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American Indians and Nature
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From: Maia <maia>
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 12:47:43 -0400
I really like Seale's differentiation between being in-tune and at-one-with nature, which I think highlights one of the things Erdrich does so well in The Birchbark House. Omakayas' people are clearly one-with the world around them, being full participants in the cycle of the island's life, rather than 'observers' of 'the natural world'. Undoubtedly, there are levels and depths to this participation
-Nokomis and Omakayas share certain kinds of language with their world, Tallow others, and Deydey and Pinch others more. Yet all of the island people are clearly not 'in rhythm', but rather part of the rhythm. I thought this was utterly beautiful, and am hopeful that environmentalists will find this book reassuring. It is not that all is easy for Omakayas' family, or even that they and she do not fear the other elements of nature -- but the relationship is just that, with
_other_ elements... themselves therefore included. Erdrich also does an excellent job at capturing the feel of the upper great lakes. She has a powerful, and accurate, sense of place; it was so lovely to read and think 'yes, that's just the way it feels'.
I also enjoyed her sense of family; one of my complaints with much of YA/juvenile fiction is the lack of relational depth. Erdrich deftly spins out each character, light little steps away from the whole family that illuminate each member, then brings them back into the home circle again. I too found myself wondering what will happen to each -- will Angeline marry Fishtail over time? will Mama heal more fully from the wound of Neewo's passing? will Pinch develop compassion? And sadder thoughts, like will the family move on? I was relieved that Erdrich did not end the story with a departure of the family; I think that she raises enough questions such that students and teachers will find an opening to discuss what-comes-next, but I also think that it would have been a betrayal of the story to end it with the obliteration of their lives as they were. (Sometimes we need that whole moment in time to remind us of what it is we are looking for.)
Finally (!), I think the text will be powerfully instructive because it (subtly) makes clear that its characters were only one family, one island, one People of the Americas. By incorporating such rich details of this group of Lake Superior Ojibwa, Erdrich makes another step towards erasing the generic picture of 'Indians' held in the minds of so many Americans today. Hopefully The Birchbark House will be an antidote to the Little House on the Prairie-ization of a complex group of Peoples that lived and live on this larger island.
Maia
"Eliza T. Dresang" wrote:
Received on Sun 10 Oct 1999 11:47:43 AM CDT
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 12:47:43 -0400
I really like Seale's differentiation between being in-tune and at-one-with nature, which I think highlights one of the things Erdrich does so well in The Birchbark House. Omakayas' people are clearly one-with the world around them, being full participants in the cycle of the island's life, rather than 'observers' of 'the natural world'. Undoubtedly, there are levels and depths to this participation
-Nokomis and Omakayas share certain kinds of language with their world, Tallow others, and Deydey and Pinch others more. Yet all of the island people are clearly not 'in rhythm', but rather part of the rhythm. I thought this was utterly beautiful, and am hopeful that environmentalists will find this book reassuring. It is not that all is easy for Omakayas' family, or even that they and she do not fear the other elements of nature -- but the relationship is just that, with
_other_ elements... themselves therefore included. Erdrich also does an excellent job at capturing the feel of the upper great lakes. She has a powerful, and accurate, sense of place; it was so lovely to read and think 'yes, that's just the way it feels'.
I also enjoyed her sense of family; one of my complaints with much of YA/juvenile fiction is the lack of relational depth. Erdrich deftly spins out each character, light little steps away from the whole family that illuminate each member, then brings them back into the home circle again. I too found myself wondering what will happen to each -- will Angeline marry Fishtail over time? will Mama heal more fully from the wound of Neewo's passing? will Pinch develop compassion? And sadder thoughts, like will the family move on? I was relieved that Erdrich did not end the story with a departure of the family; I think that she raises enough questions such that students and teachers will find an opening to discuss what-comes-next, but I also think that it would have been a betrayal of the story to end it with the obliteration of their lives as they were. (Sometimes we need that whole moment in time to remind us of what it is we are looking for.)
Finally (!), I think the text will be powerfully instructive because it (subtly) makes clear that its characters were only one family, one island, one People of the Americas. By incorporating such rich details of this group of Lake Superior Ojibwa, Erdrich makes another step towards erasing the generic picture of 'Indians' held in the minds of so many Americans today. Hopefully The Birchbark House will be an antidote to the Little House on the Prairie-ization of a complex group of Peoples that lived and live on this larger island.
Maia
"Eliza T. Dresang" wrote:
Received on Sun 10 Oct 1999 11:47:43 AM CDT
