In Closing…

All,

Thank you for visiting my page throughout the semester. This concludes my project for AIS 101. I hope you were able to learn a few things from my blog, as I gained a great amount of knowledge from taking this class.

Thanks for visiting!

Kim

Yeha-Noha

“Yeha-Noha,” translated as “Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity,” was recorded in 1994 by a German music project known as the Sacred Spirit.  It was sung by an old Navajo man named Kee Chee Jake, who has since passed away.It was released in various countries and became very popular. It even topped the singles chart in France!

The song derived from a portion of the Navajo Shoe Game song (which is about part an old myth describing a game played among the day and night animals. The animals who discovered in which shoe a yucca ball was hidden would win a permanent state of daylight or night.) The song describes the Giant’s (Yeiitsoh) lament at the owl’s attempt to cheat by stealing the ball. The audible portions of the song say:

… shaa ninanoh’aah (you give it back to me)

… Ye’iitsoh jininaa lei’ (… The Giant says again & again…)

… ninanoh’aah (…give it back)

The Significance of the Feather

Feathers are arguably one of the most well-known symbols of American Indian culture. When people think of Indians, they think or feathered headdresses. However, not too many people know what these feathers actually mean to the Native Americans who don them. I, myself was not too familiar with the deeper meaning of these feathers. I knew that they were some sort of religious garb, but I had no clue what these feathers spiritually entailed, so I did some research and this is what I found:

In general, feathers are worn by the chief to show their spiritual abilities to speak with the Great Spirit. These feathers are a symbol of prayer, ideas, and honor. Specifically, each type of feather has a different symbolic interpretation. The eagle feather is what the chiefs dress themselves with and represent honor and a connection with the Creator. Goose feathers are used to represent flight and are used when making arrows. The turkey feathers are used to decorate Kachina masks which are worn at various ceremonial dances. These feathers that are worn may be plain, beaded, or decorated in other ways. Usually, when feathers are artistically used, they are arranged in a circle, symbolizing the sun and the creator.

Another well-recognized symbol of Native American culture dealing with feathers is the dream catcher. Dream catchers originated from the Ojibway (Chippewa) tribe and were used as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. As the legend goes, the bad dreams are supposed to get caught in the web, and the good dreams pass through to the child. Traditionally, there is also at least one bead that is tied in to the middle of the web This bead is said to catch strength and knowledge from the dreams floating in the air and sends it to the sleeping child.

Disney’s Portrayal of American Indians

When many people think of American Indians in a Disney movie, the first thing they think about is the historic tale of Pocahontas and John Smith. Pocahontas is an animated film, but has life-like characters. A seemingly accurate dictation, the film uses native Powhatan language in several scenes, and does not show signs of exaggerated Native American stereotypes dealing with clothing, war rituals, etc. I decided to look up some Native opinions about this movie, and the biggest criticism was that the chief’s name in the movie was Powhatan, whereas in real life is was Wahunsonacock. Other criticism was mainly that the Indians in this cartoon were talking to a spiritual willow tree and to animals. I, personally do not this this should be offensive to any race, becuase it is in fact a cartoon to grab the attention of young children. Children love animals and using their imagination; this aspect of the movie is not meant to be taken literally that Indians and animals communicate with each other as a working system.

I looked up another Disney classic film where there is a very different interpretation of Native Indians. Peter Pan shows a scene where the white children are asking and Indian tribe about their heritage. They sing to answer this question. First off, the scene starts off with the children smoking from a peace pipe. However Wendy passes it by and John gets sick because of it, which encourages viewers to think negatively about the Native peace pipes. When the Native woman speaks about the squaws, she uses improper English and Wendy mocks her when talking back to her. This part of the song indicates that modern Indians are uneducated. The biggest problem of all with this song “What Makes the Red Man Red?” is the fact the the answer the Indians give is that they were once White, and kissing a pretty girl made them permanently blush, making their skin red, and different than the White man’s. I feel like this Disney scene is way more offensive than the movie Pocahontas, which was previously talked about.

Smoke Signals

Recently, our class finished watching Smoke Signals, produced by Chris Eyre in 1998, and based off of Sherman Alexie’s book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto’s Fistfight in Heaven. The film started out with Thomas narrating a story about how his parents’ house got burnt down. His parents threw Thomas out the window as a baby and Victor’s dad, Arnold saved him. At this point the audience does not know how the fire was started. As the movie progresses, we see flashbacks of Victor’s and Thomas’ childhood growing up. Thomas lived with his grandmother, and Victor lived with his alcoholic parents when his dad left him about 10 years ago. Later, when the boys are about 20 years old, they find out that Arnold has passed away and they travel to his trailor in Arizona, looking for a sense of closure. Along the way, they run into some adventures, and eventually reach the trailor where they meet a woman named Susie who claimed to be a good friend of Arnold’s. She told Victor about how much Arnold talked about him, and how much he wanted to go back to be with the family he loved. She also told him the real story about how the fire started that killed Thomas’ parents. Arnold had been drunkenly setting off fireworks when one flew into the house and caught fire, but as the fire raged, Arnold ran into the house to save Victor first. This was the fist time Victor heard these stories and went back into his trailor to find out more about his father. He found a picture of his family still in his wallet, with a caption that read “Home.” Victor finally understood the unconditional love his father had for his family, and he cut his hair for mourning. He and Thomas took his father’s ashes and headed home. On the way back they got into a car accident because a drunken driver ahead of them hit a girl on the side of the road. Thomas stayed with the girl while Victor ran 20 miles for help. The drunken driver tried to blame everything on the two Indians, even though they were in fact the heroes of that night. The officers believed Victor and Thomas over the drunk man and they were set free to continue home. The whole trip that lasted 6 days brought these two boys closer together as they found the closure they sought. The movie ended when Victor dumped his father’s ashes into the big river to become one with the earth again.

Lost Sparrow

On Thursday, April 1^st, I had the privilege of attending a screening of Lost Sparrow here at the University of Illinois. Producer Chris Billings screened his documentary and then hosted a question and answer session afterward. I must say, I did not expect this film to be as shocking as it was, stirring up mixed feelings and controversial ideals. This film was about a family of ten kids in upstate New York. There were 4 biological children and 6 adopted children (5 of whom were Native American). Of the Native Americans, the film centered on the 4 Crow children who were all siblings and adopted from a reservation in Montana. Billings motivation for producing this film came as a search for answers about how his two adopted Crow brothers, Bobby and Tyler, died on the train tracks when they were only 13 and 11 years old respectively. What we discovered, however, were even more deeper family secrets than he ever imagined.

The adoptive mother, Diane, and another sibling commented on how the father of this big family, Stu, always seemed to be short tempered. He loved the children and told everyone he worked with about his family, but he was also unfaithful to his wife and had trouble controlling his anger. One day, Diane had walked in on Stu molesting Lana, the older of the adopted Crow sisters. Diane never brought this to police but testified that after she witnessed this, she never left those girls alone with Stu again. However, the sexual abuse didn’t stop, and one day Bobby walked in on another episode of this molestation and tried to stop it. That night, Bobby and Tyler ran away, in attempts to find help. Officials believe that the boys were trying to find away to get themselves back to the reservation in Montana when they were struck and killed by a train. Since then, Lana became a struggling alcoholic and had several run-ins with the law. When interviewed, she said that Stu basically ruined her life, and that she never knew what love was because of him. Later in the film, Stu and other family members went to see Lana (now a grown woman in South Carolina) to apologize and ask for forgiveness. Lana said she’ll forgive but she won’t forget. The damage he did was already done, and her life was ruined because of it. Later, Chris recorded an audio message from his father, and while he didn’t come right out and say that he sexually abused Lana, he confessed to the fact that he believes Bobby and Tyler were killed because of his mistakes. His sins are what drove the two boys away to find help and Stu said that he couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for their deaths.

Chirs Billings went to the Crow reservation to talk with the biological parents of these four children. One of the things they wanted was for their two sons to be buried on their Native land so their spirit can be finally put to rest. Billings honored their wishes and the documentary ended with the boys’ bodies finally being buried in their Native rite.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this documentary, but I was just shocked by all of the events that occurred. I could not believe that the mother did not go to the police with these cases of sexual violence, and that nothing was done to protect Lana. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that two innocent boys died trying to find someone to save their sister, and yet, the sole perpetrator was still not charged for child molestation. I also came to ponder some “what-if” questions, and how different this whole scenario would have been if some things were changed around. What if Stu would have molested the other two adopted girls; would Bobby and Tyler still have died from the train? What if Diane had spoken up; would Lana’s alcoholic misery have been prevented? What if Stu molested his own biological daughter; would Diane have gotten the police involved then? Obviously these are just thought-provoking questions. The damage has been done, and nothing can change it. Chris Billings did a remarkable job exposing the dark secrets of his family and putting other rumors to rest.

Mascots: The Seminole Story

As I’ve learned already, the NCAA ruled that all affiliated universities would not be allowed to participate in any post-season tournaments if they had a Native American mascot. However, there was one exception to this ruling. The Florida State University was able to keep their Seminole for various reasons.

Unlike the University of Illinois, Florida State University has gone further than half-time shows to prominently display their symbol’s heritage. In 2003, FSU built a twice life-size bronze statue of Osceola in front of their Doak Campbell Stadium entitled “Unconquered.” The life-like portrayal of the Seminole on horseback shows no sign of discrimination to the Seminole tribe. The Seminole warrior is raising a spear while the horse is on its hind legs. The “Unconquered” statue is a definite sign of honor and respect to the Seminoles.

While the monument itself is admirable, Florida State went even further to display Seminole culture. In a documentary put on by Florida State University on their portrayal of their symbol, it is evident that the Seminoles are more than just a team mascot, and are a clear symbol to the entire student body. FSU honors the Seminole traditions and does not just use their name for their athletic teams. Every graduation begins with the Seminole tribe’s color guard, and has a special recognition award for personal ties to the tribe. They also recruit Seminole students and offer scholarships to help them attend and carry on the spirit of the Seminole. Also, a Seminole junior princess participates in the homecoming parade and even crowns the homecoming princess and chief.

With the cooperation of the tribal council, members of the Seminole Tribe and Florida State University are working together to put forth even more efforts to recognize Seminole heritage and culture to ensure that all FSU students understand the Seminole name and history. Because of these culture preserving measures, the NCAA felt the Seminole symbol was beneficial to the community and exempted FSU from their verdict.

Mascot Debate – Chief Opposers

Contrary to the previous post, there were many people who sided with the NCAA’s decision and opposed of having Chief Illiniwek as the University of Illinois’ mascot. Arguably the most passionate and out-spoken opposer to the chief is Charlene Teters. Teters was a graduate student from the University of Illinois’ School of Art and Design, and a member of the Spokane Tribe who courageously spoke out about the racial stereotyping that the U of I mascot portrayed in October of 1990.

Teters was interviewed in the documentary “In Whose Honor” when she was quoted: “You cannot ignore the religious significance of the symbol that you use in you halftime display. …You are using a religious symbol to excite the fans. If you used other religions’ symbols in the same way, you would be quickly set straight. ”

Teters brought up a great point with an analogy that most non-natives could relate to. Before her remark, the students, faculty, and alumni all thought that Chief Illiniwek was honoring the Native Americans when he danced around at athletic events, but then it became clear that Chief Illiniwek’s dance and costume were not even authentic.

According to Joseph Gone, another Illinois graduate student and member of the Gros Ventre tribe, “the Illini were Woodlands people–not Plains people–and as a result evidenced an entirely different material culture than the Lakota people whose clothing the current Chief dons. The Chief’s dance was reportedly derived from a Lakota ritual known as the Devil’s Dance.”

Because of this misrepresentation of Illini heritage, Teters convinced the Council of Deans that the symbolic interpretaion of Chief Illiniwek was harmful to the Native American community at the University of Illinois.

Teters’ fight conrtibuted greatly to the NCAA declaration that Chief Illiniwek was degrading to the Indian peoples and banned U of I from hosting any post-season events until he was rid of.

Mascot Debate: Those in Favor of Chief Illiniwek

As stated in the previous post, in 2005 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banned all schools portraying Native Americans as mascots from participating in any NCAA post-season championships.

Most non-Native American supporters of Indian mascots argue that they are merely trying to honor the Indians by showing the sports team’s “fighting spirit” in the Indians’ name. However, these non-natives do not see the underlying and dehumanizing meanings portrayed by their actions. I watched a video for one of my other classes called “In Whose Honor,” which was a documentary of the debate over the loss of University of Illinois’ mascot Chief Illiniwek. The film interviewed several members of the University’s staff to express their voice in the matter. When asked about her opinion of the mascot debate, the non-Native U of I trustee at the time, Susan Gravenhorst claimed: “Well, the Native Americans aren’t as involved as we are in this situation, and perhaps they don’t even understand how we’re presenting the Chief. Perhaps they should come to a game…To me, it’s a compliment.”

Most supporters of the Chief were reluctant to accept the decision of the NCAA and U of I’s compliance. Even Roger Ebert, an accredited media commentator, opposed the movement to rid of Illiniwek. I found an article where he stated, “We live in the State of Illinois, named for the Illini Tribe of Native Americans. It was inescapable that the state university would celebrate an Illini Chief. The Chief was never a ‘mascot,’ and indeed goes so far back that he pre-dates the use of ‘mascots’ for most sports teams. A case could be made that he was the single most positive public image of Indians in Illinois.”

Despite the efforts made by these Chief-supporters, the Chief Illiniwek was retired Feb 21, 2007.

Stereotypes in Native American Mascots

When it comes to stereotyping, the name of the team is not as much of a controversy as the imagery associated with these mascots. The imagery that is controversial is the actions that are not historically correct. These interpretations are what are viewed by the general public and thus, the culture of Native Americans is misunderstood. For example, when a white student dresses up in fake Indian garb, wearing war paint and turkey feathers, and dances around chanting a phony war cry, it crosses the line of honoring the Indians, and rather becomes insulting to their heritage. These stereotypical images dehumanize Indian people by reducing them to props and invoking them for their association with ‘wildness,’ violence or supposed physical attributes. Native Americans argue that if the sports fans want to honor Native Americans, they should honor the Native treaties. They do not feel honored by being made mascots for America’s fun and games.

To further illustrate the seriousness of this matter, the term “redskin” is so demeaning to the Indians that it has the same effect as referring to African Americans as “niggers.” Because the term “nigger” is so politically incorrect, the general public refrains from even saying the term, let alone making it a school mascot. This correlation alone should be enough to end the open use of the term “redskin” and abolish any teams named the Redskins.

The Native Americans tried to gain some control over this horrific racial issue and took matters to the Supreme Court in regards to the use of Indian mascots in NCAA collegiate sports teams. As a result, in 2005 the NCAA, the governing body of college sports, banned the use of American Indian nicknames and mascots by sports teams during postseason tournaments. In the NCAA statement regarding the use of Indian mascots, it was stated:

“Colleges and universities may adopt any mascot that they wish, as that is an institutional matter. But as a national association, we believe that mascots, nicknames, or images deemed hostile or abusive in terms of race, ethnicity, or national origin should not be visible at the championship events that we control.”

This was a great victory for the Indian tribes in the fight for racial equality. There were 18 NCAA teams that portrayed an Indian as a mascot, and the consequence of losing their chance to participate in post-season championships motivated them to change their mascot and end their abhorrent racial discrimination.

In the upcoming posts, I will focus on two specific schools, University of Illinois and Florida State University. Both of these institutions have very different stories when it comes to the NCAA ruling against their mascots.