Assignment 9

     1.    What is 'home' for the kids in these boarding schools?

 

Indian people are longing for their own Indian culture and their own families.

Here, “home” represents the Indian culture fighting for survival amidst the boundless control  in the boarding Schools. Erdrich’s poem becomes a death song for the Runaways, as home no longer exists.

In line 3 it says that the boxcars do not wait for the runaways, the runaways’ flight for home depends on the schedule of the train. This means that they are forced to live by someone else’s rules, like the kids in the boarding schools are forced to forget their culture and they have to dress and behave a certain way. This means that they have to forget where they came from, so they have lost their home.

 

2.    What was the impact of these boarding schools on the tribal traditions?

 

All of the children were separated from their parents. The boys were forced to cut their hair off and they collected all the clothes so everybody was forced to wear the same uniforms. Physical and sexual abuse was widespread. The children were punished, what explains why they are so reserved.

 

Indians are traumatized. They were being punished in these boarding schools in the most cruel way possible, desktops were slammed onto their fingers or they got beaten up. Because of these terrible actions, some native Americans got into alcohol or committed suicide. Most of the Indians are so traumatized that they have blocked that part of their life. Doctors and loved ones of the ones that are traumatized keep saying: “Talking is the key.” But it is really hard to talk about, especially when it is too hard or too emotional to think of that part of one’s life. So they become reserved, but by talking they would be able to release their anger, sadness and the feelings that they have about these terrible actions.

 

Our opinions:

 

Tirza:

The poem made a very strong impression on me. You can feel the pain behind the words, there is a real story behind it. This is, of course, also because of the background of the writer of the poem, she was a native American herself. I think that it is a very strong and powerful poem and it is beautiful that such emotion and pain can be put behind words.

 

Evy:

I think that the poem is very well written. It gives me a certain feeling, it makes me feel ‘ashamed’ of what they had to go through. I really feel that she knows what she wants to tell the readers and she explains it very well. This poem shows that the Indians had to go through a very though time, but they had to keep their anger for themselves. These schools were very strict and it was like hell for most of the Indians, they are traumatized.

 

Denise: I think it is terrible that the Indians feel like they don’t have a home. Nobody should feel like that. Forcing Indians to live by someone else’s rules, to forget their culture and to have to dress and behave in a certain way is so cruel. Let the Indians be. We can learn from them and they can learn from us. These boarding schools that the Indian children had to go to are not necessary, Indians were punished for all kinds of nonsense. Slamming desktops on their fingers is not the right punishment. The poem really expressed these feelings of longing, fear, anger and sadness. It is a beautiful poem, it really touched me.

 

Leanne:

Normally I don’t like poem’s very well, but this poem makes me think about the Native Americans. She told a story about her life and I cannot empathize in her because I am from the Netherlands. She has had a whole background that can relate to the subject Native Americans, because she was one of them. I have respect for her and all the other Native Americans. In my opinion, this poem was very profound and it will let everybody think.

 

Sanne:

I’m not a big fan of reading, especially poems. But this poem made me think about the lives of the Native Americans and how bad it would have been to live in that time. Behind the poem there is a big story, that has a really big influence on the reader. You can feel the pain and emotions where they need to deal with in their lives every day again. I couldn’t think about the difference between their lives and mine. There is nothing in common. Even if I am not a big fan of poems, I think this one is written very well and detailed.

 

Assignment 11

The two characteristics of the Native-Americans that we have chosen are:

The quest for cultural identity(de zoektocht naar culturele identiteit)

1.    Chapter 19: This chapter shows a letter Mary wrote to her little brother. In the letter she writes: “I have a lot of free time, so I have started to write my life story. Really! Isn’t that crazy? I think I’m going to call it HOW TO RUN AWAY FROM YOUR HOUSE AND FIND YOUR HOME.” This letter describes that she is still searching for her home and cultural identity.

2.    Chapter 6: This chapter shows a conversation in which he decides that he wants to go to another school because he wasn’t happy, another identity.

3.    

     

     Chapter 9: This chapter shows a conversation about respect to each other. He is losing his own identity.

4.    Chapter 29: In this chapter is he talking about how he realized that he can belong to several things, but he will always be an Indian. “I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms.”

The use of "black humour"

1.    Page 57: Picture. In the picture he compares a white person to an Indian person. White people for example have an ergonomic backpack with cell phone while Indian people have a glad garbage book bag.

2.    Page 88: Picture. In the picture he describes how Indian people need to travel. They don’t have enough money for a gas for their car or public transport so they need to walk everywhere.

3.    Page 134: Mary writes in her letter: “P.S. And we moved into a new house. It’s the most gorgeous place in the world!” But in the picture underneath you see a caravan.

Assignment 10

Why did Mr. P say, "Son, you're going to find more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation"?

Mr. P said this because the people in the reservation do not have any hope. Most of them are poor, addicted to alcohol and abusive. Mr. P tells Arnold that he was taught “to kill the Indian to safe the child”, this makes the people in the reservation give up on their hope.

If he stayed, 36people would ‘kill’ him, they would kill his hope. The resources in the reservation are very limited, for example the math book he gets that once belonged to his mother, if he does not have the resources or chances to grow mentally and socially he is limited in his hope. So the further away he goes from the reservation the further away he goes from his limitation of hope and the closer he comes to finding his hope. For example the risk he takes going to Reardan, a school which provides good books and teachers, it increases his chance of finding his hope and growing as a person mentally and socially.  

Give 2 examples of "black comedy" in the book. Give quotes and page numbers.

   1. Page 88: Picture. In the picture he describes how Indian people need to travel. They don’t have enough money for a gas for their car or public transport so they need to walk everywhere. “no gas money? I hitchhike”, “gas money: car isn’t running, I hitchhike” “dad gives me a ride. Car breaks down 1 mile from school. I walk + get to school 30 mins. late”, “mom gives me a ride dad too hungover” and “no gas money; nobody stops to pick me up. Walk home; watch TV”.

   











2. Page 57: Picture. In the picture he compares a white person to an Indian person. White people for example have an ergonomic backpack with cell phone while Indian people have a glad garbage book bag. The white people side states: “a positive future”, “hope” and “positive role models” while the Indian side says: “a vanishing past”, “bone-crushing reality” and “a family history of diabetes and cancer”.

Explain the significance of the use of drawings in the book.

The drawings in the book give more information so you can understand the book better. These drawings also have a second meaning. The second meaning is that Arnold likes to draw so this is his way of making the diary more of his own. The drawings are very important to him, it is his way of expressing himself and showing his view of the world.

Explain how Arnold is caught between two worlds and how this is connected to the title of the book.

The title of the book is ‘’The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian’’.  Part-time in this book means that Arnold lives in two different worlds, one being the Indian world and the other being the White world. In the book his geometry teacher Mr. P told him to get off the reservation, the day after Junior decided to switch schools. He wanted to go to Reardan, an all-white school. Once he attended this school, he made some friends. But he also still had a friend named Rowdy in Wellpinit. So he was caught in these two worlds, this was really clear during the basketball match. They had to play against each other, the first time Reardan lost and Arnold got punched by Rowdy, the second time they won. Arnold was torn, he disappointed Rowdy, but at the same time he and the team from Reardan had won the game.    

There are several themes in the book. Choose 3 from the list and give detailed explanations and analysis for each.

1)   Alcoholism

All Indians drink booze and are getting drunk. Almost every person that Arnold lost in his life died while somebody were drunk. For example his sister Mary, Eugeune and his grandma.

The police said about Mary that she never even woke up, she was way too drunk. She was too drunk to feel any pain when she burned to death. Everybody would tell stories about Mary. ‘But the whole time, everybody were drinking booze and getting drunk and stupid and sad and mean. How do we honor the drunken death of a young married couple? ‘’Hey, let’s get drunk!’’.

Eugeune’s friend was too drunk to remember that he pulled the trigger. Arnold’s grandma died by a drunken driver.

2)      Friendship

This is a very big theme in the book. He breaks his friendship with Rowdy by going to Reardan. He builds new friendships with Gordy, Roger and Penelope. But the most important friendship in the book is his friendship with Rowdy, they have been best friends since birth and Rowdy protects Arnold from the harmful people in the reservation.  He loses his friendship when he decides to go to Reardan. Rowdy feels betrayed and is very mad at Arnold, he is in fact so mad that when Reardan’s basketball team has to play against the reservation he gives him a concussion by knocking him down. Arnold misses his friendship with Rowdy and tries to contact him a few times but gets either no or a negative response. But in the end Rowdy comes to Arnold because he is ‘bored’ we think that he actually misses Arnold. They go and play basketball together and all is well. 

3)      Tolerance

Arnold speaks in the book that the modern Indians in the reservation are not tolerant. In the chapter “red versus white” he speaks about his grandmother being the most tolerant person he knew. She was tolerant of the outcasts, and he has very much respect for her.  
He also speaks about the fact that Indians used to be very tolerant. The weird people were often worshipped. People who had seizures where seen as shamans because they were chosen by God to have these sieizure-visions. People who were gay were seen as man and woman, so they are caregivers and worriers at the same time.

How would you characterize the relationship between Rowdy and Junior at the end of the novel? Can the two ever really be best friends again? Are they part-time friends or real friends?

We would characterized the relationship between Rowdy and Junior as complicated. They start as really good friends, but in the middle of the story they don’t get on really well. At the end of the story they sort of become friends again. They are real friends, because after everything that has happened they can forgive each other and move forward.

While the Pow-wow sounds like fun, Arnold wants nothing to do with it. Why?

Because he is scared of “the Indians that are not dancers and singers, but the rhythmless, talentless, tuneless Indians that are going to get drunk and beat the shit out of any available losers”. He says after that, that he is the most available loser. Arnold is scared that he is going to get hurt and that is why he wants nothing to do with it.

"Ever since the Spokane Indian Reservation was founded back in 1881, nobody in my family ever lived anywhere else. We Spirits stay in one place. We are absolutely tribal. For good or bad, we don't leave one another. And now my mother and father had lost two kids to the outside world."
Explain how Arnold's parents had lost two children to the outside world.

Arnold: He decides to go to another school, Reardan, outside of the reservation, into the world of white people. They feel as if they have lost him to the outside world, and that by going to Reardan he will forget where he came from and forget the Indian culture. Arnold still lives in the reservation so they have metaphorically lost him to the outside world.

Mary: Mary marries an Indian from Montana and they go to live together there. She met him at the casino and he was a good poker player, he was not scared to gamble everything and that that’s the kind of man that she wants to marry. They physically lose her to the outside world.

Mary describes her experience eating fry bread at a restaurant in an email to Arnold. Why is it significant that Mary can still get fry bread even though she's no longer on the Spokane Reservation?

She moved to Montana with her newlywed husband and they order room service. They had Indian fry bread on the menu, this means a lot to her because her grandmother used to make it all the time. It did not taste as good as her grandmother used to make it but it was delicious anyways.  It reminds Mary of home.   

What does it mean to "kill the Indian to save the child"? [5.40]

It means that they didn’t literally kill Indians. They were supposed to make you give up being Indian. The songs and stories and language and dancing. Everything. They weren’t trying to kill Indian people. They were trying to kill Indian culture. They did this in school, teachers were supposed to teach them about white culture and norms.

 

Assignment 13

Who is Numanah?

Numanah is an Indian who wants to run away from the Indian land and their habits. When he ran away, he didn’t feel any better than before. So he decided to run back to the Indian land. Later in the poem he decided that he maybe wants to run away from the Indian land again.

 What is the significance of the title?
The title of the poem is “Sacred Circle”. The title refers to Numanah because he wants to run away all the time, so it is like a circle that never stops. He keeps running in circles because he isn’t feeling right everywhere he goes. Numanah wrote this poem to God for some sort of forgiveness and advice.

What does the opening line remind you of in regard to religion?
Numanah asks for forgiveness, so we think that the opening line refers to god. He asks his grandfather to grant him the grace. His grandfather could refer to God in this line.

Look at the list of themes in assignment 12, once again, and decide which of these relate to the poem and why. Give examples from the poem to explain your answers.
We think that the themes “home” and “hopes and dreams” are the most relatable to this poem. Numanah is looking for his “home”, because he wants to be free so he keeps running away from the places he has been. That’s why he doesn’t have a home.
The other theme is also relatable, because he has hopes and dreams. He wants to be free, but he doesn’t have any money so he is stuck. He can’t fulfill his dreams and loses hope.

What "shame" does the poet refer to? 
The shame the poet does refers to is the shame of Numanah’s family. His family must be ashamed of him running away again and again. And the shame of Numanah not knowing who he is.

How does the idea of living in-between cultures relate to the themes mentioned in assignment 12 and use examples from the poem to explain your answer.
1. Identity: Numanah is searching for his own identity. That is why he keeps running away all the time.
2. Hopes and dreams: Numanah dreams of a place where he can finally feel free and be himself. A place where he can stay and doesn’t have to run away anymore.
3. Home: Numanah isn’t feeling home anywhere. So he keeps running and running until he finds a place where he can finally feel free and be happy.
4. Education: Numanah has no money for education. He is trying to figure everything out by himself by running away from everything he has.
5. Race: Numanah is battling with himself. He keeps running away, but it has no sense because he keeps running in circles. It’s a race he will never win.
6. Traditions and customs: Numanah is breaking an Indian tradition; every Indian lives nearby their own place of birth, but Numanah has left his town.

7. Poverty: Numanah keeps running away because he has no money for anything else. He is trying to get somewhere but he keeps running in circles, he is not getting any better.
8. Literature and writing: Numanah writes this poem to god, he is losing hope.
9. Mortality: Numanah keeps running away from the Indian land. This could be a reason for him wanting to be with another folk.

Assignment 8

What is the Indian Removal Act?

When the white people came to America, they wanted to build a new nation. They started new industries, a well-known industry is the cotton fields. But the white people needed a lot of space for their cotton fields, they had to send the Indians away. The Indians did not just leave their homes, they fought for their place and villages.

In 1830 president Jackson signed the Indian removal act, which gave the federal government the power to ‘exchange’ land of the Native Americans near the cotton fields for land in the West near the ‘Indian colonization zone’ (near present-day Oklahoma). The law said that the government had to negotiate honestly, voluntarily and peacefully.  It did not allow them to force the Native Americans out of their land, but that is exactly what they did . President Jackson and his government ignored the letter of the law multiple times.       

Do you think treaties between Native Americans and the American government were profitable for both sides?    
The treaties were unfair to the Native Americans because they were made by the government. The treaties were forced onto the Native Americans, they had to give up their rights to hunt.
The treaties were negotiated by the executive branch on behalf of the president and ratified by the U.S. Senate. The native tribes would give up their rights to hunt and live on huge parcels of land that they had inhabited in exchange for trade goods, yearly cash annuity payments, and assurances that no further demands would be made on them. Most often, part of the land would be "reserved" exclusively for the tribe's use. 

Explanation of the title "Trail of tears".

The Trail of Tears is a difficult and deadly journey. The native Americans were forced  to leave their millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida. They had to walk thousands of miles to a specially designed Indian territory across the Mississippi River.

A map and pictures which show where the Indians originally lived and where they were moved to as a result of treaties.