Web of connection

I guess the easiest way to get there is to explain how some of the books I read for this Native American Heritage month were selected. The Killing of Crazy Horse and The Last Stand came from reading book reviews, which has been fairly typical in the past.

She's Tricky Like Coyote was referenced in The People Are Dancing Again, from the 2012 reading, so it should not have been too surprising when there were things that were familiar, like the story of how the tribes were moved, and then when they had to move again, and Tyee John.

Still, it did feel familiar, and then in the other books as I read about the Washita or Sitting Bull's time in Canada, I already knew those things. Both come from the 2010 reading, but together they led to this feeling that thing are starting to connect. There are phrases that I know, and derivations that I understand. I am gaining a background knowledge. At the same time, there was this realization of how much there is that I don't know. Athabaskan keeps coming up, and I don't really know anything about it. I don't know much about the Seminole. I am only starting to grasp the political influence of the Iroquois.

Some of those things are fairly specific, but there are broader issues too. Some of the schools, and the students' experiences, must have similarities with the experiences of Australian Aboriginals and the Stolen Generation. I haven't thought about Pacific Islanders, and their experience with colonialism, but that would relate.

So there is a lot to learn, and I do want to learn it all, but also, things start connecting. Spider-Woman's Granddaughters was also in the back of a book, but it was from Queen Bees and Wannabes, one of my books from my other project. Finding referrals like that in my other reading made me realize I want to make a point of always having some material in a reading month that focuses on women, or at least on a specific woman.

One thing I have worried about in previous months is how easy it is to ignore Native Americans, but they are everywhere. I didn't mention it yesterday, but I also watched a short film for this round, about the Virginia tribes:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/26/meet-virginia-tribes-native-american-heritage-month-152424

I found this through a tweet from Indian Country Today Media Network. I believe I found them through a tweet from Jesse Valenzuela of the Gin Blossoms. ICTMN was also how I found this article:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/01/29/intricate-beadwork-jackie-larson-bread-10-pictures-153329

I thought looking at an artist with each reading section could be a good thing, but I am not sure what to do other than look, or whether it counts. Jackie Larson Bread's beadwork is amazing, but I am not sure how to incorporate it into the month.

I had been thinking about looking at artists because of Bunky Echo-Hawk. He had an exhibit at the Field Museum while we were in Chicago, and I thought, Art! I still don't know how to incorporate it, other than to look and appreciate it:

http://bunkyechohawk.com/

However, Echo-Hawk is also a musician, and I do know what to do with music: I review it on my blog. That also relates to Jesse, because one of the bands he led me to was Sunshine Collective, and when I was listening to them the singer's voice reminded me a little of Buffy Sainte-Marie, who has done a lot more than "Sesame Street", even if that is how I know her. That led to me remembering that there is also Rita Coolidge, and Litefoot, and then I remembered "For the Generations". I only remembered that one girl initially, but as I tried to determine her name (I think she was Jana Mashonee) I saw there were others: Jaynez, Martha Redbone, and Women of the Four Winds, and Robert Mirabal and Bill Miller. Also, it reminded me that one of the bands who followed me and is in line for review is Lakotah DJ.

I kind of had a similar experience as I was wrapping up Black History month, and was able to get the March comic. I thought about trying to find a comic that would work here. I don't really care for Manitou Dawn, but there must be others, and suddenly there was a MOOC, and that's how I knew about Scalped. I was excited, and planning to read the whole series, and then I kind of hated it, but it's still a start. However, I found a site for comics, and another for children's literature:

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/nacomics.htm

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

Perhaps I should mention that my best current source on Native American issues, Lauren Chief Elk. She, along with other valuable feminist sources, came to me because of Sydette Harry and Mikki Kendall. I found them through Gail Simone, because of comics.

I also found a video on Black Indians that should be good, but I am counting it with Black History month instead, because it didn't come from the library in time. However, it is from Rich-Heape Films, and it looks like they have all kinds of good stuff:

http://www.richheape.com/

The wealth of information is encouraging, and the opportunities for immersion, but also the way everything overlaps: music, comic books, regular books, feminism, and everything. They bump against each other, and they lead to each other, but they lead in multiple directions. That's why it's a web, and everything is interconnected.

I have had this thought before, but I don't know that I have written it. I have heard the saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. I suspect it is more that there are teachers everywhere, and you start to notice it when you begin to look.