BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE/ANNA MAE AQUASH/OREGON/AMERICAN INDIANS/THE REDSKINS/JOHN TRUDELL/SHERMAN ALEXIE/ME

When I wrote BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE/ANNA MAE AQUASH REDUX it was in response to a comment left on I LISTENED TO BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE AGAIN. It was a quick post and not well thought out…considered taking it down and rewriting it but I left it up because I am a beginning blogger, I have terrible writing skills but this blog is about ME and my life in the West.

Oregon is not the same state that I grew up in….Since I moved back I realize how rich and tragic it is. I realize how little I know about Oregon. It is a fascinating state. The West is fascinating in its vastness, old growth forests, mountains and high desert. I attended school for 15 years in Oregon and did not know that the Japanese were sending hot air balloons with bombs over here….my first thought was embarassment at what a bad student Iwas. Then I called my sister who was a good student and even finished college! She was just as surprised as I was. But that’s another post.

I grew up knowing nothing about Indians. Never met or saw one….Ever. The Siletz Indian Reservation was not far away but as was reiterated my entire youth, Goddamn Indians are a bunch of drunks living off of my tax dollars. Actually we had a neighbor who is an enrolled as a 1/32 Cherokee. He shares the same opinion but still goes to the reservation to get free health benefits. That’s it. I do not apologize for my ignorance.Ignorance is called ignorance for a reason. I feel horror, shame and disbelief  at the dark history of the country I grew up in. I do not comprehend the plight of Indians…and the lack of press they receive…the refusal of most Americans to consider ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING about American Indians. I have members of my  family who cannot even comprehend that the Washington Redskins should change their name. To that, I say that since Daniel Snyder is Jewish he should change the name to The Kikes and consider how much hurt that would cause Jewish people around the world. American Indians are no better than mongrel dogs in this country. Actually, they are even lower because mongrel dogs have the SPCA and 5 different varieties of  ANIMAL COPS that horrify and shock Americans at least one hour a day five days a week! I’m a dog lover but lets get things in perspective.

I am not an Indian activist or an Indian. When I read of an Indian issue with opposing views by separate groups of Indians, I don’t know who to believe. I do not know of a reliable source of Indian issues. It is easy for me as an American to read/decipher through 10 conflicting news sources form an opinion but not when it comes to Indian affairs. I don’t care what party you belong to or what race or religion you are.  In my head there is a right and wrong with SOME gray areas in between.  EVERY citizen of the United States deserves food, healthcare, a warm place to sleep, clothes and an education if one is desired. It is shameful this country has no minimum standards of living. If the United States cannot afford this minimum standard we should start with minimum standards of living for American Indians and children. If we do not take care of the next generation of all children, many will be lost to the trials of hunger, poverty, racism, hatred, abuse…We keep congratulating ourselves on how far we have moved forward but look at the racism brought out in the Presedential Election….That FOX NEWS  is on the air…that so many Americans find that acceptable….scares the hell out of me. WE SHOULD BE AFRAID. I don’t think much of network news but its ironic that most people’s image of a fox is that of an animal always trying to trick and deceive you. THE FOX IS IN THE HENHOUSE. The only other animal they could have named their network would be WOLF which to white people would conjur up LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD or a WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING.

For the most part, I think Indians face problems only they can understand or remedy. Just as problems women face cannot be understood by men.  I believe that common sense and the ability to put yourself in someone elses shoes, is not asking too much of human beings. My Dad was no fan of Indians but he once told me that good manners are what make the world go around. If individuals and countries had manners and respected each other there would be less fighting. My Dad was a 20 year Naval veteran of both the Korean and Vienam conflicts so I try to take the good he had to say and disregard the rest. Took me awhile to figure that one out!

I it not fun writing these painful thoughts that have been plaguing me for a few days. But they needed to come out so let me turn to Sherman Alexie and John Trudell.

I would like to lie and say I came across John Trudell because I was actively pursuing the inclusion of Indians in my array of things that interest me but…

I was in Virginia at a music store when I spied BONE DAYS and its cool cover art. I looked at the back and saw that Angelina Jolie who I think is interesting was executive producer (or something like that) and THAT  is why I bought it. If I were stranded on a desert island I would want that album with me. Like the Buffy Sainte-Marie album I know that every time I listen to it it I will hear something new. My favorite line from BONE DAYS is

WE WEREN’T LOST AND

WE DIDN’T NEED ANY BOOK

That is one of the damn funniest, brain piercing, straight to the point, painful, heart wrenching, truthful  lines I have ever read.

A few years later I had a relative I was visiting in a Youth Correctional Facility and was always sending him books. One day while I was at Costco I saw the book FLIGHT by Sherman Alexie, bought it, read it, loved it and sent it away. Because of the cover art it almost didn’t get to the recipeint. That book was so funny I started reading more of his books which deserve posts of their own. I looked at his website and found his reccomendations for other books to read. Loved ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE (which if it was my encyclopedia would be called (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF A FUCKED UP LIFE…or maybe ENCYCLOPEDIA OF A WHITE TRASH LIFE.)

Then that fucker Alexie had some stuff about this book called CEREMONY by Leslie Marmon Silko  which just by writing the book title makes me breakdown sobbing. I thought it would be boring but form the first few pages it made me cry and cry. I cannot tell you the name of any characters or barely what the story is about  and when I picked it up to reread it I started crying all over again. It haunts my bookcase. I’m not sure why my emotions are so over the top about the mere mention of that book. I don’t want to write about it anymore.

I was dissatisfied with books I was reading for a few years and the only book that really stood out for me was AHAB’S WIFE, but Sherman Alexie has opened up a whole genre of writers like M Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, Linda Hogan….I wonder what the ratio of Indian writers per capita versus Whites in this country is. Yet it is only recently in all of my years of reading that I have ever encountered any of their books. Sherman Alexie has somehow renewed my love of books and reading. Except for Anna Akhmatova I have never liked to read poetry…now I will seek out Indian poets to read and I can’t quite figure out why that is.

This is where I am leaving off it pretty much sums up my thoughts and feelings, what little knowledge I have about Indians…the root of where I am coming from when I am writing about that particular subject.

I will be amazed if someone actually reads this whole post. I don’t know that I would.

February 6, 2009 | Categories: books, Indians, music, Oregon, poetry, politics, west | Tags: Anna Mae Aquash, books, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Indians, Oregon, west | 1 Comment »