The Loons

An emphasis on family is one of the central facets of Native American culture. There is a sense of community between Native American. Louise Erdrich, a Chippewa Indian herself, writes a gripping bildungsroman about a thirteen year old boy named Joe who experiences all forms of family on the Native American Reserve where he lives. He learns to deal with the challenges of a blood family, witnesses toxic family relationships, and experiences a family-like love from the members of the community. In her book, The Round House, Louise Erdrich depicts three definitions of the word family and shows how these relationships affect Joe’s development into an adult.

Waterlily by Ella Cara Deloria tells the story of a young woman, Waterlily, and her family as they experience the every-day life on the prairie as Oceti Sakowin. Through the clever storytelling of Waterlily’s childhood, Deloria’s novel covers the Oceti Sakowin family life, camp circle, ceremonies, hunts, and war parties, and the introduction of white presence in the Midwest. Themes of reverence for tradition and honoring of beings and nature span the book; however, the story also exceptionally demonstrates the Oceti Sakowin way of life in a way that illuminates many of the beautiful pieces of the Oceti Sakowin culture. Waterlily displays two particularly significant aspects of the Oceti Sakowin culture: kinship and generosity.

Being ignorant about aboriginals, Vanessa has preconceived ideas about Picquette's heritage. "It seemed to me that Picquette must be in some way a daughter of the forest, a kind of junior prophetess of the wilds, who might impart me, if I took the right approach......., or whatever it said in Hiawatha." (Laurence 419) Vanessa is suggesting that just because Picquette is an aboriginal, she must be a skilled tracker and hunter like legendary literary character Hiawatha. Piquette senses this, and she refuses to open up to Vanessa, by rejecting her friendly act. Vanessa immediately decides that “as an Indian, Piquette was a dead loss,” when she realizes that Piquette has no “Indian” secrets to share with her; she is confused by Piquette and ultimately rejects her.

Through Vanessa’s writing, it is revealed that she uses her mind and body to escape the real

To expand on the intricacy of the speaker’s life, symbolism is applied to showcase the oppression her ancestors etched on her quilt were facing for their “burnt umber pride” and “ochre gentleness” (39-40). Once again, the theme of absence is introduced as there is a sense of separation among the Native American culture as their innocent souls are forced onto reservations and taken away from their families. This prolonged cruelty and unjust treatment can be advocated when the speaker explains how her Meema “must have dreamed about Mama when the dancing was over: a lanky girl trailing after her father through his Oklahoma

With the application of imagery, the reader can illustrate a representation of the situation. Many disapproving glances from the white society, meanwhile, this is also shown to be genuine as the result of the author using symbolism once more; a coyote. The significance of the coyote in relation to the story is generally depicted on page three with references such as “ She had known that it hadn't been a matter of animal stupidity, because a coyote always remembered where it had came from” with the extension of “ She thought of the coyotes hanging around in the cities these days. Nobody wanted them there, so nobody made friends with them, but once in awhile they made the papers when they did something wrong or showed up, trotting along Broadway, cool as could be”. Physical objects such as the door and the coyote exhibited unmistakable bond between the overall round and protagonist character, Lena and the objects itself and the author. As a matter of fact, Jeanette Armstrong is a person who grew up on the Penticton Indian Reserve which heavily explains why the story was written in third person; the connection between author and protagonist was more personal.  The fact that nobody wanted to be friends with Lena and used the stigma of First Nations being viewed inaccurately by modern society.  No matter how

In the short story, Compatriots, one would read about Lucy and Hilda - two women who vastly differ from each other. Lucy has grown up on the reserve her whole life, where Hilda had just arrived from Germany and is seeking to observe “real Indian culture”. In comparison, David Goes to the Reserve also features two fairly diverse people of opposite cultures: the Aboriginal narrator of the story, and her Caucasian friend David.Within the story, David travels to a reserve to observe the culture of the First Nations people. Both stories contain wonder and excitement, but also presents a sense of culture that the First Nations have; it is this culture that the main characters struggle to grasp.

Imagery, detail, and symbolism play a crucial role in this work. Imagery has the function of painting a picture of the situation in the reader’s mind so that he or she is able to develop a version of the story individually. It makes the reading a more personalized experience that helps the reader to understand what’s going on. When O’Brien was just about to escape to Canada to avoid being drafted, he described the scene that was presented in front of him. “The shoreline was dense with brush and timber. I could see tiny red berries on the bushes.” In this quote, the reader can visualize the setting of the lake where he has to make his life-changing decision. It appeals to the visual sense by describing the shoreline and even the sense of

In contrast to D’Ortega, Lina, a captured Native American, values courage and commitment to the community. To Lina, Vaark’s sumptuous plantation represents everything negative the European

Storytelling is a large component of Native American’s culture. Storytelling has the ability to connect people, events, and things to each other which transcends racial and temporal boundaries. Van Camp transcends the binary’s boundaries through storytelling, bringing Native traditions and events into the modern world. For example, Larry is a Dogrib, yet he is not living on a reservation and more or less seems to know little about his Indigenous identity, “Due to the novel's multiethnic small-town setting and his parents' residential schooling, Larry seldom receives cultural knowledge that might explicate... a traditional Dogrib social structure” (McKegney). However, through storytelling, specifically oral storytelling, Van Camp sets up a connection between Larry and his tribal knowledge. Larry is told his tribe’s creation story which serves as a vessel to deliver tribal knowledge into Larry’s modern world. The creation story can also be seen to transcend boundaries between the different Indigenous tribes of Jed, Larry, and Johnny. Larry is also seen to share stories with the readers as well as the characters of Juliet, and Johnny. Juliet is white and learns of an Indigenous story through Larry, “I closed my eyes and decided to let the story lead. I was just the voice, and I knew the story would tell itself.” (Van Camp 113). The story connected Juliet with

Waterlily by Ella Cara Deloria tells the story of a young woman, Waterlily, and her family as they experience the every-day life on the prairie as Oceti Sakowin. Through the clever storytelling of Waterlily’s childhood, Deloria’s novel covers the Oceti Sakowin family life, camp circle, ceremonies, hunts, war parties, and the introduction of white presence in the Midwest. Themes of reverence for tradition and honoring of beings and nature span the book; however, the story also exceptionally demonstrates the Oceti Sakowin way of life in a way that illuminates many of the beautiful pieces of the Oceti Sakowin culture. Waterlily displays two particularly significant aspects of the Oceti Sakowin culture: kinship and generosity.

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

A loving relationship with nature is an important part to traditional Native American life. Tayo’s encounters with Ts’eh either occur in nature or in her house that is very isolated. Through sex, Tayo connects himself with Ts’eh and therefore connects himself to nature. Tayo and Ts’eh have sexual intercourse because it is natural. It is not like the men that pursue intercourse with Helen Jean; it is not strictly for the pursuit of lustful pleasure.

An important factor in shaping Jeannette was being born in Missoula, Montana. It is important to this report to understand the community where Jeannette grew up. It was a factor in the formation of her worldviews. John and Olive settled in a beautiful area of the Missoula valley called Grant Creek. Even to today, Grant Creek is a lush, tranquil setting that has a quiet sense of Jeannette 's world 130 years ago. Again, Lewis and Clark had visited the Missoula valley only 75 years before Jeannette was born. It was a vibrant, diverse community. John Rankin was amongst its first settlers and treated the local Native Americans as he would any other neighbor.

Nostalgia: An effect of Tribal Feuds with reference to V. S. Naipaul’s “A Bend in the River”