Week 8: There There Microlecture 1 and Keeping Stories Alive

    The first microlecture brought up a lot of interesting points of how skewed Native American history/literature is compared to the truth of the original material. It is interesting how the Europeans really didn’t know what they were seeing upon entering Native American lands, both with the Pocahontas story and Columbus who believed he was in Asia. I have never seen the Pocahontas movie or the story, but from what I understand, it has been retold to be a love story of two cultures coming together naturally. It’s also interesting how an Abnaki Indian named Samoset already spoke English, completely throwing off the European’s expectations of an inhospitable and “savage” people. It is both sad and unsurprising that the cause of these issues stem from nothing more than ignorance– from biases, fear, resistance to change, and simply not knowing what to make of everything. If I were to take away one thing from the microlecture to apply to There There, it would be how much emphasis there is about keeping Native American stories and culture alive, whether it be passed down verbally, traditional dances, interviewing Native Americans, or more, there is a clear importance of putting indigenous background in the spotlight, especially considering how much was taken from them. It is also worth mentioning how much of that stealing is unacknowledged or swept under the rug in the grand scheme of things.

Comments

  1. HeatherLNovember 13, 2022 at 7:10 PM

    Hey Andrew! I was also intrigued by the image of startled Europeans realizing that Samoset could speak English to them. It just goes to show you how many preconceived notions they had when coming to what they thought was the "New World." When reading There There, I noticed that many of the indigenous characters have preconceived notions about each other, which is a theme that I guess continues to show itself in indigenous history.

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  2. Paulos HabtewoldNovember 14, 2022 at 9:59 AM

    Hi Andrew, ignorance is often the reason for most issues in the world. I really like the connection you made between ignorance being one of the reasons that cause issues and the emphasis in There There on teaching people about the culture and sophistication of Native Americans.

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