Select two authors from the indigenous readings to compare and contrast. You may want to select one from each country and compare and contrast the Native American experience with that of the Aboriginal Australian experience.
What did the two populations have in common?
How were their experiences different?
How did the authors represent their time period and their culture?
How did they represent mainstream society vs. the indigenous people?
What are common traits in both worlds?
How are myths and legends utilized by both indigenous populations?
In your initial post, submit your comparison by writing a full paragraph on each story or author you are examining. (As a reminder, a full paragraph consists of 5-8 sentences). Feel free to utilize outside resources for support to your posts, and be sure to acknowledge your sources.
In your responses to peers, it is important to add to the ideas presented by your peers. If you wrote about the same story, then add how you felt about it in comparison to your peer.
Did you find any additional information that helped you understand either the period or the struggles of the characters in your chosen work?
If you wrote about a different story, then can you suggest some ideas for your classmate to understand the story or stories further?
The Man to Send Rain Clouds
LESLIE MARMON SILKO
[b. 1948]
ONE
They found him under a big cottonwood tree. His Levi jacket and pants were faded light-blue so that he had been easy to find. The big cottonwood tree stood apart from a small grove of winterbare cottonwoods which grew in the wide, sandy arroyo. He had been dead for a day or more, and the sheep had wandered and scattered up and down the arroyo. Leon and his brother-in-law, Ken, gathered the sheep and left them in the pen at the sheep camp before they returned to the cottonwood tree. Leon waited under the tree while Ken drove the truck through the deep sand to the edge of the arroyo. He squinted up at the sun and unzipped his jacketit sure was hot for this time of year. But high and northwest the blue mountains were still deep in snow. Ken came sliding down the low, crumbling bank about fifty yards down, and he was bringing the red blanket.
Before they wrapped the old man, Leon took a piece of string out of his pocket and tied a small gray feather in the old mans long white hair. Ken gave him the paint. Across the brown wrinkled forehead he drew a streak of white and along the high cheekbones he drew a strip of blue paint. He paused and watched Ken throw pinches of corn meal and pollen into the wind that fluttered the small gray feather. Then Leon painted with yellow under the old mans broad nose, and finally, when he had painted green across the chin, he smiled.
Send us rain clouds, Grandfather. They laid the bundle in the back of the pickup and covered it with a heavy tarp before they started back to the pueblo.
They turned off the highway onto the sandy pueblo road. Not long after they passed the store and post office they saw Father Pauls car coming toward them. When he recognized their faces he slowed his car and waved for them to stop. The young priest rolled down the car window.
Did you find old Teofilo? he asked loudly.
Leon stopped the truck. Good morning, Father. We were just out to the sheep camp. Everything is O.K. now.
Thank God for that. Teofilo is a very old man. You really shouldnt allow him to stay at the sheep camp alone.
No, he wont do that any more now.
Well, Im glad you understand. I hope Ill be seeing you at Mass this weekwe missed you last Sunday. See if you can get old Teofilo to come with you. The priest smiled and waved at them as they drove away.
TWO
Louise and Teresa were waiting. The table was set for lunch, and the coffee was boiling on the black iron stove. Leon looked at Louise and then at Teresa.
We found him under a cottonwood tree in the big arroyo near the sheep camp. I guess he sat down to rest in the shade and never got up again. Leon walked toward the old mans bed. The red plaid shawl had been shaken and spread carefully over the bed, and a new brown flannel shirt and pair of stiff new Levis were arranged neatly beside the pillow. Louise held the screen door open while Leon and Ken carried in the red blanket. He looked small and shriveled, and after they dressed him in the new shirt and pants he seemed more shrunken.
It was noontime now because the church bells rang the Angelus.1 They ate the beans with hot bread, and nobody said anything until after Teresa poured the coffee.
Ken stood up and put on his jacket. Ill see about the gravediggers. Only the top layer of soil is frozen. I think it can be ready before dark.
Leon nodded his head and finished his coffee. After Ken had been gone for a while, the neighbors and clanspeople came quietly to embrace Teofilos family and to leave food on the table because the gravediggers would come to eat when they were finished.
THREE
The sky in the west was full of pale-yellow light. Louise stood outside with her hands in the pockets of Leons green army jacket that was too big for her. The funeral was over, and the old men had taken their candles and medicine bags and were gone. She waited until the body was laid into the pickup before she said anything to Leon. She touched his arm, and he noticed that her hands were still dusty from the corn meal that she had sprinkled around the old man. When she spoke, Leon could not hear her.
What did you say? I didnt hear you.
I said that I had been thinking about something.
About what?
About the priest sprinkling holy water for Grandpa. So he wont be thirsty.
Leon stared at the new moccasins that Teofilo had made for the ceremonial dances in the summer. They were nearly hidden by the red blanket. It was getting colder, and the wind pushed gray dust down the narrow pueblo road. The sun was approaching the long mesa where it disappeared during the winter. Louise stood there shivering and watching his face. Then he zipped up his jacket and opened the truck door. Ill see if hes there.
FOUR
Ken stopped the pickup at the church, and Leon got out; and then Ken drove down the hill to the graveyard where people were waiting. Leon knocked at the old carved door with its symbols of the Lamb. While he waited he looked up at the twin bells from the king of Spain with the last sunlight pouring around them in their tower.
The priest opened the door and smiled when he saw who it was. Come in! What brings you here this evening?
The priest walked toward the kitchen, and Leon stood with his cap in his hand, playing with the earflaps and examining the living roomthe brown sofa, the green armchair, and the brass lamp that
hung down from the ceiling by links of chain. The priest dragged a chair out of the kitchen and offered it to Leon.
No thank you, Father. I only came to ask you if you would bring your holy water to the graveyard.
The priest turned away from Leon and looked out the window at the patio full of shadows and the dining-room windows of the nuns cloister across the patio. The curtains were heavy, and the light from within faintly penetrated; it was impossible to see the nuns inside eating supper. Why didnt you tell me he was dead? I could have brought the Last Rites anyway.
Leon smiled. It wasnt necessary, Father.
The priest stared down at his scuffed brown loafers and the worn hem of his cassock. For a Christian burial it was necessary.
His voice was distant, and Leon thought that his blue eyes looked tired.
Its O.K., Father, we just want him to have plenty of water.
The priest sank down in the green chair and picked up a glossy missionary magazine. He turned the colored pages full of lepers and pagans without looking at them.
You know I cant do that, Leon. There should have been the Last Rites and a funeral Mass at the very least.
Leon put on his green cap and pulled the flaps down over his ears. Its getting late, Father. Ive got to go.
When Leon opened the door Father Paul stood up and said, Wait. He left the room and came back wearing a long brown overcoat. He followed Leon out the door and across the dim churchyard to the adobe steps in front of the church. They both stooped to fit through the low adobe entrance. And when they started down the hill to the graveyard only half of the sun was visible above the mesa.
The priest approached the grave slowly, wondering how they had managed to dig into the frozen ground; and then he remembered that this was New Mexico, and saw the pile of cold loose sand beside the hole. The people stood close to each other with little clouds of steam puffing from their faces. The priest looked at them and saw a pile of jackets, gloves, and scarves in the yellow, dry tumbleweeds that grew in the graveyard. He looked at the red blanket, not sure that Teofilo was so small, wondering if it wasnt some perverse Indian tricksomething they did in March to ensure a good harvestwondering if maybe old Teofilo was actually at sheep camp corraling the sheep for the night. But there he was, facing into a cold dry wind and squinting at the last sunlight, ready to bury a red wool blanket while the faces of the parishioners were in shadow with the last warmth of the sun on their backs.
His fingers were stiff, and it took them a long time to twist the lid off the holy water. Drops of water fell on the red blanket and soaked into dark icy spots. He sprinkled the grave and the water disappeared almost before it touched the dim, cold sand; it reminded him of somethinghe tried to remember what it was, because he thought if he could remember he might understand this. He sprinkled more water; he shook the container until it was empty, and the water fell through the light from sundown like August rain that fell while the sun was still shining, almost evaporating before it touched the wilted squash flowers.
The wind pulled at the priests brown Franciscan robe and swirled away the corn meal and pollen that had been sprinkled on the blanket. They lowered the bundle into the ground, and they didnt bother to untie the stiff pieces of new rope that were tied around the ends of the blanket. The sun was gone, and over on the highway the eastbound lane was full of headlights. The priest walked away slowly. Leon watched him climb the hill, and when he had disappeared within the tall, thick walls, Leon turned to look up at the high blue mountains in the deep snow that reflected a faint red light from the west. He felt good because it was finished, and he was happy about the sprinkling of the holy water; now the old man could send them big thunderclouds for sure.
1969
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
SHERMAN ALEXIE
[b. 1966]
Too hot to sleep so I walked down to the Third Avenue 7-11 for a Creamsicle and the company of a graveyard-shift cashier. I know that game. I worked graveyard for a Seattle 7-11 and got robbed once too often. The last time the bastard locked me in the cooler. He even took my money and basketball shoes.
The graveyard-shift worker in the Third Avenue 7-11 looked like they all do. Acne scars and a bad haircut, work pants that showed off his white socks, and those cheap black shoes that have no support. My arches still ache from my year at the Seattle 7-11.
Hello, he asked when I walked into his store. How you doing?
I gave him a half-wave as I headed back to the freezer. He looked me over so he could describe me to the police later. I knew the look. One of my old girlfriends said I started to look at her that way, too. She left me not long after that. No, I left her and dont blame her for anything. Thats how it happened. When one person starts to look at another like a criminal, then the love is over. Its logical.
I dont trust you, she said to me. You get too angry.
She was white and I lived with her in Seattle. Some nights we fought so bad that I would just get in my car and drive all night, only stop to fill up on gas. In fact, I worked the graveyard shift to spend as much time away from her as possible. But I learned all about Seattle that way, driving its back ways and dirty alleys.
Sometimes, though, I would forget where I was and get lost. Id drive for hours, searching for something familiar. Seems like Id spent my whole life that way, looking for anything I recognized. Once, I ended up in a nice residential neighborhood and somebody must have been worried because the police showed up and pulled me over.
What are you doing out here? the police officer asked me as he looked over my license and registration.
Im lost.
Well, where are you supposed to be? he asked me, and I knew there were plenty of places I wanted to be, but none where I was supposed to be.
I got in a fight with my girlfriend, I said. I was just driving around, blowing off steam, you know?
Well, you should be more careful where you drive, the officer said. Youre making people nervous. You dont fit the profile of the neighborhood.
I wanted to tell him that I didnt really fit the profile of the country but I knew it would just get me into trouble.
Can I help you? the 7-11 clerk asked me loudly, searching for some response that would reassure him that I wasnt an armed robber. He knew this dark skin and long, black hair of mine was dangerous. I had potential.
Just getting a Creamsicle, I said after a long interval. It was a sick twist to pull on the guy, but it was late and I was bored. I grabbed my Creamsicle and walked back to the counter slowly, scanned the aisles for effect. I wanted to whistle low and menacingly but I never learned to whistle.
Pretty hot out tonight? he asked, that old rhetorical weather bullshit question designed to put us both at ease.
Hot enough to make you go crazy, I said and smiled. He swallowed hard like a white man does in those situations. I looked him over. Same old green, red, and white 7-11 jacket and thick glasses. But he wasnt ugly, just misplaced and marked by loneliness. If he wasnt working there that night, hed be at home alone, flipping through channels and wishing he could afford HBO or Showtime.
Will this be all? he asked me, in that company effort to make me do some impulse shopping. Like adding a clause onto a treaty. Well take Washington and Oregon, and you get six pine trees and a brand-new Chrysler Cordoba. I knew how to make and break promises.
No, I said and paused. Give me a Cherry Slushie, too.
What size? he asked, relieved.
Large, I said, and he turned his back to me to make the drink. He realized his mistake but it was too late. He stiffened, ready for the gunshot or the blow behind the ear. When it didnt come, he turned back to me.
Im sorry, he said. What size did you say?
Small, I said and changed the story.
But I thought you said large.
If you knew I wanted a large, then why did you ask me again? I asked him and laughed. He looked at me, couldnt decide if I was giving him serious shit or just goofing. There was something about him I liked, even if it was three in the morning and he was white.
Hey, I said. Forget the Slushie. What I want to know is if you know all the words to the theme from The Brady Bunch?
He looked at me, confused at first, then laughed.
Shit, he said. I was hoping you werent crazy. You were scaring me.
Well, Im going to get crazy if you dont know the words.
He laughed loudly then, told me to take the Creamsicle for free. He was the graveyard-shift manager and those little demonstrations of power tickled him. All seventy-five cents of it. I knew how much everything cost.
Thanks, I said to him and walked out the door. I took my time walking home, let the heat of the night melt the Creamsicle all over my hand. At three in the morning I could act just as young as I wanted to act. There was no one around to ask me to grow up.
In Seattle, I broke lamps. She and I would argue and Id break a lamp, just pick it up and throw it down. At first shed buy replacement lamps, expensive and beautiful. But after a while shed buy lamps from Goodwill or garage sales. Then she just gave up the idea entirely and wed argue in the dark.
Youre just like your brother, shed yell. Drunk all the time and stupid.
My brother dont drink that much.
She and I never tried to hurt each other physically. I did love her, after all, and she loved me. But those arguments were just as damaging as a fist. Words can be like that, you know? Whenever I get into arguments now, I remember her and I also remember Muhammad Ali. He knew the power of his fists but, more importantly, he knew the power of his words, too. Even though he only had an IQ of 80 or so, Ali was a genius. And she was a genius, too. She knew exactly what to say to cause me the most pain.
But dont get me wrong. I walked through that relationship with an executioners hood. Or more appropriately, with war paint and sharp arrows. She was a kindergarten teacher and I continually insulted her for that.
Hey, schoolmarm, I asked. Did your kids teach you anything new today?
And I always had crazy dreams. I always have had them, but it seemed they became nightmares more often in Seattle.
In one dream, she was a missionarys wife and I was a minor war chief. We fell in love and tried to keep it secret. But the missionary caught us fucking in the barn and shot me. As I lay dying, my tribe learned of the shooting and attacked the whites all across the reservation. I died and my soul drifted above the reservation.
Disembodied, I could see everything that was happening. Whites killing Indians and Indians killing whites. At first it was small, just my tribe and the few whites who lived there. But my dream grew, intensified. Other tribes arrived on horseback to continue the slaughter of whites, and the United States Cavalry rode into battle.
The most vivid image of that dream stays with me. Three mounted soldiers played polo with a dead Indian womans head. When I first dreamed it, I thought it was just a product of my anger and imagination. But since then, Ive read similar accounts of that kind of evil in the old West. Even more terrifying, though, is the fact that those kinds of brutal things are happening today in places like El Salvador.
All I know for sure, though, is that I woke from that dream in terror, packed up all my possessions, and left Seattle in the middle of the night.
I love you, she said as I left her. And dont ever come back.
I drove through the night, over the Cascades, down into the plains of central Washington, and back home to the Spokane Indian Reservation.
When I finished the Creamsicle that the 7-11 clerk gave me, I held the wooden stick up into the air and shouted out very loudly. A couple lights flashed on in windows and a police car cruised by me a few minutes later. I waved to the men in blue and they waved back accidentally. When I got home it was still too hot to sleep so I picked up a week-old newspaper from the floor and read.
There was another civil war, another terrorist bomb exploded, and one more plane crashed and all aboard were presumed dead. The crime rate was rising in every city with populations larger than 100,000, and a farmer in Iowa shot his banker after foreclosure on his 1,000 acres.
A kid from Spokane won the local spelling bee by spelling the word rhinoceros.
_________
When I got back to the reservation, my family wasnt surprised to see me. Theyd been expecting me back since the day I left for Seattle. Theres an old Indian poet who said that Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there. Thats as close to truth as any of us can get.
Mostly I watched television. For weeks I flipped through channels, searched for answers in the game shows and soap operas. My mother would circle the want ads in red and hand the paper to me.
What are you going to do with the rest of your life? she asked.
Dont know, I said, and normally, for almost any other Indian in the country, that would have been a perfectly fine answer. But I was special, a former college student, a smart kid. I was one of those Indians who was supposed to make it, to rise above the rest of the reservation like a fucking eagle or something. I was the new kind of warrior.
For a few months I didnt even look at the want ads my mother circled, just left the newspaper where she had set it down. After a while, though, I got tired of television and started to play basketball again. Id been a good player in high school, nearly great, and almost played at the college I attended for a couple years. But Id been too out of shape from drinking and sadness to ever be good again. Still, I liked the way the ball felt in my hands and the way my feet felt inside my shoes.
At first I just shot baskets by myself. It was selfish, and I also wanted to learn the game again before I played against anybody else. Since I had been good before and embarrassed fellow tribal members, I knew they would want to take revenge on me. Forget about the cowboys versus Indians business. The most intense competition on any reservation is Indians versus Indians.
But on the night I was ready to play for real, there was this white guy at the gym, playing with all the Indians.
Who is that? I asked Jimmy Seyler.
Hes the new BIA1 chiefs kid.
Can he play?
Oh, yeah.
And he could play. He played Indian ball, fast and loose, better than all the Indians there.
How longs he been playing here? I asked.
Long enough.
I stretched my muscles, and everybody watched me. All these Indians watched one of their old and dusty heroes. Even though I had played most of my ball at the white high school I went to, I was still all Indian, you know? I was Indian when it counted, and this BIA kid needed to be beaten by an Indian, any Indian.
I jumped into the game and played well for a little while. It felt good. I hit a few shots, grabbed a rebound or two, played enough defense to keep the other team honest. Then that white kid took over the game. He was too good. Later, hed play college ball back East and would nearly make the Knicks team a couple years on. But we didnt know any of that would happen. We just knew he was better that day and every other day.
The next morning I woke up tired and hungry, so I grabbed the want ads, found a job I wanted, and drove to Spokane to get it. Ive been working at the high school exchange program ever since, typing and answering phones. Sometimes I wonder if the people on the other end of the line know that Im Indian and if their voices would change if they did know.
One day I picked up the phone and it was her, calling from Seattle.
I got your number from your mom, she said. Im glad youre working.
Yeah, nothing like a regular paycheck.
Are you drinking?
No, Ive been on the wagon for almost a year.
Good.
The connection was good. I could hear her breathing in the spaces between our words. How do you talk to the real person whose ghost has haunted you? How do you tell the difference between the two?
Listen, I said. Im sorry for everything.
Me, too.
Whats going to happen to us? I asked her and wished I had the answer for myself.
I dont know, she said. I want to change the world.
These days, living alone in Spokane, I wish I lived closer to the river, to the falls where ghosts of salmon jump. I wish I could sleep. I put down my paper or book and turn off all the lights, lie quietly in the dark. It may take hours, even years, for me to sleep again. Theres nothing surprising or disappointing in that.
I know how all my dreams end anyway.
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