The first chapter of To the American Indian by Lucy Thompson was quite bland initially. The beginning of the chapter is full of blunt statements about people and events involving Bill McGarvey's store. Once the narration shifted to focus on cultural practices, such as those involving marriage, I became much more engaged. One practice that I thought was really interesting was the "half-married system" in which the woman is in complete control of the man and the children. This practice seems very radical, considering the fact that many cultures often yield power to the male primarily.
Also, it was interesting to hear about the doctors and how many of them were actually women. The process that one must go through in order to become a doctor sounds so intense! Those that are chosen to be doctors must partake in rituals that go on until they are at the point of physical exhaustion. Though these rituals seem questionable from an outside perspective, I also think that these are acts of purification and self-renewal. Maybe the future doctors deprive themselves of rest, food, etc. so that they can learn to appreciate the power of these things afterwards.
Another aspect of the book that I found fascinating was the arrangement of the chapters. It jumps from general history to cultural stories and traditions, then onto the language. The book is painting a picture of her whole culture and weaving all aspects of it together. I am interested to see where this book takes us next...
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I agree with the statement that you made in the second paragraph concerning the lengths that prospective doctors had to go to. It seems beneficial for a doctor to be able to identify with the patients that he/she is treating, the sick. As for the role of gender, I am excited to learn more about different tribes and compare them to European norms. Hopefully we will get some sense of why those differences exist.
ReplyDeleteI share your interest in the role of women in the culture of the Native Americans. Through the examples of the "half marriages" and female doctors, it kind of shows that in certain instances women are able to take on a sort of male role within society. I was not expecting to come across this in such an old culture. Through out our learning we have almost always learned to associate women with being trapped to the suppressed "housewife" type roles in society rather than actually having opportunity to take a male role.
ReplyDeleteThe gender question is really interesting, and in many Native societies, women had greater political, personal, and social freedoms. I like your metaphor of the book like Thompson is weaving something. There is that picture of her with the baskets towards the front, and I wonder if this book is like a literary basket.
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