Why do writers pretend to be Indians?
By David Treuer
It's easy to get away with it, is one reason. Indians can, and do, look like anyone. And anyone can look like an Indian. After 500 years of intermarriage, Native American racial identities (as opposed to cultural identities) comprise a wide range. Among my three siblings, one of us looks like Opie Taylor, one like Tonto, and one is a dead ringer for the Karate Kid. (I'm Opie. Opie is my spirit guide.) Then there's my sister, who looks like herself. It's pretty hard to claim you're African-American or Chinese if you don't look black or Asian.
But looks are only part of it. Native Americans make up one half of 1 percent of the U.S. population. Most Americans will go their whole lives without meeting one of us. The result: What non-Indians know about Indians does not come from the kinds of daily interactions that typically shape their understandings of people different from them. We Native Americans are dwarfed by the ideas that abound about us, and this imbalance lends itself to invention. After all, who are you to say someone is or is not a thing they say they are if you've never had any experience of that thing?
Nabokov wrote that there are three kinds of stories that are utterly taboo as far as American publishers are concerned. In addition to the subject of Lolita, "the other two are: a Negro-White marriage which is a complete glorious success resulting in lots of children and grandchildren; and the total atheist who lives a happy and useful life, and dies in his sleep at the age of 106." I would add to that list one more: relatively happy Indians going about living relatively happy lives. Sometimes people ask what I am and I say, "Native American." And they reply: "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Let's try a thought experiment. Suppose one in 10 Americans has met an Indian. That's 30 million people. Suppose another 20 million watch TV regularly and have seen Comanche Moon or Adam Beach on Law & Order: SVU. If true, that means 50 million have met or seen a real Indian recently.
The other 250 million Americans haven't. What they've seen are outdated representations of Indians: Sports mascots. Old Western movies. Car and motorcycle logos. Parade floats. Product packaging. Etc. No wonder they think all Indians look like the chiefs who lived in teepees.
For more on the subject, see The Harm of Native Stereotyping: Facts and Evidence.
10 comments:
Writerfella here --
Oh, yet another potshot (hipshot?) from that 'there ain't no such thing as Native fiction' Native article writer, who can't possibly exist himself because Natives didn't write articles, either. Besides being hilarious, Treuer must love to hold up copies of HOUSE MADE OF DAWN and claim that all the pages are blank! The natural evolution of such a jejune point of view is that, next he will deny there are no Native businesses or businessmen because Natives didn't wear suits, or there are no Native movies or moviemakers because Natives didn't make movies, or that there are no Native politicians because Natives weren't polite. What he fails to realize is that Natives aren't polite to HIM, and with damned good reasons! That guy is nuts! As well, WHO would want to meet HIM? Hmm, Treuer sounds like Troyer, specifically that short bald midget Vern Troyer who played 'Mini-Me' in the AUSTIN POWERS flicks. OMG, is THAT it? Now we know...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
If I had bet on your reaction to another Treuer article, I would've won this time.
Now that you've ragged on Treuer again, do you have anything to say about the substance of his article?
P.S. I'm guessing his name is pronounced "Truer," not "Troyer."
Writerfella here --
Then you miss the pronunciation of your own language, Rob. American 'English' derives from the Franco-American dialects visited on this continent by its 'conquerors.' Treuer has missed his own existence because he is too close to his own problem. He mistakes his own problematical realization as being exterior to his consciousness. If he cannot comprehend the elements that make up his own life's origins, then they must not exist. Too bad, simply because he loses it all as a resource to guide to him to the answers that he seeks himself. It rather is like you, Rob, seeking why you are who you are and from whence you came, and then ignoring history itself. It is not logical, but it most often is true...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
"Then you miss the pronunciation of your own language, Rob"
So, the name is NOT pronounced like "Truer"? or??? It's hard to tell what you are meaning to write about pronunciation, as you don't refer to it at all afterwards.
Writerfella here --
Mispronounce me once, shame on you. Mispronounce me twice, shame on me...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Not that you're an intellectual lightweight or anything, Russ, but apparently you have nothing to say about the substance of Treuer's article. So noted.
Yes, Russ is saying Treuer's name is pronounced "Troyer." But Treuer is German, not French. How does that affect your Franco-American assertions, Russ?
Yes, Treuer could pronounce his name "Troyer." Or one of his ancestors could've changed the pronunciation to make it sound more English. Without more information, we can't be sure.
Source:
http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Troyer-name-meaning.ashx
Troyer Name Meaning and History
1. Altered spelling of German Troier, Treuer, in the south, a topographic name for someone who lived by a cattle track Treyen (from Latin trivium ‘trail’); in the north, from an occupational name from Middle Low German troye ‘jerkin.’
Writerfella here --
If writerfella knows anything about words, being a writer fella, he knows philology. 'Treuer' indeed is a Germanic term meaning 'Christmas.' BUT -- the derivational (or etiological) source for the surname comes from the French term for Xmas in carols deriving totally from France. The term in Germanic is 'Tannenbaum,' and the term in French is 'traineau.' Oops...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
I'm not sure if the source I gave was for "Troyer," "Treuer," or both. It isn't clear.
But "Treuer" doesn't mean Christmas. The German word for Christmas is "Weihnachten" or "Weihnachtstag."
Meanwhile, "Tannenbaum" is a (Christmas) fir tree. It has no connection to the word "treuer."
If you disagree, provide some evidence for your claims. Your opinions on the subject are worthless.
Here's another source for "Treuer." It supports what seems intuitively obvious: that "treu" means "true" (steadfast) and "treuer" means "truer."
Beolingus Translations De-En
The definitions for "treuer" include:
paladin
stalwart
more faithful
trustier
P.S. Next time you want to debate etymology with me, try doing some research. Otherwise, I'll show you up, as usual.
I saw these posts and decided I needed to comment specifically about David Treuer's name (I know him personally).
1) It is indeed pronounced Troy-er
2) It has nothing to do with Christmas. His Mom is an Ojibwe Tribal Court judge, and his Dad is Jewish. Treuer is a Jewish name.
3) In addition to being a writer, he does Ojibwe language preservation and revitalization work. This is far more meaningful to tribal communities than say, writing episodes of Star Trek cartoons.
4) The "no such thing as Native Fiction" comments come from the fact that many well-known Native authors use European derived templates for their works, rather than Native ones. Reading his entire book would make his opinions clear, but I am not sure if Writerfella has the self-discipline to do so, or the self-awareness to realize that the tone of his posts don't exactly inspire respect for his opinions.
I am not signing my name, to keep from becoming a target of "Writerfella," who clearly needs to get a real job and stop smearing people he doesn't know on web pages.
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