Reading Envy Readers discussion

Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Pacific Islands

Well I'm excited for Week 3 because it's my old stomping grounds, and in the USA at least, you spend 4th grade and 8th grade learning local history. So we wrote our own myths, made masks, had our own potlatch, visited a "chief" who told stories, etc.

But also my Mom was friends with a man from one of the local rez's so I've had very super authentic salmon baked over an open fire on the coast of Oregon.... you just can't beat it.

So this section feels a little more familiar and I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm starting this section now. I like to read the introduction to each section and make note of the history of the nations in the region and how the spoken/written word has evolved.

The part I find striking here is that the native nations of Alaska are still in their historic lands and have watched the evolution of the land and development around them.

Elizabeth☮ wrote: "The part I find striking here is that the native nations of Alaska are still in their historic lands and have watched the evolution of the land and development around them. "

Yes, this is a different feeling. I've read two memoirs by Ernestine Hayes, who is still living, and in her lifetime her larger community was pushed out of their summer lands in Juneau by the government because they wanted to put tourist stuff in there. Ugh.

I'm reading Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West right now which just makes my heart fall apart. Oh America has done some wrongs and just erases the history.

Elizabeth☮ wrote: "I'm reading Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West right now which just makes my heart fall apart. Oh America has done some wrongs and just erases the history."

I did the audio for that one but missed out on the art. Do you have a physical copy?

I think this article has some relevant information.

Elizabeth☮ wrote: "I think this article has some relevant information."

Interesting, thank you. So one way to reclaim land is to plant indigenous plants... I feel like this is something everyone could do, in a respectful way. (My husband keeps trying to grow plants that aren't from our region and getting upset when they die, lol. Right now he's trying Oregon marionberries but we've said goodbye to a palmetto, an orange tree, a kiwi....)

I like the idea of planting indigenous plants also. My husband loves to plant trees and flowers and all kinds of plants. We lost a lot of our plants in the big freeze (even though we brought the plants inside, many of them didn't make it). He does a lot of research and tries to get trees and plants that will grow in Texas.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Elizabeth☮ wrote: "I'm reading Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West right now which just makes my heart fall apart. Oh America has done some wrongs and just erases..."

I have an actual copy of the book. The pictures appear to be done with pastels or color pencils. They truly do add to the descriptions of the landscape. I also like that many of the persons interviewed have pictures that are drawn rather than actual photographs. It seems to capture the personality in a different way.

I thought I'd throw my notes in here. I need to prioritize reading poetry this week as I'm a little late in reading the next section.

First of all, I'll say we all learned about Chief Seattle in school where I grew up, so that person at least was familiar to me. I think since my Mom had spent some time doing service projects on the Yakima reservation while in high school, she had a deeper connection with that history.

So this is going to be one section where I'm going to disagree with decisions were made about groupings. I find it hard to find common ground between Pacific Islanders and Pacific Northwest! I almost see more in common with the great Canadian tribes like the Haida.... so it was a little disruptive for me to encounter the poems as they were organized and interfiled here. I'm just trying to be honest about my own struggles because half the battle seems to be my own expectations.

"There is No Word for Goodbye" by Mary Tallmountain was lovely because of the sentiment but also because of what it teaches us about how differently time and relationships are thought of in native populations. It definitely hearkened back to some of the novels and memoirs I read. To me, it also points to why forced relocation is even more painful!

The only other poem I marked was "A Poem for the Háawtnin' & Héwlekipx [The Holy Ghost of You, The Space & Thin Air] by Michael Wasson. It is super contemporary (I will be seeking out more by this poet!) but also feels so grounded in tradition. The words are so crunchy, loved how it felt to read it out loud.

Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Pacific Islands

My highlights:
There Is No Word For Goodbye

We always think you're coning back
but if you don't
we'll see you some place else
You understand
There is no word for goodbye.

Weaving
Weaving baskets you twine the strands into four parts

Spirals hold all this design airtight and pure. This is our house, over and over.

the roots will eat inside
We will be together in this basket.
We will be together in this life.

Make Rope
get this old man
he live by my house
he just make rope
everyday
you see him making rope

and nobody wen ask him


why?
how come?
he always making
rope

one by one
strand by strand
we become
the memory of our people

and
we still growing
to
be proud
do good
and
make rope
boy
make rope.