Two Old Women

Two Old Women by Velma Wallis is a cautionary tale told about elders in North American Indian tribes. The tale has many morals behind it including those surrounding not taking advantage of one's position within society, following one's heart, and the importance of knowledge. The two old women whom the tale is about are left behind in the winter time due to the diminishing food supply of the tribe and the burden that the old women are placing upon the tribe in terms of use of resources. The two old women decide that they can either sit around and wait to die or that they can die trying and decide that the latter is the best way to go.
The two women have to bring back their knowledge of hunting, building things such as shelter and snowshoes, among many other things in order to survive through the freezing winter. The women end up surviving the winter and collecting food all summer long. They relearn how to fish and catch wild animals as well as how to store them away from bears and such in order to preserve their food supply for the following winter. It comes about that the following winter the tribe decides to go back to the place they deserted the two old women and figure out that the old women are not dead. The tracker Daagoo finds the old women and convinces them to let the tribe move close to them and share their food supply. The old women end up saving the tribe and the relationships with the people in their tribe are mended.
This tale teaches a lot of important skills while emphasizing the importance of knowledge. One can learn how to hunt squirrels, make snowshoes, and track people and animals. The morals taught in this tale are of the utmost importance and one of the main ones focuses on the relationship between one of the old ladies and her daughter and grandson. The daughter and grandson leave the old women and move on with the tribe in the beginning of the story. The healing process and forgiveness presented in the tale show that one cannot focus on past mistakes and be bitter but that one must move on because family is too important to hold grudges.

Snakes

This blog will discuss the use of imagery involving snakes within the novel, "Almanac of the Dead." There are many instances in this novel where there are either dreams about or encounters with snakes and I believe that this imagery is very important to many of the main themes in this novel; those themes of power, corruption, fear and renewal. If looked at religiously the snake can be seen as a symbol of a spiritual opposition in achieving one's goals or desires. Snakes are apparent in the lives of Sterling and Menardo and in many other areas.
Menardo is a main point of interest when discussing snakes because he has dreams that involve snake skin. According to dreammoods.com Dream Dictionary: "To see the skin of a snake in your dream, represents protection from illnesses." This makes sense in regards to Menardo because he is dealing with insurance and security. The use of snake in reference to power and corruption also applies to Menardo and his business dealings. Menardo has become very powerful in his attaining of an air force and power over the security industry and there is definitely underlying corruption in all of this.
Another aspect of the novel that deals with snakes that I found interesting is when Clinton is talking about Mardi Gras and the part about the black Indian queen. The following is an excerpt from the novel:
"Here the queen darts her tongue out like a snake's, and her hips and stomach writhe like a snake's because black Indians still keep in touch with the serpent spirits Damballah and Simbi" (Silko 422).
After reading this I decided to look up these serpent spirits and this is what I found:
" Damballah is the eldest and chief of the Loas, a primordial serpent deity who created the world and the Gods. He, along with his wife Ayida, is sometimes likened to the Kundalini serpent of Hindu mysticism. Damballah has many aspects, including his Petro manifestation, Damballa la Flambeau (Damballah torch).

Damballah is of such great age and antiquity that he does not speak; when possessing a follower during a ritual, he prefers to slither on the ground or sit in the basson."
Here is a picture associated with Damballah:


In reference to Simbi this is what was found:
"Simbi (also Sim'bi) is a large and diverse family of serpent Loa (Vodoun spirit) from the West Central Africa/Kongo region. Some prominent Simbi Loa include Simbi Dlo (also Simbi d'l'eau - Simbi of the Water), Simbi Makaya, Simbi Andezo (Simbi of Two Waters), and Gran Simba. Traditionally in their Kongo context they are all associated with water, but in the Haitian Vodoun context they have wide ranging associations. For example Simbi Makaya is a great sorcerer, and served in particular in the Sanpwel secret societies. Simbi Anpaka is a Loa of plants, leaves, and poisons.

Milo Rigaud (City Lights, NY; c1969; "Secrets of Voodoo") speaks of Simbi as the Vodou Mercury, the messenger of Legba (the Sun). In this aspect Simbi is the bearer of souls to all places, and the creative principle."

Here is a picture associated with Simbi:


Works Cited:
-http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary/s3.htm
-http://manbodanielemangones.com/art/about.htm

Christine and Ida

The sections entitled Christine and Ida in the novel A Yellow Raft in Blue Water give great insight and provide great closure for the novel as a whole. After reading the section Rayona and then proceeding to read Christine it was interesting to see Rayona's place within Christine's life. It seems to me that Rayona has in a way replaced Lee's place in Christine's life. This idea partially comes from both Rayona and Lee's relationships with Christine and Dayton. Dayton came between Christine and Lee; however, he brings Rayona back to Christine and works as a mediator between the two. Rayona takes on many aspects that Lee previously had including her rodeo riding, importance in Christine's life, and relationship with Dayton. Both Rayona and Lee are seen as two of the most important people in Christine's life; however, Christine is more worried about herself and being the center of attention in both instances with Rayona and Lee. In Rayona's section of the novel I, as the reader, learned to not like Christine as a mother to Rayona; however, the section about Christine gave great insight into why things happened the way they did. This section definitely made me feel less angry towards Christine but the negative feelings were not all the way diminished.
The section from Ida's perspective is very interesting and ties together many of the loose ends in the novel. This section diminished even more of the dislike felt towards Christine. I found it very interesting to find out that Ida liked to be called Aunt Ida and not mother because she was in fact not Christine's mother. This fact was a surprise as through the other sections I was not able to realize this. Christine's experience with Ida explains further why she is the way she is and unable to let people into her life until the end of her section of the novel. Ida is a very interesting character and I really enjoyed reading about her life and her sacrifices for Christine, Lee, and Rayona.
This novel was a pleasure to read and I found every character and the mysteries behind them very intriguing.