Review of The Lacuna

The LacunaThe Lacuna is a 2009 novel by Barbara Kingsolver. It is Kingsolver's sixth novel, and won the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction and the Library of Virginia Literary Award. It was shortlisted for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Plot

The novel tells the story of Harrison William Shepherd beginning with his childhood in Mexico during the 1930s. His parents are separated so he lives back and forth between the United States with his father and Mexico with his mother. During his time in Mexico he works as a plaster mixer for the mural artist Diego Rivera then as a cook for both him and his artist wife Frida Kahlo, with whom Shepherd develops a lifelong friendship. While living with and working for them, he also begins working as a secretary for Leon Trotsky who is hiding there, exiled by Stalin.

Later in life, living in Asheville, North Carolina, Shepherd becomes a novelist and is subsequently investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee. He instructs his secretary, Violet Brown, to burn his papers and returns to Mexico. However, she saves his diaries and letters and it is these papers that form the bulk of the novel. There are gaps, or lacunae, in the story, hence the title.Barbara Kingsolver’s Artists and Idols

By Liesl SchillingerLeaving his mother to her Mme. Bovary messes, Shepherd parlays his domestic skills into a job mixing plaster for Diego Rivera’s murals (“It’s like making dough for pan dulce”) and joins the Rivera household as cook and typist for Rivera, his artist wife, Frida Kahlo, and later for their guest, the exiled Communist leader Leon Trotsky. In this incendiary, revolutionary household, Shepherd keeps mum and lets louder egos roar, just as he did on Isla Pixol. Baking bread by day, he records the daily dramas of this entourage by night, along with a draft of his first novel, an epic of the Aztec empire. But in 1940, when Trotsky is assassinated, Shepherd leaves Mexico, spooked by the virulent press that denounces his employers and their murdered ward “like the howlers on Isla Pixol.” At the age of 24, he returns to the United States and settles in Asheville, N.C. There he becomes a reclusive, gentlemanly author of swashbuckling Mexican historical novels (“Vassals of Majesty,” “Pilgrims of Chapultepec”) until the ungentlemanly House Un-American Activities Committee drags him into the spotlight, rewriting his character in crude strokes for the public stage.And:“The Lacuna” can be enjoyed sheerly for the music of its passages on nature, archaeology, food and friendship; or for its portraits of real and invented people; or for its harmonious choir of voices. But the fuller value of Kingsolver’s novel lies in its call to conscience and connection. She has mined Shepherd’s richly imagined history to create a tableau vivant of epochs and people that time has transformed almost past recognition. Yet it’s a tableau vivant whose story line resonates in the present day, albeit with different players. Through Shepherd’s resurrected notebooks, Kingsolver gives voice to truths whose teller could express them only in silence.Review: 'The Lacuna' by Barbara Kingsolver

And from Kingsolver's own website:

The Lacuna | 2009In her most accomplished novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities.

Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico—from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City—Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence.

Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach—the lacuna—between truth and public presumption.

With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.

“Kingsolver's exploration (through all five senses) of Mexican and American geographies, weather, people, food, cultures, politics, languages and era-bound events—Hoover through World War II, Truman, Nagasaki—is masterful, and a reader receives the great gift of entering not one but several worlds.”

— THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“The novel is a brilliant mix of truth and fiction, history and imagination … [making] for a compelling and utterly believable read.”

—BOOKPAGE

“As in The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver perfects the use of multiple points of view ... This is her most ambitious, timely, and powerful novel yet.”

— LIBRARY JOURNALAbout The LacunaI spent so much time thinking about Harrison Shepherd’s hard-boiled Aztec novels, I even designed their dust-jackets in my head. Immediately behind my desk is a shelf where I keep my dictionaries, the thesaurus, and the reference books I’m using most during a given project. A couple of times without really thinking I turned around to reach for Harrison Shepherd’s Vassals of Majesty or Pilgrims of Chapultepec. And then laughed at myself, out loud.And:I traveled to all the settings, on both sides of the border: Washington, D.C., Asheville, North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway, on this side. On the other, I hiked through Mexican coastal jungles, hung out in villages, went to see a brujo, visited Mexico City’s archaeological and art museums, the preserved homes of Rivera and Kahlo and the Trotskys, and their personal archives. I climbed the pyramids at Teotihuacán. I’ve spent a lot of time in Mexico over the past thirty years, living near the border in Arizona for most of that time, so I drew on the past too, digging out old notebooks from assignments in the Yucatan and elsewhere. I only set scenes in places where I’ve been myself. When I create a world for the reader, I want to do it right, using all my senses.Comment:  As in her first three books--The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, and Animal Dreams--Kingsolver deals with Native and Hispanic themes in The Lacuna. I'd rank The Lacuna with Pigs in Heaven as two of the best Native-themed books ever, even though Kingsolver isn't Native. Rob's rating: 9.0 of 10.

"Explorer fallacy" in roleplaying games

Five Destructive Myths Perpetuated by Roleplaying Games

By Oren Ashkenazi3. The Explorer Fallacy

Western culture has a bit of a fetish for explorers. We idolize them, from Marco Polo to Lewis and Clark. It’s no surprise, then, that so many of our roleplaying games focus on exploring new lands. PCs are always forging new paths through primal forest or being the first to set foot on an alien world. The problem is that, all too often, we have a completely incorrect idea of what exploration was like.

The vast majority of people we think of today as explorers were traveling through places where people already lived. They weren’t conquering untamed wilderness; they were asking for directions and buying supplies from the locals. The successful ones relied as much on diplomacy as navigation or survival.

Why does this matter? First of all, it’s pretty self-centered to say a place was discovered only when someone from our own culture got there. Far more importantly, the explorer myth pushes an idea of these new lands being effectively uninhabited. When natives are mentioned at all, they are documented more as part of the terrain than as actual residents. This is dehumanizing, and it justifies claiming a land’s resources for ourselves. After all, no one was really living there.

In roleplaying games, we’ve established an elaborate framework to justify the explorer myth. It’s amazing how the ‘evil’ races are used as obstacles to be overcome rather than neighbors that deserve respect. Orcs have a culture and society, yet no one bats an eye at intruding into their lands in search of treasure. We have the luxury of knowing that orcs can’t be reasoned with. They are inherently bad, so we don’t have to feel guilty about whatever we do to them. They are often referred to as a ‘savage’ race, inferior to civilization.

Comic-book violence is aberrational

What "Ms. Marvel" Gets Right About Comic Book Violence

By Noah Berlatsky"Gotham" is hardly the first superhero narrative to use violence as a cheap route to serious meaningfulness. It's arguably built into the Batman character from the beginning: kill a couple people right up front to distract from the premise of a super-rich guy dressing up as a bat to punch criminals in the face. Violence equals maturity--and so it's no wonder that, as superhero comics have reached for cultural legitimacy, they've become more spectacularly violent. "Watchmen" and the "The Dark Knight Returns," the two '80s comics that are most credited with making superheroes not just for kids anymore, both ratcheted up the murder and mayhem. Batman fighting a guy in clown face is goofy--but it's less goofy if roomfuls of people are murdered and the clown face guy finally gets offed in a gruesome manner. A crimefighter wearing a mask seems like it's for kids, but if the crimefighter interrogates suspects by breaking their fingers one by one, that's verisimilitude. If superheroes were real, "Watchmen" tells us, then half of New York would be a pile of bloody corpses. The logic isn't particularly convincing, but who is going to pay attention to syllogisms when you're looking at piles of adult, realistic death?

The connection between adulthood and violence is a well-established trope--think of "Full Metal Jacket," or any number of war films where the fresh-faced, innocent protagonists goes through fire and combat to become a man who understands. But even if it's ratified by Kubrick and Hemingway, the fact is that there's nothing especially realistic or mature about violence, per se. Why is having your parents shot more "real" than going to a movie with them and not having them get shot? Why are piles of dead bodies more real than spending time with your kids? We've collectively decided that violence is more real than peace; that shooting someone in the head is more real, or more important, than exchanging pleasantries. Without trauma, the superhero genre seems to say, your stories don't matter.

Which is part of why I love G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona's "Ms. Marvel." Kamala Khan doesn't become a superhero because she's traumatized; there are no dead Thomas Waynes or Uncle Bens in her origin story. Instead, she stumbled into superpowers, and then, inspired in part by her family and in part by her Muslim faith, she decides that she wants to use them to help people. And most of that helping is not especially violent--her first super-act is to save a drunk girl from drowning, and it takes her several issues to actually fight anybody. The first battle is with a confused fellow student who is sort of, kind of robbing a store; he ends up shooting her, which is presented both as low-key and as a big deal. Ms. Marvel isn't permanently hurt (she has stretchy super-powers and is invulnerable) but the one accidental shot is still presented as terrifying and wrong. Violence here isn't truth, but aberration; a fissure in real life rather than real life itself.Comment:  The stupidity of comic-book violence is one reason I created Peace Party. The idea that getting superpowers makes you want to hit people is ridiculous.

In reality, most people are nonviolent and would remain so even with superhuman abilities. In the unlikely event that they saw a mugging or robbery, they still might call the police.

Heck, they might be too busy helping the sick and poor to worry about an isolated crime. Someone like the Flash could feed and clothe hundreds of people in the time it took to save a museum artifact or laboratory gizmo.

In short, seeking violent situations is arguably a waste of most superheroes' time. Comics such as Ms. Marvel and Peace Party should be the rule, not the exception.

For more on the subject, see Violence in America.

Scientific problems in Snowpiercer

More thoughts on the movie Snowpiercer, which I commented on in Inuit Woman in Snowpiercer and Ending in Snowpiercer.

Snowpiercer had some plot and character problems, but I'm interested in the scientific and technical problems at the moment, so let's go.

** spoiler alert **

It would've been nice to say how Snowpiercer crossed the oceans in its round-the-world journey before the Earth froze.

It would've been nice to say what Snowpiercer's energy source was. I presume it was nuclear-powered, but I don't think it was ever stated.

An ice age wouldn't stop earthquakes or volcanic activity from happening. I imagine a worldwide system of tracks could go only a year or two, at most, before something jolted the rails out of alignment.

I think the movie gave some bogus reason why the train had to keep moving. Something about perpetual motion, maybe.

Even if we grant that condition, there's no reason it had to go at top speed. Going slower would use less energy and reduce the chance of accidents.

The train's rulers knew the outside temperature well enough to calculate that someone's arm would freeze in exactly seven minutes. Yet they didn't know the outside temperature was rising--enough so that people could survive outdoors. That's contradictory and therefore illogical.

In fact, the train's rulers should've had scientists monitoring the conditions outside. And they should've been glad to stop the train and send people outside--perhaps as punishment. Operating the train with ongoing social inequalities was like sitting on a ticking bomb. Eventually the system would explode.

The "tailies" had to use the last two matches in existence to start fires. FYI, you can start fires without matches or lighters. For instance, you can strike rocks or rub sticks together.

The stolen children

I forget about the kidnapped children for a while, which is a storytelling flaw. And I didn't buy the answer to their disappearance: that they were serving as manual replacements for broken parts.

I thought the children were being taken to provide food--the Solyent Green cliché--or perhaps as slaves or pets. The replacement-part idea was unexpected, to be sure, but unbelievable.

First, kids would last for only a few hours in those hot, cramped cubbyholes before they passed out. No way could they perform the same repetitive tasks for weeks or months.

Second, the train must have millions of parts and materials that would wear out or break. It inevitably would require fixes that a human child couldn't manage. Like other self-contained vehicles--a ship, submarine, or starship--it would need mechanical engineers, machine-shop facilities, and probably a "docking port" where it could stop for repairs.

To give a related example, suppose your car ran out of brake fluid, a spark plug broke, or the battery died. This isn't a Flintstones cartoon where an animal performs every function. No living creature could substitute for the mechanical failure.

Overall, though, I enjoyed Snowpiercer. It deserves some Academy Award nominations and I hope it gets some. For its bold subject and style, I give it an 8.5 of 10.

Ending in Snowpiercer

I wasn't satisfied with the ending of Snowpiercer, and neither were some others. A discussion of this ending:

** spoiler alert **

Let’s Talk About the Ending of Snowpiercer

By Lindsey WeberDirector Bong Joon-ho talked with Vulture about this very subject a few weeks back. His take? That the ending is optimistic. (Or is a happy ending just the magic of the movies?)They have no memory of what it's like to be on the Earth. For them to procreate, it's going to take a little time. So, for me, it's a very hopeful ending ... But those two kids will spread the human race ... I don't really feel everyone must die. I hope there were other survivors who lived through the avalanche, I just didn't have the means to shoot that ... You realize later on that the kids are the ones keeping this engine going, and this machinery intact. The engine is itself is on its way to extinction along with cigarettes, and other goods. Extinction is a repeated word throughout the film. But outside the train, life is actually returning. It's nature that's eternal, and not the train or the engine, as you see with the polar bear at the end.Obviously, he’s the director, it’s his movie, and he’s the definitive source on what he meant by the ending. But that doesn't mean fans haven't gone wild speculating about the scene’s inherent ambiguity. In one Reddit discussion thread, a slew of dystopian naysayers claim that, unless there are survivors elsewhere that Bong Joon-ho decided not to show on film, Tim and Yona are dead meat. "A girl and a kid that lived in a sheltered environment their whole life and don't know how to hunt or gather in the snow ... I give them a couple of days, tops," writes HappyZavulon. Many suspect they’d simply get eaten by the very animal being used as a symbol of hope. Suggests emareperiod: "The polar bear eats humans. One of the top 3 human eaters on the planet. Vicious human eater. They are dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead, DEAD."

The Last Snowpiercer Review You Will Ever Need to Read

By James Marshall CrottyThe plodding climactic showdown between Curtis and Wilford--spoiler alert!--could have been cut by ten minutes (not to make the film more "mainstream," as producer "Harvey Scissorhands" probably wanted, but because it just drags). And the ending--a shot of a twenty-something Korean clairvoyant/drug-addicted locksmith and a small black boy staring at a polar bear is supposed to have instant profundity--is a leaden letdown. We are left to presume that these two will survive in this suddenly warming world, and the new human species will be a marriage of these two disparate ethnic groups, but not until the little boy is old enough to consummate the union. Yes, odd, and logically preposterous. And not the only place where absurdities abound.

Nevertheless, Snowpiercer is a thrilling, if extremely violent, train ride worth catching from an adventurous Korean director whose better work is clearly around the next bend.Rob's rewrite

I agree that Snowpiercer's ending was too minimalist. Here's a new and improved ending:

Nam wants to blow the door off the train, but Curtis convinces him it's too risky. Nam reluctantly gives up his dream.

Curtis meets Wilford who explains how the train really works. Curtis is distraught at first, but then gets angry. He tells Wilford that the train's setup is obscene—that Wilford should divide the train's resources more equitably. Wilford laughs at him and orders something terrible—perhaps for his troops to kill the rest of the poor people.

Enraged, Curtis gets the explosive and the match and blows up the train himself. Several cars in the middle topple into the abyss, and we see rich people dying. But most of the train simply derails and topples over.

The train is a smoking ruin in the snow. It doesn't look as if anyone has survived. But then one figure emerges: Curtis, the ultimate survivor.

Curtis looks over the damage he's wrought. It seems hopeless…but then people start emerging from the wreck. Some rich people, but more poor people. They're amazed to find it's not lethally cold; they can survive outside.

Then Yona emerges with Timmy. They're the only survivors from Curtis's plucky band of rebels. You have a potential father, mother, and child—a classic family unit.

They're taking stock when suddenly Wilford, bloody and battered, emerges too. He's furious that Curtis has destroyed his life's work. He attacks and they fight. With Yona's and Timmy’s help, Curtis wins.

Rather than kill Wilford, Curtis does something dramatic like take Wilford's coat and tell him to return to the train if he can. Wilford struggles back but freezes on the way and is covered in falling snow.

Led by Curtis, Yona, and Timmy, the straggling band of humanity climbs through the mountains. The survivors reach a valley—perhaps with smoke or steam rising from the earth to suggest volcanic activity.

First they find plant life poking through the snow. Then they spot animal tracks. They see an arctic hare hopping through the snow, and perhaps a hawk circling overhead.

Finally, they spot a human footprint. Someone has lived through the ice age outside the train. There's hope that humanity will endure.

Is that a better ending than the actual one? Yes, I think so.

A few notes

If you think Curtis needs to sacrifice himself, like Christ, to atone for his sins, no problem. Just have Edgar his second-in-command (disciple) survive. If necessary, kill someone in Edgar's place.

I'd also let Mason (Tilda Swinton) survive. It would be fun to see her shocked face as everything she knows is (literally) overturned. And it would send a message about reconciling the rich and the poor in the new world order where the class system no longer exist.

The polar bear wasn't the best sign of life to show. Never mind that polar bears don't live in the mountains. A bear could've scavenged leftover bodies and supplies for 17 years. It might be the last bear in existence.

My ending implies a whole ecosystem survived. Which in turn implicates the folly of sealing oneself in a train, out of touch with reality. In short, my way is better.

Inuit woman in Snowpiercer

I watched the sci-fi movie Snowpiercer while I worked today. Here's the premise:

SnowpiercerIn 2014, an experiment to counteract global warming causes an ice age that kills nearly all life on Earth. The only survivors are the inhabitants of the Snowpiercer, a massive train powered by a perpetual-motion engine that travels on a globe-spanning track. A class system is installed, with the elites inhabiting the front of the train and the poor inhabiting the tail.

In 2031, the tail inhabitants prepare for the latest in a series of rebellions. Guards arrive periodically to deliver protein blocks for food, and take some of the children. During the guards’ next visit, Curtis Everett (Evans) leads the tail inhabitants in revolt, forcing their way through several train cars to the prison section. There, they release prisoner Namgoong Minsu (Song), the man who built the security system that controls the doors dividing each car, and his clairvoyant daughter Yona.** spoiler alert **

I was curious to hear a reference to an Inuit woman. Here are the details:

SNOWPIERCER: bits I *love* about the film so far…Nam explains to Yona how the leader of the Seven is an Inuit woman who taught him about all the different kinds of snow there are, but he does not reveal that she is her mother. At least, that’s my belief. Think about it… When he’s at the window and begins to speak—”There’s a woman at the front…”—aren’t you just certain he’s talking about the woman he loves?And from Wikipedia:Go Ah-sung as Yona

The 17-year-old daughter of Namgoong Minsoo. About her character's name, Ah-Sung said, "[Bong] couldn't think of any name for Yona; he just left her as "The Inuit Girl." I gave him Nastyona’s album, and he went "This is it!", adding, " It also matches the Biblical figure Jonah [pronounced Yona in some languages, including Korean] and had a right feel to it." Ah-sung described Yona as being, "[...] someone who was completely indifferent to Minsu’s ambition. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t have cared." Of Yona's background, Bong revealed, "Yona’s mother was the leader of the Frozen Seven’s revolution--because she was an Inuit. She was confident that she could endure the coldness. However, she went out too early."Comment:  So Yona is Inuit or half-Inuit by blood. Since she's a "train baby," though, she has no knowledge of the Inuit or their cultures.

One can easily discern a nature vs. technology theme in Snowpiercer. The rich white people have enclosed themselves in a metal shell, cut off from human suffering and pain. The poor, brown people (even the Caucasian "tailies" are dark with grime) long for a better life that may exist outside the train.

And an Inuit woman led the way. She was the first to think a Native approach--living in harmony with, rather than in opposition to, nature--would work.

Although it doesn't state an indigenous message explicitly, the movie implies one. Namely, that technological solutions--seeding the atmosphere, running the train--have failed. It's time to step outside the Western comfort zone and experience the harsh realities of life.

Below:  Yona and friend.

Natives in The Chris Isaak Show

Long ago, someone told me about an episode of The Chris Isaak Show. I hadn't seen it so I didn't say anything about it.

I just saw the comment below describing the episode. It sounded reasonable so I thought I'd share it.

Friday, December 26, 2016 – First Native EpisodeI called in to mention a Chris Isaak Show episode from 2004 called “The Family of Man.” In the episode, Chris Isaak tries to use his celebrity to skirt important legal guidelines for archaeological excavations when builders of his luxury home unearth Native objects while digging the foundation. He offers to play the local tribal casino, in the hopes that his new friends will allow him to skip the excavation. The subplot is one of Chris’s band members discovers he is “part Native American” and ends up physically inserting himself into a museum exhibit at the local tribal casino museum in an attempt to “discover” himself. Certainly an episode to track down.Another site offers more details:

The Family of ManA happy Chris begins building his cabin in the mountains near Bear Valley, only to discover a Native American artifact during the construction. The contractor stops all work until it can be verified if they're excavating sacred Indian land. Nervous that he may lose his land because of the find, Chris agrees to perform at the nearby Kahoosh Indian casino in hopes of enlisting support from his indigenous neighbors. He also wants to impress singer/songwriter Bret Michaels, who, because of an earlier misunderstanding, thinks he's selfish.

Meanwhile, Anson's on the warpath when he discovers that his recently identified Native American ancestors met a gruesome fate, and goes hunting for retribution.Comment:  I can't tell for sure without seeing the episode, but it doesn't sound good. At least it features a few Native actors, including Gary Farmer, Glen Gould, and Carmen Moore, so that's something.

Jamake Highwater developed Chakotay

The SF Debris video noted in Review of Voyager: Tattoo also pointed out the dubious source of the Chakotay character:

ChakotayIn developing Chakotay, the producers sought the assistance of Jamake Highwater, a writer of more than 25 books of both fiction and non-fiction related to Native American myths and traditions. Highwater was a controversial choice of advisor, having been exposed by Hank Adams and Vine Deloria, Jr. as taking a fake Native American ancestry in order to sell books. Around September 21, 1993, Highwater gave seven pages of notes to producers regarding Chakotay's backstory but his tribal ancestry was unresolved. By the end of that month, Michael Piller drafted the first version of the writer's bible for the series in which the character was named "Chakotoy." By the time Piller wrote the first draft of the story that eventually became the Voyager pilot "Caretaker," the character was known as "Chakotay" and been made a Sioux. By the third draft of the story, submitted at the start of November, he had become a Hopi, but by the following February he once again had no tribal affiliation.Jamake HighwaterJamake Highwater, also known as Jay Marks and Gregory J. Markopoulos (ca. 1942–June 3, 2001) was an American writer and journalist. He was the author of over 30 fiction and non-fiction books of music, art, poetry and history, including the children's novel Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey (1973), which received a Newbery Honor, and The Primal Mind: Vision and Reality in Indian America (1981) which was also made into a documentary. Highwater assumed a false American Indian identity in the 1960s, which had been exposed by the mid-1980s, although confusion about his life remains widespread.Comment:  I read The Primal Mind long ago, before I knew Highwater was a fake. As with the work of Ward Churchill, another fake, I think Primal Mind had some good points. As I vaguely recall, it presented a believable picture of the so-called indigenous or primal mentality.

But I suspect it was heavy on the New Age belief that Natives are more spiritual and in touch with nature. It would've made Chakotay a novelty in 1940s and 1950s, when most Hollywood Indians were violent savages. But in the 1980s and 1990s, practically every Hollywood Indian was spiritual and in touch with nature. At that point, Chakotay wasn't much except a tired cliché.

For more on the subject, see Star Trek Voyager: Chakotay.

Review of Voyager: Tattoo

I've been watching old episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. This weekend I saw Tattoo, the ninth episode of Voyager's second season. I don't remember if I saw it when it aired originally, on November 6, 1995--perhaps not.

Here's a summary of it:Chakotay's away team finds a marking very similar to one used by Chakotay's own tribe. When he experiences flashbacks from his own youth and decides to investigate, he meets an alien who claims that Chakotay's tribe were seeded on Earth by a group of spacefaring wanderers.And some reviews:

Star Trek Voyager: TattooI’m having some trouble summing up the plot of this episode. Here’s the general gist; back when he was 15 and fighting with his dad, because that’s what TV-15-year-olds do, Chakotay and some others of his tribe met some people in a rainforest, who they were related to (speaking the same language and with the same stories of the Sky Spirits). They gave Chakotay’s father a tattoo like the one the older Chakotay has.

Many years later, Voyager finds a planet where the same native American symbols appear, and which throws up a storm every time they try to land or beam down. Then some people with Chakotay’s tattoo turn up. It turns out they are the Sky Spirits, they’re real, they’re aliens and this is where they live. Oh yes, we also find out why Chakotay got his tattoo, to honour his father after he died. This is also why he joined the Maquis. The trouble is, he just tells us all this, without it really having any impact on the plot, such as it is.TattooSigh. We finally get Chakotay's backstory, and it's New Age Romantic Indian Fluff. First of all, I think there's something racist about the suggestion that all the accomplishments of Native Americans were because they had genetic and cultural influences from outer space. Moreover, I was willing to buy that Chakotay didn't have one discrete tribe because it was possible that by his century, the tribes had begun to intermarry and merge their discrete traditions on planets like Dorvan V. But to learn that he's really some vague mish-mosh of faux legend and culture...what a disappointment.Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Tattoo"As is all too typical in episodes which refer to Chakotay's ancestry, I'm also annoyed at the lack of an actual tribe being named. The more "my tribe this" and "my tribe that" gets mentioned without putting any distinct specifics on, the stronger the feeling becomes that no one wants to take the time to research those specifics and remain true to them. That's annoying, and it strikes me as the cultural equivalent of what Trek's done with biology lately: name the buzzwords without examining the meaning.Rob's review

The first two reviews touch upon perhaps the most serious problem, which happens when Chakotay meets the alien "Sky Spirits." Memory Alpha describes the scene:45,000 years previously the group of beings visited Earth and ran across a group of primitive nomadic humans. Impressed by their respect for the land, the beings gifted the people with a genetic bond. They are the Sky Spirits Chakotay's people have worshiped for countless generations.

The humans lacked language and culture until the aliens gave them the "gift." This also instilled "creativity and a spirit of adventure" in the humans, leading them to cross the planet and eventually to populate the Western Hemisphere. The SF Debris video review explains:So here's Star Trek's message: We have a great respect for the cultures of the Native Americans, and we show this by saying that they were backwards language-less cavemen until they were touched by white men from outer space.Yikes!

Nor was this "message" some sort of thoughtless mistake. As Memory Alpha notes, the writer explicitly intended it:Michael Piller was intensely interested in further developing the narrative. "I'd always been attracted to the idea of the pitch," he said, "which was that Indians have these myths about sky spirits, and a natural extension of that myth was that these could have been travelers from space." (Captains' Logs Supplemental--The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages) Piller also reminisced, "I had always had a fondness for [it] [....] The idea always appealed to me that it was part of the Native American lore that sky spirits came down and affected them or blessed them in some fashion." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 88) The opportunity to explore the character of Chakotay was another factor that appealed to Piller. He remarked, "For Chakotay to find evidence of these sky spirits seemed to be the beginning of a terrific personal journey." Piller elaborated, "Here's a man who has lost his faith, and he gets it back through this journey. That's a very interesting thing to write [....] I looked at this as an opportunity to really delve into his character." (Captains' Logs Supplemental--The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)Thus, "Sky Spirits." Because Piller just couldn't resist the ten-thousandth claim that Indians were too primitive to develop civilization without alien help. This condescending idea goes back hundreds of years, to the first explorers of the continent, but Piller found it fresh and interesting.

More problems

Tattoo has other problems besides the racist "ancient astronauts" and the lack of cultural specificity:

A stereotypical screeching hawk appears several times and attacks Neelix for no apparent reason.

If I understand the story correctly, Chakotay's people left Earth to colonize another world a couple hundred years ago. Twenty-five years ago, Chakotay and his father returned to find the Rubber Tree People, their ancestral tribe, in Central America.

Okay, but when they find their relatives, these people all have nose ridges like the alien Sky Spirits. Why? Did the aliens impregnate the Indians? Why doesn't Chakotay's group have the nose ridges if they share a common ancestor? And why doesn't anyone comment on this issue? "Hey, these Indians look unnatural. Has anyone tested them? If they have alien DNA, the Sky Spirits must've been real, not a legend."

Some reviewers consider Tattoo a decent episode, even above average. I'd say it's bad. In particular, the Native aspects are handled poorly, at best. Only the subplot about the Doctor's infecting himself keeps the episode from being a complete loss.

For more on the subject, see Star Trek Voyager: Chakotay.

Native doll in Saturday Night Live

In tonight's episode, Saturday Night Live presented a fake commercial featuring a generic Asian American doll:

The doll was designed not to offend anyone, leading to this exchange:GIRL: What's Asian American doll's name?

2ND GIRL: She doesn't have a name.

ANNOUNCER: That's because last Christmas, we released a Native American doll named Flying Eagle, and we haven't heard the end of it.

The bit offered some good comments, but its intent was unclear. It wanted to satirize companies that make stereotypical toys, perhaps, but it seemed annoyed at the critics of such toys. The message seemed to be that "politically correctness" is neutering toys and making them no fun anymore.

Well, in the case of "Flying Eagle," the doll clearly was stereotypical. No modern Native woman dresses in buckskins or rides a horse to work. Nor does any modern Native woman have a funny Indian name like Flying Eagle.

A toy company should expect to be criticized for making such a doll. Clothing a Native like this is no different from putting a Latina in a poncho or an African in a grass skirt.

In short, I'd say the commercial was a nice try, but it failed to make its point. Or if its point was to carp about political correctness, it succeeded but its point was stupid.

For more on Saturday Night Live, see Indiana Jones in Saturday Night Live and "Navajo Girl" in Saturday Night Live.

Valley of Fire State Park

After visiting my family Christmas Day in Las Vegas, I spent Dec. 26 in Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park. Unlike national parks such as Zion, Bryce, and Arches, Valley of Fire has a fair amount of Native lore.

Valley of Fire State ParkThe Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape.

Other important rock formations include limestones, shales, and conglomerates. Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Basket Maker people and later the Anasazi Pueblo farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley.

The span of approximate occupation has been dated from 300 B.C.E. to 1150 C.E. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited the length of their stay. Fine examples of rock art left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the park.Leaving Las Vegas….Thursday, again after a trip through Subway for sandwiches, we drove east on I-15 for about an hour to the Moapa Travel Plaza Exit. From there, it’s an easy 15 miles or so to the West Entrance to the Valley of Fire State Park. And, yes, the park is open on Thanksgiving day. What I hadn’t seen yet, and had been meaning to check out, were the thousands of petroglyphs and pictographs located in the park, only an hour east of town! Sites here have been dated between 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D. and possibly older. The narrow canyon leading to “Mouse’s Tank” contains one of the highest concentrations of petroglyphs I’ve seen in one place. Think Sand Island, Newspaper Rock, Horseshoe Canyon and The Procession Panel–linked together.

If you find yourself in Las Vegas, have ingested enough secondhand smoke, and need some peace and quiet, I’d recommend a day (or more) at Valley of Fire. You’ll find quiet, private campsites, a well done, informative visitor center and a long weekend’s worth of desert hiking. Bring your camera and binoculars. Some of the rock art panels are up high and you’ll want magnification. A side-note to fellow Star Trek fans: This is the place where Captain Kirk died in Star Trek Generations!Comment:  This is one of the best parks I've visited--roughly equal to Zion, Bryce, Arches, Monument Valley, and Red Rock Canyon. It's well worth a day trip if you visit Las Vegas.

Season's greetings!

9 Native Style Christmas Memes and Cartoons

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Ecstatic Eid, Krazy Kwanzaa, and a Wondrous Winter Solstice!

Rob

Police most likely to shoot Natives

Who's most likely to be killed by police?

By Simon Moya-SmithAs the country continues to debate police accountability and the all-too-routine killing of unarmed black men by white law enforcement, it's imperative to understand that this issue is not just about black people and white people.

In fact, despite the available statistical evidence, most people don't know that Native Americans are most likely to be killed by police, compared with other racial groups. Native Americans make up about 0.8% of the population, yet account for 1.9% of police killings.

When Native Americans are shot and killed by law enforcement, there's rarely much news coverage of those incidents. There are no outcries from any community other than our own.

There are no white or black faces rallying around us, marching with us, protesting with us over this injustice. Why? Because we are a forgotten people.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Racial Tensions in Rapid City and Police Shoot Natives Too.

Locke shooting spurs racial tensions

Sadly and ironically, this happened Dec. 20:

Man attends police brutality rally, gets killed by cop next day

Below:  "Allen Locke, 30, was killed by Rapid City police officer Saturday evening who fired up to five shots."



Here's more on Locke's shooting and the resulting rally:

Native community mourns police shooting victim; South Dakota to investigate

By John Lee McLaughlinThe somber song and pounding of a drum slowly grew louder Sunday as a group descended from a north Rapid City hilltop where they had been mourning the death of Allen Locke.

Comprised of about 30 people, the group finally stopped in front of the home at 541 Paha Sapa Road, where Locke, 30, was fatally shot Saturday night by Rapid City Police after he charged an officer while holding a knife, according to police reports.The police explanation didn't satisfy Natives:"That's exactly what they did in that press conference is justify everything," she said, while noting that the incident is only part of a longstanding relations issue between local law enforcement and the Native American community. "That's our son. Any mother (here) would say that."

"There is no trust in the police department," Stoneman said, who also called for a task force to address the issue. "In the long run, it's going to have to come from the city: the mayor, the chief of police."Family of Native Man Shot By Police Pleads For Peace

By Kevin WosterWhatever the details of the Locke incident, the overall issue of race remains a divisive force in Rapid City, Eagle says.

"This all adds to the sentiment that the police aren't here for the Native community, as far as the protection and service goes," she says. "The enforcement and policing of the Native community is what's very evident."

Locke was shot after Meirose had responded to a call from a home in Lakota Community Homes for his removal from that home. The callers requesting his removal were Native Americans, and some in the home were in his family. Family and friends have questioned some of the details in the account offered by the police.

Locke had a history of criminal encounters with law enforcement, including DUI, marijuana possession and simple assault. But whatever his court history, his death is being mourned by those who knew him personally and others in the Native community who did not.Race Relation tensions on the rise in Rapid City

After Saturday's shootings, tensions escalate downtown

By Adam KingMayor Kooiker initiated the meeting because he's concerned that some are taking Saturday's lone shooting incident and making it a bigger issue.

"I think to draw a broader conclusion that this negatively impacts race relations in rapid city is wrong," Kooiker said.

Although he does acknowledge that there are some issues that need to be addressed.

"Overall race relations are a continual dialogue and a continual conversation," Kooiker said.

From Eagle's prospective, the mayor and city council are blatantly ignoring the issue.

"At the city level no acknowledgement of the problem even exists. There can be no change unless somebody addresses it. The people in power need to address it," Eagle said.Tension simmers after Rapid City shooting

Native leaders want more voice in race relations after police shooting of man with a knifeSome Rapid City Native American leaders are upset they were left out of a meeting Monday with Mayor Sam Kooiker over the death of a tribal member who was shot and killed by a Rapid City police. The man charged at the officer with a knife, police said.

Allen Locke, 30, was shot several times by officer Anthony Meirose on Saturday after the officer responded to a call of an unwanted person in the Lakota Community Homes addition. The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting.

Rapid City mayor Sam Kooiker met Monday with some Native American leaders Monday to discuss race relations and show his support for Meirose and the Rapid City Police Department. Some members of the Native American community are unhappy with Kooiker's message and say more people should have been included in the discussion.Rapid City Mayor on Police Killing of American Indian: “I Want Our Officers to Know We Have Their Backs”

Open Season on Native Men

By Ann-erika White BirdAs for the people who continue to see us as animals and respond with brutality, let the officials in suits and ties take a stand to stop this behavior. Statements mean nothing without action. Institute body cameras. Consider the statistics provided by the Rialto evaluation. When officers had to wear body cameras, citizen complaints against police officers declined by 88 percent, use of force dropped by 60 percent. Let them discuss death prevention, institute procedures. How can we continue to promote peace when our Native men are being gunned down?

In several statements coming from the white community and the Native community, officials like to use the word “dialogue.” What’s difficult to imagine is how that dialogue is going to stop the open season on Native men, especially if officials are in denial that our people are targeted.Comment:  For more on the subject, see #NativeLivesMatter in Rapid City and Police Shoot Natives Too.

Rob vs. "Tribal Guerrilla Warfare"

Something I tweeted December 16:

I made someone's list of "Who should Natives be wary of?": 2) White people like Rob Schmidt who disguise their financial interest. Beware!

Some responses from Facebook friends:Really?! Hahahaaaa...wow...

You have financial interests and you're not sharing them with me?!

You're white?

Lol idiots.What it's about

Without asking me, someone added me to a listserv (e-mail group) with a bunch of angry Indians. I responded to a few of their unsolicited messages. Then I received this--the full list of people Indians should be wary of:In general, who are Native Americans most wary of? I'd say three groups of people -

1 - Leaders of border town organizations who are opposed to local tribes. Examples would be heads of Water Departments, local heads of Forest Service or border town city mayors who have strong vested interests against local tribes.

2 - Whites who have very strong commercial interests in Native Americans but effectively disguise that pure commercial/financial interest with Native activism and speak for Indians all the time. One example would be Rob Schmidt of Blue Corn Comics who writes on Indian and gaming issues, and writes for Casino Journal, Indian Gaming Business, and Indian Country Today besides speaking for Indians on websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

3 - This is a little controversial and I am sorry for that. To this list, I would add leaders of Indian organizations who are white-looking but enrolled members of Indian tribes while lacking any cultural Indian experience. Examples would be white-looking Indian professors who argue that there was no genocide of Natives (yes, there are a few of those) and white-looking leaders of NDN organizations like the NCAI, Assembly of First Nations (AFN), etc who speak for other Indians.

SanchezNot quite, Sanchez. I don't write for gaming magazines anymore and I speak about Indians, not for them.

Yes, I make a living working with Indians. So do millions of other people--including you, presumably.

Does that mean none of us can address Native issues? Does working in Indian country render the opinions of doctors, lawyers, teachers, and journalists invalid?

Idiocy.

I've effectively disguised my "pure commercial/financial interest" so well that I can't even see it myself. The money pouring in from my hours of blogging, posting, and tweeting is completely invisible to me.

In fact, I'm probably a millionaire now with the blind trust I set up called "How to Exploit Indians." I'll probably be able to retire to a tropical island soon and laugh at everyone who supported me.

What a pathetic joke.

People not to be wary of?

People who didn't make Sanchez's list for some reason:

1) Federal and state politicians, especially conservative ones.

2) Courts that rule against tribes and tribal sovereignty.

3) Corporations that seek to exploit Native land and resources.

4) Schools that teach only about Indians in the past tense.

5) Entertainment that treats Indians as costumed savages.

6) The media that report only on Native poverty and crime.

7) Racists of all stripes.

Other than that, great list, Sanchez!

Incidentally, if you're a Native who disagrees with Sanchez, you're probably a "white" Indian who has only a few drops of Indian blood and culture. According to his group, the only opinions that count are those of dark-skinned Indians who live on reservations. Unless they oppose mascots, that is--in which case they're stooges and sellouts too.

I guess Sanchez didn't like it when I called him a racist for saying "white Indians" weren't real Indians. Oops, my bad.

P.S. Sanchez's e-mail includes the phrase "tribalguerrillawarfare." It's meant to describe him and the listserv. Hence the title of this posting.

Scumbags store features skull in headdress

Brooklyn Store Under Fire for Native American Headdress Logo

By Benjamin SuttonThe clothing retailer Scumbags & Superstars, which has a storefront space in Bushwick and an online store, has come under fire for its “disrespectful” appropriation of Native American imagery in its logo and merchandise. The logo features a skull in the style of those featured in Nazi SS insignia wearing a Native American headdress, and is emblazoned on the business’s many articles of clothing as well as scores of other items that make liberal use of further Native American imagery.

“Disrespectful,” wrote Theo Van Nest alongside a link to the Scumbags & Superstars page in the “Native American and American Indian Issues” Facebook group. “These people won’t respond to my emails. They delete my comments.”

Though comments criticizing the disrespectful use of Native American iconography have indeed been deleted from the Scumbags & Superstars Facebook page, its administrator—the store’s founder and co-owner, George Rosa—posted a rambling and often contradictory statement in an attempt to justify the design.

“I wanted something very easily recognizable and very ‘American’,” Rosa wrote. “I have strong views about American politics and wanted something that was militant and defiant. I added the headdress to the skull to symbolize death and tyranny. And I chose a German WWII skull. I think the juxtaposition of the two is very powerful.”

Though most responses to the explanation on the Scumbags & Superstars Facebook page express support for the store, one, by Chris Cobb, takes issue. “That is the dumbest explanation I ever [sic] heard,” he wrote. “Just because you have some sort of hipster mash-up explanation does not mean you have the right to perpetuate racist images.”Comment:  First, a skull in a headdress is a decades-old symbol that's well-known and commonplace among hipsters. Rosa is deceiving himself or us if he's claiming to have conceived it.

Second, no one will recognize the skull as a German one. To most people, it'll look like a dead Indian.

Third and most important, the headdress "symbolizes death and tyranny"? And the skull with the headdress is "militant and defiant"? These claims are vague to the point of meaninglessness.

If Rosa could define his terms precisely, he'd still be wrong. A headdress doesn't symbolize anything except a tribe's reverence for its leader. Rosa doesn't get to make up meanings for the images he's appropriated.

And whatever meaning he invents, the headdress is still stereotypical. It still perpetuates a one-dimensional view of Indians as primitive people of the past. It's wrong for that reason.

For more on the subject, see "Dreamcatcher and Skull" Clothing Line and Kanye's T-Shirts Feature Indian Skulls.

#NativeLivesMatter in Rapid City

The #BlackLivesMatter and #ICantBreathe protests have triggered similar protests in Indian country. For instance:

Police Protest Rally Aimed At Racial Awareness

By Kevin WosterA nationwide protest over police treatment of minorities came to Rapid City today, focusing on alleged racism toward Native Americans and a string of Native American deaths along Rapid Creek.

Demonstrators came from across South Dakota and beyond to protest what they believe is unjust treatment of Native Americans by Rapid City police.

They gathered in Memorial Park adjacent to the Lakota Nation Invitational sports and cultural event at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Demonstrators called out the names of Native Americans found dead along Rapid Creek over more than 15 years, arguing that many of the deaths weren't solved because non-Indian investigators didn't care.

"We're tired of our people being found dead in this creek. No investigations. They're unsolved," Julee Richards of Pine Ridge said.

Police say the string of deaths, including one last week, along the creek were thoroughly investigated. Some appeared to be drownings or other natural causes. In some instances alcohol was involved. But some of the deaths remain a mystery.Anti-police brutality rally peaceful

By Andrea J. CookShouts of "Native lives matter" and "Hands up don't shoot" echoed along two of Rapid City's busiest streets Friday as nearly 100 men, women and children gathered to call attention to police brutality and the loss of Native American lives along Rapid Creek.

Rapid City Police officers stood discretely in the background while American Indian Movement Grassroots leaders welcomed the gathering that included both Native Americans and non-Natives who braved overcast skies and a sudden cold snap to stand with people around the nation to oppose police brutality

"Discrimination is alive here," Bill Means of Porcupine told the crowd before the group set out for a walk down Fifth Street and along Omaha Street. As participants walked, the names of 25 individuals who died along Rapid Creek were read.

Walkers stopped at the corner of Fifth and Omaha streets to raise their posters and show solidarity before they lined up along Omaha Street raising their hands and shouting "Hands up don't shoot" and "Native lives matter."Writer Gyasi Ross offers his perspective:

We Are All to Blame for Michael Brown and Eric Garner Not Getting Justice

By Gyasi RossThis shit is not new. Ask Emmett Till. Ask James Byrd Jr. Ask Dred Scott. Ask the Natives massacred at Sand Creek.

But we're still in the same place we've been in for the past 50 years: merely diagnosing the problem. As we used to say in the '80s, "No shit, Sherlock." We're pointing at the racism, pointing at all these agencies and municipalities that we cannot do anything about. The one place where we're not pointing? We're not pointing at ourselves. We let this happen. Black folks. White liberals. Pigeon-toed Natives. Conservatives. All of us. We're all complicit.Ross's conclusion:Racism is real, and black men get killed in tragically disparate numbers. Absolutely. It's been that way since the first interloper landed on this continent, and now many of us brown- and black-skinned people have even been infected with that racism disease against each other. That's deep. So it's going to take some time to remove that racism sickness out of America's DNA. That's long-term. In the short term we've got a responsibility to use the tools that exist right now. I admit that I have no clue whether the system will actually work; it might be as much of a joke as I was raised to believe it is. But I also cannot honestly say that these tools don't work until we actually try to try them. Failing to register to vote is not playing the game. Thirty-percent voter turnout is not playing the game. Finding creative ways to get out of serving on juries is not playing the game. You don't want to participate in the American justice system? I get it. Yet non-participation has consequences. I mean, there's absolutely a place for marching, sounding off on social media and being outraged and indignant. We should be; that's all positive stuff. Yet we have to use the tools that we have currently; otherwise we'll keep "outsmarting" justice.Comment:  For more on police brutality, see Police Shoot Natives Too and Historical Antecedents of Police Brutality.

Police shoot Natives too

Ferguson offers hope to family of unarmed Native man killed by police

Family of Corey Kanosh said they hope spotlight on police brutality will help restart wrongful death case

By Renee LewisNationwide protests over police brutality and racism in the U.S. justice system after the killings of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York have breathed new life into a case involving the police shooting of an unarmed Native American man in Utah.

Corey Kanosh, a 35-year-old member of the Kanosh band of the Paiute tribe, was killed during an incident in which it is unclear whether a crime was even committed. A policeman fatally shot Kanosh after a high-speed car chase on Oct. 15, 2012, in Millard County, about 150 miles south of Salt Lake City. His family says the officer shot Kanosh just seconds after arriving on the scene; law enforcement officials dispute that account, saying the shooting took place after a struggle.

An investigation by the sheriff's office in nearby Utah County found that Millard County Sheriff’s Deputy Dale Josse was justified in the shooting, reaching that conclusion a day after Kanosh’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Dec. 13, 2012.Native Lives matter! America’s National Media Ignoring Police Murders of Native People. Our Protests Fall on Deaf Ears!

By Thomas Pearce and Dave OrtizWhen you look at the cases of Latinos with indigenous heritage and indigenous North Americans, you will see that the United States is still at war with indigenous people. In the jails of Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana and most of Indian Country indigenous people are incarcerated at almost 3 times the amount of the white population. There has been civil unrest. There have been lawsuits filed. Many protests have been carried out in Oklahoma. Yet the nation’s media is focused elsewhere. Is it because they are afraid of what will happen if American Indians, African Americans, Latinos and working class whites rise up against this unjust system? Yes!

I know what you are thinking. “Why didn’t I hear about this before? Ask yourself that question again and think about everything going on. How could there be 37 shootings in an American city and the rest of the world not know about it? How could teargas be used on protesters and the national media not pick it up. It seems America is happy to try to keep the issues White and Black. As long as the issues are White and Black we will all continue to marginalize each other and stand alone. Imagine if we all got together and stood as one? We would be unbeatable. That is why you haven’t heard of these cases. America is counting on you not hearing about these cases. American Indians have been protesting consistently alongside Ferguson and NYC, indigenous protesters from Louisville to San Francisco to NYC have been marching in protests against police brutality. We need the rest of the people in this country fighting for liberation to take up the cry of Mah Hi Vist Goodblanket, of Christina Tahhahwah, of Myles Rough Surface, of Corey Kanosh, of John Williams, Clint John, of all of the victims of police brutality in this occupied nation!!

So far Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, and Mark Thompson-Matsimela Mapfumo of Make it Plain Radio on Sirius XM Radio have been among the few that have taken notice of police crimes against American Indians. The NATIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS have ignored these cases. Many killings that occurred in Albuquerque were of Native people and Latinos who had indigenous heritage. Hundreds of people in Albuquerque have been protesting since long before the failure of Missouri prosecutors to indict Darren Wilson, the murderer of Michael Brown. Many might say, “well there were riots in Ferguson.” There was also unrest in Albuquerque. There is unrest in Ferguson. There is unrest from Oakland to New York. The problem is that police have no civilian oversight except in a few places. The problem is the drug war. The problem is that America is at war with people of color. They always have been and they always will be.

The national media has ignored this problem long enough. Proving their racism and media bias once again. The questions that are being asked by most of the land are being asked by Indian Country. Why do police departments have to be militarized to keep us safe. Why can’t we have Civilian Police Review Boards? Why can’t we have impartial grand juries to indict police officers when they murder people of color? Why can’t the gap between rich and poor be closed so people can have opportunities to have a decent quality of life. Why can’t there be more American Indian police, more African American police, more Latino police? Why do our prisons have to be filled with people of color? Why don’t we have drug treatment on demand? These are the solutions to the problems with brutal police. They need to be implemented now.A Facebook posting by Native writer Johnnie Jae:Dear White Mainstream America (this does not include everyone, just the ignorant asshats and they know who they are as they will totally be offended, OFFENDED by this post): Can we please discuss the subconscious and overt racism that is poisoning our society and literally killing Black and Native people at alarming rates without you closing your eyes, sticking your fingers in your ears, and screaming at the top of your lungs that we are undeserving of equality but deserving of death?Comment:  For more on police brutality, see Historical Antecedents of Police Brutality and "Hands Up, Don't Shoot!"

Below:  "Albuquerque protester blocking militarized APD preparing to attack protesters."

Historical antecedents of police brutality

With the protests against police shootings in Ferguson and New York City, Native writers are noting that violence against minorities is nothing new.

The I Can’t Breathe Movement

By Dana LonehillBeing shot and killed by police is nothing new to people with darker skin. Maybe some people think it is because of the recent civil rights movement dubbed I Can’t Breathe, in honor of the many killed by police and justified. Natives, Blacks, and other minority groups alike all know this story. They make up most of the prison system to this day and have never been under represented in anything to do with acts of genocide. Police brutality and militarization of police are something that date back slave days and days of putting Indians on a reservation.

In researching and preparing to write this, I asked many people their opinions or for quotes. I found many. I could and should post them here, but instead in the simplest terms, I will just throw it down like this. This country was founded on brutality and racism, resulting in genocide. This country was never about apple pie and baseball.

And all the muddy, messed up past is not recorded in the history books. Sure they talk about slavery and praise Lincoln for “freeing the slaves” but do the schoolbooks include Lincoln signing the death sentences of 264 Dakota prisoners? Or the mass hanging of 38 of those prisoners in what is now the largest mass execution in America? The history books will tell you what they want you to think, like you will remember or care, but they won’t tell you the truth.

Violence in the form of brutality and death is nothing new in this country. It has been happening for hundred of years, it is the foundation of this country.Where's the Senate Torture Report on All the Violence Done to Natives?

By Boyd CothranFollowing the attacks of September 11, 2001, the George W. Bush administration began constructing its legal response to the perceived terrorist threat. This response consisted of a series of legal opinions from the Department of Justice, many of them written by John C. Yoo, a University of California law professor who was then serving as a deputy assistant attorney general. The memorandums provided legal arguments to support the administration’s claim that detainees from the war in Afghanistan did not enjoy the protections of either the U.S. Constitution or the Geneva Convention and that the War Crimes Act of 1996 also did not apply. Despite considerable disagreement from Secretary of State Colin Powell and others, the administration went ahead, and by December 2002, the Defense Department had drafted detailed policies for interrogation techniques. Then, in early March 2003, Yoo authored one of his most sweeping legal briefs in what came to be known as the infamous Torture Memos. In it, he set out not only a legal justification but also a historical connection between unlawful combatants in the current conflict and Indigenous peoples in the nineteenth century.

Reading the eighty-one-page memorandum after it became available to the public in April 2008, I was surprised to discover that at a crucial point in his memorandum Yoo relied on U.S. attorney general George H. Williams’s 1873 opinion regarding the legality of denying Indian P.O.Ws fifth amendment due process rights. The opinion provided a legal justification for circumventing civilian jurisdiction to try the Modocs for murder by a military tribunal. “It cannot be pretended that a United States soldier is guilty of murder if he kills a public enemy in battle,” Williams wrote in 1873, “which would be the case if the municipal law was in force and applicable to an act committed under such circumstances.” The Modocs, Williams had argued, could be legally prosecuted and executed by the U.S. military as long as they were first declared criminals; the U.S. Army, in other words, could kill Indians who were deemed murderers without themselves becoming murderers.

One hundred thirty years later, Yoo resurrected this legal theory to support his expansive articulation of executive power and to maintain American innocence in the Global War on Terror. “The strictures that bind the Executive in its role as a magistrate enforcing the civil laws have no place in constraining the President in waging war,” Yoo argued. Enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, could be used on enemy combatants because federal criminal laws prohibiting assault and battery simply do not apply to such criminals. Within the eyes of American law, the enemy combatant was a criminal because the Modocs were criminals; the use of torture in the Global War on Terror was justified because hanging the Modoc was justified.

What does this all mean? Why is it important to recognize the historic roots of our current conversation about torture? Because history matters. Setting the record straight matters. In reckoning with the legacy of the September 11, 2001 and its aftermath Americans must confront the violence of the past and say "never again." But in doing so we must not think that these sort of judicially expedient accommodations are unprecedented. Too often we forget that the colonization and subjugation of the powerless are often carried out under the guise of the law. Williams constructed a legal opinion in 1873 to justify ends, which most Americans at the time would have viewed as necessary and justified. But in doing so, he created a means for others. A true accounting for the history of the use of torture in the war on terror will have to look far beyond the last decade to understand our longer use of the law to justify the unjust.Comment:  For more on the subject, see "Hands Up, Don't Shoot!" and Grand Juries Won't Indict Killer Cops.

Ralph Lauren's "assimilation aesthetic"

Assimilation Aesthetic

By Ruth HopkinsImagine my horror this morning, upon discovering Ralph Lauren’s latest venture. Let’s call it Assimilation Era Chic.

Old portraits of Native men from the Allotment and Assimilation Era (1887–1943) are displayed like cover models among Ralph Lauren’s latest line for the 2014 Holiday season. I did a double take for an instant, because one of the men pictured looked like my ancestor.

Hopkins explains what's wrong with this:Mr. Lauren, these stylish Native men in your pictures are not your employees, nor your slaves. They lived. They have names. They come from a proud lineage of Native peoples older than America. Each warrior pictured is someone’s grandfather, and I guarantee they suffered mightily just to survive the genocidal holocaust European invaders inflicted upon them. Why do they look so stoic? They were brave Native warriors who witnessed the massacre of innocents, had their lands stolen from them, and faced an uncertain future after the Federal government broke every treaty they ever made with Native nations in this country. They were fighting for the survival of our kind.

What many people alive today fail to realize is Natives of the Assimilation Era wore western clothes because they were forced to do so. We were hunted by cavalry soldiers and made to give up our freedom and live on reservations. Our culture and language was ripped from us. Our ceremonies and religious practices were declared illegal. My own father and uncles, who were torn from their mother’s embrace and put in boarding school, were mercilessly beaten for speaking their Native tongue. They didn’t want to wear itchy woolen vests and tight narrow shoes made for white children. They had no choice. The fashion Ralph Lauren glorifies arose from oppression.Adrienne Keene notes more problems with the ads:

Keene: Dear Ralph Lauren, Our Ancestors Are Not Your Props!

By Dr. Adrienne KeeneCultural appropriation takes away our symbols, our art and our designs, and with it, takes away our power over our cultural markers. This is dangerous, because not only is it blatantly disrespectful to the places, people, and traditions these images come from, it continues the colonial mentality that Native peoples, lands, and traditions are free for the taking.

We become commodities—objects that can be bought and sold. I mean, the heading of this page says “featured stock,” referring to the clothing, but when there are images of Native people right next to the $265 headdress t-shirt, it’s hard to separate the people from the products. Additionally, when the word is “stock,” one can’t help but think of animals (or slaves) for sale.

There’s also this piece that I can’t quite put my finger on, and don’t know if I can adequately express. The photos are all men in (mostly) western clothing, with “tribal” accents here and there. I feel like there is a subtext here of “civilizing”—even the “wild Indians” can look dignified in these clothes. You can have your Americana aesthetic without the savage overtones! It just reminds me of the "Tom Torlino—Navajo" photograph, which is representative of the cultural genocide of government boarding schools.

Finally, there is the economic piece at play here. Look at the prices. A $265 T-shirt featuring a sacred headdress, a $1,300 plaid coat, $400 sweaters—and all of this money is going straight to building Lauren’s personal wealth and empire, none of it is going to the communities he is directly exploiting to sell his product. How American of him: seeing Natives as inherently disposable and exploitable, and using Native resources to build his personal wealth, while simultaneously yearning for the romanticized past when Natives roamed the plains, and ignoring his own complicity in the ongoing settler colonial project. Pretty much the story of the United States.

Ralph Lauren backs off

Ralph Lauren apologizes for Native American ads

By Sarah LeTrentRalph Lauren's 2014 holiday ad campaign for its RRL line was raked over the coals on social media this week for its "assimilation aesthetic," featuring what appear to be antique photos of stoic Native Americans dressed in Western attire.

Now, the company is apologizing for the imagery and has since removed the images from its website.

"Ralph Lauren has a longstanding history in celebrating the rich history, importance and beauty of our country's Native American heritage," the company said in a statement. "We recognize that some of the images depicted in the RRL look book may have caused offense and we have removed them from our website."

Ruth Hopkins, a contributor to the site Last Real Indians, took issue with the campaign's use of Native Americans, claiming that the imagery is not only ignorant, it's a harsh reminder of a time of extreme oppression, and even genocide, for the nation's indigenous people.Celine Cooper: Withdrawn Ralph Lauren advertising had used offensive images of Native Americans

By Celine CooperLast week, American company Ralph Lauren debuted its Double RL & Co 2014 holiday line of clothing. The website campaign didn’t feature the usual doe-eyed teenagers wearing tweed hats and polo shirts. Nope. Instead, the advertisement was organized around old sepia portraits of Native American men and women, unsmiling and wearing Western clothes, from the Allotment and Assimilation Era in the United States as its cover models (presumably without the permission of their descendants). Beside their images was Ralph Lauren’s “New Stock” of holiday clothes—cargo pants, wool jackets, button-down shirts and purses.

Thankfully, Ralph Lauren, that doyen of classic Americana, was immediately met with an online campaign against the company’s questionable “assimilation aesthetic.” (You can read the outrage on the Twitter hashtag #BoycottRalphLauren).

The online activism worked. On Friday, the company took down the images. Although they didn’t offer an actual apology, they did release the following statement: “We recognize that some of the images depicted in the RRL look book may have caused offense and we have removed them from our website.”

Offence, indeed. Here’s the thing. What Ralph Lauren wants to sell is not the actual history of America, but an idea about America, a certain nostalgia and patriotism. Their ads were meant to evoke a pioneering spirit; the outpost, the frontier where natives were tamed and the Wild West was won. Cowboys and Indians. Classic Americana, that.A previous Ralph Lauren problem:Jessica Deer ‏@Kanhehsiio
Ralph Lauren is one of those repeat offenders of cultural appropriation. Stumbled upon this gross stuff in Feb.

And Indians from that era who weren't modeling Ralph Lauren:

Yes, He's Handsome--But He's Not Your Model. 25 Photos of Natives in European Dress

The stereotype here is that Indians were willing participants in a 19th-century fashion revolution. That they would've sat and posed for pictures to help Ralph Lauren sell its goods.

For more on the subject, see Ralph Lauren's Fetishistic Native Collection.