A Note on the Ending of *The Life of Black Hawk*

Ending?

I found the ending to Black Hawk very unsatisfying. I felt the book
had a strange change in tone after the Battle of Bad Axe. When Black
Hawk went to visit the Great Father, it seemed that nothing the he or
his chieftains could do was wrong; they all treated Black Hawk with
extreme ‘generosity’ and ‘kindness. Black Hawk marvels at the
ingenuity of building a railroad and says that the white people were
deserving of praise. Suddenly Black Hawk has transformed from being a
tenacious and brave war chief, wondering at the morality of a people
who would preach “do unto others as you would have done to you” and
then take someone else’s land and slaughter their people, into a
cheerful and grateful tourist. Black Hawk had repeatedly emphasized
the importance of seeking vengeance for those who had died at the
hands of an enemy, but after the slaughter of many men and women of
his tribe he seemed all to ready to enter into friendship with the
Americans. He also seems to emphasize in the last pages the
trustworthiness of the Americans, although it is evident that the
Americans were anything but fatherly or trustworthy to his people.
I thought it was interesting that at one point Black Hawk says that the
Americans killed many women and children during battle, and that they
had cowardly allowed Sioux to do the same. Interestingly, he later has
to justify that he never killed white women and children to the American people.

It seemed to me that Black Hawk has criticisms for other aspects
of the white culture, until he is defeated and all of the faults of the
Americans are forgotten. Instead, it is Black Hawk who must prove
himself to the whites. It reminded me of another rare directly critical
passage where Black Hawk says that the whites can commit as many
indiscretions as they want, but will be forgiven if they repent later,
while Indians must be good at all times. In light of that, I think that
this work was not written to be a seething commentary of the injustices
done to the Indians with reconciliation at the end, although at times
Black Hawk does interrupt the rather dry text with questions of morality
and criticisms of the whites. It is clear that even these interjections
are overshadowed by descriptions of the “Good Father”. I think that the
work could function rather as a vindication of the Indian’s goodness in
the eyes of the American reader.

I did not enjoy reading this book overall. I did not expect Black Hawk to
end with solicitations of friendship and gratitude for the way he was
received by the whites after his defeat. It was hard to read the ending
because I felt as though it differed so completely with where I thought
the narrative was going.

A Note on Marriage and Femininity in *The Life of Black Hawk*

In the chapter "Black Hawk's Tower", the author describes several types of human interactions in his tribe. There's a cute passage about the marriage selection process: the man would carry a torch into the tent where the women sleep. If the woman agrees to his courtship, she would blow out the torch, if not, the torch would stay lit, and the man will be playing flute outside the tent the next day, and he would try again the next night. This process shows that women absolutely had the power of choice when it came to marriage. It's not like the forced arranged marriage scheme that many Westerners would imagine when it comes to the selection process.

There's also the relationship between the young warriors and their fathers who were veteran warriors. At the crane dances they young warrior would proudly recount his experience in war, and this makes their fathers proud. This shows a strong sense of family, where the father is emotionally vested in nurturing the sons to become brave warriors.

There's also a line about "women plant the corns, and when they're done we make the feast." This shows that women don't always do the cooking. Sometimes cooking, such as for a feast, is a masculine behavior. This is a departure from the stereotypical minority gender role where women do all the cooking.

~Y.J.

A Note on Retaliation and Terminology in *The Life of Black Hawk*

In this twenty page section Black Hawk begins to describe the treatment Native American's suffered at the hands of the Americans. A very confusing part in this section was how Black Hawk refers to people as "British father", "Great chief", or "trader". Some of the time there were footnotes to describe who the people were that Black Hawk was referring to but other times there wasn't. This got a little confusing especially with all the village names he throws at you. He travels a lot so it's hard to keep track of where he is and who he's talking to. This really shows how much Native Americans relied on the advice of their "white" counterparts.

I found it interesting that a lot of the times that Black Hawk was asking people for advice, they were not other Indians. He was constantly traveling to other cities/villages to speak with "Great chiefs" or "traders" to get advice about whether or not to leave his village. I guess he does this because he doesn't have access to the important "whites" trying to take over his village, but in this way he and his tribal mates have easily been taken advantage of before. They trusted the "whites" when
they signed the paper that sold their land, and the "whites" were constantly instigating the Indians and stealing from their lands.

A reoccurring theme I saw in this section were the cultural differences pertaining to war between the Americans and Indians. To the Americans, soldiers are replaceable, while to the Indians they try to preserve life. Black Hawk makes comments that shows he prides himself in not losing many of his soldiers. You can also see the differences as far as negotiations work. Perhaps this is because of the language barriers but the Native Americans seem more level headed. The Americans wanted Black Hawk to leave
his land and didn't really care whether he wanted to or not, because they were just going to take it by force. The Native Americans seem more willing to have peace, by not retaliating when the "whites" do harm to people of their tribe.

~J.A.

Searching Out Sources: Pre-Assignment for Friday

Hi All:

Just a reminder that on Friday you should bring 3 things to report to me and the rest of the class:
1) Your (potential) topic
2) Your (potential) argument
3) The title and author of your secondary source

At the beginning of class, I'll pass out a worksheet and ask you to write these down. And just to be clear, you are not wedded to what you write down, I just wanted to have an idea about your potential topics.

Let me know if you have any questions.

See you Friday!

Brian

A Note on "The Laughing Philosopher" from *Indian Boyhood*

A lot of Indian Boyhood is dispelling the myths "civilized" people have of  the
natives and providing readers with a firsthand outlook on the real lives of
the tribes. Eastman basically says, "I don't like how people think that
Indians do this.." and then tells it like it is; he lets us know what
actually goes down. And what else can we do, but be surprised at just how
much like us they really are?

So the passage says, Matogee was a natural humorous speaker. Natural
humorous speaker? Matogee was a comedian.

There is a common misconception that Indians are always serious and
solemnbecause they constantly fight to survive. While it may be true that
theystruggle for life, they still enjoy it. No matter how tough the obstacles
they face, the Sioux still need laughter and humor in their lives to go on.
And I think that this is true for anybody - whether they be Indian or
African or Martian - you need laughter to feel alive.

The light hearted stories of Hadakah's memories were not only entertaining
and mildly ridiculous, it forced us to see that Indians aren't very
different from "civilized" people. They eat, they work, they talk, they
laugh. Their ways of teasing and joking with their brothers and sisters
aren't very different from the burns we dish to our own friends. And
honestly, can't you imagine the native circle telling stories and smoking a
bong? Of course you can! Because we follow that same ritual in our college
frat row - making fun of pledges, getting high, pissed drunk, and really,
just having a good time.

And while we don’t battle bears and hunt wolves, we also need relief from
our own issues. Everyday we're faced with pounds of reading, insane
competition, bickering hobos, extreme weather, and freshmen thirty. My
stomach, Bernadita, has come to haunt me once again.

Oh dear, I'm getting off topic.

What I'm trying to say is, Eastman wrote this book to show people that
Indians aren't really those strange creatures in the forest. That they are
people and although they don’t have computers or cars or skyscrapers, they
are people - a civilized people.

And they have hilarious stories.

~C.C.

Cross-cultural comparisons in *Indian Boyhood*: A note on “The Laughing Philosopher” and “First Impressions of Civilization”

Eastman starts his second to last chapter of Indian Boyhood with a discussion of humor in his society. He states, “Indian humor consists as much in the gestures and inflections of the voice as in words, and is really untranslatable,” which is clearly a comparison between Native society and civilized society. This particular topic is another aspect in which Eastman compares “Anglo” or “civilized” society to Native American society. Recalling that Eastman was a proponent of assimilation, the recurring theme of constant cross-cultural comparison is apparent throughout his novel.

Later in this chapter, Eastman goes into greater detail of some of the types of jokes his people made. He also mentions that “no one ever complained, or resented any of these jokes, however personal they might be. That would be an unpardonable breach of etiquette.” This was very interesting to me, that there is this code amongst Eastman’s people that if an individual did not find a joke funny because it was sort of offensive, that they should not complain. This is actually quite the opposite of our society, for we are very careful to not offend each other when joking. In our society we say that we always want to ‘laugh with each other, not at each other.’ Further in “The Laughing Philosopher,” Tamedokah’s capturing of buck is joked about, along with other stories of hunting that make the entire group laugh. Another interesting things to comment on was at the end of this chapter, where the story of Hachah flying was told, Hachah says “Woman, be silent,” to his wife, which again shows the theme of women as the submissive, less powerful gender in Native American society.

In “First Impressions of Civilization,” Eastman starts out talking about the white men, or “Big Knives,” who led the “terrible Minnesota massacre” and is filled with mixed emotions. He describes the ideas his uncle instilled in him to avenge the death of his father and brothers, before he find out that the white man had not killed his father and brothers. Then, he also describes the “marvelous things” white people had, along with “supernatural gifts” like a “fireboat” (or locomotive) that walks on mountains and guns. Then, he talks about good and bad aspects of the white man’s culture. His descriptions and attitude towards civilized society range greatly. He likes that they are civilized, but does not like his people turning into slaves. He likes the new life he has, which symbolically starts when he wears ‘civilized clothing,’ and talks about how “eager [he was] to see some of the wonderful inventions of the white people.” All in all, his transformation ends when he states in his last sentence that, “Here my wild life came to an end, and my school days began.”

Overall, I have no complaints on how the book ended. I was actually quite pleased, being able to see Eastman’s complete childhood transformation, from a Indian boy to an Indian boy who dressed in a civilized manner and went to school. I was not really shocked by this ending, which sort of goes with the rest of the novel and a theme it had of being moderately predictable. A few questions: What was your opinion on how Eastman’s book ended? Were you pleased? Did you have any unresolved questions? Why do you think Eastman was a proponent of assimilation, even though it called for a loss of Indian culture that he loved so much?

A Note on the “Maiden’s Feast" In *Indian Boyhood*

I have found that Eastman’s writing has been predictable. However, his retelling about the “Maiden’s Feast,” came as a surprise. Eastman stories are often about something that had a direct effect on his life, as supported by his stories (about past events that he has been involved in) or had a purpose for his being. Yet, this story has no real purpose for his own childhood. The only reference to himself is when justifying that it was the last “maiden’s feast” he witnessed at Fort Ellis, Manitoba around 1817. Thus, I was compelled by its placement in his autobiography.

After reflecting on topics we have brought up in discussion I feel that Eastman’s purpose of this story was to reflect on similarities between “American cultural ideals,” and those of the Natives. One wouldn’t expect Natives to be concerned with “fashion,” but as in the culture that we all know today, many of us buy out of pleasure. Eastman expresses the Natives as those that were readily garbed in the “principle decorations.” There was also a sense that pride and wealth were important. From my experience, I always felt that Natives were all for equality, and didn’t adorn themselves to set them apart from one another. The giving to the needy was a surprise to me as well because I was unaware they had different social statuses besides that of the chiefs of the tribes and the rest. Therefore, I believe that Eastman uses this to demonstrate the social groups at hand.

This event as described by Eastman was one that “worthy maidens” gathered at, and that each young man had the right to challenge those they believed were not the virtuous maidens they were claiming to be. This event shows that there are in fact social groups, but also social standards. Eastman describes a maiden being called out from the rest by a young man for being for being unworthy, but she is allowed to rebut this claim. In this case, Eastman describes a successful end to this accusation in the young maiden’s favor. In my eyes, she put the young man back in his place, with her remarks, “but each time I have refused to listen to you. I have turned my back upon you.”

I feel that this statement gives the women some backbone that is much needed, as it is absent throughout the autobiography. Besides the grandmother figure I felt that this was the first time a woman had power over a man. To me it gave the women substance, because this young maiden was able to show that no man could tarnish her name. This may be a far stretch from Eastman’s purpose, but I feel that this can also relate to white women during this period, because they were slowly gaining power and a name for themselves. As I understood it, this section “The Maiden’s Feast,” was used to show the progression of the native women. As Eastman retells his life accounts, we see his progression, but we also see the slow emergence of women onto the scene.

A Note on Voice & Structure in *Indian Boyhood*

In this section of reading, Eastman shows us a switch in gender roles
through the story of Manitoshaw. All stories up to this one have shown
women to be domestic and the role of warriors left to the men and boys.
Before reading this section I had decided that most stories Eastman would
give us would be about men warriors and their trials and tribulations.
This story also comes after the story of Chotanka, one of the greatest of
medicine men. What is interesting to me is the fact that Eastman again
switches between 1st and 3rd person. The interesting part is that he
doesn't seem to have a structure as to when he switches to 1st or 3rd.
When it switches to 1st person I get confused as to whether it's 1st
person from Eastman's point of view or from the story tellers.

A reoccurring theme I see is war and death. Most of the stories include
the death of someone or war, and perhaps this is referring to the later
decline of the unassimilated Indians. Eastman also starts to introduce the
“white man” in his stories. If the chapters weren't labeled, we could
still be able to guess that perhaps the autobiography was nearing its end.
In Indian Life and Adventure, Eastman is telling us about the different
attacks and fights he experienced while growing up in a tribe. I think
these sections are intimate because they depict the losses that occurred
to him. Growing up amongst death and glorifying fighting seems like an
extreme way to live but it also seems like it was something he enjoyed.

As far as structure goes, Eastman seems to be following chronological
order. He started out with his birth and beginnings of how young Indians
are trained to be warriors. His stories now seem more graphic and as if he
has more duties because he is getting older. I think he gives us so many
stories about war because as a child he glorified this. He wanted to
become a noble warrior that brought home food and dominated other tribes.
I'm still confused about the 1st person and 3rd person switch up during
the story of Chotanka but hopefully this will be cleared up in class on
Friday.

~D.A.

A Reflection on the reading from “Hakadah’s first offering” to “The end of the bear dance” About titling of chapter 5, “Family Tradition”

In the first half of the book, Eastman seems to have structured the book so that it has a chronological story line; from his birth story of being born as “the pitiful last” in chapter one to memorable events and games in his early boyhood in chapter 3. On the other hand, the chapters in the other half of the book each focus on depicting individual aspects of the tribe or a specific event.

And for most chapters of the book, the titling of each chapter makes sense and is representative of what the content of the chapter is. However, the titling of chapter five seems very unrelated to its contents. According to the title, the chapter should contain stories about Eastman’s family tradition. When the story started out by introducing Smoky Day, a story teller, I thought he was going to tell a lot about Ohiyesa’s family tradition to him. But the only family history that Smoky Day told Ohiyesa about is the story of his paternal grandfather who showed the “true bravery” of self-possession and self-control by declining to avenge a man who killed his brothers. Besides this one story, all the stories introduced in the chapter are tribal legends or tales of great ancestors not directly pertaining to Ohiyesa’s family tradition. Why did Eastman title this chapter as it is? Why didn’t he just combine these stories with the ones in chapter nine, “More legends,” into one chapter?

I could find only one possible link between one of the stories and Ohiyesa. I think there is a similarity between Ohiyesa and the Jingle Thunder in one of Smoky Days stories. Jingle Thunder was also known as “The Little Last” because he was the only one besides his grandmother that survived among his band. Ohiyesa was born as “The Pitiful Last”, was motherless, and was raised by his grandmother. This similarity might have made Eastman to like this story perhaps.

Also, does anyone know what “MSS” in the beginning of “Visit to Smoky Day” is?

~T.K.

A Note on Optimism in *Indian Boyhood*

Charles Eastman's writing in "Indian Boyhood" oozes optimism in face of hardship. In chapter 2 he talked about riding in the saddle on the side of a pony, balanced from falling only by another child in another saddle on the other side of the pony. He described the experience as "convenient", and felt that the "inmate of the fur-lined sack" was "very comfortable", and that he's "delighted" to ride behind those "wise-looking animals". Having been accustomed to ride in cars, one cannot imagine the hardship of having to ride in a saddle, but Eastman endured this hardship with a smile on his face. This bodes well on his ability to endure other, greater hardships. Endurance is an asset, and Eastman has plenty of this.

He also talked about the journey of running away from the advancing army of white men. In the face of such danger, he still remembers the joy of jumping off from a moving vehicle, calling it fondly as a "sport". This shows again his ability to smile in face of dire hardship. And when "storm ceased" the next day, he was joyous to find a herd of buffaloes, which reminds us that there's always sunshine after the storm.

He then described how Indians are a patient and clannish people, and how they have greater love for one another that any other civilized people. I imagine it's important to cooperate with your colleagues when you have to hunt buffaloes, and when you are in constant danger of a terrible famine. This is shown in the example of adults denying themselves food to make sure that children do not starve.

~Y.J.

A Note on *Indian Boyhood,* “Games and Sports” to “A Visit to Smoky Day”

       Charles Eastman, or Ohiyesa, devotes considerable attention to
describinghis relationship to the practice of hunting. Becoming a hunter is
inextricably linked to being a Sioux man, and along with the activity
come important teachings and customs. He reveals a certain love for the
hunt that develops in every Indian boy. He always felt a “passion for the
chase.” He even recalls a vivid memory of when he was three years old,
gazed up at the trees and felt the strong urge to shoot down a flying
bird with his miniature bow and arrow.
      Customs were passed down from hunter to hunter, in ways such as
fishing and setting traps for small animals. A hunter must know how to
make a fish line of wild hemp or horse hair. Ohiyesa describes the
exhilarating nature of climbing trees hunting for birds and eggs.
Additionally, young Sioux became learned in the way of setting
nooses for game like rabbits.
      Although Ohiyesa mentions that hunting is sometimes performed
alone, he seems to particularly enjoy the practice of group hunting. He
reflects that, “the most enjoyable of all was the chipmunk hunt…we
generally went in groups of six to a dozen or fifteen.” Over the years his
tribe had learned the “secret of nature” that in the early morning as many
as fifty chipmunks would congregate. One of the hunters would imitate a
chipmunk call and lure the chipmunks out into the open. Following a war
cry, they would chase and shoot their arrows at the chipmunks as they
scurried up the trees.
      Overall, Ohiyesa reveals how embedded hunting is in the Sioux culture.
It is an activity that is necessary for their survival and more importantly,
an activity that molds young Sioux boys into men.

~D.H.

Paper #2 Prompt

Hello Everyone:

Below you'll find the prompt for your second paper. Please email me or let me know if you have questions. I would encourage you also to use the "Comments" section below in case one of your classmates shares a similar concern.

Required Length: 3-5 pages, exclusive of a bibliography

Write an *argumentative* essay addressing one of the primary texts that we have read so far (Eastman's *Indian Boyhood* or Momaday's *The Way to Rainy Mountain*), and use evidence from one secondary source. This source may come from criticism about the two autobiographies, sociological or anthropological texts, or from the broader field of cultural criticism. If you have questions about the potential source let me know. Also make use of the "Primary and Secondary Sources" page on the library's website. A link to this page is included on the righthand side of the blog under "Useful Links." Finally, the primary objective of an argumentative essay is to construct a persuasive thesis supported by evidence.

Be sure to make use of the library resources that we discussed on Monday's Library excursion. Links to the library's webpage and MLA formatting guides are on the right side of the screen under "useful links."

Important Dates: 2/26 In class draft work day; 3/01 Draft Due; 3/12 Final Paper #2 Due

Good Luck!

Your Library Question

Write one question about the UC Libraries, libraries in general, a research assignment you have this semester, or anything else about the research process (e.g., finding articles, citing sources) that you want answered in this session. Anything we're unable to get to today Char follow up on later through the course blog.