In this Chapter Eva Tulene Watt speaks about how health and well-being was taken care of without the use of modern conveniences and going to the doctor’s office for simple aches and pains and the sniffles. Probably the most interesting section of the chapter was the anecdotal that people gave pregnant women in order to keep them safe. Most modern medicine has a lists of Don’ts for pregnancy such as:
• Don’t smoke, do drugs, or drink alcohol
• Don’t eat sushi or raw fish
• Don’t scoop cat liter
• Don’t sit in a hot tub
For the women living around Watt women were told:
• Don’t eat intestines because it will cause the baby to have a long umbilical cord
• Don’t sit around all day and do get up early because if you don’t the baby’s head will be big and flat
• Don’t look at non-human things
• Don’t eat rabbits because your baby will have a split lip
• Don’t look at pictures of monkeys-if you do then your baby’s face will deform
• Don’t go to a dance when you are pregnant
Obviously some of these things are common knowledge to those who receive modern medicine to be untrue. But I think these were guidelines that were to be respected like our own. These people take care of their own selves and usually most of their remedies worked and were respected that why I believe these rules were adhered to by pregnant women and luckily there were coincidences which helped to prove these rules as true.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Women & Change Chapter 4
This chapter titled “Abortion in a Transborder Context” by Norma Ojeda speaks about the issue of abortion for women who live on the U.S.-Mexico border and how they may or may not have reproductive health options. In Mexico abortion is illegal; so many women who may need to have an abortion because they feel this is not the right time in their lives cannot do so in a safe and clean facility. Mexican government only gives 3 exceptions to this law. Women cannot be in trouble or can have an abortion if they had negligent conduct while pregnant, if the pregnancy is the result of a rape or artificial insemination carried out against the woman’s will, or if a therapeutic abortion, where in the option of the attending physician the pregnant woman’s life is in danger unless an abortion is preformed. However, some women (if not most) do not fit this criterion which makes them eligible to either have their child, go the U.S. for an abortion, or have an abortion “in clandestine establishments” which the health department has no idea exists to have an illegal abortion. It is said that the “…Mexican women who wish to have abortion see the border as a space of opportunity to cross over to the other country where they are allowed to decide whether to have an abortion” (57).
I thought that it was interesting that for women seeking abortion or who had an abortion there were many facts such as the age of abortion, age of pregnancy, view and feelings about abortion, motives for abortion and post-abortion. The figure of 53% was given which represents the number of non-Hispanic women who had an abortion before the age of 20, which compared to 49% of Hispanic women who could speak English. I think these high number says how much American culture can affect women who live in these border communities. Another important fact which I extracted from the text that some of the women’s feeling about abortion we that many felt it was a solution to their problem, that it was her right to choose if she wanted to have a baby or not, and some did feel sad or guilty which I feel is very normal. However, I felt it surprised me that many of these women saw it as a solution to a problem. I wonder what kind of problem this could be. Did some not want to be tied to children’s father, could it be the threat of domestic violence, or the lack of finances to take care of a child? What do these feeling say about these women who were thought to not be able to express their own thoughts and feelings because it is a patriarchal society. Just a few thoughts.
I thought that it was interesting that for women seeking abortion or who had an abortion there were many facts such as the age of abortion, age of pregnancy, view and feelings about abortion, motives for abortion and post-abortion. The figure of 53% was given which represents the number of non-Hispanic women who had an abortion before the age of 20, which compared to 49% of Hispanic women who could speak English. I think these high number says how much American culture can affect women who live in these border communities. Another important fact which I extracted from the text that some of the women’s feeling about abortion we that many felt it was a solution to their problem, that it was her right to choose if she wanted to have a baby or not, and some did feel sad or guilty which I feel is very normal. However, I felt it surprised me that many of these women saw it as a solution to a problem. I wonder what kind of problem this could be. Did some not want to be tied to children’s father, could it be the threat of domestic violence, or the lack of finances to take care of a child? What do these feeling say about these women who were thought to not be able to express their own thoughts and feelings because it is a patriarchal society. Just a few thoughts.
Strong Women Stories Ch. 7 & 8
In chapter seven titled “She no Speaks and Other Colonial Constructs of ‘The Traditional Woman’” by Dawn Martin-Hill speaks of the challenges native and indigenous women face such as physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuses women face in their communities and how traditional values and beliefs push them to assume traditional roles and remain silent to these abuses. There was a story the author recalled where a woman’s daughter was raped and the woman wanted to go the authorities so the man could be punished. However, she was “approached by the local Peacekeepers and told not to go to the police” (107). These women who are in situations like this are faced with a sort of catch-22 or a double-edged sword. These women automatically want to go to the authorities and have the person punished and this shows were western thought/protocol has been embedded and influences their culture. The Peacekeepers want to teacher the perpetrator rather than punish and that doesn’t seem to be enough. For the women who know that it isn’t enough they are forced to keep silent (She No Speaks) or be seen in their communities as “Villianous Women” who are there to meddle, manipulate others, and are immoral beings. It becomes a hard for these women and now I see why so many of those traditional roles of native/indigenous women are seen even in Hollywood to be docile and silent. My question is can we recover and re-define these roles? Can tradition be slightly modified and women find their own rights within respects to their communities? Just a few thoughts.
Chapter 8 was titled “Approaching the Fourth Mountain: Native Women and The Ageing Process” by Bonita Lawrence captures the lives of native women and the changes in which they endure from going through the ageing process. I think for many of these women it is hard to negotiate what they feel. These women may feel like they are in their 30’s on the inside but are in fact older. Lawrence says that “we enter our forties are carrying massive burdens. Responsibilities for children, families and communities…” (123).
Possibly the most interesting section in this chapter to me was the chapter about older women and their sexuality. These women are finding as they get older they have less of a desire for sex and they say “ I still have a mouth down there, you know, and it wants to be fed….but you can’t live on sausage all your life” (124). Lawrence says that for women their denial of men sexually is a type of power because these women do not seek to be whole or completed through men sexually. They find completeness in themselves whilst the men go and find younger women to complete themselves sexually. I think many women feel like that and the feeling is beyond communities and ethnic groups.
Chapter 8 was titled “Approaching the Fourth Mountain: Native Women and The Ageing Process” by Bonita Lawrence captures the lives of native women and the changes in which they endure from going through the ageing process. I think for many of these women it is hard to negotiate what they feel. These women may feel like they are in their 30’s on the inside but are in fact older. Lawrence says that “we enter our forties are carrying massive burdens. Responsibilities for children, families and communities…” (123).
Possibly the most interesting section in this chapter to me was the chapter about older women and their sexuality. These women are finding as they get older they have less of a desire for sex and they say “ I still have a mouth down there, you know, and it wants to be fed….but you can’t live on sausage all your life” (124). Lawrence says that for women their denial of men sexually is a type of power because these women do not seek to be whole or completed through men sexually. They find completeness in themselves whilst the men go and find younger women to complete themselves sexually. I think many women feel like that and the feeling is beyond communities and ethnic groups.
Women & Change Chapter 7
Chapter seven titled “Domestic Service and International Networks of Caring Labor” by Doreen J. Mattingly has in-depth interviews from both domestic workers and their employees from San Diego, California where two very important issues are looked at. The first issue looks at the relationship between “social reproduction and women’s migration” (104). This is the further look and critical analysis of how these lower income women migrate to wealthy nations that have demands for these women service workers. The second issue examines the “complex connections” or gender, race/ethnicity, and nationality and how it shapes and is shaped by the institution of domestic servitude.
The general profile of the women and families that seek to employ these domestic workers are usually families that are of a high income, have been to college and/or received a college degree and they employ mostly women to do cooking, cleaning, but sometimes these duties extend further to taking care of the children and posing as nannies. Most of the women interviewed placed an emphasis on time. They don’t have time to do this and that or that employing women for these jobs helps them to save time. However in previous chapters we learned about women’s mobility so I wonder do these families ever think about what it takes for these migrant women to get these jobs locations which I can only imagine is a far distance.
In the section of chapter Immigration, Domestic Work, and Inequality hold description of how these domestic workers and their employers balance their own personal family lives. I thought it was interesting when it is said that most of the employers rely on the migrant and poor, low income women for childcare and the women who are domestic workers rely on relatives that are “poorly paid labor”. Mattingly suggests that these childcare strategies are both connected however, they are interdependent also. It is said that “they strategies these two groups of women use to access additional caring labor also construct and reinforce difference, as evidenced by the way different responsibilities and resources of young women in the two groups of households “ (120). I think that these women may feel that they are totally different however they share some of the same complications of being women who work. Although their experiences may be different, incomes/wages, and living arrangements they should realize how similar they are. I wonder if they even do.
The general profile of the women and families that seek to employ these domestic workers are usually families that are of a high income, have been to college and/or received a college degree and they employ mostly women to do cooking, cleaning, but sometimes these duties extend further to taking care of the children and posing as nannies. Most of the women interviewed placed an emphasis on time. They don’t have time to do this and that or that employing women for these jobs helps them to save time. However in previous chapters we learned about women’s mobility so I wonder do these families ever think about what it takes for these migrant women to get these jobs locations which I can only imagine is a far distance.
In the section of chapter Immigration, Domestic Work, and Inequality hold description of how these domestic workers and their employers balance their own personal family lives. I thought it was interesting when it is said that most of the employers rely on the migrant and poor, low income women for childcare and the women who are domestic workers rely on relatives that are “poorly paid labor”. Mattingly suggests that these childcare strategies are both connected however, they are interdependent also. It is said that “they strategies these two groups of women use to access additional caring labor also construct and reinforce difference, as evidenced by the way different responsibilities and resources of young women in the two groups of households “ (120). I think that these women may feel that they are totally different however they share some of the same complications of being women who work. Although their experiences may be different, incomes/wages, and living arrangements they should realize how similar they are. I wonder if they even do.
Women & Change Chapter 9 & 10
Chapter nine titles of “Styles, Strategies, and Issues of Women Leader at the Border” by Irasema Coronado places its focus upon the types of activist roles that women have played that live or work along Mexico’s northern border, also Coronado explores the reasoning/motivation for women to become activists in their communities by three reason such as their personal function within government and political structure, the creation of civil associations and their ability to work independently.
For these women who are activists it is said that they become activists because of “…pain, anger, and fear” which as been the driving force to them. There are different kinds of motivations for activism. Pain, anger, and fear based activism, need based activism, spiritual/religious, work based, and outsourced workers are some and have been motivations for these women in certain situations. I thought that is was interesting that socio-economic status says how much these women can do as activists. For some of the women who are middle-class they are able to do more such as have their own transportation to go places, and have access to the telephone and computer/internet access. Women who are lower income have to depend on public transportation which increases the time for their daily mobility, and these women also rely on public places like internet cafes to check their internet, and pay phones to make phone calls. For women who are considered wealthy they have “their own private resources to finance and create their own AC’s because they have the financial resources and also are able to garner more resources to create an infrastructure for services delivery” (156).
The point was brought up that class difference is almost a determining factor for how activists interact with each other. It seems that this may give the idea that because of class difference these women do not ever really interact with each other. Also, these women are all fighting different battles. There is no way that women who are wealthy are fighting for the same rights as women who are lower income. However, they may fight for right that are similar like the whole patriarchal control. What do you think that these women are fighting for? Do you believe that it is the same thing?
Chapter ten was titled “Border Women’s NGO’s and Politcal Participation in Baja California” by Silvia Lopez Estrada which gives the reader a critical review of women and their political participation within the non-governmental organizations (NGO’S). For these women they are in NGO’s they are looking for a social change in their own area, they consider themselves to be advocates, but for most in these groups the main item on the agenda seems to be about women taking hold of their reproductive health and domestic violence. The question seems to be for these women in NGO’s is how effective are their efforts? What kind of problems do they run into? It seems that this chapter portrays these women as being the ones who make serious change but I know that change doesn’t come overnight so how long and how much effort do these women have to make in order for change to happen? Just a few thoughts
For these women who are activists it is said that they become activists because of “…pain, anger, and fear” which as been the driving force to them. There are different kinds of motivations for activism. Pain, anger, and fear based activism, need based activism, spiritual/religious, work based, and outsourced workers are some and have been motivations for these women in certain situations. I thought that is was interesting that socio-economic status says how much these women can do as activists. For some of the women who are middle-class they are able to do more such as have their own transportation to go places, and have access to the telephone and computer/internet access. Women who are lower income have to depend on public transportation which increases the time for their daily mobility, and these women also rely on public places like internet cafes to check their internet, and pay phones to make phone calls. For women who are considered wealthy they have “their own private resources to finance and create their own AC’s because they have the financial resources and also are able to garner more resources to create an infrastructure for services delivery” (156).
The point was brought up that class difference is almost a determining factor for how activists interact with each other. It seems that this may give the idea that because of class difference these women do not ever really interact with each other. Also, these women are all fighting different battles. There is no way that women who are wealthy are fighting for the same rights as women who are lower income. However, they may fight for right that are similar like the whole patriarchal control. What do you think that these women are fighting for? Do you believe that it is the same thing?
Chapter ten was titled “Border Women’s NGO’s and Politcal Participation in Baja California” by Silvia Lopez Estrada which gives the reader a critical review of women and their political participation within the non-governmental organizations (NGO’S). For these women they are in NGO’s they are looking for a social change in their own area, they consider themselves to be advocates, but for most in these groups the main item on the agenda seems to be about women taking hold of their reproductive health and domestic violence. The question seems to be for these women in NGO’s is how effective are their efforts? What kind of problems do they run into? It seems that this chapter portrays these women as being the ones who make serious change but I know that change doesn’t come overnight so how long and how much effort do these women have to make in order for change to happen? Just a few thoughts
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Dissident Women Chapter 2
This chapter titles “Indigenous Women and Zapatismo: New Horizons of Visibility” by Margara Millan Moncayo speaks about the ways in which these activist women have wanted to change their perception as women in Mexican society by changing “gender relations” through their three horizons of visibility. The first horizon of visibility is women first placing themselves into these activists groups such as the EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Army), OCEZ (Emiliano Zapata Pesant Organizacion Campesina), CNPA (Coordinadora Nacional Plan de Ayala), or CIOAC (Independent Confederation of Agricultural Workers and Peasants). These organizations were a presence of women who were fighting gendering issues such as “reproductive health, civil rights, and humans rights”(78) as well as providing “support for communities and women’s organization with a genders perspective” (78).
The second horizon of visibility is the insurgentas. These are women who have taken control and have tried to re-define gender in their own way, rather than that of what tradition calls for. These are the women who joined the militia as young women. Because they are apart of a group that chooses to look at gender differently than tradition dictates, they “begin to look different to their counterparts who have remained in the communities. They are women of eighteen or twenty who have not had multiple births, have eaten well, and speak Spanish. They speak with confidence” (83).
The last horizon of visibility is gender negotiations at the community level in the Zapatista context. This women would do gender negotiations and try to make changes in their own communities. They would negotiation marriage where they wanted their own “rights” to choose whom and when they will marry. These young women are a new generation of women who are looking to gain change, not just talk about it. Another part about gender negotiations is the role of domestic violence. Rather than men just physically abusing their wives a if a situation of violence should occur, “it is taken before the community institution, like any other conflict, and a punishment is meted out” (91). I think the involvement of community show that everyone should be working together and also it helps to protect the women from dangerous situations, and lastly provides an alternative than being abused and told to shut up about it.
The last key part of the visibility of gender negotiation is women rights. These are the right to more economic opportunities and resources, the right to choose whom they will marry and when they will marry, the issue of inheriting land. These women are finally able to have the rights in which they want. It is exciting to read about these women who went against the gain and challenged what they grew up with. These women proved to be fearless and expected change. I think just the story of these women if very empowering and makes me turn to myself asking what can I change in my own life and personal & societal expectations.
The second horizon of visibility is the insurgentas. These are women who have taken control and have tried to re-define gender in their own way, rather than that of what tradition calls for. These are the women who joined the militia as young women. Because they are apart of a group that chooses to look at gender differently than tradition dictates, they “begin to look different to their counterparts who have remained in the communities. They are women of eighteen or twenty who have not had multiple births, have eaten well, and speak Spanish. They speak with confidence” (83).
The last horizon of visibility is gender negotiations at the community level in the Zapatista context. This women would do gender negotiations and try to make changes in their own communities. They would negotiation marriage where they wanted their own “rights” to choose whom and when they will marry. These young women are a new generation of women who are looking to gain change, not just talk about it. Another part about gender negotiations is the role of domestic violence. Rather than men just physically abusing their wives a if a situation of violence should occur, “it is taken before the community institution, like any other conflict, and a punishment is meted out” (91). I think the involvement of community show that everyone should be working together and also it helps to protect the women from dangerous situations, and lastly provides an alternative than being abused and told to shut up about it.
The last key part of the visibility of gender negotiation is women rights. These are the right to more economic opportunities and resources, the right to choose whom they will marry and when they will marry, the issue of inheriting land. These women are finally able to have the rights in which they want. It is exciting to read about these women who went against the gain and challenged what they grew up with. These women proved to be fearless and expected change. I think just the story of these women if very empowering and makes me turn to myself asking what can I change in my own life and personal & societal expectations.
Strong Women Stories Chapter 3
In this chapter titled “From the Stories That Women Tell: The Metis Women’s Circle” by Carole Leclair & Lynn Nicholson with Metis Elder Elize Hartley speaking of the time spent by Metis women and how they come together as a community of women to their stories to each other. The Metis Women’s Circle was started In 1995 by Metis women because they felt there was a need to get together and share stories and share spirituality by both Metis women and those who are of mixed-blood. This circle becomes a place where all these women can negotiate their own life paths, speak of who they feel they are in terms of identity and “create positive meanings”. I think for the women this a type of therapy were only people with similar stories and background, views of identity and spirituality can really help you understand your own personal place in the world. Also I think for the women who are of mixed heritage this becomes the way that they can become closer to the culture that they are possibly denied or even unaware of. It is said that “…Of course there is confusion over the definition of who is/isn’t Metis. We recognize this confusion as an element of historically genocidal colonial practices” (59). I wish that there was a way for all minority people who have lost their history and ancestry to re-claim in such a way that it is able to live through stories. Just a few thoughts.
No Parole Today p. 18-30
In this section of No Parole Today, it seems to capture that essence of her Laura Tohe’s childhood while at the Indian Boarding School where she leaves that naïveté of her childhood and moves into being a “teenager” also it recounts her first love, loosing that first love, and rebelling like most teenagers do. I think her story about blowing the smoke in her face sounds like a regular teenager when they get tired of being “good” and want to become more rebellious. She speaks of the girls calling her wishbone to which she says “At least it’s not as bad as the names the school has labeled me, troublemaker, incorrigible, dumb Indian…” (26). I can see why she started to act out. It seems that if they are going to label you as a person who acts out and who is dumb, then you might as well give them what they expect than busting your behind to assimilate or be what they want because really all you are ever going to be to them IS a dumb Indian. Thoe says ‘its their way of shaming you, their way of taking control of you. They want you to know who’s in charge, who’s the authority. Like making soap flakes, they chip at you one flake at a time until your parts are laying in a bucket” (26). I think this is very powerful in itself because that is what the boarding schools are for. They take these children and make them into something else when really they are the still the same product but just in a different form. I think these opens an interesting facet to her story. Just a few thoughts.
Women & Change Chapter 8
This chapter titled “Mexican Women’s Activism in New Mexico Colonias” by Rebecca Dolhinow accounted for the project of interviews that she did in Colonias along the border of New Mexico. The communities were Los Montes, Recuerdos and Valle de Vacas. In this chapter probably the most interesting topic was of gender roles in the households of Colonias. These women speak of how men are only there for protection, discipline, to financially provide for the family and that is it. If he chooses to do anything else when he comes home for work, that is up to him and is “recreational”. For the women who want to be activists there are challenges and struggles that come along due to gender relations in the home. It because of their specific roles in the home, women are supposed to be the ones who take care of the home and the children. The role of women is to take care of everything else so if she doesn’t everything can fall apart. It is said that “mothers make sure their families are fed and dressed and ready for another day” (132). I think that this ideology goes beyond the Colonia communities, but also can even be seen in American culture. Men traditionally known as the breadwinners, and even some couples adhere to those 1950’s traditional views were the husband brings home the bacon, and the wife waits for him to bring it home so that she can cook it and hand him a beer after his long day. Yes there are “Mr. Mom’s” the men who are stay-at-home dad’s but those are not really chosen situations. These situations may come up when a father is laid off, or the mother may make more money the husband. I am saying that fathers could choose to do so, but it not often times the case. I wonder when as a global society we will break from this typical family structuring (minus alternative families of single parents, same-sex partnerships etc.)
Don't Let the Sun Step Over You Chapters 7 & 8
In this two chapters, Eva Tulene Watt wrote in chapter seven about her life in Chediskai and in chapter eight when her family raised horses and their daily lives there in Chediskai. Watt said that there were six families who lived in the area, but “they didn’t stay there like we did” (164). Many of the families were in and out of the area because of some getting killed, or families not moving to the area until harvest time came around, or families who only came for the summer. She remembers that even though her family was a permanent fixture to their area, her families and the other families always worked together and shared things and created their own kind of community.
Watt speaks about the salt bank that her family would use as a resource to get salt for cooking and foods. There were two white men who came to the salt banks in 1932 or 1933 and they ended up exploding the bank/cave which destroyed it. She says that “now its all down on the ground. It’s all chopped up. They used powder-dynamite-to destroy it. I don’t know why they did that. I don’t know what they are looking for” (173). It sad that the only white people that they ever saw came to their community destroyed a vital resource. I just want to prose the question for people to ponder such as why was it vital or why do you think she remembers so much about this being that she was just a child? Do you think that this was the “talk of the town” which caused a lot of uproar and unrest to those living in the community?
In chapter eight Watt speaks about when her family was raising horses. Her family would use these horses for everything. Not only would they raise them, but they would the hair to make rope and soap, and also they would eat horse meat and then used the hides to make bags. I really liked her story about raising the orphaned horse that was rejected by the others for some reason. I feel like that story may have spoken about other people in her community or people that she herself has encountered. They took care of that horse when it needed the help. That just speaks about the kind of people that they are. Just a few thoughts
Watt speaks about the salt bank that her family would use as a resource to get salt for cooking and foods. There were two white men who came to the salt banks in 1932 or 1933 and they ended up exploding the bank/cave which destroyed it. She says that “now its all down on the ground. It’s all chopped up. They used powder-dynamite-to destroy it. I don’t know why they did that. I don’t know what they are looking for” (173). It sad that the only white people that they ever saw came to their community destroyed a vital resource. I just want to prose the question for people to ponder such as why was it vital or why do you think she remembers so much about this being that she was just a child? Do you think that this was the “talk of the town” which caused a lot of uproar and unrest to those living in the community?
In chapter eight Watt speaks about when her family was raising horses. Her family would use these horses for everything. Not only would they raise them, but they would the hair to make rope and soap, and also they would eat horse meat and then used the hides to make bags. I really liked her story about raising the orphaned horse that was rejected by the others for some reason. I feel like that story may have spoken about other people in her community or people that she herself has encountered. They took care of that horse when it needed the help. That just speaks about the kind of people that they are. Just a few thoughts
Dissiden Women Chapter 8
In this chapter titled “A consideration of the Daily Life of Zapatista Women” by Violeta Zylberberg Panebianco, spoke about the Zapatista National Liberation Army (ELZN) and the daily lives of women who do participate in the group as well as their participation within the group. The Zapatista movement was looking for eliminate gender inequality in the workplace for these women although that would be a mountain to conquer in itself. It is said that “…women participate within the EZLN at all levels”, (222) some of the women are apart of organizing communities and region, some live in military camps in the mountains, and other who live in their communities but have had some military training, and lastly other are apart of the support base. Zylberberg Panebianco focuses directly on the women who form the support bases because “…little is know about the women who form the Zapatista support bases, about their daily struggle to survive under the low-intensity warder that besieges their communities, to transform the “traditions” that regulate their lives” (223).
Part of these women’s daily lives included them become displaced by the Mexican Army and their families ended up fleeing to the mountains. Once the army arrived “all their belongings had been destroyed, their animals had been stolen or killed to feed the soldiers, and the corn and beans from the year’s harvest were scattered on the ground, mixed with the soldiers’ feces and urine” (225). This sounded like the militaries own way to make sure that nothing came back, almost like burning the fields. These women deal with a military presence everywhere they turn. I wonder why they go after the women who work as the support base. These women are always being watched and “…the presence of federal troops has altered how the people go about their daily activities” (225), so I can only imagine how the army being around had made the mobility of these women harder because they have to walk farther to collect firewood and water.
Zylberberg Panebianco also talk about the Zapatista uprising and how men are helping women more with domestic tasks. On individual said that “If I finish early with my work, I can help, Women have a lot of work, and there are things we can help with” (230). One of the men said that he would help to grind corn, but not make tortillas. I think that even though the men do want to help they are still trying to hang on to traditional values, but it is nice that they would grind the corn or shuck the corn, or feed the pigs because that decreases the amount of work which the men will do. I can only imagine that this could possibly change over time where men would do more, but you cannot expect men to be in the kitchens with aprons tomorrow taking care of the home and children. This type of change will not be immediate. I think although the Zapatistas had a movement, the women who are in the support base position their lives have changed much, but the Zapatista movement as a whole did change how people looked at indigenous women. They weren’t women who couldn’t, but they became women who can and did make change if not in the communities, but their homes.
Di
Part of these women’s daily lives included them become displaced by the Mexican Army and their families ended up fleeing to the mountains. Once the army arrived “all their belongings had been destroyed, their animals had been stolen or killed to feed the soldiers, and the corn and beans from the year’s harvest were scattered on the ground, mixed with the soldiers’ feces and urine” (225). This sounded like the militaries own way to make sure that nothing came back, almost like burning the fields. These women deal with a military presence everywhere they turn. I wonder why they go after the women who work as the support base. These women are always being watched and “…the presence of federal troops has altered how the people go about their daily activities” (225), so I can only imagine how the army being around had made the mobility of these women harder because they have to walk farther to collect firewood and water.
Zylberberg Panebianco also talk about the Zapatista uprising and how men are helping women more with domestic tasks. On individual said that “If I finish early with my work, I can help, Women have a lot of work, and there are things we can help with” (230). One of the men said that he would help to grind corn, but not make tortillas. I think that even though the men do want to help they are still trying to hang on to traditional values, but it is nice that they would grind the corn or shuck the corn, or feed the pigs because that decreases the amount of work which the men will do. I can only imagine that this could possibly change over time where men would do more, but you cannot expect men to be in the kitchens with aprons tomorrow taking care of the home and children. This type of change will not be immediate. I think although the Zapatistas had a movement, the women who are in the support base position their lives have changed much, but the Zapatista movement as a whole did change how people looked at indigenous women. They weren’t women who couldn’t, but they became women who can and did make change if not in the communities, but their homes.
Di
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Women & Change p. 36-52
In this chapter titled “Women’s Daily Mobility at the U.S.-Mexico Border” by Ellen R. Hansen speaks about how mobility (getting around) for the women is effected, and how “…women’s mobility illustrates gender roles and relations”(36). For the women to travel between Douglas, Arizona & Auga Prieta, Sonora, Mexico for work their daily mobility was effected vastly by the attacks at the world trade center on September 11, 2001. I honestly never even really thought about how anyone was affected by September 11th other than Americans. I understand that goes with nationality and being unaware, but I honestly never really considered it. Because the U.S.-Mexico border is so unpredictable and can be opened and closed over time, September 11th caused harsher security measures where people were being watched and inspected and it increased the time in which these women spent going over the border to work. For many of the women their days are so specifically planned on when they leave home, coordinating with their childcare providers, transportation, grocery shopping, etc.
Transportation out of all of the women’s day it probably the most important key to their mobility. However transportation is gendered as well. There was a story of one woman who would coordinate dropping off various family members with their families’ only vehicle to her own work schedule. There was a woman where she and her husband would do a lot of driving and trading off driving throughout the day, but whenever she and her husband were together in the car he would always drive. This part of the gendered aspect speaks volumes of how these couples may be modern or the new generation, but yet many traditional values/roles still present themselves in small situations.
The last piece about transportation that was brought up that was very interesting the in Auga Prieta there is a public transportation system that is reliable although it is considered unreliable so most women choose to walk. Compared to the public transportation system in Douglas, Arizona that does not exist although the roads are modern and paved and the roads in Auga Prieta are not. It is interesting that here in the United States that there is no transportation system where you would that there would be one. I wonder if one has not been developed for a reason. Is the government and local officials trying to make a way where it would be harder of these Mexican and Indigenous women to get to work? This sounds like a nationality based discrimination to decreased mobility. Just a few thoughts.
Transportation out of all of the women’s day it probably the most important key to their mobility. However transportation is gendered as well. There was a story of one woman who would coordinate dropping off various family members with their families’ only vehicle to her own work schedule. There was a woman where she and her husband would do a lot of driving and trading off driving throughout the day, but whenever she and her husband were together in the car he would always drive. This part of the gendered aspect speaks volumes of how these couples may be modern or the new generation, but yet many traditional values/roles still present themselves in small situations.
The last piece about transportation that was brought up that was very interesting the in Auga Prieta there is a public transportation system that is reliable although it is considered unreliable so most women choose to walk. Compared to the public transportation system in Douglas, Arizona that does not exist although the roads are modern and paved and the roads in Auga Prieta are not. It is interesting that here in the United States that there is no transportation system where you would that there would be one. I wonder if one has not been developed for a reason. Is the government and local officials trying to make a way where it would be harder of these Mexican and Indigenous women to get to work? This sounds like a nationality based discrimination to decreased mobility. Just a few thoughts.
Women and Change Pg. 19-35
This chapter of Women and Change titled “The Unsettling, Gendered Consequences of Migration for Mexican Indigenous Women” by Elizabeth Maier speaks about how the traditionally gendered roles have been dramatically changed thanks to women entering the workforce/who have been working. In recent years since more and more women have been going to work, more and more families are moving away from patriarchal control, and through these changes women are finding empowerment, entitlement, and citizenship.
Migration which is often times hard creates a new type of network of these migrant workers who move to communities along the U.S.-Mexico Boarder. It is said that “migrant networks ease adaptation in unknown socioeconomic and cultural environments. They are cultural support systems wrapped around gender-based social diversions that orient recent arrivals as to how to satisfy basic needs, administer natural resources, and find employment, or contact coyotes for crossing the boarder” (23). This sounds like a self-serving kind of network where people who do migrate to different areas and would not otherwise know anyone or anything, it is set up for people to acquire what they may need without having to go to the government for it, or worse, starve. This kind of networking is not only just amongst migrant workers, but it is gendered.
The gendered networking helps the “new” and “progressive” women who are working with a different set of necessities than those created for migrant workers. These women not only have to worry about basic needs, or finding jobs, but they have their families to worry about. These women have created networks where solidarity is created first. Other women understand and sympathize with each other and understand although they may work and feel like “modern” women, they still have to care of their families, the home, etc.
For these women this gendered work can be helped in some ways and hindered in others. One woman recounted how she always asks her sons to help her out with house work by cleaning their rooms or making their beds, however they don’t which adds to the work that she has to do in the home after putting a full day outside of the home. I quickly scribbled as a side note asking the question if machismo will ever change as new generations come in that have been used to home where gendered roles are much more progressive? Really I want to know will these sons ever get off their lazy behinds and help their mothers.
Secondly, for the women who are doing gendered roles, it is lucky for those who can get their hands on modern convinces like cars or dishwashers, refrigerators, etc. because the workload is cut into half. I could see that possibly happening because it is said that gender is ever changing thanks to relocation, generation differences, but it takes time. It is said that
“…gender is particularly prone to readjustments and rearrangement. Newfound niches of female socioeconomic activity, together with the evolving demise of arranged marriages, second-generation access to sexual education and family planning, bilingual and trilingual proficiency, increased schooling for girls, and the emergence of some women professionals all suggest an ongoing blurring of the strict sexual divisions of hometown community life” (27).
In these women is an increased sense of entitlement. What kind of entitlement is the first question that came to my head. These younger women who work as maquiladoras are a new generation and “they have a better understanding of mestiza culture, exhibit greater participation in intercultural institutions, and display more complexity and determination in the formulation of chains” (30). These women understand where they still need to respect their culture and cultural expectations however, they have found that place where they are able to negotiate what they want, who they want to be and still have that respect for culture. These women are educated, they decide when they marry, but still be able to honor traditional values as much as possible without conflicting too much with their new set of traditions and values.
Migration which is often times hard creates a new type of network of these migrant workers who move to communities along the U.S.-Mexico Boarder. It is said that “migrant networks ease adaptation in unknown socioeconomic and cultural environments. They are cultural support systems wrapped around gender-based social diversions that orient recent arrivals as to how to satisfy basic needs, administer natural resources, and find employment, or contact coyotes for crossing the boarder” (23). This sounds like a self-serving kind of network where people who do migrate to different areas and would not otherwise know anyone or anything, it is set up for people to acquire what they may need without having to go to the government for it, or worse, starve. This kind of networking is not only just amongst migrant workers, but it is gendered.
The gendered networking helps the “new” and “progressive” women who are working with a different set of necessities than those created for migrant workers. These women not only have to worry about basic needs, or finding jobs, but they have their families to worry about. These women have created networks where solidarity is created first. Other women understand and sympathize with each other and understand although they may work and feel like “modern” women, they still have to care of their families, the home, etc.
For these women this gendered work can be helped in some ways and hindered in others. One woman recounted how she always asks her sons to help her out with house work by cleaning their rooms or making their beds, however they don’t which adds to the work that she has to do in the home after putting a full day outside of the home. I quickly scribbled as a side note asking the question if machismo will ever change as new generations come in that have been used to home where gendered roles are much more progressive? Really I want to know will these sons ever get off their lazy behinds and help their mothers.
Secondly, for the women who are doing gendered roles, it is lucky for those who can get their hands on modern convinces like cars or dishwashers, refrigerators, etc. because the workload is cut into half. I could see that possibly happening because it is said that gender is ever changing thanks to relocation, generation differences, but it takes time. It is said that
“…gender is particularly prone to readjustments and rearrangement. Newfound niches of female socioeconomic activity, together with the evolving demise of arranged marriages, second-generation access to sexual education and family planning, bilingual and trilingual proficiency, increased schooling for girls, and the emergence of some women professionals all suggest an ongoing blurring of the strict sexual divisions of hometown community life” (27).
In these women is an increased sense of entitlement. What kind of entitlement is the first question that came to my head. These younger women who work as maquiladoras are a new generation and “they have a better understanding of mestiza culture, exhibit greater participation in intercultural institutions, and display more complexity and determination in the formulation of chains” (30). These women understand where they still need to respect their culture and cultural expectations however, they have found that place where they are able to negotiate what they want, who they want to be and still have that respect for culture. These women are educated, they decide when they marry, but still be able to honor traditional values as much as possible without conflicting too much with their new set of traditions and values.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Women and Change at the U.S.-Mexico Border pg 3-16
The book “Women and Change at the U.S.- Mexico Border” by Doreen J. Mattingly and Ellen R. Hansen opens up with speaking about the roles such as family life and working in factories, home life, etc. for the women who work in cities along the U.S.-Mexico boarder. They say that these women are apart of a larger force. They are apart of a movement. The chapters in the book helped the reader though stories learn about these women's experiences which include genders as a changing social construct, how gender is still a challenge in which these women must negotiate when working in these factories and raising families, and also that the U.S.-Mexico boarder is a type of window that allow a way in which women will cross boundaries if not physically but mentally.
Section one of book titled Women’s Mobility speak of gendered roles for men and women and that geographic mobility it in fact effected by gender. Through the different chapters in the section one will learn how migration effects indigenous women along the boarder, also how mobility is gendered through the division of labor- the reality is that men and women hold different jobs and have a different set of responsibilities and obligations.
The next section is about Labor and Empowerment in the Boarder Region it is said that a woman being employed is a “catch-22” or a “double-edged sword”. This section also offers theories to the reasoning of why industrialization has gendered impact.
In the last section titled Activist Women Changing the Border touches on how working conditions are for these women and problems and reasons why they choose to cross the border. Some reasons has been that there is a development of colnias at a very staggering rate creating new communities along the border. These women became activists due to the needs that we not reached in the lower-income communities. Also these women have formed NGO’s which are like unions.
Section one of book titled Women’s Mobility speak of gendered roles for men and women and that geographic mobility it in fact effected by gender. Through the different chapters in the section one will learn how migration effects indigenous women along the boarder, also how mobility is gendered through the division of labor- the reality is that men and women hold different jobs and have a different set of responsibilities and obligations.
The next section is about Labor and Empowerment in the Boarder Region it is said that a woman being employed is a “catch-22” or a “double-edged sword”. This section also offers theories to the reasoning of why industrialization has gendered impact.
In the last section titled Activist Women Changing the Border touches on how working conditions are for these women and problems and reasons why they choose to cross the border. Some reasons has been that there is a development of colnias at a very staggering rate creating new communities along the border. These women became activists due to the needs that we not reached in the lower-income communities. Also these women have formed NGO’s which are like unions.
No Parole Today p. 1-17
No Parole Today by Laura Tohe tells the story of children in Indian Boarding Schools through free verse poems and very short stories. The first story talks about assimilation with the thanks of “Dick and Jane” books and that its helps to subdue the Dine language. Her teacher Mrs. Rolands was a black woman whom she describes as “treat[ing] us the way were people had been treated by white people” (2). I quickly scribbled in the margin that it was a reoccurring racism and about hierarchy. I remember previously in my Anthropology class we learned that the ladder of hierarchy that God came first, then white man, then blacks and insects, then Native Americans were placed on the same level as beasts because of the “savage” moniker placed upon them. Probably the most powerful quote she made in this piece was “utter one word of Dine and the government made sure our tongues were downed in the murky waters of assimilation” (3).
In the short story/free verse poem called “She was Real Quiet, a Letter from the Indian School I” she talks about a girl by the name of Mae Jean who was always quiet, always doing what she was supposed to do, she followed the rules, she had never drank liquor, or sniffed glue or gasoline. I wonder is she the personification of the perfect Indian. Was the perfect Indian achieved here? She said that no one ever messed with Mae, so who was she to the students? It makes me wonder was she once a very strong person who resisted the change until she could not fight any longer then she just went along with the change that was pressed upon her? Did any of the students strive to be like her? I don’t know what to think…just a few questions I thought would be interesting.
In the short story/free verse poem called “She was Real Quiet, a Letter from the Indian School I” she talks about a girl by the name of Mae Jean who was always quiet, always doing what she was supposed to do, she followed the rules, she had never drank liquor, or sniffed glue or gasoline. I wonder is she the personification of the perfect Indian. Was the perfect Indian achieved here? She said that no one ever messed with Mae, so who was she to the students? It makes me wonder was she once a very strong person who resisted the change until she could not fight any longer then she just went along with the change that was pressed upon her? Did any of the students strive to be like her? I don’t know what to think…just a few questions I thought would be interesting.
Don't Let the Sun Step Over You Chapter 5 & 6
In these two chapters of Don’t Let the Sun Step over you, Eva Tulene Watt focuses upon her time spent at St. John Boarding School (Chapter 5) and when she went home after her mother went blind, and her family life with a her new stepfather (Charley Marley). However, for this post I am going to focus specifically on chapter 5 because it relates to my mid-term about the experience at Indian Boarding Schools (good and bad) and her experience is definitely a puzzle piece of the larger picture.
Watt begins with her arrival to St. Johns and her remembering that she and her brother Dewey were tied up with a rope by a priest to keep them inside of the seat because he may have felt that they may stand up. Really it sounds like he was worried that they would run off and parish the thought that he lose “precious Indian cargo”. That seems to be the way in which they were treated, like a crate tied to the top of a car. Once she arrived she was immediately put into a group of girls and ushered around the school.
Her experience with church, religion, and people of the catholic faith is very interesting. She is told her first day in church by another student “this is a church. You’re not supposed to talk loud in here. You have to be quiet ‘til it’s over with”. She just seems to adhere to it. I wonder why this is? Also, she would get oreos or eating the food of the catholic people until they gave her the evil eye. Did she just fall in line because there was some kind of incentive?
Watt’s section of when the children would get names because they needed English names would seem to be a very humiliating and assimilating moment in ones life. Because she already had an English name she would not have to go through the process. She describes that “some of the boys that came to school had real long hair. They cut it bald-headed the first times, not right down to the skin but real short, They cut the girls’ hair too. It’s short on the side and bangs. And they sent the kids’ clothes back to their families. They gave each of them a bag and they told them to put their clothes in there, Then they sent it back to their family. Then they gave them all new clothes”. This sounds like a death of a person. For the males, hair is a big deal, so to be striped of hair, and clothing that connected you to who you were previously as well as your clothes being sent way signifies to your parents that you are gone also.
When it came to learning English the rule was “After you catch on, you’re not supposed to talk your won language anymore. If they catch you talking your won language, they punished you.” Punishment at their school was extra chores, but what about other boarding schools? Was the punishment much harsher?
Other than her reason to not go home because of her new step father, I am still trying to figure out why she would deliberately stay there. What made her experience so good compared to that of other children or even people who went to other boarding schools? Anyway that is a good question to ponder.
Watt begins with her arrival to St. Johns and her remembering that she and her brother Dewey were tied up with a rope by a priest to keep them inside of the seat because he may have felt that they may stand up. Really it sounds like he was worried that they would run off and parish the thought that he lose “precious Indian cargo”. That seems to be the way in which they were treated, like a crate tied to the top of a car. Once she arrived she was immediately put into a group of girls and ushered around the school.
Her experience with church, religion, and people of the catholic faith is very interesting. She is told her first day in church by another student “this is a church. You’re not supposed to talk loud in here. You have to be quiet ‘til it’s over with”. She just seems to adhere to it. I wonder why this is? Also, she would get oreos or eating the food of the catholic people until they gave her the evil eye. Did she just fall in line because there was some kind of incentive?
Watt’s section of when the children would get names because they needed English names would seem to be a very humiliating and assimilating moment in ones life. Because she already had an English name she would not have to go through the process. She describes that “some of the boys that came to school had real long hair. They cut it bald-headed the first times, not right down to the skin but real short, They cut the girls’ hair too. It’s short on the side and bangs. And they sent the kids’ clothes back to their families. They gave each of them a bag and they told them to put their clothes in there, Then they sent it back to their family. Then they gave them all new clothes”. This sounds like a death of a person. For the males, hair is a big deal, so to be striped of hair, and clothing that connected you to who you were previously as well as your clothes being sent way signifies to your parents that you are gone also.
When it came to learning English the rule was “After you catch on, you’re not supposed to talk your won language anymore. If they catch you talking your won language, they punished you.” Punishment at their school was extra chores, but what about other boarding schools? Was the punishment much harsher?
Other than her reason to not go home because of her new step father, I am still trying to figure out why she would deliberately stay there. What made her experience so good compared to that of other children or even people who went to other boarding schools? Anyway that is a good question to ponder.
Everyday Is a Good Day- Chapter 3
In Chapter 3 titled “Context is Everything” the reader is brought through the frustration of how there has been little or no teaching to Non-Natives about the lives about Native Americans and Indigenous people although this oppressed group has been forced to learn the dominant cultures history. It is said that “People in the United States fail to recognize how much they have been influenced by indigenous people. It is simply amazing that even after hundreds of years of living in our former villages, most American’s don’t know much about the original people of this land.” I can say I understand that this frustration being African-American. In school we are only taught the history of white people although my ancestors helped them to build this country with literally blood, sweat, and tears. However, on the other hand I can say myself that I guilty. Being for the Westside many of our cities hold the names of indigenous nations like the Puyallup which is closets to me, but I can say I do not know much of their history.
Another point that was made was that “rather than appreciate the ancient cultures of indigenous people in the United States, most governmental policies have been designed to assimilate indigenous people into the larger American culture”. I call this the “assimilate and eliminate” factor. Once you are completely assimilated your own culture is cut away, watered down or just eliminated all together through systematic practices.
Beatrice Medicine best describes this frustration in this chapter when she says that “white people can’t understand us or the strength and diversity of aboriginal people, and they don’t even try. That’s why there is such racism and misunderstanding. We have different attitudes toward one another”. This makes me pose the question to everyone: Do you think there is a way to bridge the gap between these vastly different groups of people now or even in the future? Also, Do you feel that there is away we can start to incorporate these teachings of the history in our own curriculum if not college, high school, or even younger? Lastly, How would you go about to bridge this gap in misunderstanding and racism?
Another point that was made was that “rather than appreciate the ancient cultures of indigenous people in the United States, most governmental policies have been designed to assimilate indigenous people into the larger American culture”. I call this the “assimilate and eliminate” factor. Once you are completely assimilated your own culture is cut away, watered down or just eliminated all together through systematic practices.
Beatrice Medicine best describes this frustration in this chapter when she says that “white people can’t understand us or the strength and diversity of aboriginal people, and they don’t even try. That’s why there is such racism and misunderstanding. We have different attitudes toward one another”. This makes me pose the question to everyone: Do you think there is a way to bridge the gap between these vastly different groups of people now or even in the future? Also, Do you feel that there is away we can start to incorporate these teachings of the history in our own curriculum if not college, high school, or even younger? Lastly, How would you go about to bridge this gap in misunderstanding and racism?
Monday, November 10, 2008
Strong Women Stories Chapter 2
Chapter 2 titled “The Drum Keeps Beating: Recovering Mohawk Identity” by Laura Shuwager speaks of her personal journey with her own Native Identity (personally & per the government). Shuwager believes that her journey “is one of recognizing and voicing spirit. It is my ties to my ancestors, it is my reason for why, living in a non-Native society, embracing Native traditions and values had always felt like coming home”. Shuwager feels a deep connect to this portion of her heritage but she is unable to claim it because she is a mixed heritage. So this almost means she can have no voice that happens to the injustice to her people. It makes me connect this with my own identity of being an African-American. The phrase is too problematic because yes I am a person who is descendant of and African person, however I am not an African who lives in America, so I feel that I should not be classified as an African-American. This makes me wonder does she ever find people within her own community who shun her because she “not native enough”? Just a few thoughts.
Strong Women Stories Introduction & Chapter 1
Intro- The intro titled “For the Betterment of Our Nations” by Bonita Lawrence & Kim Anderson described what the book Strong Women Stories will contain such as the sense of who a person is individually and with the world, as well as how their past is now apart of their present, and the challenges that Native/Indigenous women may face.
There are accounts of spirituality, re-claiming/gaining/loosing Indian Status, and who show be considered to even be able to say legally (and governmentally) who is Native American. In the section of the book “Coming Home” what is highlighted here are things that come affect native people such as leaving ones community and the factor of assimilation (which I think is hard to run from or even harder to not be effected).
The second section of the book “Asking Questions” tries to negotiate for those who have left their communities with the question of “what happens when we come home and we don’t like what we find?” It is said that these struggles are about finding one as a Native American women. In the section “Rebuilding Our Communities”, the reader should for definition to how Native Women are striving to rebuild their communities, and this is not necessarily always physical building of buildings but of maintaining and reestablishing language and traditions.
These women look toward their children to rebuild because they are the ones who will “greatly influence our future”. However there is realization that there are some things in which they cannot change such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (although I believe that through education of their children can this problem be decreased but not completely rid of) and this is the same with women and violence.
Chapter one by Gertie Mai Muise titled “Where the spirits live: women rebuilding a non-status Mi’kmaq Community” speaks of the Mi’kmaq women of western Newfoundland. Muise opens with “we are systematically oppressed but, without question we are altogether strong. We are dependent on men, the church and welfare like no other group of Aboriginal women in this country, yet we are fiercely independent and cut our own trails”. Muise speaks about when she left her home to become and educated woman by attending college. She was pushed into this decision by her father, but she states she does not believe her family would have pushed her into going to college if they knew that it would mean assimilation. Muise states that “I had already been socialized not to live among my people.
Assimilation was already at work within me. University constantly hammered in western values, such as competition and debate, business marketing techniques, psychology, and Christian theology, which reduced my own people’s knowledge to the status of folklore.” This made me wonder while I was reading and made me write in the margin of the book does education always equal assimilation? Is this prevalent for all people of color? However she moves further to make the point that assimilation is like a protection from being pushed out of ones home like the generations before her and also it’s a way to blend in and protect one-self from genocide.
However there is a problem that comes with this. Muise said that they go out and assimilate and have children or are children of relationships with people who are Mi’kmaq so that heritage is later refused to them because they are “half-breed” or “part-bloods”. I think that assimilation can be seen as a way for the government to push out those who are assimilated or no longer “apart” of the community thanks to western world teachings, and yet it becomes another way in which these people are being pushed out. There is also a fear of Politics because it is something that continues to be oppressive, and again I make the point politics, assimilation are all the same. If a person cannot adhere to laws that local and federal government puts forth, fines and new laws are put into place which terrorize a people become apart of that life. I would find it difficult as an educated woman to find the common ground. I feel that either way assimilated or not the government is going to find a way to get rid of you.
There are accounts of spirituality, re-claiming/gaining/loosing Indian Status, and who show be considered to even be able to say legally (and governmentally) who is Native American. In the section of the book “Coming Home” what is highlighted here are things that come affect native people such as leaving ones community and the factor of assimilation (which I think is hard to run from or even harder to not be effected).
The second section of the book “Asking Questions” tries to negotiate for those who have left their communities with the question of “what happens when we come home and we don’t like what we find?” It is said that these struggles are about finding one as a Native American women. In the section “Rebuilding Our Communities”, the reader should for definition to how Native Women are striving to rebuild their communities, and this is not necessarily always physical building of buildings but of maintaining and reestablishing language and traditions.
These women look toward their children to rebuild because they are the ones who will “greatly influence our future”. However there is realization that there are some things in which they cannot change such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (although I believe that through education of their children can this problem be decreased but not completely rid of) and this is the same with women and violence.
Chapter one by Gertie Mai Muise titled “Where the spirits live: women rebuilding a non-status Mi’kmaq Community” speaks of the Mi’kmaq women of western Newfoundland. Muise opens with “we are systematically oppressed but, without question we are altogether strong. We are dependent on men, the church and welfare like no other group of Aboriginal women in this country, yet we are fiercely independent and cut our own trails”. Muise speaks about when she left her home to become and educated woman by attending college. She was pushed into this decision by her father, but she states she does not believe her family would have pushed her into going to college if they knew that it would mean assimilation. Muise states that “I had already been socialized not to live among my people.
Assimilation was already at work within me. University constantly hammered in western values, such as competition and debate, business marketing techniques, psychology, and Christian theology, which reduced my own people’s knowledge to the status of folklore.” This made me wonder while I was reading and made me write in the margin of the book does education always equal assimilation? Is this prevalent for all people of color? However she moves further to make the point that assimilation is like a protection from being pushed out of ones home like the generations before her and also it’s a way to blend in and protect one-self from genocide.
However there is a problem that comes with this. Muise said that they go out and assimilate and have children or are children of relationships with people who are Mi’kmaq so that heritage is later refused to them because they are “half-breed” or “part-bloods”. I think that assimilation can be seen as a way for the government to push out those who are assimilated or no longer “apart” of the community thanks to western world teachings, and yet it becomes another way in which these people are being pushed out. There is also a fear of Politics because it is something that continues to be oppressive, and again I make the point politics, assimilation are all the same. If a person cannot adhere to laws that local and federal government puts forth, fines and new laws are put into place which terrorize a people become apart of that life. I would find it difficult as an educated woman to find the common ground. I feel that either way assimilated or not the government is going to find a way to get rid of you.
Everyday Is a Good Day Chapter 1 & 2
Chapter 1 titled “Harvest Moon” speaks of different women with whom the author was acquainted with that she felt stood as the strongest women that she has ever met in her life. She says that
“…many incredible women have danced in and out of my life. They are grandmothers, mothers, daughters, aunts, lovers, friends, sisters, and partners. Some have buried husbands and children, faced racism, confronted daunting health problems, and dealt with a staggering set of problems caused by extreme economic poverty, yet they led their nations, their families, and their communities with dignity, strength, and optimism.”
I felt that this was very powerful to say about all the women in her life. It says that these women may have faced many triumphs and tribulations, but they are the ones who hold their families together no matter what. She speaks specifically of a few women who have impacted her life such as Justine Buckskin who was a Mowhawk woman. Justine had her arm amputated and she said despite this “she was quite frail, and spoke passionately”. Another woman, Audrey Shenandoah who was a clan mother, teaches the Onondaga language. I love that she is part of the struggle of preservation of her culture through language. It seems that she is highly aware once a language dies a culture and its people go along right with it. I personally find this very admirable. Later on the author states that “another factor that greatly contributes to a different view of the world is our identity as members of a culturally distinct group of people”. These become the people who bridge the gap from traditional society to modern society. Even when faced with government intervention/oppression/terrorism Mary and Carrie Dann as the author puts it “represent the personification of indigenous womanhood- beautiful, strong, loving, free women who will live full rich lives with their children and grandchildren while waging a forty-year battle to keep the U.S. government from impounding their horses and cattle and evicting them from their land”. These two women like to call it domestic terrorism how the government has come into they home land to take their cattle and horses and then charging them 2 million dollars. I think that it is crazy, and another way the government has through the use of the system by passing acts and laws take rightful tribal land. I could see where this could be upsetting because these women not only have to deal with home life but deal with the government. It shows what native women have to deal with and its more than other women, but yet they remain strong.
Chapter 2 which was titled “ceremony” speaks of how “the spiritual life of indigenous people had been studied, copied, parodied, and exploited, but it had rarely been understood”. It is also mentioned of during the times of Indian Boarding schools where priests and nuns would abuse then and this abuse would carry on. This is like a contamination of a culture if you will. Beyond this exploitation and “rehabilitation”, the women and men have been made a commodity spiritually because “outsiders turn to indigenous spiritual leaders hoping for an easy set of instructions in “Native American spirituality” to help them understand themselves and their place in an excessively self-indulgent society devoid of spirituality”. There are a collection of stories where the women have spoken about their place in the world thanks to their connection to spirituality. Some of my favorites are listed:
Wilma Mankiller
“The Primary goal of prayer is promote a sense of oneness and unity. Negative thoughts were treated by Cherokee healers with the same medicines as wounds, headaches, and or physical illness. It was believed that unchecked negative thoughts can permeate the being and manifest in themselves in negatives actions”. This speaks to me in saying that in ones own spirituality is negativity is a disease and it has to be treated. If you are negative you cannot grow and it will affect in life everyday if you carry that. I think of it as the raincloud over a persons head, if you have a raincloud no one would want to be around you because of the fear of become drenched in your own negativity. Sorry but that’s really deep.
Rosalie Little Thunder
“After many years of being de-spiritualized, as many of us were, I began practicing the traditional rituals, which was a slow and uphill recovery process, I sill grieve for relatives that were de-spiritualized and now call our traditional rituals “witchcraft”. It is hard to imagine that someone can take your spirituality because it is such a personal and individualistic thing.
Angela Gonzales:
“Spirituality is a very private matter”. Again like I said before it is hard to imagine that someone could “take” spirituality from a person, and I do believe it is very much so a private matter between what you believe, if it a god, several gods, no god, a creator, etc.
“…many incredible women have danced in and out of my life. They are grandmothers, mothers, daughters, aunts, lovers, friends, sisters, and partners. Some have buried husbands and children, faced racism, confronted daunting health problems, and dealt with a staggering set of problems caused by extreme economic poverty, yet they led their nations, their families, and their communities with dignity, strength, and optimism.”
I felt that this was very powerful to say about all the women in her life. It says that these women may have faced many triumphs and tribulations, but they are the ones who hold their families together no matter what. She speaks specifically of a few women who have impacted her life such as Justine Buckskin who was a Mowhawk woman. Justine had her arm amputated and she said despite this “she was quite frail, and spoke passionately”. Another woman, Audrey Shenandoah who was a clan mother, teaches the Onondaga language. I love that she is part of the struggle of preservation of her culture through language. It seems that she is highly aware once a language dies a culture and its people go along right with it. I personally find this very admirable. Later on the author states that “another factor that greatly contributes to a different view of the world is our identity as members of a culturally distinct group of people”. These become the people who bridge the gap from traditional society to modern society. Even when faced with government intervention/oppression/terrorism Mary and Carrie Dann as the author puts it “represent the personification of indigenous womanhood- beautiful, strong, loving, free women who will live full rich lives with their children and grandchildren while waging a forty-year battle to keep the U.S. government from impounding their horses and cattle and evicting them from their land”. These two women like to call it domestic terrorism how the government has come into they home land to take their cattle and horses and then charging them 2 million dollars. I think that it is crazy, and another way the government has through the use of the system by passing acts and laws take rightful tribal land. I could see where this could be upsetting because these women not only have to deal with home life but deal with the government. It shows what native women have to deal with and its more than other women, but yet they remain strong.
Chapter 2 which was titled “ceremony” speaks of how “the spiritual life of indigenous people had been studied, copied, parodied, and exploited, but it had rarely been understood”. It is also mentioned of during the times of Indian Boarding schools where priests and nuns would abuse then and this abuse would carry on. This is like a contamination of a culture if you will. Beyond this exploitation and “rehabilitation”, the women and men have been made a commodity spiritually because “outsiders turn to indigenous spiritual leaders hoping for an easy set of instructions in “Native American spirituality” to help them understand themselves and their place in an excessively self-indulgent society devoid of spirituality”. There are a collection of stories where the women have spoken about their place in the world thanks to their connection to spirituality. Some of my favorites are listed:
Wilma Mankiller
“The Primary goal of prayer is promote a sense of oneness and unity. Negative thoughts were treated by Cherokee healers with the same medicines as wounds, headaches, and or physical illness. It was believed that unchecked negative thoughts can permeate the being and manifest in themselves in negatives actions”. This speaks to me in saying that in ones own spirituality is negativity is a disease and it has to be treated. If you are negative you cannot grow and it will affect in life everyday if you carry that. I think of it as the raincloud over a persons head, if you have a raincloud no one would want to be around you because of the fear of become drenched in your own negativity. Sorry but that’s really deep.
Rosalie Little Thunder
“After many years of being de-spiritualized, as many of us were, I began practicing the traditional rituals, which was a slow and uphill recovery process, I sill grieve for relatives that were de-spiritualized and now call our traditional rituals “witchcraft”. It is hard to imagine that someone can take your spirituality because it is such a personal and individualistic thing.
Angela Gonzales:
“Spirituality is a very private matter”. Again like I said before it is hard to imagine that someone could “take” spirituality from a person, and I do believe it is very much so a private matter between what you believe, if it a god, several gods, no god, a creator, etc.
Don't Let The Sun Step Over You- Chapter 3 & 4
Eva Tulene Watt writes in these two chapters telling the story or when she and her family moved to area around Roosevelt Dam. This seemed to be a traveling or nomadic story of her family adapting to their new environment. She states that “the families that came from Cibecue and Oak Creek all lived together” thus forming another community similar to what we might see now of areas highly populated by other ethnic groups. For me this reminded me of Shalishan community of the Eastside of Tacoma where its it mostly populated by Cambodians and Thai people who have either grew up there their whole life, or have recently migrated from their homelands to life in the United States. It stands out to me very much when she talks about encounters with people of other ethnicities unlike her own. In her community there were a group of Chinese farmed who seemed to run everything stores, they had many crops, and they worked year round. Eva in her childhood seemed very unaware that these people were just like her otherwise she would not have referred to them as “those Chinese”. She even recounted that “their language is something like Apache, but not very much”.
In chapter 4, a disease called Trachoma took over the Apache people in Roosevelt, and they were sent to live in camps where they could receive treatment. She speaks of how everyone on the whole reservation was infected by the disease and that it infected their eyes. The disease affected her mother most in the worst way although most of her family including herself was struck with it. Watt also speaks of how people were picked up by police and forced to live in this tent city of 80 tents to receive treatment from the disease. I was just wondering if this was a type of government intervention. Speaking of intervention it just seems odd that a police officer showed up to their home saying that the children should be in school, and because her children weren’t in school and she automatically was hauled off to jail abruptly. I think that is not right that they did not give her mother a few days or a week to get her children enrolled in school. It seems that if you were a person of color or native in this case and you slipped up you should expect for the local government to find a way to involve themselves into their lives. The tent city should be looked at as government intervention and the policeman coming to their home. Are they watching every move these innocent people are making?
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