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Afo. V065 the EVOLUTION of SURVIVAL AS £7? AlQld Afo. V065 THE EVOLUTION OF SURVIVAL AS THEME IN CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE: FROM ALIENATION TO LAUGHTER DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Marie M. Schein, A.A., B.A., M.A., M.A. Denton, Texas December, 1994 £7? AlQld Afo. V065 THE EVOLUTION OF SURVIVAL AS THEME IN CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE: FROM ALIENATION TO LAUGHTER DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Marie M. Schein, A.A., B.A., M.A., M.A. Denton, Texas December, 1994 Z-AM Schein, Marie, The Evolution of Survival as Theme in Contemporary Native American Literature: From Alienation to Laughter. Doctor of Philosophy (English), December, 1994, 171 pp., 38 titles. With the publication of his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, House Made of Dawn. N. Scott Momaday ended a three-decade hiatus in the production of works written by Native American writers, and contributed to the renaissance of a rich literature. The critical acclaim that the novel received helped to establish Native American literature as a legitimate addition to American literature at large and inspired other Native Americans to write. Contemporary Native American literature from 1969 to 1974 focuses on the themes of the alienated mixed-blood protagonist and his struggle to survive, and the progressive return to a forgotten or rejected Indian identity. For example, works such as Leslie Silko's Ceremony and James Welch's Winter in the Blood illustrate this dual focal point. As a result, scholarly attention on these works has focused on the theme of struggle to the extent that Native American literature can be perceived as necessarily presenting victimized characters. Yet, Native American literature is essentially a literature of survival and continuance, and not a literature of defeat. New writers such as Louise Erdrich, Hanay Geiogamah, and Simon Ortiz write to celebrate their Indian heritage and the survival of their people, even though they still use the themes of alienation and struggle. The difference lies in what they consider to be the key to survival: humor. These writers posit that in order to survive, Native Americans must learn to laugh at themselves and at their fate, as well as at those who have victimized them through centuries of oppression. Thus, humor becomes a coping mechanism that empowers Native Americans and brings them from survival to continuance. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this study would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. I am forever grateful to my husband, Sam, and my daughter, Malorie, who have had to be patient with me for more than a year, while I worked on this dissertation. I also want to thank my grandmother, Marie-Jeanne Izard, for her love and understanding. I am indebted to the members of my dissertation committee, particularly Professor Antonio Mares, for their support and good advice. I want to thank my dear friends, Clay Reynolds and Charlotte Wright, who have inspired me to keep on fighting when the pressure seemed too great to bear. Finally, I think of my mother, Simone Fabre, whose memory has sustained me through my darkest moments. in TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. REDEMPTIVE VIOLENCE AND REGAINED IDENTITY: THE PATH TO SURVIVAL IN THE NOVELS OF N. SCOTT MOMADAY AND LESLIE MARMON SILKO 17 3. JAMES WELCH'S WINTER IN THE BLOOD: A TRANSITIONAL NOVEL IN THE STUDY OF ALIENATION AND SURVIVAL 47 4. HUMOR AND SURVIVAL IN CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN DRAMA: TWO PLAYS BY HANAY GEIOGAMAH 76 5. COMMUNAL EXPERIENCE AS THE AGENT FOR SURVIVAL IN LOUISE ERDRICH'S LOVE MEDICINE. THE BEET QUEEN. AND TRACKS 105 6. A LESSON IN INDIAN HUMOR: THE POETRY AND FICTION OF SIMON ORTIZ 134 7. CONCLUSION 157 WORKS CITED 168 IV CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION "Properly cared for, preserved intact, a story has the power to sustain an entire culture." Lester A. Standiford In her Introduction to American Indian Literature. LaVonne Brown Ruoff argues that literature in the United States begins "twenty-eight thousand years ago" (1) with the Native people who migrated to North America and took the form of tales. Those tales, told or performed, reflect not only tribal cultures and experiences but also, after the colonization of this country, the relationships between Indians and Anglos. Regardless of the tribes, Native American1 stories include specific 1 The term Native American has recently become the preferred term to describe Indian people. However, most Native Americans resent the use of this term because it is a generic label that does not distinguish between the various tribes. As a result, most Native Americans prefer to be identified by the name of the tribe to which they belong. Still others use the term "Indians" to identify themselves. During a conversation with Simon Ortiz, the poet began to laugh when I mentioned that the editor of a major publication on American poetry who was going to publish one of my articles argued that I should use the term "Native American" instead of "American Indians" because it is politically correct. Ortiz said to me that most Indians are unable to themes that inform Native American lifestyle. First, the stories illustrate the belief that people must live in harmony with nature in order to maintain a sane spiritual life; consequently, these stories emphasize a heightened respect for the land and all natural things. Second, many stories underline Native Americans' belief in the power of the spoken word and the power of thoughts. Next, the circle is a consistent element of oral literature that symbolizes life cycle and continuity. The circle also represents a sense for the community which empowers tribal members. Thus, life is communal experience and each individual lives in cooperation with the other. Finally, oral literatures demonstrate the belief that a strong religious foundation is necessary and that ceremonies, rituals, chants, and drama must be a part of everyday life. Stories are transmitted from generations to generations and are sometimes modified through the process of transmittal. The changes that may occur do not betray the message of a story, but, in fact, help to preserve and renew the story. Storytelling has always been an important of Native American life and continues to be practiced today. choose between the two terms since they find neither one of them to be satisfactory. He added that he personally did not care. In this study I will use the terms "Indians," "Native Americans," "American Indians" interchangeably. Stories were first transmitted aurally in most tribes; however, certain tribes transcribed stories through drawings. Brown Ruoff notes that "the history of the collection of oral literatures of Native America begins in Mesoamerica in the books of the Maya" but remarks that "a scholarly collection of oral literature did not flourish until the development of the anthropological and linguistic study of American Indian cultures in the late nineteenth century" (18). One must add that the nineteenth century is marked by a general interest in the people who were said to be the "vanishing Americans," which results in the popularity of personal narratives that were translated into English. The first Native American narrative to become popular in this country is Pequot William Apes' Son of the Forest, published in 1829, in which he describes his childhood spent with his alcoholic and abusive grandparents and his placement into a white family who sold him as a slave several times. Apes' work shows the effect of acculturation that made him become fearful of his own heritage. Apes, who became a Methodist priest, also points to the hypocrisy of many Christians who do not practice what they teach and treat people of color as inferior to whites. Others works by Native Americans are published after the success of Apes' narrative. One of the most often anthologized is Ojibway George Copway who also addresses the issue of acculturation in The Life. History, and Travels of Kah-ae-aa-aah-bowh (1847). At the turn of the century, Charles Eastman, with the help of a collaborator, authors Indian Bovhood (1902) in which he depicts the traditional life before reservation life. Other Native Americans were inspired by Charles Eastman including Luther Standing Bear, Gertrude Bonin, and Francis La Flesche. Native American writers of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century were aware of the urgency of their mission; they must educate Anglos about Native American cultures and sensitize them to the mistreatment of which they were the victims. Consequently, Native American literature of that time provides an important contribution to the already dense literature of experience that chronicled the failures and successes of the colonization of this country. Although Indian Boarding Schools displaced many Indians and worsened the process of acculturation, the increase in educational opportunities and the study of the English language required by the Anglos inspired several Indians to write about their experiences. Samson Occom (Mohegan) became the first author to publish in English. A preacher in charge of disseminating the word of God to the yet not Christianized Indians, Occom wrote a powerful sermon which became the first Indian best-seller. Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul (1772) is still anthologized today. American Indian literature up to the early 1900's evolved from a strictly oral literature to a literature that was first transcribed, later translated, and finally written in English often with the collaboration of Anglo scribes in the case of Indian authors who had not yet been educated in English.
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