I found it fascinating to learn about the medicine bundles in the second microlecture. Before this microlecture, I never really had any idea that medicine bundles actually existed and conveyed so much information. I do wonder what exactly or how exactly contents in the medicine bundle would reveal a spiritual path and what exactly a spiritual path would entail? I would agree with Michelle in wondering what would have happened if the Europeans who came to the Americas actually took the time to figure out the different Native Americans cultures or ask what the different gift that the natives gave them meant. One can wonder if the world we see today, the America we know today, would have been different. Perhaps some of those massacres mentioned in the book wouldn't have happened if the pilgrims knew what the Natives were trying to tell them.
The wampum belts were also something that I have found interesting. I believe that I have seen some version of them as more aesthetic designs over the years or at least belts that have been "inspired" by these wampum belts. Whatever the case, I know that I have seen them before and never realized that they told a story. Sometimes the way in which they are weaves are so simplistic that people in the past considered them designs when in reality they told narratives. It's amazing to see all the different ways in which Native Americans communicated with one another and the different mediums they used as an alternative to writing. Sometimes we need to try and look past our own cultural perspective and stop imposing them on other cultures in order to make it easier for ourselves to understand. Not every culture may have developed in the same way as others, and we need to realize that there isn't just one way of doing something that is superior to all the rest.
These microlectures have taught me to see different Native American ways in which they used to communicate and document in ways that I have never considered before. I am beginning to see the perspective Orange portrays throughout his novel There There and see beyond what my history classes have taught over the years.
Hey Monique! I agree with what you said about the medicine bundles, those also really interested me. I think this would be a cool topic to look into more, to find out what certain medicine bundles consisted of or did for people. I also thought about the wampum belts a lot, and had similar thoughts to you about how cool it is that these seemingly unassuming designs tell a whole story!
ReplyDeleteHey Monique! I agree - it's so cool to learn about the ways of telling stories other than writing them down. This reminded me of our class excursion to the archives section of the library. It's crazy how many ways people can spread knowledge and ideas.
ReplyDeleteHey Monique! I was also impressed with the medicine bundles. I wonder if the different objects are like chapters in a book or multiple books in a series, building on each other to form one main story. Like you said, it would have been really interesting to see how white relations with Native people would have been different if they had taken the time to understand the messages of those bundles.
ReplyDeleteHi Monique! I also think that it's super interesting to see different mediums used to tell the story of a culture. You make a very important point when you talked about all mediums being equal. Every culture has their own ways of expressing themselves and developing an ability to evaluate cultures without assigning a value is essential. It's always great to watch these microlectures and learn about these different mediums of cultural expression and storytelling!
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear more about how this knowledge is impacting your reading of the novel by Tommy Orange...
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