Native American Multicultural Review

Native American Multicultural Collection

Introduction

My collection consists of five non-fiction selections about Native Americans. The books were chosen based on accessibility and themes of spirituality. I searched for books that would give a person who was not very familiar with Native American ideals or history a starting point into their culture. I also tried to weave titles in that had spiritual themes, or titles that I felt elevated the Native Americans and their customs to a higher platform. In general, I looked for positive books and tried to keep the focus on the here and now, although some books have sections on the past, and some books do deal with everyday realities.

Book #1

Indian Givers: How Native Americans transformed the world by Jack Weatherford.

This very well written title helps to illuminate the place that Native Americans have had in shaping world culture. In the introduction, the author writes eloquently about this mission. He makes an excellent and noteworthy point in the introduction. He writes, “Recognizing the greatness of one people does nothing to diminish the achievements of another…The ability to understand one heightens the capability to appreciate others. The enjoyment of Russian ballet can be refined by an understanding of the pow-wow dancers of the Great Plains, just as contemporary art might acquire more power when juxtaposed with the pictographic images from the Iroquois.” His words are powerful because of their universal truth; enjoying or understanding one culture can only aid understanding and compassion for another culture, or even one’s own culture.

All the chapters in the book discuss events important to history and how Native Americans played into those events, or even, how Native Americans had similar ideas or ways amongst their own people. A very interesting chapter in the book entitled “The Founding Indian Fathers” discusses the Native Americans role in helping the colonies form a “unity.” Iroquois chief Canassatego spoke at an Indian-British assembly in 1744 and proclaimed that the Indians found it difficult to navigate the different colonial administrations. He suggested that the colonies form a “union”, similar to the union like the League of the Iroquois.

Another excellent chapter in the book is entitled “The Culinary Revolution” and explains how food that was Native to the Americas (and the style in which Native Americans made them) influenced the world. This chapter is rich in detail and integrates how certain foods and spices from the Americas changed different culture’s foods. An example in the book is how the tomato revolutionized Italian cooking. This chapter also notes where certain popular Americans food started. An example is the settlers watched the Indians drop pieces of cornmeal into bear fat and thus the finished product was called “hush puppies.”

This book diversifies and mentions Native South Americans. With a chapter dedicated to drugs, the author explores how the Natives in the Andes used the coca leaves to chew on and to help alleviate discomfort from high altitudes. With the pressures of European influence, however, many of these Natives are having a hard time engaging in this action that has been part of their culture for decades. The author himself seemed to find nothing wrong in just the basic chewing of the leaf; the problem is when the plant is extracted and turned into cocaine.

This book discusses many other world issues. The inclusiveness of several different subjects along with the worldview makes this a very interesting read. It gives glimpses of Native American culture and tradition, but also puts it a world scheme, which is very enlightening.

Book #2

Spirits of the Earth: A Guide to Native American Symbols, Stories, and Ceremonies by Bobby Lake-Thom

This book focuses on interpreting Nature and becoming in touch with it. This is a very good resource for understanding the spiritual side of Native Americans. In the introduction, the author reminds the reader that the following stories inside his book are what learned from his elders; this book is not all encompassing of every Native American tribe and should be viewed as a guide, not an iron word.

The author begins then by writing about nature and how he learned to speak the language of Nature. A particularly engaging chapter is on developing symbolic and spiritual thinking. This chapter includes symbolic thinking exercises such as going out into Nature and viewing any animals around you. The authors asks the reader to then categorize the animal by certain characteristics, such descriptors include strong, fast, bold, funny, and cunning.

Another rich section of this book includes Native stories. These are particularly insightful into Native ideas, and it is very enjoyable to read what stories and oral legends the Natives have created. One such interesting story is called “The woman who feared snakes”, it’s about a woman who was originally scared of snakes, but then under the power of a snake, follows him, and they eventually have babies. The snake children ask about their human ancestors and so they set out to meet them. However, their maternal grandmother dislikes snakes and shoos them away. The mother goes home and shows the snake babies to her mother, but the grandmother still does not accept them. The morale of this story is that snakes are a bad omen, and never invite a snake in your home.

One of the most insightful parts of the book is the section on animal signs. The author lists an animal and then describes it in terms of Native customs and cultures. The bear is a good sign while the bobcat or panther are bad signs. To see these big felines means that a person is being stalked, either spiritually or physically. The coyote is a very important symbol for Native peoples and is sometimes cast in the role as the creator. The wolves have always had a respected place in Native culture. There is also a chapter on bird signs/omens and reptile and snake signs/omens. The comprehensiveness of the various kinds of animals just give this book a very authentic feel; there are so many creatures listed, and so many creature stories to go along with them, that it really does make a person think about animals in their natural habitat.

This is a great resource for a person wanting to learn more about Native American culture, in regards to the spiritual and nature realm. This book is insightful, and teaches you about Native American’s thoughts about the natural world in a highly readable way.

Book #3

Nature’s Way: Native Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Earth by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man.

This book also is about spiritual ideas and speaks greatly of Mother Nature. This book is divided into chapters, each deemed “lessons” by a certain animal. The first chapter is about observation and is entitled “Lessons from the Eagle.” At the end of this chapter, the author writes, “We northern Indians say that Creator is benevolent. We have far less fear of our Creator, it seems, than do people of other faiths. When I observe the simple towering rose bush that grows in my front yard, this flowering plant speaks to me: it tells me that Creator appreciates the kind, delightful beauty that I see presented to me on long summer days.” (p. 18.)

In the third chapter, which is “Lessons from the Lion” the author explores the freedoms of the lioness and compares them to the freedoms given to the Sioux women. The author informs us that way before women suffrage became universal or accepted, Sioux women had possession of the lodge, among other major possessions.

In the chapter about lessons from the wolf, the author describes how the Sioux respect the wolf. The author also discusses Black Elk, and his spiritual vision. The author describes Black Elk’s six powers, which includes powers from the west, north, east, south, sky and earth. The earth power is green and symbolizes Mother Earth. This chapter also details more information about the Sioux’s beliefs in a “higher power.”

There is a very interesting chapter on developing intuition called “Lesson of Orca.” The author describes the ceremony for developing “Vision Quest.” Vision questing is a person spending time alone with nature to gain insight into his or her own path. The author points out that this activity is not only a Native American tradition; he mentions how Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness.

Overall, this is a very well rounded resource. The author does a very good job of fitting together traditional Native American thoughts and traditions and helps apply them to our Non-Native lives. The book is also biographical; there are many sections of the author’s personal experiences weaved into stories and reflections about Native American culture. This is a fantastic book to read if one wanted reflections on the culture through one person’s point of view.

Book #4

The Wisdom of the Native Americans edited by Kent Nerburn.

This is a compilation of many Native Americans and their thoughts on various subjects. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 is entitled “Ways of the Native Americans”; part two is “The soul of an Indian”; part three is “the wisdom of the great Chiefs.” This book is straightforward, but is surprising with all the insight contained within.

Because of this book’s quotes and real thoughts from various Native American tribes, it is best to select premium examples of the messages received from reading this book. From part one, a Lakota chief, Luther Standing Bear, says, “Children were taught that true politeness was to be defined in actions rather than in words…expressions such as ‘excuse me’, pardon me’, and ‘so sorry’ now so lightly and unnecessarily used, are not in the Lakota language.” (p. 15.) I found this very interesting, since so many people in our culture say “sorry” so automatically.

Part 2 is comprised of paragraphs and/or pages depicting what Native peoples feel about beauty, children, role of the elders, and an interesting description of the moral code of Native women. There is a mention of the women owning the property and being the spiritual teacher to the children. She is also head of the clan of the children, not the father. This is interesting, as other resources on Native peoples have also sustained this claim in a woman’s place in the Native world.

Part 3 is all about the wisdom of three different Chiefs. Each chief section begins with an introduction about that chief, and the words of the chief are written. Some words written from Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce clan reflect the Native American plight in the late 1880s. In his passionate speech, he recounts how the U.S. government tried to take their land after an agreement on the boundaries had been decided between government officials and his father, the previous Chief. In his speech, he also describes some of his interactions with the white man, most of such being dishonorable experiences. This real account from a Chief adds extra dimension to this book, and is a reminder of the Native people’s sad history.

This book is extremely useful; not only does it offer up Native American thoughts and ideals, but tells the story of the Native Americans past. It is important not only to be reminded of what happened to them, but also the way this book tells it, through the words of the Chiefs themselves, makes it even more important.

Book #5

On the Rez by Ian Frazier.

This book is about the author’s experiences on a reservation, the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. He is with the Oglala Sioux, and the book details his experience with this group of Native Americans. The author explains in the beginning of the book that most non-Natives considered life on the reservation “bleak”, although he never heard a Native person describe their experience that way.

He also speaks about how non-Native people want the Natives to just “get with the program”, give up their tribal ways, and just assimilate with the non-Natives. He explains, in a very detailed way, why this would be terrible if it happened.

He also writes about an Oglala Sioux Indian he met while he was writing his book about Crazy Horse. This man’s name was Le and he describes him as a mean sort of fellow who drank a lot and told exaggerated stories. One story included jumping off the Space Needle in Seattle only attached by a Band-Aid. He talks about the fact that Le and once he is a witness on the reservation, drinks a lot of beer. But mostly, it’s always the Budweiser brand. He explains the link between Anheuser-Busch marketing and Indians. He talks about how many American companies have profited from Indians drinking.

There are numerous moments in the book that mention TV and movies and the roles Indians were given in them. The author recounts that Sioux Indians get most of the roles, and/or the roles are about them. The Apache come in second place. There is a humorous part where the author and a Sioux on the reservation are discussing a film on Crazy Horse and are criticizing the movie’s portrayal of Crazy Horse making love with a woman in the middle of an open field. They also criticize that Crazy Horse’s horse wore horseshoes. This is a gross inaccuracy because not only did Indians not have access to horseshoes in that era, but also Crazy Horse being a hugely spiritual man, would never have put them on his horse, even if they had been available.

The book is very compelling, and as it hums along, taking you into these real people’s lives, it shows the reader good and the bad. My favorite part about this book is how human it makes the Oglala Sioux. It doesn’t cover them up in mysticism; the author just tells plainly, and unapologetically, what he experienced in his time with the Oglala Sioux. An excellent read if a person wants a gritty, real account.

References:

Weatherford, J. (2010). Indian givers. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
Lake-Thom, B. (1997). Spirits of the Earth. New York, NY: Plume Publishing.
McGaa, E. (2004). Nature’s way. New York, NY: HarperOne Publishing.
(1999). The wisdom of the Native Americans. Nerburn, K. (Ed.) Novato, California: New World Library.
Frazier, I. (2000). On the rez. New York, NY: Picador Publishing.

Scholarly Review #3: LIS a Handmaiden?

Scholarly Review #3: HEGEMONY'S HANDMAID? THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES CURRICULUM FROM A CLASS PERSPECTIVE by Christine Pawley

This very interesting article probes whether or not LIS has a part to play in class hegemony and whether or not this hegemony is learned by the curriculum of LIS schools. One of my favorite quotes of the whole article is actually the description of "hegemony", which by its name, sounded very ominous, but I wasn't sure of its definition or how it related to class. Pawley writes, "According to Antonio Gramsci, a powerful group achieves hegemony when it gains control over a range of values and norms, to the extent that these are so embedded in society that they receive unquestioned acceptance." (p. 127.) I like this quote so much also because it ties into the concept of this article that those in the LIS profession may not be aware that they are subscribing to the hegemony because it is so "embedded" in them.

Ms. Pawley points out the "middle class" as a hegemony, because everyone seems to be "middle class", and there is no emphasis on the upper or lower classes publicly, although these classes obviously exist. Many librarians would consider themselves "middle class" and the author makes a point about how many librarians don't even realize how their own class does affects their actions. I found this fascinating because a part of solving a problem is being aware of the problem; if the librarians are assuming that everyone else is middle class such as they, or if they just are content in their class and do not examine what it means, that could lead to class bias, or simply not an understanding or a desire to understand other classes.

Pawley also points out the lack of social awareness in LIS education. As I had mentioned in a different scholarly review, and I will touch briefly now, I feel even more validated in my thoughts that the LIS programs need more multicultural/ multi-class course offerings because the reality is that these librarians being educated are going to be out serving the public someday. Even if it's not in a public library post, there are still services to offer and people to help in academia and special libraries. Taking a multicultural course can help prepare students for real-life, or/and at least, make them more culturally aware. I feel truer in this position after reading a second article this semester that agrees with how I feel.

A really surprising part of the article was the section about the corporate world. I was amazed to learn that the Williamson Report of 1923 was basically ran by the Carnegie Corporation. While I appreciate the fact that the Carnegie Corporation donated money and efforts to help supporting libraries, the fact that the Corporation set up all the details for Williamson's investigation sounds funny to me. If the corporation was really altrusic and really interested in what libraries really needed, I believe they would have let Williamson set his own parameters for his research and see where the research actually took him, instead of setting his boundaries. Interestingly enough, Wayne State University has a mention in this article as taking money from Kellogg Foundation. I guess corporations and library schools seem like strange bedfellows, and the link should probably not exist.

Overall, I have found this article to be extremely insightful. Not only did it provide me with a few shockers about LIS ties with a middle-class hegemony, but I found the writing itself to be brisk and readable. This article is certainly a must-read for anyone interested in class issues and LIS as a profession.

References:

Pawley, C. (1998). Hegemony's handmaid? The library and information science
curriculum from a class perspective. The Library Quarterly, 68(2) 123-144.

Social Bookmark 4: Native Americans in the U.S. Military

Native Americans in the U.S. Military is a website produced by the Naval History and Heritage Command. It has a main overview page that lists the beginning of Native Americans involved with U.S. service, then continues with some about the Native American Warrior. The top of the page has links to specific instances in history, including links to Native Americans awarded Medal of Honors, Native Americans role in WWII, and detailed links to various aspects of Navajo Code Talkers. I found this website refreshingly interesting, and I enjoyed its military perspective on culture. While this website mostly is about Native American culture with the military, I also enjoyed its historical context. This is a great website for something a bit different, but still timely in regards to culture.

Here is the direct link: Native Americans in the U.S. Military

Social Bookmark #3: Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2010

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival has already taken place earlier in this current year. The website for the Festival gives great details on what was presented at the Folklife Festival, including the dates for the next one, in 2011. This past year, in 2010, the festival's focus was Mexico and Asian Pacific Americans. The Mexico exhibit explored voices and customs that were native to Mexico before Christopher Columbus. The Asian Pacific American exhibit explores diverse Asian Pacific American cultures by showing off the differences in dance, martial arts, language. The website boosts videos one can watch from the actual event, along with a blog to read, and there are plenty of pictures to enjoy. Overall, this looked to be a very significant cultural event that happened in D.C. Since I live in Richmond, VA, I will try to attend the one next year, since I now know about the event.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Scholarly Article #2: Cultural Competence

CULTURAL COMPETENCE: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE PROFESSIONALS by Patricia M. Overall

One of the great points this article makes is about how libraries create multicultural programs without really consulting or knowing the needs of those they hope to serve. On this same note, the author writes, "Among the reasons cited for low library use by members of minority groups are inadequate collections, services, and staffing. On staffing, for example, minority library users note the lack of adequate multilingual staff to assist minority patrons and the lack of library professionals who are knowledgeable and sensitive to language and cultural issues." This is one of the great points this article makes; is about the level of cultural competence most libraries have. Most libraries do take great aims to be culturally compent, but many still fail short of really recogizing what it means.

Another interesting theory in this article is the diagram that shows that general psychology has an underlying assumption that mind and culture are different "spheres" (if you will), but cultural psychology holds to the assumption that mind and culture are linked together, and cannot be seperated. I found this interesting. How many of us have mannerisms or do things unconciously based on the norms of our culture and the values that our culture taught us? The article also mentioned how many cultural norms librarians may not be aware of...such as a person's culturally take on things like even space and gestures. How many of us have our "comfort zones"? Many of us too, I'm sure, have personal spaces where we feel as if someone is invading that space. I wonder how much of our needing even a certain amount of "personal space" might relate to how we were brought up and our cultural values. It is very interesting to me that even culture may run that deep; that it may be ingrained into us and cannot be seperated.

The author suggests that for the LIS professional to develop cultural competence requires three skill-set using inward and outward perspectives: 1) culture domain, which includes developing one's own cultural sense and sense of others; 2) The language domain, which includes building language skills, and having multiliteracies; 3) Ethnicity, which includes recognizing and encouraging rules, regulations, and policies of different ethnicities. I feel if a LIS professional took these steps, even a few of them, they would be closer and better off to really understanding multicultural issues in the library.

This article just helped open me up to how deep the culture issue is, and got me thinking of it in a very pyschological way. It also got me thinking of the way I currently interact with different people, being that I work at a drugstore as a manager. I think about how many customers I sometimes had a hard time understanding and I wonder if I had treated them with enough respect as I struggled to make sense of the words. I hope I have treated them right, but this article has definitely made me understand culture on a deeper level.

References:

Overall, P.M. (2009). Cultural competence: A conceptual framework for library and information science professionals. Library Quarterly, 79 (2) 175-204.

Bookmark 2: Library of Virginia: African-American Virginia Trailblazers

This time I wanted to keep my bookmark more local. Being that the Library of Virginia is a large library organization here in downtown Richmond, I wanted to explore its website and was happy when I discovered their African-American trailblazers page. There is an option on the main page to view the 2009 and the 2010 trailblazers. Once you pick a year, it gives you pictures, names, and a brief background about why the selected ten African-Americans are trailblazers in Virginia. I think the state of Virginia has a very important cultural history, for not only races, but as one of the first areas to be explored and settled by the Europeans. Anyways, this is great segment of the Library of Virginia's website, and will teach you a little about the history of African-Americans in Virginia.

Here is the link: Library of Virginia's African-American Trailblazers page

Scholary Review #1

"There are several important reasons to bring more focus to ongoing research about diversity, inclusion, and underrepresentation in LIS, as well as to encourage more work in this area. Consistent exposure to this area of research stands as a key means through which students in LIS programs can become ready to provide inclusive information services to the wide range of patrons they will encounter in their professional lives. The diversity of the population in the United States is rapidly increasing and will continue to do so. If students are not aware of the range of issues of diversity, inclusion, and underrepresentation related to information and the ways to provide services that meet the needs and expectations of diverse populations, these students will not be able to adequately serve their communities or their profession. Simply put, research in this area needs to be an integral part of every MLS curriculum." (Jaeger, Bertot, & Franklin.)

The above quote from the authors of the article, "Diversity, inclusion, and underrepresented populations in LIS research" illustrates why I chose to take this class. I want to be made more aware of the information needs of a wide range of multicultural issues. While I don't always like the term "melting pot", America is becoming that, and it's important as a librarian-in-training that I know more about the various cultures so that I can better understand their needs. Also, I am just plain curious and I have always been interested in other cultures. While earning my B.A. in History, I took many Asian studies classes, because it was something I hadn't studied or knew much about before college. I had heard enough about western Europe and England during my intro history classes, and I wanted to know more about China and Japan. I also two classes about Russian history, mostly because I wanted to understand the "Soviet Scare" better and understand how Russia became the U.S.S.R.

I found it very interesting in the above article how the authors wanted to see if diversity played a part in female African-Americans LIS desertions. I would actually hope that diversity would play a role, and the topics chosen would be ones akin to how to make library services more interesting to perhaps urban youths or people not otherwise visiting libraries. But perhaps that is a stereotype in itself. Still, even if that seems stereotypical, I would hope that a female African-American getting her Ph.D. in Library Science would want to develop programs that would appeal their ethnicity, since according to the article, African-Americans are underrepresented in the LIS universe.

I also found the paragraph in the article about LIS programs lacking diversity very interesting. Maybe this would seem too forward, but in our multicultural country, there is a greater need than ever to have a "diversity LIS class" requirement. So far I have found this class very satisfying. Not only have I learned and explored other ideologies, but this class has allowed me to express my own ideology. As a professional librarian one day not only will I want to serve the needs of many, but having explored my own culture will just make me more sure-footed about seeking information about others. I'm not sure about the exact requirements for a "diversity course" to be required, but if the idea was shaped better, it would be great and fun requirement for LIS students.

In closing, I believe that the article made some very good points about the low number of varying ethnicity in the library profession, especially in regards to the number of LIS faculty members. If more variety of peoples were members of LIS faculty, I am sure my above suggestion about a diversity class, and/or a bigger focus on diversity in LIS programs would happen.

References:

Jaeger, P. T., Bertot, J. C., & Franklin, R. E. (2010). Diversity, inclusion, and underrepresented populations in LIS research. Library Quarterly, 80, 175-181.