Resistance and Resilience in the Work of Four Native American Authors Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Lawson, Angelica Marie Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 25/09/2021 06:36:14 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/193773 RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE IN THE WORK OF F OUR N ATIVE A MERICAN A UTHORS by Angelica Marie Lawson ______________ Copyright © Angelica Marie Lawson 2006 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the GRADUATE INTERDICIPLINARY PROGRAM IN AMERICA N INDIAN STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the G raduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2006 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee , we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Angelica M Lawson entitled Resistance and Resilience in the Work of Four Native American Authors and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree o f Doctor of Philosophy __________________________________________Date: 7/15/2005 Tsianina Lomawaima ___________ _______________________________ Date: 7/15/2005 Tom Holm __________________________________________Date: 7/15/2005 Luci Tapahonso Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and r ecommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. _________________________________________Date: 7/15/2005 Dissertation Director: Tsianina Lomawaima 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfil lment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permi ssion, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: _______________________ Ang elica Marie Lawson 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee at the University of Arizona for their patience and persistence throughout graduate school and the dissertation writing process. I would especially like to thank my chair, Tsianina Lomawaima for her mentorship and good advice over the years , Jay Stauss for his mentorship, encouragement, and belief in me, Tom Holm for his good humor, and Luci Tapahonso for teaching opportunities in her classes . I would also like to thank Shelly Lowe f or all her help with administrative details over the years. I would like to thank Dartmouth College and the Native American Studies Program for awarding me the Charles Eastman Dissertation Fellowship, and especially Colin Calloway whom despite his numerou s duties as chair was always willing to talk, and Dale Turner who took an interest in my work. I would like to thank m y friends and colleagues . I could not have done this without you all. At the University of Montana, I would like to thank Kate Shanley and Rich Clow for believing in me , Lynn Itagaki and Eli Suzukovich for looking over drafts and offering encouragement, and especially David Moore who read the first draft and was willing to meet on short notice to have many, many conversations about my wo rk . At U.C. Berkeley I would like to thank Clint Carroll for all his help, caring, and support. Most importantly, I would like to thank my family. My mother Susana Lawson for fostering my love of reading, my father Patrick Lawson, Sr. for his good advice , my sister Sundell who patiently listened to me when others gave up , and my brother Patrick Adam for his constant tech support at all hours of the day! You four are my foundation for everything I do, and this would not have been possible without you. 5 DED ICATION To my family 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT . 8 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION . .10 Resistance and Resilience in Native American Literature10 Resistance . 12 Resilience Theory in P sychology . 17 Cultural Resilience . 1 9 Author Subjects . 22 Personal Motivations . 24 Met hodology . 25 Literary Strategies . 29 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW . 32 Foundations . 33 Postmodern Theory . 37 Postcolonial Theory . 42 Conclusion . 48 CHAPTER III: S HERMAN A LEXIE’S SMOKE SIGNALS AS A LITERATURE OF RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE . 50 Section I: Biography . 52 Main Text and Reaction to Work . 57 History of Native American Representations in Mainstream Film . 58 Section II: N ar rative Structure: The Hollywood Buddy/Road Film Meets the Native American Oral Tradition . 61 Resisting the Western . 67 Resistance and Resilience as Expressed Through Female Characters . 70 The Importance of Community . 78 Symbolism . 83 Conclusion . 86 CHAPTER IV: RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE IN LOUISE ERDRICH’S TRACKS . 88 Section I : Biography . 89 Summary of the Main Text. 92 Reaction to Work . 95 Section II : Narrative Structure: Po stmodernism Meets the Chippewa Oral Tradition . 98 Characterization . 10 2 Symbolism . 109 Conclusion . 115 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS continued CHAPTER V: N ORA M ARKS D AUENHAUER’S “R AVEN L OSES H IS N OSE” AS A LITERATURE OF RESISTANCE AND R ESILIENCE . 119 Section I: Biography . 120 Summary of Main Text . 122 Responses to Work . 124 Section II : Raven Story as Narrative Strategy . 126 Humor as Aesthetic . 129 The Play: “Raven Loses his Nose” . 131 Asides and Ethics: Racism . 132 Asides and Ethics: Land . 135 Raven Takes on Repatriation . 139 Ethics of Ownership . 140 Raven: What a Character! . 144 Symbolism . 145 Conclusion . 14 7 CHAPTER VI: OFELIA ZEPEDA’S OCEAN POWER AS RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE LITERATURE . 148 Section I : Biography . 149 Main Text . 153 Responses to Work . 155 Section II: O’odham Language Poetry as Resis tance and Resilience . 158 Writing in English . 162 Song Poems as Resilienc e and Resistance . 165 “Ocean Power”: Ethics and Aesthetics through Characterization and Symbols . 178 Characterization . 180 Symbolism . 182 Aesthetic . 184 Conclusion . 187 CHAPTER VII: C ONCLUSION . 189 Situating this Study in the Larger Discourse of Native Literature . 194 New Directions . 196 Pedagogical Applications . 197 REFERENCES . 199 8 ABSTRACT In his introduction to Tribal Secrets (1995) Osage scholar Robert Warrior acknowledges the “resiliency and resistant sp irit of Native America” as evident in the literature of the Native American Renaissance (xvi). Though he does not elaborate on this statement there is an implied balance in his pairing that is compelling. Re sistance literature is an established category of writing that is political in its very nature. Resilience literature as a concept in literary criticism does not yet exist, but the construct of resilience as theorized in psychological research “extends from the 1800’s to the present” and focuses on how i ndividuals and communities have adapted, survived, and even thrived despite adversity (Tusaie and Dyer 2004: 3). A theory of resistance looks at how writers have resisted the false or one -sided histories and ideologies imposed upon Native Americans. Resis tance literature seeks to critique and interrogate those ideologies. A theory of resilience identifies the ways Native American writers have adopted and adapted concepts from their own tribal cultures, and continued those concepts in their literature despi te attempts to erase that culture. This, in a sense, 9 is also resistance because it resists the attempts by the oppressors to erase or eradicate those tribal cultures; however, a theory of resilience offers a more nuanced way of looking at precisely which c oncepts have been continued in the literature and how. Resilience theory offers a more specific form of literary criticism beyond the all encompassing umbrella of “resistance,” to show how key concepts from Native American oral tradition have continued in to the present via Native American literature. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, “resistance” might be thought of as anti -colonial and “resilience” as pro -cultural. The four authors to be studied here include, Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, N ora Marks Dauenhauer, and Ofelia Zepeda. 10 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Resistance and Resilience in Native American Literature In his introduction to Tribal Secrets (1995) Osage scholar Robert Warrior acknowledges the “resiliency and resistant spiri t of Native America” as evident in the literature of the Native American Renaissance (xvi). Though he does not elaborate on this statement there is an implied balance in his pairing that is compelling. As we shall see, resistance literature is an establish ed category of writing that is political in its very nature. Resilience literature as a concept in literary criticism does not yet exist, but the construct of resilience as theorized in psychological research “extends from the 1800’s to the present” and fo cuses on how individuals and communities have adapted, survived, and even thrived despite adversity (Tusaie and Dyer 2004: 3). I offer it as a complement to the concept of resistance ; while both speak to a particular history of relationships between Native Americans 1 and the dominating 1 Throughout this dissertation I will be using the terms Native American, American Indian, Native, and indigenous, al though I will be tribally specific whenever possible. Nat ive American refers legally to indigenous peoples of the lower forty -eight states as well as Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians , so I will use this whenever possible. 11 forces which sought to oppress them, each term addresses a different kind of response. A theory of resistance looks at how writers have resisted the false or one -sided histories and ideologies imposed upon Native Americans.