Many good stories get passed down from generation to generation to teach valuable lessons, but unfortunately, not every story and experience has a positive result. His father had a negative experience and was raised not having his family's love, because of this, his ability to form and maintain proper relationships is damaged. “She seemed …show more content…
“He and the other kids were mad at her, but he decided to show her around anyhow”. (Sears 2) Clarissa tried to kill one of their cats, therefore, all the kids were mad at her while they were at the powwow. Regardless, Harold, the foster mom's oldest child, showed her around and introduced her to other people as his sister. Even when mad at her he shows her around and treats her like family, Harold demonstrates how to be a good relative because he has an understanding that she came from a troubled past and her mistakes don't define her. They talked with her and grounded her to make sure she learned her lesson, but was still there for her to show that family always supports one another. In “New Year's Eve 1984” being a good relative is shown throughout the story but not in the same way we see in “Dancer”. In “New Year's Eve 1984” when his father dies, there is no direct support given from his mother or other relatives. Instead, he is given support by an underlying understanding that he is struggling and may cope in different ways. A quote that demonstrates this support is when he is at his dad's wake. Sherry's daughter teases me. She is older than me. I take it for as long as I can, then I push her to the ground and tell her to “Fuck off.” I
This distance can lead to confusion and a feeling of being lost in life, which can overwhelm a child and introduce mental health complications like depression. Statistically speaking, almost one in four Métis youth struggle with mood disorders (Statistics Canada). However, this adversity is not simple to overcome, and requires them to develop new experiences in order to foster strength and make confident decisions. Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is the author of “Sturgeon”, the second poem being analyzed, and a member of the First Nations community. Known for disproportionately high illicit activities, research shows nearly 62% of First Nations members have experienced abuse at least once, compared to only 42% in the rest of the population (Statistics Canada).
Her book focuses on the myriads of issues and struggles that Indigenous men and women have faced and will continue to face because of colonialism. During her speech, Palmater addressed the grave effects of the cultural assimilation that permeated in Indigenous communities, particularly the Indian Residential School System and the Indian Act, which has been extensively discussed in both lectures and readings. Such policies were created by European settlers to institutionalize colonialism and maintain the social and cultural hierarchy that established Aboriginals as the inferior group. Palmater also discussed that according to news reports, an Aboriginal baby from Manitoba is taken away every single day by the government and is put in social care (CTVNews.ca Staff, 2015). This echoes Andrea Smith’s argument in “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing” that colonialism continues to affect Aboriginals through genocide (2006, p. 68). Although such actions by the government are not physical acts of genocide, where 90% of Aboriginal population was annihilated, it is this modern day cultural assimilation that succeeded the Indigenous Residential School System and the Indian Act embodies colonialism and genocide (Larkin, November 4,
Thomas King uses an oral story-telling style of writing mingled with western narrative in his article “You’re Not the Indian I Had in Mind” to explain that Indians are not on the brink of extinction. Through this article in the Racism, Colonialism, and Indigeneity in Canada textbook, King also brings some focus to the topic of what it means to be “Indian” through the eyes of an actual Aboriginal versus how Aboriginals are viewed by other races of people. With his unique style of writing, King is able to bring the reader into the situations he describes because he writes about it like a story he is telling.
In the book Bad Indians, Miranda talks about the many issues Indigenous People go through. Miranda talks about the struggles Indigenous people go through; however, she talks about them in the perspective of Native Americans. Many people learn about Indigenous People through classrooms and textbooks, in the perspective of White people. In Bad Indians, Miranda uses different literary devices to show her perspective of the way Indigenous People were treated, the issues that arose from missionization, as well as the violence that followed through such issues. Bad Indians is an excellent example that shows how different history is told in different perspectives.
The novel “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese demonstrates the many conflicts that indigenous people encounter on a daily basis. This includes things such as, the dangers they face and how they feel the need to flee to nature, where they feel the most safe. Another major issue they face is being stripped of their culture, and forcibly made to believe their culture is wrong and they are less of a human for being brought up that way, it makes them feel unworthy. Finally, when one is being criticised for a hobby they enjoy due to their indigenous upbringing, they make himself lose interest and stop the hobby as it makes them different and provokes torment. People who are trying
Canadians are just recently beginning to realize the detrimental aftermath of the years of trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples of Canada, such as the survivors of the residential school system. It is often difficult for these people to overcome the impact that follows. Undoubtedly, it requires help and support from others, but these people must make their personal healing journey themselves. The passages “Rock Bottom” by Steven Keewatin Sanderson and the “Legend of the Sugar Girl” by Joseph Boyden prove that although trauma can significantly undermine groups of people, they can overcome their difficulties. Both authors illustrate how trauma negatively affects characters, causes them to fall victim
Change is one of the tallest hurdles we all must face growing up. We all must watch our relatives die or grow old, our pets do the same, change school or employment, and take responsibility for our own lives one way or another. Change is what shapes our personalities, it molds us as we journey through life, for some people, change is what breaks us. Watching everything you once knew as your reality wither away into nothing but memory and photographs is tough, and the most difficult part is continuing on with your life. In the novel Ceremony, author Leslie Silko explores how change impacted the entirety of Native American people, and the continual battle to keep up with an evolving world while still holding onto their past. Through Silko’s
As a result, both films represent Natives Americans under the point of view of non-Native directors. Despite the fact that they made use of the fabricated stereotypes in their illustrations of the indigenous people, their portrayal was revolutionary in its own times. Each of the films add in their own way a new approach to the representation of indigenous people, their stories unfold partly unlike. These differences make one look at the indigenous not only as one dimensional beings but as multifaceted beings, as Dunbar say, “they are just like us.” This is finally a sense of fairness and respect by the non-native populations to the Native Indians.
With the fast-paced world of technology and a fixation on more materialistic needs or wants, Marshall implies that we have lost our sense of self-reliance as well as our empathy towards others, with the need for indigenous ideologies and values being needed now more than ever. While reading through Returning to the Lakota Way, I found the format of the book to be both an interesting one and a refreshing one. Unlike the previous two novels, Marshall’s presentation of ideas and heavy reliance on storytelling varies far differently from that of Wildcats and Estes, in that he carries both more wisdom and understanding of the current world. While both Wildcat and Estes’s publications were informative and inspiring for the movement towards indigenous advocacy and enlightenment, I found the writing style to be at times overbearing in its presentation of information, as well as the
This quote illustrates the relationship between the two by saying how northern Saskatchewan’s relationship to southern Saskatchewan is entirely equivalent to the relationship between the Indigenous population’s legal experiences to the majority: Opposing, harsh and unforgiving. This is excellently outlined in how Johnson says that the “isolation and lack of resources in remote Indigenous communities exacerbate the difficulties faced by individuals seeking justice” (Johnson, 53). By grounding his narrative in clear settings, Johnson invites readers to empathize with the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples and recognize the urgent need for systemic change within the legal system. In his compelling narrative, Harold Johnson skillfully weaves together the stories of individuals profoundly impacted by systemic injustices, imbuing his advocacy for Indigenous justice within the Canadian legal system with a deeply human element. Through vivid storytelling, Johnson introduces readers to characters like Johnny, a young Indigenous man whose journey through the criminal justice system reflects the pervasive inequalities faced by Indigenous
Deirdre Evans-Pritchard brings up excellent ideologies and perspectives of the indigenous people. She states that the perception of “white people” by the native people is respectful because that is how their culture operates. There are limited amounts of published work that joke or talk about the white man as it does not represent the Indian culture accurately. Nevertheless, the Indians dramatize the white people’s actions and capture their motives through art, stories, and jokes. They rationalize the white people’s actions as greedy and deceitful because they have excess power and money.
They promote reconnecting with the land, their language, their idea of freedom, and their diet (in a way that does not rely on global capitalism) at a personal level. However, the arguments suffer somewhat in the approach, and how it attempts to define each of these things. The article is written not from the perspective of a particular tribe, or country, and indeed notes that each indigenous experience is different, but instead as a workbook that all indigenous people could follow across the world. However, when it comes to specific examples on how to do this they are inherently built on their own knowledge and come across as both vague and not fully appreciative.
Hence, in the story, Jackson shares his grandfather’s murder at the hands of a family member during a drunken domestic violence dispute. “Yeah, it was awful … his brother and his girlfriend were drunk and beating on each other …my grandfather kneeled down beside her …my great uncle reached down, pulled my grandfather’s pistol out of the holster, and shot him in the head.” This conversation denotes to some degree the harsh reality that Jackson could have been exposed to during his childhood. Yet, NolseCat in his article “13 Issues Facing Native People Beyond Mascots and Casinos” spotlights that women and children in Native American communities fall victims to the undesirable acts of violence and teen suicide rates double that of the national rate. Additionally, NolseCat suggests, “Native peoples suffer from high rates of poverty and unemployment,” which heightens anxiety in the face of economic hardship. These factors influence both the emotional and physical states of the individuals facing these conditions; therefore, when poverty and alcohol are added factors, more often than not it creates an environment conducive to
Through the Indian Act, it was and still is today, a piece of social legislation that regulates and controls every aspect of the lives of Indigenous peoples. This includes the government’s guardianship over Indian lands, and socially controlling the process of enfranchisement, whereby Indian’s can only attain Canadian citizenship by relinquishing their ties to their community. For Aboriginals, this was just the beginning of cultural genocide, in which they were stripped of their rights and cultural identity. The social construction of reality from an Aboriginal’s perspective is to be seen as a marginalized individual through the unfair treatment
This approach aims to provide three insights. The first one is to describe what indigenous women perceive as ethnic-based and gender-based violence, not as a mere collection of situations, places and times, but as an analysis of racialized bodies within a broader political context. Secondly, it would help to determine what is