Rayona

This blog will pertain to the chapter entitled "Rayona" in the novel A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris. I think that this chapter does a good job of giving insight into the life of Rayona as a 1/2 Black, 1/2 American Indian girl. It was interesting to me that people on the reservation discriminated against and made fun of her for not being of full American Indian ancestry. After discussing the position of certain breeds within the American Indian society this seemed to make a little more sense however. As discussed in class there is a ranking system of different 1/2 American Indian people who are mixed with another ethnicity. The ranking we discussed is as follows:
1. Black Indians and Samoan Indians
2. Mexican Indians
3. White Indians
and somewhere further down the list is Asian Indians.
This ranking system explains why Rayona wasn't as fully accepted on the reservation as her mother and her grandmother were. Rayona is not full blooded Indian and therefore she is seen as inferior within the society on her reservation.
Another interesting aspect of this chapter was the familial ties among Rayona's family and on the reservation as a whole. The separation that Rayona experienced from her dad seemed to embody the idea of matrilineal heritage. The importance of women in the determining of status within an American Indian tribe is greatly dealt with in this novel. Due to the importance of a matriarchal society it was seen that Rayona's status was affected by her mother Christine's position on the reservation. Christine was not highly admired by the people on the reservation; however, having ties with a full blooded American Indian helped Rayona at least a little.
This chapter did a great job describing reservation life and American Indian culture through the perspective of Rayona and I am excited to see the differing viewpoints of her mother Christine and her grandmother Ida.

A Look Into Society in "The Almanac of the Dead"

The Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko portrays an accurate description of life on the bottom of society through its telling of stories that embody certain characteristics of poverty, homelessness, drug use, and overall lack of everyday necessities. The characters within this novel all tell their own unique stories that all relate to each other in terms of their positions within society. There are interesting components of this novel which are incorporated in through the telling of both American Indian and other racialized characters' stories. The use of different races in telling the stories of the American Indian way of life is a major way in which Silko compares those on the bottom of society with those in other positions within the same society.
Some of the characters that portray the bottom of society are Seese, Sterling, Calabazas, Root, Lecha, and Zeta. They all have different stories but the majority of these characters' stories deal with drug use. Drug use is an apparent part of life on the bottom of the societal ladder. Seese's story shows her as using cocaine as do the stories of Calabazas and Root. Lecha abuses demerol in order to become high, while other characters are seen transporting and selling drugs over the Mexico border. There are many other indicators of characters embodying aspects of the lower level of society as well.
The American Indian culture and society uses a different ranking process within their society; however, this novel shows that these people are still affected and ranked by the overall ranking system within the American society. Being on the bottom of the societal ladder is something that is widely apparent within American Indian culture and this novel has the ability to show different sides of the experiences involved in this societal positioning.

"At the heart of fiction is where the truth sleeps"

Smoke Dancing by Eric Gansworth
Post 2

The last section of this novel seems to be where true characters of people arise. We find out the true characters of not only Bud and Mason but also of Fiction (Patricia). The events that occur in this section still portray a clash of cultures: tradition versus new ways of life. This clash is what ultimately leads the reader to seeing the true insights of the characters. Bud goes crazy and his corruption is finally revealed entirely and the people of the tribe work to resign him from the position of chief. Mason is revealed as a scumbag when he tries to force himself on Fiction and then the reader is brought back to seeing him as an okay person when he tries to save Ruby. We see Fiction change from her former self, who created works of fiction and stories/lies, into Patricia who was no longer referred to as Fiction when the tribe members realize that Bud's name should have been Fiction. Bud's corruption being revealed showed the tribe members that he was truly the one that was telling lies and making up stories; however, his stories actually harmed the reservation while Patricia's did not.
The revealing of characters was an important aspect of this section because of all the transformation that occurred not only in this section but throughout the entire novel. I really liked how the novel ended with Two Step's perspective because it showed that he was becoming an important member of the tribe and the next generation. Throughout the novel the reader doesn't get his perspective and the transformations the last section of the novel brings makes it possible for his voice to be heard and him to step up to his position within the tribe.