MOVE

What really caught my attention in the reading this week was not the prose or events in the lives of Silko's fictional characters. Rather, it was her reference to specific historic events that transpired in the US (page 619). Her inclusion of these injustices serve to back up the nebula of unrest and violence in the book, and strengthen her points about/accusations against the abuse of power towards the poor and dispossessed.

More specifically, Silko references the Attica prison riot of 1971 and the bombing of the MOVE compound in 1985. I remember talking about the firebombing in high school English; our teacher supplemented the discussion with a copy of a poem I only dimly remembered. After almost an hour of searching the internet, I tracked down the title and author-- "move," by Lucille Clifton-- but was unable to find the poem in full text. I also briefly researched the events, but won't include a summary here.

So far, I would rather read a narrated compilation of such governmental crimes, including the Kent State shooting of 1970, the Tlatelolco Massacre in Mexico City in 1968, the 1989 Tiananmen square incident, etc, than Almanac of the Dead. I feel like I will have taken very little from Almanac by the time I finish, just dim memories of the characters and a rough fraction of their complex web of interactions (as well as a host of unpleasant mental images). Yet if we were to read newspaper articles about all these events, we would be more knowledgeable world citizens.

In fact, it would be fascinating to have a class where we not only learned about such injustices towards students, prisoners, grassroots organizations, etc, but explored their implications and references in popular culture and literature, such as the song "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills and Nash, the poem "move," the song "Hypnotize" by System of a Down, etc. I suppose this all would have little to do with a Native American Lit course... but it would still be interesting.

Beaufrey's Posse and the Almanac Warning

We've caught back up with Beaufrey and David, on the finca with Serlo. I think the pictures Serlo handed David while out riding really were of Monte, because Serlo's character is detached and doesn't go for mind-games. I think he got fed up with Beaufrey toying around with David, and decided to put an end to the game. And although David thought the child in the picture was too big to be his, he hadn't seen his baby in well over ten weeks, and they grow fast. With Eric and now David gone, Seese is the only one not of sangre pura whose death Beaufrey hasn't caused. I hope that ultimately, Beaufrey will get what's coming to him. He and Serlo's ideas about pure blood are ridiculous- in the book, the non-mestizo indigenous they look down upon also have pure blood, so what makes them "filth"? The Alternative Earth Unit Serlo has designed is very weird. But he senses the uprising of the people and has good reason to be concerned, which brings me to...

...the almanac. Its purpose has been revealed- in the same manner that the arrival of Cortez was predicted, the fragments Lecha is trying to preserve record what will happen in the coming days regarding the same struggle, Native American vs European (or the upper classes vs the downtrodden lower ones, if you choose to look at it that way). The Almanac predicts that just as a hurricane builds, strikes, destroys, and is receded, the Europeans/oppressors will also fade away, restoring the land and society to its proper former balance. I had no clue what the almanac could be about that would be so important, but as a guide to the coming tumultuous days to let people know what to expect, I can't think of anything more practical.

And, of course, what ties these two aspects of the book together is that the spirits must be very disgruntled with people like Beaufrey, and when the upper classes fall, he'll be among them.

Two Old Women

I loved that the author embellished a piece of oral tradition and published it! This is a great idea, especially for mebers of a fairly small tribe, to preserve tales handed down from generation to generation.

The amount of courage and determination in this book was astounding. I, for one, don't think I would care to get up and find wood and set traps and preserve food and travel long distances by foot- just to get up and do it all over again indefinitely, after every member of my family and all of my friends had turned their backs on me, with no hope of ever seeing any of them again. I would have stayed in the snow and let myself fall asleep.

However, I found it a bit surprising they don't also leave the infants, who must be carried, need more food, and cannot contribute any knowledge or skills, such as the old women did working with hides and sewing. I wanted to meet these women myself. It would be amazing to live with them and learn about survival and resourcefulness- how many modern men can kill a squirrel from a distance with a well-timed fling of an axe? They also had amazing life stories: one had the audacity as a young woman to stand up to the chief and lived alone for years because of it, before finding a man who was similarly shunned. The other was forced to wed an older man in the tribe, resulting in what I assume was a lackluster marriage.

The morals of the book were 1) Don't complain or people will think you're useless, and 2) take care of/listen to/respect your elders.

Almanac: Too. Much. Sex.

So. It's really hard to follow a book which jumps around so much, introducing so many new characters and story lines we forget the details of the ones we read about 200 pages ago.

That said, what is Silko's deal with sex? I know it's a part of life, but really?! I don't care if the chief of police's prick gets hard thinking about a date with his new mistress, or if Leah 'rode herself raw' on Trigg's 'rod,' or if Menardo ejaculated across the sheets, or if Alegria likes it from behind. EW. Considering the book is a portrait of the lower levels of society, am I to assume that every single one of them lack morals, since they have ALL cheated on their significant others? Does she want me to think everyone in the margins of society has nonstop, indiscriminate sex? And that every single male will follow the whims of his fickle, greedy penis?

That said, I do understand that sex plays an important function in the book. In many cases, such as Leah sleeping with her business clients or Zeta with her boss, it has functioned to consolidate power and help the women get ahead. And it serves as a portrayal of human lust, since I can't recall a single instance in which two people slept together out of actual love. It is a portrait of male power, especially in cases such as the skinny secretary having bruises on her genitals from someone's "loaf" of an organ. But jeez people, keep it in your pants!

Christine

I found Christine to be very immature. I understood where she was coming from by hearing her life story, but I couldn't help but look down on her. I myself have experienced something similar to her sudden and severe religious disillusionment, but didn't go off the deep end because of it. Her need to be with several men in order to validate herself was pretty sad, and her manipulation of Lee into joining the army so she wouldn't lose others' respect and could meet his fellow enlistees was despicable. I know she was young and didn't fully understand the repercussions of war or her actions, but I still can't condone it. On the other hand, I have to wonder if she might have been bipolar. Promiscuity and overdoing alcohol are both symptoms, and her willingness to take any dare and confrontational personality could have been mania-related.

Christine's relationship with Elgin was sweet at first, but I feel that a main reason it went wrong was because of her pride and unwillingness to communicate. Of course, Elgin's cheating is squarely on him, but I have to wonder if things could have gone better for them. She definitely should not have dumped Rayona on Aunt Ida, because they were the only family each other had and Elgin had overlooked Rayona enough to last a lifetime.

Of course, now I'm a hard-ass criticizing all of Christine's decisions, the way Aunt Ida does with her soap operas, wanting her to know all the things she can't see and yelling at her although she's a fictional character...

Rayona

First off, I LOVE the language the writer uses. Rayona's breath "melting" the air was a unique way to describe something fairly mundane, the description of snow as glittering sandpaper was spot-on and extremely visual, and the comparison between Dayton's rug and a forest pool really captured my imagination. The writing is so fresh and vivid, it pulls you right in.

I also found the different perspectives highly effective. By giving us multiple sides of the story it becomes richer and more complex. I was surprised at Rayona's perceptiveness at her mother's behavior and the interactions between her parents in the hospital room. I was also taken aback at what happened between Rayona and Father Tom. I wasn't sure how to interpret the scene at first, because the writing was slightly disjointed and Rayona uses the phrase "in my dream" when she speaks of kissing him. I was wondering if something along these lines would transpire when Father Tom remarked that she was turning into an "attractive" young woman and asked her about having sex dreams, but I figured that Rayona was wily enough to avoid such an encounter. Especially since she gave no indication of finding him attractive or particularly enjoying his company.

I also keep forgetting that Rayona is half Native American, as the book so often talks about her being half black and having kinky hair. My favorite aspect of Rayona's story was her time at Bearpaw Lake. I enjoyed her interactions with Dave, the only nice guy at the place, and the functional family she found in Evelyn and Sky. Her admiration of the girl in the white bikini was also poignant, as I can recall instances in my own life where I have harbored an odd fascination of girls more attractive or popular than myself. For a fifteen year old though, she sure knows how to handle herself, especially with Foxy and his girlfriend.

Geronimoooo

What captivated my imagination about this reading was the older Native Americans' ideas on the "Geronimo Conspiracy." Although I don't know anything about the conditions under which Geronimo surrendered, it is entirely plausible, in my opinion, that something like this could have happened. The ethnic differences in persepctive were fascinating- that white men could not tell one rock or tree from another and were frightened by it. Based on that quality, and the way they regarded the Indians as nonhuman, they easily could have mistaken Geronimo's identity. The option to eliminate Geronimo as a cause of public unease would have been too good to pass up when touched to the dry tinder of military pressure, competition, and fear. Moreover, Silko gave us the "white" version of the incident in Sterling's "True Crime" magazine as a contrast the perspectives of the Indians.

Additionally, although I have always thought that is was wrong and cruel for the whites to have done all they did to Native Americans, I have never felt the injustice as acutely as I am during this reading. The amount of pain it caused the preliminary victims was substantial, but the perpetuated frustrations and confusions in identity of the younger generations may actually be worse. The older Native Americans had their memories to retreat to, but future generations (especially individuals who don't live on the Rez) will have only an elusive promised land sabotaged in their ancestors' time as they wander through a desert of cultural disparities.