The Native American Elements of Lady in the Water

Christie DanielsThe University of Texas at El Paso

Creation

Creation stories play a very important role in Native American culture.

These stories, like Native American society, often blend the natural and the supernatural and feature animals and creatures in central roles.

Spider-Woman/Thought-Woman

Ts’its’tsi’nako, Thought-Woman,is sitting in her room

and whatever she thinks aboutappears.

Thought-Woman, the spider,Named things and As she named them

They appeared.

She is sitting in her roomThinking of a story now

I’m telling you the storyShe is thinking.

Silko (1).

Leaders and Heroes

Native American tribes do not possess the Western concept of the hero.

There are leaders, to be sure, but the tribal mentality emphasizes the worth of all individuals (and creatures) as everybody has an important role to play.

Consequently, leaders often do not start as, typical Western heroes, seemingly extraordinary in many ways but rather simply, and often quietly, play the role they are meant to play when the time comes.

The Emergence of Fools Crow“And it occurred to him that the others had

quit teasing him so unmercifully. He was no longer the victim of jokes, at least not more so than any of the others. No one had called him dog-lover since the raid on the Crows. He hadn’t really noticed it until now, but the people seemed to respect him” (Welch 51-52).

Balance

In the movie, the supremely evil Tartutic are necessary. They are the force of justice. Without this evil force, peace could not be kept in the Blue World.

This instance represents the ideal that balance is supremely important in Native American tribal life.

Whereas Western society emphasizes the triumph of good over evil, Native American tribes seek to keep the two forces in balance as each has their role to play.

"traditional American Indian literatures possess a unity and harmony of symbol, structure, and articulation that is peculiar to the American Indian world. This harmony is based on the perceived harmony of the universe and on thousands of years of refinement. This essential sense of unity among all things flows like a clear stream through the songs and stories of the peoples of the western hemisphere" (Allen 75).

“But don’t be so quick to call something good or bad. There are balances and harmonies always shifting, always necessary to maintain” (Silko 130).

Importance of Stories/Storytellers

Owing to its reliance on oral tradition, Native American culture values stories and storytellers.

Stories are told and retold (in a variety of ways) in order to equip the next generation with the tools they need.

As such, stories are seen, not simply as frivolity, but rather as reality.

I will tell you something about stories[he said]

They aren’t just entertainment.Don’t be fooled.

They are all we have, you see,All we have to fight off

Illness and death.

You don’t have anythingIf you don’t have the stories.

Their evil is mightyBut it can’t stand up to our stories.So they try to destroy the stories

Let the stories be confused or forgotten.They would like thatThey would be happy

Because we would be defenseless then.

(Silko 2).

‘This isn’t my guitar… But I’m gonna change the world with it’ (Alexie 13).

“Thomas Builds-the-Fire’s stories climbed into your clothes like sand, have you itches that could not be scratched. If you repeated even a sentence from one of the stories, your throat was never the same again. Those stories hung in your clothes and hair like smoke, and no amount of laundry soap or shampoo washed them out” (Alexie 15).

‘so… who’s the lead singer?’ (Alexie 52).

Interpreting signs

Just as in the movie, the interpretation of signs is vital in Native American culture and literature.

First of all, this is essential from a survival standpoint in that a failure to read signs, makes one susceptible to lurking dangers.

Additionally, in Native American literature, characters who listen to and are able to interpret signs are often saved, protected, or redeemed, while those who ignore or fail to recognize signs often find themselves in unfortunate circumstances.

“Junior always expected his visions to come true. Indians were supposed to have visions and receive messages from their dreams. All the Indians on television had visions that told them exactly what to do” (Alexie 18).

Junior eventually commits suicide.

CeremoniesCeremonies in Native American tribes serve as a healing

force not only in the lives of the afflicted individual but rather for the tribe as a whole.

"The purpose of the ceremony is to integrate: to fuse the individual with his or her fellows…. The person shed the isolated, individual personality and is restored to conscious harmony with the universe" (Allen 62).

"an isolated or alienated individual is a sick one, so the healing practice centers on reintegrating the isolated individual into the matrix of the universe" (88).

"And whether the ritual traditions are in ceremony, myth, or novel, the nourish the people. They give meaning. They give life" (101).

The movie ends in a ceremony.Isolation = sickness

Heep – isolates himselfLeeds represents an older version of the path Heep is on

ReintegrationStory goes home – reenters her worldHeep is healed both physically (stutter) and emotionallyLeeds is given a purpose in the groupThe residents all come out of their own worlds and come

together for the ceremonyMeaning and Life

Leeds and Heep finally given meaning and purpose

What She Said:

The Only CureI knowIs a good ceremony,That’s what she said.

(Silko 3)