READING NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE Native American literature explores divides between public and private cultures, ethnicitiesandexperience.Inthisvolume,JosephCoulombearguesthatNative American writers use diverse narrative strategies to engage with readers and are “writing for connection” with both Native and non-Native audiences. Beginning with a historical overview of Native American Literature, this book presents focused readings of key texts including: (cid:1) N.ScottMomaday’sHouseMade ofDawn (cid:1) LeslieMarmon Silko’sCeremony (cid:1) GeraldVizenor’sBearheart (cid:1) JamesWelch’sFool’sCrow (cid:1) ShermanAlexie’sTheLoneRangerandTontoFistfight inHeaven (cid:1) LindaHogan’sPower. Suggesting new ways towards a sensitive engagement with tribal cultures, this book provides not only acomprehensive introduction toNative American Literature but also a critical framework through which it may be read. Joseph L. Coulombe is Associate Professor of English at Rowan University, US. He is the author of Mark Twain and the American West (2003) and has published articles on Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Walt Whitman, Sherman Alexie, James Welch, and Emerson Bennett. READING NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE Joseph L. Coulombe Firstedition published2011 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN Simultaneouslypublished intheUSAandCanada byRoutledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2011 Joseph L. Coulombe TherightofJosephL.Coulombe tobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen assertedby himinaccordancewithsections 77and78ofthe Copyright,Designsand PatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbook maybereprinted orreproduced orutilisedin any formorbyany electronic, mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafter invented,including photocopyingandrecording, orinany informationstorage or retrievalsystem,withoutpermission inwritingfromthepublishers. British LibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Acataloguerecordforthisbook isavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCatalogingin PublicationData Coulombe,JosephL.,1966- ReadingNativeAmericanliterature /Joseph L.Coulombe.–1sted. p.cm. Includes bibliographical referencesandindex. 1. American literature – Indian authors – History and criticism. 2. Indians ofNorthAmerica– Intellectuallife. 3.Indians inliterature.I.Title. PS153.I52C59 2011 810.9’ 897 – dc22 2010029326 ISBN 0-203-83290-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 13: 978-0-415-57942-1 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-57943-8 (pbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-203-83290-5 (ebk) For my children, Miles, Jeremy, and Trevor. And for their generation. CONTENTS Acknowledgements x Permissions xi Introduction: NativeAmerican literaryoutreach andtheNon-nativereader 1 Engagingcommunity 3 Textualparametersfor readers 6 Readingtolearn(nottoprofess) 8 Individualmethodsandsharedgoals 10 Criticalmethodology 13 Thepoweroffiction 15 1 Followingthetracks: historyand contextofNativewriting 18 Invasionandloss 19 Adaptingtochange,writing forchange 21 Trailofbrokentreaties 22 Newpolicies,oldproblems 25 Recoveringfromloss,andcontinuingtheoral tradition 29 Fiction,poetry,andself-definition 31 Asnapshot ofcontemporary NativeAmerica 34 2 Nothing butwords:fromconfrontationtoconnectioninN.Scott Momaday’sHouseMadeofDawn 36 Observationversus experience 37 AngelaandAbel: connectionanddisconnection 40 Abel’sprogressandAngela’srevelation 42 Words,language, andmeaning 46 VIII CONTENTS Violence, whiteness,andevil 48 Confrontation andaffirmation 51 Atimelesschallengeandthereader 52 Eternity,nothing,andshared truths 55 3 Revitalizingtheoriginal clan:participantreadersin LeslieMarmonSilko’sCeremony 57 Clanstoriesandthereader 58 Theperformative poweroflanguage 61 Connectionandcontext 63 Racialpolitics 66 Fightingfragmentation andhatred 70 Re-unitingthepeople 72 Individualsuccessandhuman promise 75 4 Individualism vs.separation: imaginingtheselftofosterunity viaGeraldVizenor’sBearheart 77 Textandreader 78 Thedangersoflanguage 80 Thepowerofimagination 82 Collaboration andindividual interpretation 84 Connection, non-conformity,andtranscendence 86 Dependence andself-destruction 89 Tribalismversus individualism 92 5 Writingforconnection: cross-culturalunderstanding in JamesWelch’shistoricalfiction 96 Writinghistoryasresistance 97 Translating theunfamiliar 100 Teachingreaderswith culturalconnections 102 Ambiguityandinterpretation 106 Thenormal andthenegative 109 Humorasconnection 112 Communityversus individual 113 6 Theapproximate size ofhisfavoritehumor:ShermanAlexie’scomic connectionsand disconnectionsinTheLoneRangerand Tonto FistfightinHeaven 116 Theorizingthefrontier ofhumor 117 Story-tellinganditsequivocal potential 120 Humorasprotection 122 Humorasself-destructive avoidance 124 Tradition, change,andcontext 127 Humorasintra-community connection 129 Humorascross-culturaloutreach 132 Angerandjoy 135 7 Stitchingthegap:believingvs.knowinginLinda Hogan’sPower 139 Narrativeandinterpretive processes 140 Traditionandrenewal 142 CONTENTS IX Stormasmetaphor 144 Knowledge versusbelief 145 Witness 147 Trialanderror 149 Futureconnectionandcommunity 151 Effortandachievement 152 Thehealing powerofwords 155 Notes 157 Bibliography 169 Index 183