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.
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~posted for J.L.
ReplyDeleteI definitely do think that Jingle Thunder is a character similar to Ohiyesa. Based
on the stories and accounts told in the autobiography, violence and death is a
common aspect that is part of the Indian culture. As a result, there are many boys
who have lost their parents due to illnesses and wars. Jingle Thunder, then,
essentially becomes a model role for those boys and inspires them to be as brave and
successful as he was. This story might have been told specifically to Ohiyesa so
that he could have hope and aspire to be something great. It is interesting, though,
that their first given names reflect their tragic situation, as if it defines their
identity. However, it does give them an incentive to earn new names by achieving
recognition through acts of bravery.
I think one of the main functions of the stories told is to reveal the Sioux culture
that is a large part of Ohiyesa’s (or Charles Eastman’s) identity. There are other
stories that are more directly related or linked to Ohiyesa than others. For
instance, when he mentioned that “every hole in the tent was occupied with an eye”
in Hakadah’s First Offering, I was reminded of the other stories mentioned where
enemies would be seen peeking through the tent with the inhabitants of the tent
aware of the enemies’ presence (93). Besides stressing on the need for constant
awareness, the stories seem to suggest that someone is always watching other
people’s actions; therefore calling for a need to put on a face to mask the feelings
of sorrow or fear that may indicate one’s vulnerability. However, in Ohiyesa’s case,
there are no enemies outside his tent, but people that will judge his character
based on his reaction. Ohiyesa, then, learned from the story about the enemies
peeking inside since he was able to put on a façade in order to receive other
“people’s admiration of his bravery” (94).