EC blog # 9

So the book gets super interesting and I don’t think it really ever ends and I think that’s what Silko wanted. So this is a super long section and I will try to make it short. (not that anyone will read this) Tayo finds the cattle and is able to herd them through the opening he made in the fence. Then he eats it and these two ranchers find him and take him to their truck. Then they notice the mountain lion tracks and leave Tayo to kill the lion. In a way the lion saved Tayo from having to face the ranchers. This shows the connection Tayo has with nature and his roots. Tayo then goes to look for the cattle and he ends up finding this hunter who had killed a deer. The hunter takes Tayo to the Woman Tayo loves, house. There he finds the cattle and his horse. Tayo does not hook up with the woman this time, but it is just a matter of time. Tayo rides back to his house and takes Robert to help him load up the cattle. The cattle have been super well feed and Robert is all happy about that. Tayo takes the cattle and releases them into their grazing grounds where they stay all winter. Tayo has fallen madly in love with this woman and can’t seem to get her off his mind. This is a sign that he is becoming whole because he is able to carry on a relationship on a deeper level. When the weather becomes warmer he goes out to look after the cattle and he just happens to find the woman!!! We learn that her name is Ts’eh and she is a Montano, which apparently this tribe has some kind of history the reader does not learn about. Anyways she collects all these herbs and different kinds of plants and tells Tayo to finish the ceremony and to run away and hide because Emo has told all these lies that Tayo is crazy and that a lot of people will be looking for him. So Tayo runs away and finds Harley and Leroy driving by. They are both drunk and Tayo follows shortly. They take him to meet up with Emo while Tayo is passed out but Tayo runs into the mountains of this old government experiment site where they tested the first nuclear bomb. Tayo hides behind some rocks as Emo and Pinkie kill Harley. The place where Tayo is, is the place Betonie said the final part of the ceremony would take place and Tayo says that Emo and Pinkie are the destroyers and are the reason why the Indians are forgetting that they created the evil in the world. So Tayo runs away and collects the plants Ts’eh asked him to and then goes to see old Ku’oosh where they perform a ceremony on him and tells them all about the ceremony he completed. I think that Ts’eh is a god because she seems mythical and the old men made it seem like she was a higher being. Then Emo kills Pinkie “by accident” and is forced to leave the reservation and the book ends. I guess Emo leaving is a symbol for the evil to have left from the reservation and now the reservation can become more holy again.

Shannon's Blog #4

Harley continues drinking and talks about the Tayo going back to the hospital, he began speaking Laguna. Emo explains how white men got everything, and how the Indians should get with the white woman. Emo teases Tayo, saying that he thinks he’s better then everyone because he’s half- white. Tayo remembers being left out when he was younger around Auntie and Rocky. Emo and his friends talk about the white women he’s slept with when he was in the army and he says Tayo can drink like an Indian, Tayo ignores him. Emo takes out a bag of teeth and war souvenirs, making Tayo realize how much Emo enjoyed killing. Tayo then accuses Emo of being a killer, and Emo says that Tayo loves Japs like his mother loved white men. Tayo remembers when he and Rocky signed up for the army Rocky had called Tayo his brother. As children, Auntie was always careful that no one had mistaken Tayo and Rocky as brothers.

When Tayo was four years old, his mother Laura left him with his uncle Josiah. Auntie always treated Tayo and Rocky equally, only when they were alone, did she show that Rocky was more to her then Tayo. She tried to keep Lura from running away, but she was mixed in white ways and she became ashamed of both cultures. Tayo realizes that he should be the one to stay home and help, when Rocky is to leave but Grandma and Josiah believe that Tayo should go with Rocky. Josiah invested a herd of Mexican cattle from Ulibarri, Night Swan’s cousin. He read agricultural books but he didn’t find them suitable. Auntie mistrusted the connection with Josiah and Night Swan. Josiah decides to brand them when they move closer to Mexico.

Josiah goes to Lalo's store to get bootlegged beer and falls in love with Night Swan. She takes him upstairs and dances for him and tells him about how she only dances for her granddaughter. Auntie finds out about Josiah and Night Swan and she’s angry. Tayo helps Josiah keep the cattle on Laguna in the summer and Rocky relaxes.

There are too many flashbacks in this section! I don’t really know what’s going on, because Silko tells us about all these characters.
Pg 66-87

IT WORKS:)

Okay, well this section reveals Tayo's personal changes and somewhat self-realization. In the beginning of this reading Silko says that, "The Scalp Ceremony lay to rest the Japanese souls in green humid jungles" (page 169). So even though the ceremony wasn't finished, it helped him out some. Then there is a myth about Kaup'a'ta, or the Gambler. He was good-looking and would lure hunters into his cabin and gamble them out of all their things they owned, including their lives. Then he would give them one last chance to save their lives. That was to guess what was in his pouch/bag thing. Usually all the hunters got it wrong, so their hearts were cut out and they were left to die. Then the storm  clouds went missing, which are the Sun Man's "children". He goes to the Spider Woman for help and she teaches him how to get them back. The Sun Man goes to the Gambler and says everything the woman told him to and ends up cutting out the Gambler's eyes and getting his children free. I thought this story was kind of off, but it fits in with the opening of transition. It shows that the Gambler had his scheme that went on for awhile, but once something "big" happened, there had to be some sort of change.

Then the other half of this section, everything that Betonie had mentioned in his vision begin coming true. Betonie speaks of a woman, mountains, the spotted cattle, and stars. Tayo is stopping for his horse to get some water when he sees a woman. She takes him back to her house and he...spends the night. During that time, he sees Betonie's stars and dreams of the spotted cattle. The next morning the woman is painting a picture of mountains. Tayo then sets off on his journey to find Josiah's cattle. They're supposedly in a fence and we aren't sure whether they were stolen or not.

What i found weird about this section was the woman because of the question asked whether she was real or not. To me it's sort of obvious that she IS real, but yet there are other good points.

Devin Blog 8

Hey guys so heres my eighth blog

This section dealt a lot with Betonie’s future predictions coming true, from Tayo sleeping with the girl to the star formation appearing in the sky. Tayo is faced with questions of faith and trying to find his way back to his culture. A be in sync with it once more. To do this Betonie sends him on semi quests, but Tayo’s faith wavers and he questions what he will do or if he is strong enough. I like this section since it’s a real growing fase for Tayo.

“Old Betonie might explain it this way-Tayo didn’t know for sure: there were transitions that had to be made in order to become whole again, in order to be the people our mother would remember; transitions, like the boy walking in the bear country being called back softly.” (pg. 170)

“The sky is clear. You can see the stars tonight… He got up from the table and walked back through the rooms. He pushed the porch screen door wide open and looked up at the sky: Old Betonie’s stars were there.” (pg. 178)

A question i had is pretty random but is it truely necessary to have Tayo dream and think of the cattle nonstop, it seems a bit excessive.
And I'm wondering if Tayo will go back and revisit Betonie once again.

Blog May 19, 2009

Ryder Wakayama

I'm one day late, my internet was acting all strange but here we go

Well now I'm sure where the present is and I'm getting more interested in the book. Tayo is finally over being sad for himself and is going to find Josiah's cattle. He meets a girl and has a random fling with her that part was kind of weird. I like his determination to recover Josiah's cattle and his new outlook that the white people steal as well.

"holding his heaving belly, trying to vomit out everything--all the past, all his life." Pg. 168

This quote is a little experience he had where he kind of had a relapse, after this he seems positive and such. This may have also symbolized his healing and him removing the past from his body.

"The lie. He cut into the wire as if cutting away at the lie inside himself. The liars had fooled everyone, white and Indians alike; as long as people believed the lies they would never be able to see what had been done to them or what they were doing to each other." Pg. 191

This is when Tayo thinks about the white people stealing the cattle that Josiah had lost. He finds a new point of view and sees how the white people had stolen from the Indians, such as their land and even their dignity.

Chancellor Blog post 8

This section to me was actually pretty interesting.  Tayo finishes the ceremony and then leaves Betonie in search of the cattle.  During his journey is where he meets this girl, who we know nothing about, and they have a good time.  After that he leaves and then begins searching for the cattle again.  He ends up doing a ceremony with the yellow pollen in the mountain lions paw, and then out of nowhere the cattle just appear.  I was wondering was Tayo just oblivious to the cattle before he put the pollen down or was there really some magic behind the ceremony.  I think this section is better because it's not as depressing as other sections, and Tayo's mind is also becoming clearer.  

Qoutes:  "He started to answer old Betonie, to tell him he hadn't forgotten.  'Im going,' he said.  'Your damn right you're going!' the white man said.  'Your pal just got the shit kicked out of him, and I don't want no more trouble.'"  I picked this quote because it's a pretty funny quote, but also because it makes me wonder if Tayo's scene with the woman was a dream or not.  He was knocked out and maybe we're just getting something he was dreaming about while being unconscious.

Jordan's blog #8

I think that this section was kind of interesting. There's one part that I would like to talk about and it's the part when Tayo looks for his cattle. It's kind of interesting that Betonie had the vision of Tayo going to get Josiah's cattle. But I guess he must be someone important to recieve visions like that. While lookin for the cattle he finds himself in a white man's coral and he felt that the white man never stole but he lied. But in all actuality when you lie, I believe that your stealing. Your stealing the truth from the people that your lying. But I guess everybody sees everything in different ways. But while in the coral he can't find any of the cattle. He searches hard but still can't find them. As dawn draws near he notices a mountain lion. He pretty much asks the mountain lion for help in finding the cattle. The mountain lion guides him to them in his own special way. This has a relation to hawaiian people because we have different gods for guidance through different things. This also shows how Tayo's respect and understanding for the Indian culture is increasing. I guess now since he is doing these things he is being healed from the spirits of his ancestors.

Andrea's Post #8

I think the book is getting more interesting. It helps that Tayo is getting better, healthier and less depressed. I may be reading too much into this, but I think that when Tayo leaves Harley and the boy rampaging bars, it symbolizes Tayo starting to improve his life. He's starting to get passed things and realize that his life can never be good again if he's stuck in the same routine with Harley and Leroy and the others.
I also think that Tayo's search for the cattle, how they are all scattered in his dream at the woman's house, symbolizes how his life got temporarily messed up and he's trying to find his scattered pieces again, to make it better.

I have a question, was Tayo actually asleep while having sex? Or was he just thinking/daydreaming? Either way it's weird. I agree with Erica, I don't believe stuff like that happens often, if at all. Unless of course that "she" was a prostitute, in which case she must be pissed that Tayo didn't pay up.

Well, one of my favorite passages is "Sunrise! We come at sunrise to greet you. We call you at sunrise. Father of the clouds you are beautiful at sunrise. Sunrise!" (Page 182)
I really liked this passage because it seemed positive to me. The morning presents so many new possibilities. It's beautiful and takes a more positive outlook on life. I think it represents Tayo's struggle for more possibilities and more positive days.

I've mentioned before how much I love Silko's use of language, but I thought I'd mention it again. God! I wish I could write like that, but less confusing of course! Her language is just amazing...

One more note, I loved the story about the Gambler trying to get back the storm clouds.

Chesna's Blog #8

So this section wasn't that interesting. Like the only interesting part was the ceremony and how this one actually worked. And so after the ceremony Tayo is off to find Josiah's cattle. Tayo goes through an adventure and a half traveling. After the adventure he meet some random woman. I think it's weird how she just came out of nowhere and she's like GET IN MY PANTS! BUt besides that I enjoy how Tayo is recovering and becoming his oldself.

Quote:
"He knew that he had learned the lie by heart – the lie which they had wanted him to learn: only brown-skinned people were thieves; white people didn’t steal, because they always had the money to buy whatever they wanted."
I think this quote is whack but true because white people normally have money and other people suffered. Like in real life today people in Africa, even though they're a little more darker than brown skin, suffer from poverty and disease. They don't have money for help or vaccinations. And white people are serious rich and spend money on stupid stuff. So of course white people won't steal anything because they probably already have that certain item.

Andrea's Post #6

Let me just say I'm pretty stoked that the flashbacks aren't as frequent. Those really confused me. Something I don't really like is how much Silko presents the stereo type of Native Americans drinking problems. I suppose it's realistic, because it helps them "drown their sorrows" but I think it'd be refreshing to have a happier story, something that breaks the stereotypes. I think that Tayo and his friends seem to be stuck in the rut of blaming whites for their problems. There is TONS of history there, but maybe the fact they can't can't get over it, is what's holding them back. I think maybe Tayo starts to believe he is worthless and that makes him such. If he broke his own stereotype and thought of himself as equal, I think he could improve his life. The living conditions in Gallup are worth mentioning. I think they fit into the stereotype. All the prostitutes that Silko describes are in the same routine as Tayo I think. They don't know that they can amount to so much MORE.

I just want to double check, Gallup New Mexico right? Just thought I'd say, my grandparents used to live there. All I really remember is the folding chair in their house, my grandma's pistachio pudding, and the library. I love that it takes place in New Mexico.

My favorite quote was this: "It is very peaceful with the bears; the people say that's the reason human beings seldom return." (Page 130)

It was my favorite because I think that (so far as I can tell) Tayo is ultimately searching for peace. (Aren't we all?) I find it interesting that Silko relates finding peace to nature. It's been seen everywhere, when people want peace, they seek it in nature. I find it rather ironic then, how we keep destroying what is basically our only solace.

Sorry it's like...super late guys ]:

Erica's Eighth Post.

So, this part of the book was quite interesting…

Tayo completes the ceremony and leaves Betonie to find Josiah’s cattle. He hitches a ride with truck drivers but at some point he decided to walk so that he could recognize himself again. While he was walking Leroy, Harley and Helen Jean picked up Tayo in a old and dirty truck. They drive through towns causing trouble in the bars. Tayo leaves them and gets a horse to ride north to find the cattle. When Tayo stops to give his horse some water, Tayo meets a woman and she welcomes him to her home. They had a lot of sex and while they were doing that, Tayo was dreaming of his cattle which is weird. Tayo leaves the woman and he keeps going up north. At first Tayo sees the cattle but then they disappeared again. Tayo cut a hole in a white man’s fence to help the cattle escape.

I like how Tayo is now because he stopped being depressed and throwing up all the time. What I thought was weird was that Tayo was sleeping around. I don’t think things just happen like that within 5 minutes of seeing each other for the first time.

The quote that caught my attention was: “He knew that he had learned the lie by heart – the lie which they had wanted him to learn: only brown-skinned people were thieves; white people didn’t steal, because they always had the money to buy whatever they wanted.” (Silko 191) I think that the “lie” is really dumb because anyone can steal even if they do have money. Yes, the white people in the book are which but it doesn’t mean they don’t do bad things. The white people stole the Indian’s land, doesn’t that count for something?

Blog 8-Natalie

In my opinion nothing really exiting happened in the story that really jumped out. The passage began with Harley unconscious in a bar and then Helen Jean runs off with some Mexicans in the bar. After the ceremony Tayo really starts to change and get better he thinks about the changes in his life he must make in his life. I can tell Tayo is getting well because it seems like his mind is clearer since the ceremony. His flashbacks and his thoughts are way less confusing and he is starting to make more sense. Throughout the book I am noticing how much Tayo is changing more and more as the story goes on.

Betonie still has an active part in the story and has not disappeared yet like night swan or Helen Jean. Betonie has a positive influence on Tayo and I think that is part of the reason Tayo is growing as a person recently. Betonie has a vision about a girl that Tayo is going to make love to. Personally I think it is a bit odd that Betonie has visions (Cough Fantasy’s Cough) about Tayo making love to a woman. It is almost like Betonie is a fortune teller because Tayo finds the woman Betonie envisioned and ends up making love to her. As the passage goes on Tayo is still looking for his uncles Mexican cattle because he feels like he has to find them. After the cougar ceremony is performed Tayo finds his uncles Mexican cattle.

“Why did he hesitate to accuse a white man of stealing but not a Mexican or an Indian?...He knew then he had leaned the lie by heart- the lie which they had wanted him to learn: only brown- skinned people were thieves; white people didn’t steal, because they always had the money to buy whatever they wanted” (pg. 191)

I kind of think in the book Tayo and his people have a right to be super mad at the whites because they seems to get everything easy is life while Tayo and the rest of the Indians work very hard. The whites have a good because they have money so they don’t need to steal or anything like that. But in real life I don’t think the Native Americans should be mad at the white :D.

"So they tried to sink the in booze, and silence their grief with war stories about their courage, defending the land they had already lost." (169).
What dose Silko mean when the book say “defending the land they had already lost” it sounds really deep but I am not quite sure what it truly means anyone know? It seems like the only thing Native Americans do in this story is get drunk and drown there sorrows.

"Until the previous night, old Betonie's vision of stars, cattle, a woman, and a mountain had seemed remote; he had been wary, especially after he found the stars, and they were in the north." (page 186). Betonies character foreshadows a lot of things in the story. This quote foreshadows Tayo finding the Cattle and a woman, I think Betonie is a useful character in the story because it kind of gives you a sneak peak of what is going to happen next in the story.

Jessica # 8

So in this reading Tayo wakes up at the bar he Harley and Leroy went to. He drives them to a ridge or something and lets them sit in their pee. That was really weird and in this reading their was a lot of talk about pee which kind of grossed me out. So anyone all this stuff starts coming true. Like Tayo sees the rights formation of stars in the sky and he has this one night stand with this random woman he meets at this hill, so everything Betonie said was going to happen happened and I think Silko had that happen to show truth in the Indian’s beliefs. So since Betonie was right about all this Tayo goes to find the cattle and he spots them!!!!! So I think this is the point of the story where he truly starts to heal and recover and see life in a new light!
“Why did he hesitate to accuse a white man of stealing but not a Mexican or an Indian?...He knew then he had leaned the lie by heart- the lie which they had wanted him to learn: only brown- skinned people were thieves; white people didn’t steal, because they always had the money to buy whatever they wanted” (pg. 191)

“Like the fist time in science class, when the teacher brought in a tubful of dead frogs, bloated with formaldehyde, and the Navajos all lef the room; the teacher said those old beliefs were stupid. The Jemez girl raised her hand and said the people always told the kids not to kill frogs, because the frogs would get anrgy and send so much rain there would be floods. The science teacher laughed loudly, for a long time.” (pg. 195)

Through these two quotes I think that Tayo is getting angrier at the white people. I think his eyes are opening to the social injustices that he and his people face. I think that it is really sad that he is becoming so angry but at the same time I don’t blame him because the white people have done so much to the Indians.

Shaun Blog 8!

Ok so up to page 196 thebook is alright it has some good parts and some confusing parts. Ok one part that was cool was Betonie's vision about the girl is that Tayo finds the woman and makes love to her like he was suppose to I guess. At first when they meet she is kinda a stranger but what stood out to me was like it was as if she knew that someone had sent him for the cattle. I don't know maybe she is in on it with Betonie. After when Tayo gets water for his horse and stuff he is about to go to sleep outside but this woman tells him to come inside and join her and they get straight to it doing the grown up."The sky is clear. You caqn see the stars tonight." She spoke without turning around. (178) This shows evidence of Betonies vision coming true he meet the girl and is seeing the stars. Tayo then goes on the look out again for his uncle's cattle feeling that this is something he has to do. Tayo sings a happy song about sunrise and this shows how much Tayo has improved from the ceremony. He is now happy and is singing good happy songs. Not like before cursing the rain and such. Tayo finds this mountain that has been taken over pretty much by the white people just searching for his cattle. Tayo later finds his cattle riding north however they are on a white man's land Floyd Lee's land. If he had seen the cattle on land-grant land or in some Acoma's corral, he wouldn't oh hesitated to say "stolen."(190) This quote shows the inner conflict Tayo is going through he just can't blame the white guy for stealing it just didn't work for him. Tayo has always been taught that white people never stole because they had money to buy anything they wanted. This is a really good conflict in the book Tayo just can't believe that a white person can do anything bad like steal. Thats what happens when you are raised around all their lies. You just can't see the truth. However Tayo starts cutting the fence anyway just hoping not to get caught I want to read on to see what will happen to Tayo. Will he get caught or come away clean keep reading to find out.

Nichole's Blog #8

This section, out of all read so far, had the least confusing flashbacks but that's only in my opinion. I don't recall reading about why Harley and Leroy got beat up, so if anyone knows I'd like it if you could share your knowledge with me. I've realized that, like what Tasha pointed out, this section was more about how having the ceremony done affected Tayo's every day life. Like so, Being alive was alright then: he had not breathed like that for a long time. Page 181, this quote is evidence that Tayo has changed after the ceremony. I thought that it was messed up how Tayo just left his beaten-up friends in a truck on the side of the road, just to go to some lady's house, who he ends up doing the nasty with. If I was Tayo's friends and I found out he did that, I'd be so super mad. I also noticed how this section was based on blaming the white people for everything bad that has happened to the Native Americans. That's uncalled for because it's not like eveyr single white person was involved in making the Native American's lives miserable.

Daniel Blog 8 (167-195)

This reading section started off weird, with Harley getting beat up by someone and Tayo is an odd daze. Tayo drives Harley and Leroy off to a town after their fight and leaves them in the car to sleep. Tayo then thinks about the transitions that he must make to change his life and get away from alcohol and go back to his Native American heritage. Silko then inserts a story about the Gambler who imprisoned the rain clouds. I think this story can be interpreted as the Native Americans getting caught up in alcohol and other things and losing their heritage. Just like the people in the story got caught up in gambling and lost what they owned and eventually the rain clouds. As for the Sun in the story I believe this could represent Tayo and how he will bring back Native American culture. After this story Tayo goes on an expedition to retrieve Josiah's lost cattle. At the beginning Tayo stays with a women that is around his age and they get intimate, but this time his experience is much different and comforting. "But he did not get lost, and he smiled at her as she held his hips and pulled him closer." (page 181). I think this experience Tayo has with this women may foreshadow his future with her. This women seems to be close with her Native American culture and I believe this is the type of women Tayo is looking for. As Tayo ventures into the wilderness he continues to blame the white people for much of the harm to the environment there. But this time I think the white people deserve this blame for they did indeed steal that land from the Native American reservations. Throughout the adventure Tayo speaks about Betonie's vision of what is to come for Tayo. " Until the previous night, old Betonie's vision of stars, cattle, a woman, and a mountain had seemed remote; he had been wary, especially after he found the stars, and they were in the north." (page 186). This foreshadows that Tayo will get the cattle. Also was this prophecy said by Betonie earlier in the book?

I liked this reading for it showed a different Tayo, a happier at peace one. It showed that things are looking up for him.

Jennas Blog 8

OKAY! So, this book confuses me. The whole flashback thing makes it a wee bit difficult for my feeble yet brilliant mind to follow. So basically what I got from this section is that Tayo is a little clearer in his own head since the ceremony. He also seems to be more comfortable with his heritage and stuff. They are also SUPER hating on the whities in here. I agree with what Tasha said: that its pretty lame to criticize someone based upon their race ESPECIALLY because of what some people of the same race did in history. Yeah, I'm white, but did I own a slave? Nope. Did I fully screw over the Native Americans? I DONT THINK SO!!! Anyhoo, Tayo got busy with a stranger, "mystery woman." I also agree with Tasha on the not-so-cleanly part of this. Umm, EW! I am waiting for the point to this book, other than his self realization and stuff, I mean its an okay topic, but its kinda lame to base a whole book on someones battle of trying to accept himself for who and what he is. I just hope there is something bigger coming. 

Back on the whole flashback thing, I never really understood when the present time was for the book because of all the flashbacks and I cant figure out what order the events come in. 

YAY! 3 MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL!

Hoooooookaybye. 

Tasha's 8th Blog

I didn't feel that this reading was anything exceptionally extraordinary. I guess a lot of it was about Tayo's growth after the ceremony. I think that he is starting to accept his Native American roots more and is becoming a lot more at peace with nature and himself. “Feeling the instant of the dawn was an event which in a single moment gathered all things together.” (pg 182) He has definitely become more clear in his mind since the ceremony: the passages, his thoughts, and the flashbacks are becoming less and less jumbled (which I greatly appreciate).
As Geoff said, a major part of this section was about blaming and condemning white people for their actions in the past. "He knew then he had learned the lie by heart- the lie which they had wanted him to learn: only brown skinned people were thieves; white people didn't steal...If the white people ever looked beyond the lie, to see theirs was a nation built on stolen land, then they would never be able to understand...white thievery and injustice...the colored against the white." (191). I completely understand Tayo's anger, but these types of things are starting to get on my nerves. Yes, white people have messed up a lot in history, but is it right to blame everyone in a race for the actions of others? It's just like saying that all people from the middle east are terrorists. It's insulting. It's a generalization about an entire group of people based on the actions of a few.
One thing that I didn't really understand the point to was the section regarding the mysterious woman. How did she help inspire him to find the cattle (it said that later on), and why did he have random sex with a woman when he didn't even know her name?? Someone didn't take health class...
Over all, I appreciate Tayo's growth and the fact that it is making everything a lot more clear. However, I'm still waiting for the punchline. The entire story can't just be a social commentary on how the Americans ruined the lives of Native Americans, can it?

Geoff- Post 8

This particular reading was filled with symbolism and messages the reader is supposed to infer. Betonie's prophecies will come true, and Tayo will come into his own. The passage opened with Harley unconscious and Helen Jean has run off with some Mexicans in the bar; I believe this scene is supposed to be evidence of the ephemeral happiness Leroy and Harley chase but never seem to achieve. "So they tried to sink the in booze, and silence their grief with war stories about their courage, defending the land they had already lost." (169). Pursuit of physical pleasure is not the key to happiness. Shortly after this, a long narrative myth about Gambler locking up the life-giving thunderheads; and Sun rescuing them. This is a story of rebirth and renewal (after all, the Gambler is vanquished and rain returns), and the story is supposed to be an analogy of Tayo's mental rebirth. The next part fulfills one of Betonie's prophecies; the woman. I'm not sure what this represents (or what it has to say about the author's views on promiscuos sex), but it seems at least plausible that the event isn't actually part of the story line; however, were it not, I'd expect it to be in verse. He sees the particular star pattern in the middle of this scene; another part of Betonie's prophecy. Shortly after this part, Tayo sings a little song when he sees the sunrise, which means he's happy tro be alive again. Then, the book takes a detour into a description of Mount Taylor: "All but a small part of the mountain had been taken. The resevation boundary included only a canyon above the Encinal and a few miles of timber on the plateau. The rest of the land was taken by the National Forest...It was then too that the holy men at Laguna and Acoma warned the people...droughts and harder days to come." (186). I'm getting impatient with blaming white people for everything...you know, it seems to be a recurring theme. "He knew then he had learned the lie by heart- the lie which they had wanted him to learn: only brown skinned people were theives; white people didn't steal...If the white people ever looked beyong the lie, to see thiers was a nation built on stolen land, then they would never be able to understand...white thievery and injustice...the colored against the white." (191). Tayo needs to get over the fact that he's an Indian; you have same opportunity as every other American (Rocky had it figured out). His lot is no worse than any white kid born on a poor farm. So, Tayo's searching for his cattle on Mount Taylor, which ties in nicely with Betonie's prophecy. Of course, it's only after performing the cougar ceremony that Tayo finds the cattle (big surprise). This passage is full of symbolism and fulfillment of prophecy, but the glaring "blame white people" parts are really grating me the wrong way.

Chancellor Blog # 2

This section opens up with Tayo in bed, being nursed by Auntie and Old Grandma.  Tayo believes that he isn't getting any better, and wants to go back to the hospital but, Old Grandma wants him to see a medicine man.  The medicines man's name is Ku'oosh, and he's going to perform a scalp ceremony.  In my opinion thats all you can really say that happened, because thats about everything big that did happen.  My question from this is why would Grandma rather have a ritual that didn't always work try to cure Tayo when's there's medicine and other modern things that have actually proven to cure people.  Do they believe in their rituals that mch?  "Maybe you could help me anyway.  Do something for me the way you did for the other who came back.  Because what if I didn't know I killed one."  I picked this quote, because what the medicine man said to Tayo probably made him feel better.  Tayo was worries he had killed someone and it was making him think a lot.

Chancellor Blog # 1

In pages, 1-29, Tayo doesn't seem to really have purpose and seems to just be  lost to me.  Tayo seem's to just be lost in the world, because of how he's been treated, because of his race.  To me he has kind of given up on life.  In this section it's also hard to tell the present from the past though, which made it really confusing and left with me with a lot of questions when I had read it.  The main question I had is what is actually present, what's the past, and how do we tell the difference.  "'It was too bad about dog and those sheep,' Tayo said.  But Harley laughed; he shook his had and laughed very loudly.  'They weren't worth anything anyway.  So skinny and tough the coyotes had to kill half o them just to make one meal.'  He laughed again.  Tayo felt something stir along spine; there was something in Harley's laugh he had never heard before.  Somehow Harley didn't seem to feel anything at all and he masked it with smart talk and laughter." This was kind of a long quote, but I picked it because it shows the change in Harley, who is one of Tayo's friends.  I think this is where Tayo realizes Harley is changing, or has already changed.

Maura's Blog #6 - 108-139

Okay so these 30 pages right here have probably been the most interesting bunch so far, based on the storyline. It took me a little while to figure out that 'he' was Tayo, but it was the most interesting part of the book when Silko described Tayo's childhood. It's so sad how rundown this town seems - what I thought of was that the reservation was the 'halfway home' of sorts for Indians, and when they were released into towns that were not on their reservation, they kind of just failed at life. So maybe it wasn't a good halfway home. How Silko describes the scene of the riverbank is so depressing, and how Tayo's mother doesn't care for him is just inhumane. Maybe she is stuck in this prostitute way of life now, but she didn't have to resort to it in the first place. When Tayo got left in the bar was really suprising, and pointed out that it was a good thing that his mom brought him to Auntie, because she was NOT fit to take care of him. These must be super damaging memories for Tayo, I can understand why he's so messed up!
It was very new to me, the introduction of 'bear people' and 'witchery'. Do Bear People decide to go with the bears, or their conscience decides for them, or something? I got kind of confused there. But other than that, that was really interesting as far as Native American ancestry goes. Before reading this, I also thought that witchery was like witches with a boil and a pointy nose and potions and stuff.. Or Hermoine. But I guess their definition is something that steals an animals skin, and does some evil stuff! As I said before, all new to me.
This medicine man is also pretty weird, I disagree with his whole 'modernizing' his medicine man practices. These are ancient practices, there's no need to modernize them. He is very concrete on his beliefs though, which makes the reader trust him a little more. Oh and I loved the myth on the creation of white people! Hahahahahahaha. Man we suck.
"THen they grow away from the earth
then they grow away from the sun
then they grow away from the plants and animals.
They see no life
When they look
they see only objects.
The world is a dead thing for them
the trees and rivers are not alive
the mountains and stones are not alive.
The deer and bear are objects
They see no life.
They fear
They fear the world
They destroy what they fear.
They fear themselves." (Silko 135).
As I said before, we suck, and for any of you that are Native American, I'm rooting for you. I love the last three lines, because it completely explains everything, in a different sense.

Maura's Blog #5 - 87-108

If I remember right.. 87 to 108 is mainly about Night Swan and flies.
Night Swan's story is kind of odd.. The scene where Night Swan and Tayo have sex is very disturbing and I didn't really want to read it. Tayo was making it into some beautiful thing and relating it to nature and beauty, when he was having sex with some 50 60 70 year old woman. When Tayo was at the spring, I realized how much this book is based on this drought. It started during the war, when he 'cursed' the rain, and has lasted all this way through his guilt. He goes to the spring and begins to think about old tales of rain, and I love the imagery of the animals of the spring in this paragraph too. I was kind of confused though, when he made this huge deal about the drought, and then the next thing you know, its raining? Odd.
One of the most interesting scenes/conversations in this part of the book is talking about their old dog, Pepper. It was actually kind of amusing, how perfect the metaphor was. Of course it was also sad, that the dog got run over, but it foreshadows what Tayo might tell us about Josiah's fate. I want to know!!
"The reflection of its colors made the sandstone cliffs bright gold, and then deep red. He sat on the steps of the long porch and looked at the adobe walls for a long time. years of rain and wind had weathered away the adobe plaster, exposing the symmetry of the brown adobes which were beginning to lose their square shape, taking on the softer contours of the mesas and hills." (Silko 103).
I liked this quote not only for the imagery, but for the symbolism. He remembered the old, relatively happy times, which could be represented by the original adobe. In present time, however, that fun had weathered away, just as the adobe did. His past was gone.

Devin blog 7

This is my extra credito blog seven folks. Mainly throughout the reading now I have been focusing on social justice and injustice, pertaining two finding my quotes. So here they are.
“She looked at these Laguna guys. They had been treated first class once, with their uniforms. As long as there had been war and the white people were afraid of the Japs and Hitler. But these Indians got fooled when they thought it would last. She was tired of pretending with them, tired of making believe it had lasted.” (pg. 165)
I found this quote very interesting, they were both using and being used by the war. So I geuss in the end it was equal for them. I picked this quote since they took advantage of their status and used it for bad. Showing social injustice.
“The day I was born they saw the color of my eyes, and looked at me, and the catholic priest said, let her die. They blamed the root women for this birth and they told her to leave the village before dark. She waited until they had gone, and she went to the old trash pile in the arroyo where they left me.” (pg. 151)
Racism is portrayed through this quote, they judged her because of her eyes, setting her aside in a dumpster to die. Not even giving her the chance to grow up and prove herself. Racism is one social injustice factor that compliments the definition and description of social justice.
This section of the book was fairly simply why does Tayo decide though to leave Harley again?

Chesna's Blog #7

So I read them pages.  I thought this section was a little more interesting.  I thought the ceremony was cool.  But I thought the slicing of the head was gross, like I had a bad mental image.  Then there's the part with Helen Jean, like I don't understand why she's there really.  But I think it's messed up how people wanna take her home and get in her pants, but she's not cool with that and that's what makes her somewhat cool.  But I don't understand why she has to be a hooker or prostitute just to earn money, like why can't she get a better job??

My quote:

"The effects of the witchery of the evil thing in his surroundings began to turn away. It had gone a great distance it had gone below the North." Pg. 153

Shannon's Blog #3

The boys exchange stories about their experiences in their uniforms and Tayo realized that as long as they were wearing uniforms, they weren’t being discriminated. Emo is angry with Tayo and as they get drunk, Tayo cries for they’re situation where they remember the feeling of belonging.

Tayo remembers how Rocky was killed. The Japanese soldiers covered his head in a blanket and shot him. Tayo wakes up in a shade with Harley, and he reminisces on what Josiah had taught him about nature and how drought only happened when people forgot. Harley and Tayo drink from the spring. A poem tells a story about magic that was just a tick, and Mother corn was tired of being neglected so she took the plants and the rain clouds with her.

Tayo and Harley arrive at the bar and Tayo remembers how he and Rocky killed a deer and what Rocky had taught him. Harley and Tayo drank a lot of beer, and he tries to get everyone to leave Tayo alone. Tayo gets so angry that he breaks a beer bottle and shoves it at Emo’s stomach. Then the poem continues to show eople to ask for forgiveness.

This section of the book really confused me, because I didn’t understand when he was having flashbacks, and I just wasn’t too sure of what was going on, and why most of the setting was at the bar.

pg: 49- 65

blog 7 (extra credit? who's in?!)

Howdyyyyy.
So 139 - 166. Is preeeeeetty much Tayo getting himself treated. The poem in the beginning about the hunter who has taken on the personality (and form?) of a coyote, and they need to go through a ceremony to treat him.
Betonie then uses this ceremony to try to fix Tayo, or, so I assume. I'm pretty sure the events were related because both affected their minds (their being Tayo and the hunter from the poem), and changed them into something entirely different.
Betonie talks about his freak-o relatives and how his grandaddy wanted a little like two year old mexican girl (she's actually like twelve though right?). But seriously, apparently she came out of nowhere. Freeeeeeaky.
Then Helen Jean gets all up in it. Question, is she a prostitute or just a beggar?

ba ba da baaaaaaaaaam, quotes!
Basically, I'd like to just say the eeeeentire poem about the coyote. That was super interesting. Geoff was super misleading in our literary circles today, because he said that it only changed his (the hunter)'s mind because he was thinking like a coyote. Then Jessica went all 'oh no you di'nt' on him and pointed out it talked about the tail.

anyhooo. that's all.
goodnight everyone
especially YOU 'nay'nay! (:
(and africa)

Shannon's Blog #2

In this section, Auntie takes Tayo and nurses him while he’s sick. We learn that she took him as a child, from her shamed sister and she was recognized for her burdens by raising Tayo and her son, Rocky. Auntie changes the sheets and puts Tayo in Rocky’s bed. He vomits from daylight and traumatizing experiences, and he cries in the dark while grandma listens to him. Robert, Auntie’s husband says that he’s glad to have Tayo back at home.

Sooner, Tayo wants to go back to the hospital but Grandma tells him to get a medicine man. Auntie doesn’t agree because rumors will start, like they did with Tayo’s mother and white men and Josiah with a Mexican woman. The Old Ku’oosh comes to see Tayo and he explains to Tayo different views on the fragile world and Tayo explains to him that he hasn’t killed a man. But Old Ku’oosh wants to cleanse him with rituals to cure him so that his dreams are not haunted, so Auntie feeds him blue cornmeal mush. He doesn’t vomit his food and he doesn’t care anymore about living.

Tayo realizes how the alcohol numbs the pain of the veterans at Dixie Tavern with Harley, Emo and Leroy. They talk stories about their time in the army.

At that point in the story, I got a better understanding of what exactly was going on. The book is becoming more interesting, and now Silko’s writing has portrayed a clear image on Tayo and his history.

pg: 29-49

Shannon's Blog #1

The story opens with a poem, telling us about three sisters creating the universe and naming things as they created. The next poem shows us how powerful stories are. This takes place after World War II and gives us a background of what happened to our protagonist, Tayo. He was in the Philippines suffering from the malaria, and hallucinating that his uncle Josiah was killed, but it was rather just a Japanese soldier. Tayo was at war for six years, remembering the humidity and drought in the Philippines, he prayed to stop the rain. After war, he stayed at a Veteran’s hospital in Los Angeles where he was at a catatonic state. He leaves to the Los Angeles Train station, collapsing and waking to the sight of a Japanese family, thinking that he was in the Philippines, and he pukes.

When Tayo is back at the reservation he reminisces back to his childhood with Rocky, old Indian stories and about Josiah. Then Tayo’s close friend, Harley who was also a soldier, stops for a visit. Tayo realizes Harley’s changes since the war about how he began to drink a lot of beer. Tayo deals with problems like almost killing Emo in a barfight. Tayo thinks about how even though Rocky died, it’s almost as he’s the one that survived, because Aunty talks about Rocky so much.

This blog is very much overdue, but I’ve gotten less stress and I’ve gotten the time to contribute. I’ve already read most of this book, but I found the beginning very confusing due to the flashbacks and the way a few things aren't explained clearly. Other then that, Leslie Silko did a good job at writing her poetry, and showing the pain that Tayo still felt after World War II. I wasn’t really enjoying this when I began, but it’s gotten more interesting overtime.

pg: 1-29

Nichole's blog #7: Extra Credit

Well I just finished reading pages 139-166, and this section was my favorite out of all. I found it very interesting how they went about Tayo's scalp ceremony, with him sitting in the middle of the whole drawing thing and them chanting and what not. Although, I still don't understand why they had to slice Tayo's head open, was that some way to release Tayo's inner-demons from war or something like that? Also, was the dream that Tayo had after the first part of the ceremony supposed to be symbolic or foreshadowing? Because I thought it was kind of weird how he just dreamt of speckled cattle. I find it pretty whack how Betonie's grandfather just randomly married that Mexican lady with the green eyes just because she couldn't be sent home. If I were in her position, I would've tried to go back home before marry Descheeny.

Quotes:
"He wanted to leave that night to find the cattle; there would be no peace until he did." Pg. 45
"The effects of the witchery of the evil thing in his surroundings began to turn away. It had gone a great distance it had gone below the North." Pg. 153

Extra Credit Post 7-Natalie

Hello everyone...i just finished reading to page 166. i found this passage to be very interesting and somewhat deep. In the reading assignment a lot happens in the book. Betonie the medicine man performs a ceremony where Tayo has to go through hoop like things while they chant and then they cut the top of his head open but just a little. i believe this might be the scalp ceremony again? does anyone know if it is called the scalp ceremony because they cut the top of your head open a little? After the ceremony Tayo fells a lot better and thinks it is starting to work. Betonie is a interesting character. He seems very wise, a quote i found very deep was "This has been going on for a long long time now. It's up to you. Don't let them stop you. Don't let them fininsh off this world"(152). I think that Betonie saying it is all up to Tayo know to stay healthy and not to give up on his culture. and to follow your traditions even though some people may think it is just plane none sense.

We were just introduced to Betonie not long ago and not a new character appears. Helen Jean is an Indian woman who want other people to support her. Helen seems to be very opposite the Betonie who is kind and giving and want to help people. Helen just want to take money (gold digger) and thinks she is superior to anyone else around her. i think i like her less then Aunty :O.
So far this book seems to be blaming the white people for the problems that they face. i actually think it is not intierlly the white peoples fault and they are just trying to find someone to blame.

"She had come for his ceremonies, for the chants and the stories they grew from. 'This is the only was,' she told him. 'It cannot be done alone. We must have power from everywhere. Even the power we can get from the whites" (150). i like this quote because for once the are not bashing the white people and it inciuates that we need to work together for it to get done more powerfully.

"White people selling Indians junk cars and trucks reminded Tayo of the Army Captain in the 1860s who made a gift of wool blankets to the Apaches: the entire stack of blankets was infected with smallpox" (Page 158). I find it sad that when Tayo see's white people selling broken trucks to Indians it reminds him that white people are the ones who infected Indians with disease.

It is sad that white people are viewed so poorly in this book but maybe as the book goes on Tayo will forgive the white people as he has forgiven the Japanese. :D

Daniel Blog 7

During this section Tayo seems to be going through major change at first but at the end he reverts back to his old self. The section starts off with a story about a guy who believes he's a coyote and then goes through what I believe is a scalp ceremony to cleanse him of the "witch" magic. I think this is presented as a way to connect what Tayo is about to go through to past Native American ritual. To show that the purpose of the scalp ceremony is to attempt to cleanse one's mind. Tayo goes on to listen to Betonies story about his grandfather Descheeny. The story about the little Mexican girl could be showing how Indians treated other races badly and that they are getting it back in return from the whites. " 'Sometimes I have to shake my head,' she'd say, 'because human beings deserve exactly what they get.' " (Page 151). In this reading Silko also presented a lot of her views on Indian Society. Silko does this through Helen Jean, a Native American women who used to live in Towac. After Helen Jean lives in Laguna for awhile she realizes how bad Indian society is. She degrades the veterans for being drunks and she also dislikes the Native American women for going along with the drunk men. "After spending all her life at Towac, she didn't need to be wasting time there, in the middle of nowhere, someplace worse than the reservation she had left." (Page 166). Helen feels that the veterans are wasting their lives and after she goes along with it for awhile she realizes she has been wasting her life as well. Silko uses the character Helen to be critical of Native American Society.

Quotes:
"White people selling Indians junk cars and trucks reminded Tayo of the Army Captain in the 1860s who made a gift of wool blankets to the Apaches: the entire stack of blankets was infected with smallpox." (Page 158) - I see this quote as a metaphor for it is comparing white people selling broken trucks to Indians to white people infecting Indians with disease. Tayo feels that white people cause all the problems even after he talked with Betonie. As we debated in class the other day I don't feel white people are causing all the problems and that Native Americans hold blame too. But the smallpox blankets that totally messed up and the Native Americans couldn't help that at all.

Shaun Blog 7

Ok up to page 166 a lot of stuff happens. Betonie performs the ceremony with his assistant Shush they make like this big thing where Tayo has to go through these hoops while they chant and they cut the top of his head only a little. When it is all finished Tayo starts to feel like it's working he describes the ceremony as a rawhide thongs of of the medicine pouch holding back all his dreams, the voices he hears, and the faces in the jungle. So I think the ceremony is doing well for Tayo. Then we get into a flash back about Betonie how his grandfather helped out a mexican lady they found in a tree. I'm confused on the part where Betonie is born is his Mom the mexican lady that Descheeny helped? After the story Tayo offers to pay for the ceremony Betonie had performed. Betonie says something very interesting. "This has been going on for a long long time now. It's up to you. Don't let them stop you. Don't let them fininsh off this world."(152) I think that Betonie is trying to say that it's not over it's up to Tayo to stay well and keep this culture going. Don't let the whites trick you into thinking that your traditions is just nonsense. I notice in Betonies story it also mentions, "They are working for the end of this world aren't they?" I think that Descheeny made sure that when Betonie was born he would be a medicine man and carry on the stories and traditions of their culture. It did say that his grandma took him and his like future was decided already.Later on Tayo meets up with Harley and Leroy. Then a new character appears named Helen Jean she is an Indian woman who is just looking for people to giver her money to help her out. A quote that stood out to me was "You b****! You think your better than a white woman?"(165) Helen gets slapped by this guy because she doesn't wanna go with him. Helen is to good for him is what he thinks. Which is true Helen thinks she is better than all these Indian guys. However she is just as bad as they are. She just wants money from guys so she can live her life. How is she any better than these Indian war heros she doesn't want to waste her time with?

Geoff- Post 7 (up to pg 166?)

Hey, I was sort of in and out of class on Tuesday, but I'm pretty sure the board said to read to page 166. Anyway, that's how far I've read.
I thought it was sort of unusual how the poem that started off the reading not only described the ceremony that followed but was analogous to Tayo's mental state. I'm inferring that different ceremonies have different stories about their origins, and that the particular ceremony is decided upon based on what story the patient's condition matches. Just an inference. So, Tayo's ceremony occurs, and here's the million dollar question: Is he really cured of all his problems? I'm inclined to think no, but if he wasn't, why did Tayo leave Betonie? Betonie says "'One night or nine nights won;t do it any more...the ceremony isn't finished yet...remember these stars...I've seen them and I've seen the spotted cattle; I've seen a mountain and I've seen a woman.'" (152). What does this mean? Will Tayo return? This is obviosly some major incident of foreshadowing, but I don't know what it is foretelling.
Then we got the story about Betonie's weird family. His grandather was a medicine man who took a Mexican girl for his wife, and they started changing ceremonies together (I still think it's weird that he decided to take a random Mexican girl into his home). Is the Mexican girl a witch child, like the boy that lived with the bears? There is evidence to the contrary (i.e. she was clothed and spoke Spanish), but her strange behavior around the hunters, and the fact she was hiding in a tree at night, makes me wonder about her unexplained origins. Anyway, the significant part of the story is that the Mexican girl started changing the Indian's ceremonies. "She had come for his ceremonies, for the chants and the stories they grew from. 'This is the only was,' she told him. 'It cannot be done alone. We must have power from everywhere. Even the power we can get from the whites.'" (150).
The passage ends with an introduction to the character Helen Jean, an Indian girl who has become an impromptu prostitute. I was always wondering why the book didn't mention Indian girls; I guess this is one, but it sure does seem like the only woman on the reservation is Auntie.
Finally, it seems like, according to Betonie, the world is a cosmic battleground where the hordes of whites and their witchery do battle against the Indians and their righteous medicine. Doesn't this seem really racist? Why does it have to be an us versus them? Everybody's an American; they're really all the same. So why are the Indians always blaming white folks for their problems?

Posts MUST BE DONE BEFORE CLASS

To avoid any further confusion...any and all remaining posts must be posted BEFORE the next class period.

Curtis 6th Blog

So I would just like to start off by saying that I don't agree with Geoff. I am not to happy Night Swan has left the plot.. haha. I was hoping for some round two action. I would like to comment on the new themes that have been introduced in this reading. One I believe to be injustice (refering to Indians obviously.) The other is that everything is that everything is subjected to change.

A quote that I liked was on page 132 that said, "I wonder what good our Indian ceremonies can do against the sickness which comes from their wars, their bombs, their lies?" This shows the frustration that the Indians have. This relates to the Hawaiians back in the day when the "haoles stole their land." They just complained about how white people took everything away from them when they actaully made life better. There would be nothing today here if if weren't for the white people. No schools and I believe they would be technologicaly retarted. This relates to both the theames. I can't decide which side the author is on when it comes to the theme of injustice. I guess I don't really agree with my statement I made earlier about even having a theme of injustice. I think the Indians are like the kids in school that complain about things but do nothing about it to change things. My previous theme about injustice and the other about change contradict eachother and I believe the one about change. Everything is subjected to change. Sure there is some descrimination that the white people are doing that I don't agree with but these Indians are choosing to work for them still. The sooner you realize that good change is happening and make the best out of it (not complain) the better you will be. You don't get anywhere in life with complaining.
I don't really live by that last comment but I try to as much as possible.

There you guys go. I made a serious blog for once. Sorry its like 6 hours late

Lauren's Blog

un4tunate@hawaii.rr.com
oh my goodness! every time i go to the blog thing, i can never find the place to put my blog.
soo i get super frustrated and i don't want to deal with it. so heres my blog #6:)

From pages 108-139 a lot went on. I was sort of confused on the story of the little boy and why
Silko even added it in. The story was sad because the boy was starving to death while his uncaring
mother is out and about "messing" around. That was messed up. Then when Robert made the comment
of, "Somebody you used to know?" (pg. 115) it somewhat came together that this little suffering boy
was Tayo. No wonder his mother couldn't take care of him, but still. It makes me kind of mad that a
mother would do that to her child. If you're going to have a kid, you are suppose to care for it and love
it more than anything in the world. Instead she pretty much left Tayo to die and didn't care. Even if this
wasn't Tayo and his mother, that it still sad.

Later in this section there was a lot of blame towards white people. The part about the witches was pretty weird and crazy especially the part about the baby skulls boiling in the blood and what not. It was disturbing.
The story about how white people came to be was also interesting. It also goes to show that it IS the quiet ones you always have to look out for because it was the witch that didn't show off that made the story of the white people and how they would destroy everything and that they "see no life, when they look, they see only objects" (pg. 136). The quote i found interesting was, "They fear. They fear the world. They destroy what they fear. They fear themselves" (pg. 136). This quote makes sense to me because it's sort of like that movie iRobot where we created robots, but then they turn out to have a mind of their own and try to destroy the human race. That's the same thing. Us people will destroy ourselves. Another quote i drew a moral from was,
"It's already turned loose. It's already coming. It can't be called back" (pg. 138). This quote symbolizes the damage that gossip or spreading rumors can do. Once something is put out there, or once something is said, it's impossible to take back. That's why some people say that the tongue is the strongest part of the body because you can say things that are so hurtful or hateful that can really emotionally damage someone. It'skind of like squirting out toothpaste and putting it back in. I suppose this could also be a theme of this section.

BLog 6

I personally thought that this chapter thing was pretty intresting. The whole bear and whithces thing didn't really make much sense to me. And i don't really understand why they sent Tayo to this medicine man, Betonie. This guy also struck me is intresting. He seemed more like a phsycaritrist to me then a Native American doctor. I thought it was intresting the way he described himself and just the way he was was i don't kind of strange to me. And who is his partner Sush? The boke says he is like a bear or something. I also think that is seems like the native american people are blaming all their problems on the white people. Which i think is sort of ironic because that's kinda how it is here. (no offense). But to me if the native americans blame all their problems on the white people but why did they like allow it all to happen, you know why did they get influenced by them Idk... anyway. So yeah the whitch thing was very intresting as well...
"then they grow away from the earth then they grow away from the sun then they grow away from the plants and animals. they see no life when they look they see only objects. the world is a dead thing for them the trees and rivers are not alive the mountains and stones are not alive. The deer and bear are objects. they see no life. " Page 135
i just thought this was a good way to get her point across i guess. and just a intresting way to describe how a person can be. None the less a whole race.

Jennas 6th Blog

So, I got confused in this section. 

I'm pretty sure that Tayo went to go see Betonie at his house or something and this guy is the medicine man, right? So he went to see the medicine man because the white doctors didn't really do anything to help him. He tries to find out why hes so depressed and stuff. And he tells the story about how the white people got created or whatever. It was cool and inventive and stuff. 

I thought it was interesting when he was describing the guys face and the quote about "'My grandmother was a remarkable Mexican with green eyes,' he said." (119) I think its weird because that's how they described Night Swan, so I think that she is his Grandmother. I also liked how they just described his face. The comparisons of his cheekbones to hawks was a cool simile. 

So far, the book is okay. Its kind of hard for me to follow but its alright. Kind of boring in some places too. 

Erica's Sixth Blog.

This part of the book was kind of boring, I didn't really get it at first but I figured it out. I guess Tayo is at Betonie's house/hidaway and Betonie is supposed to cure him. The white doctors didn't really help much so Tayo's family turned to the medicine man. Betonie tries to go through Tayo's thoughts to see why he is so depressed. I like the story the witch told about the white people, it's like the magical and sort of evil way that white people came to be.

Through pages 108 to 139 there was a lot of descriptive paragraphs but I liked this paragraph: "He looked at his face. The cheekbones were like the wings of a hawk soaring away from his broad nose; he wore a drooping thick mustache; the hairs were steel gray. Then Tayo looked at his eyes. They were hazel like his own. The medicine man nodded. "My grandmother was a remarkable Mexican with green eyes," he said." (Silko 119) This quote mainly has similes and concrete detail. Tayo was describing Betonie.

The book is ok so far, but I'm not that interested in it. But hopefully everyone else likes it.

Ryder Blog 6

Okay im still enjoying the book, but now it's getting all confusing and such. I don't really know where the present is anymore, is he still with Harley at the Bar and telling the story of Betonie or if he's with Betonie. There's also the part talking about the little boy and I'm not sure if it's some random kid or if it's Tayo.

but here are my quotes:

" 'Go ahead,' old Betonie said, 'you can go.' Most of the Navajos feel the same way about me. You won't be the first one to run away.' " pg 118

This quote shows how Betonie is either wise or has a deeper mental connection with Tayo. He continues to seem to read Tayo's mind and feel how he feels or know what he's thinking.

" 'Muh!' he called to her because he was hungry and he had found no food that morning. The woman with the reddish colored hair, the one who used to feed him was gone. Her shelter was already torn down, taken away in pieces by others in the arroyo." pg 109

This quote shows how the children were mistreated in Gallup, and shows how the poor living conditions were. It shows details of how disturbing the neighborhood is. It also creates a mystery of who the boy is whom the story follows.

Blog 6 - hay friendsss

Okay so, basically 108 - 139's real message was boooo whities.

We start off with the story about the boy who's mother leaves him behind all the time to go get busy and whatnot, and we can pretty much conclude that boy is Tayo. It's not actually said out in the open like "hayyyyy the boy was Tayo", but it's pretty obviously implied.
Anyway, so then Tayo was all up in the medicine man plan, and he meets Betonie (girl name?). So Betonie makes sure that we all (and Tayo) understand he's not a witch because witches are stupid because they made white people. Well it's not like that, but Betonie explains that white men were made with Indian witch magic.
So all kinds of sad because the Indians did it to themselves and all. Boo hoo ): Basically I thought the whitey part was the most interesting.

I'm gonna use the quote lots of homeslices used (why am I so pathetic D:!)
"They want us to believe all evil resides with white people. Then we will look no further to see what is really happening. They want us to separate ourselves from white people, to be ignorant and helpless as we watch our own destruction. But white people are the only tools that the witchery manipulates; and I tell you, we can deal with white people..." page 132.

Small kine question, so does this imply that since they control white people, they have controlled them enough to cause Indian destruction? Or, manipulated to ruin Indian tradition? I don't know, it confused me, but it was really interesting to hear the Indian story about it.

NEXT!
"The contest started like that.
Then some of them lifted the lids on their big cooking pots,
calling the rest of them over to take a look:
dead babies simmering in blood
circles of skull gut away
all the brains sucked out.
Witch medicine to dry and grind into powder for new victims." Page 134

WHAT THE EFF ARE YOU SERIOUS? What the hell does dead babies cooking in a pot fix! You disgust me.

uhhh. How many quotes do we find?
TWO IT IS.

Kay byeeee (:

Chesna's 6th Blog

So yeah I read pages 108-139 and I thought the story was getting a little intense.  Like the witchcraft part, that was crazy.  I also noticed this section has a lot of people accusing each other.  For example the part with the Indians blaming the white people for all their problems.  But it's like "well it's somewhat your own fault witchcraft".  I also noticed that the Indians are blaming the white people for ruining their lives with alcohol.  But shouldn't they have the power to stop themselves?  I mean really, if you think your life sucks because of alcohol abuse shouldn't you stop?!  Anyway, this was very interesting and it somewhat bothered me in an odd way.

The quote I chose was:

"THe old man shook his head. "That is the trickery of the witchcraft," he said. "They want us to believe all evil resides with white people.  Then we will look no further to see what is really happening.  They want us to separate ourselves from white people, to be ignorant and helpless as we watch our own destruction.  But white people are only tools that the witchery manipulates; and I tell you, we can deal with white people, with their machines and their beliefs.  We can because we invented white people; it was Indian witchery that made white people in the first place." (132)

I chose this because it shows how a few Indians think they can overpower white people just because they "invented" them.  It also makes the Indians seem a little cocky because the quote says that white people are tools and they think they can beat the white people even if the white people have machines and stuff.  So yeah that's my blog. :)

Tasha's 6th Blog

I've finished reading pages 108-139! One of the themes I felt was rather prominent in this section was that of disliking and blaming white people for Native American troubles. In a historic sense, yes, Caucasians have done numerous terrible things towards Native Americans (The Indian Removal Act, the Dawes Severalty Act, the list goes on and on). However, I don't see why white people are being blamed for all of their problems, and that is the general feeling that I am getting from the book. I have not seen many Native Americans in the book taking their lives into their own hands and doing something with it, instead they are sitting in bars, complaining that the “white devils” ruined them by introducing alcohol. Sorry. Rant over.
Something I think that is important to mention are the circumstances that people are living in Gallup. The people generally seem impoverished. There seems to be a lot of drunks, the book mentions prostitutes, and I wonder what Silko is trying to say about both the new white influence on Native American culture and on the level of protection and aid these people are getting. It's terrible.
As others have said, we have been introduced to Betonie, a medicine man. He seems very calm, natural, and down to earth – then again, what else would you expect? I think I like him as a character because of this. Is he going to cure Tayo? I hope so!
A quote that I found very interesting was this: “'They sent me to this place after the war. It was white... Maybe I belong back in that place.'...'That's true,' the old man said, 'you could go back to that white place... But if you were going to do that you might as well go down there, with the rest of them, sleeping in the mud, vomiting cheap wine, rolling over women. Die that way and get it over with.'... 'In that hospital they don't bury the dead, they keep them in rooms and talk to them.'” (pg 123) I found this an intriguing contrast between culture. It is also an example of Tayo, who is in a constant identity crisis, being pulling one way and then another in terms of where he belongs.

devin blog 6

This section of the book seemed to go into great depths about Tayo’s inner thoughts and conflicts that go through him.

“It strikes me funny, the medicine man said, shaking his head, people wondering why I live so close to this filthy town. But see, this Hogan was here first. Built long before the white people ever came. It is that town down there which is out of place. Not this old medicine man.” (pg. 118)

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

I believe this medicine man is really trying to teach Tayo about what culture means and how it is necessary to adapt to the changing times. My first quote hit me with that feeling of surprise, like wow I never ever thought to look at it in such a way. That seems so clear and makes so much sense. I would compare the medicine man and the town to Tayo and his “family.” They all were the same but through the years everyone else changed except for him, picking him as an outcast setting him aside because of the differences everyone else created. The medicine man teaches Tayo one more lesson of judging people. Hinting towards his feelings towards the Indian and white race. Saying we can’t all blame the whites, since it takes two to tango.
I’m not quite sure where the witches come into play in the end of the section. Could someone please respond and fill me in on the role that they play? Thanks. And how come all of you guys are doing like summeries?

Shaun Blog 6

Ok I'm really starting to like the book I like the stories that are shared in this section. "I wonder what good are Indian ceremonies can do against the sick ness which comes from their wars, their bombs, their lies?" (132) This quote seemed really important to me. Tayo has a serious question for Betonie how do you expect this old ceremony to work when I have seen modern war and been told lies from these people. Betonies response is good to. He mentions it is all just witchery white people are made up from witchery therefore we can cure it. If what Betonie says is true Tayo has a good chance at getting better. When the strory of white people is told at one of the witch contest thing all the other witch people are scared at this tale and say call it back. But the witch responds "It's already loose. It's already coming. It can't be called back."(138) That sent chills down my spine I really like this story about white people. This shows how stories have alot of power in this culture. I really wanna see what happens next and read some more interesting stories.

Jordan's 6th blog

"The reflection of it's colors made the sand stone cliffs gold, and then deep red." This is imagery from the author explaining what he sees in the surroundings around him. In that paragraph he address it well. Further on, on the same page, he has a flash back of sitting in the same place with Rocky and he says how little it changed since then.

To me the I feel as if the Gallup ceremony is a symbol towards the relationship that the whites and the Native Americans have. During the ceremony different tribes get together and do dances as entertainment for the white people. The white people are ignorant and neglect the Native Americans because of who they are. That is a major problem in this world that will never go away. Eventhough the Native Americans try to work their way to where they want to be the whites are always shutting them down. It's kind of ironic how everyday of the year that is not around this time the whites treat tv Native Americans as is they they themselves are higher. But when it comes to this time it's as if the whites like them only because of there materialistic things. I think that the only reason why some of the whites like them is because of what they can make but they end up hating them regardless of what they can do.

Nichole's blog #6

I just finished reading pages 108-139, and I thought this was a very sad section. The section opened with a scene in the town of Gallup, a very sad and depressing place for the local Indians. Silko goes on to describe how poorly the white men treat the Indian women who live under the bridge, and how Indians are seen as a lower class then the white people. This relates to the Nazi's in a way because the German's and Jew's held the same job positions but the German's still felt they were of higher class then the Jew's, which is pretty much what is happening between the white people and the Indians. I think it is very depressing how even though the white people act so horribly towards the Indians, the Indians still perform to make the white people money from the tourists. I enjoyed how Silko described Tayo's and Betonie's first confrontation and their little meeting, I guess it could be called. It seemed at first that Tayo was frightened by Betonie because Tayo thought that he was sent there so he wouldn't go back to Laguna. Although, after finishing this section, I think that Betonie really did help Tayo with his post-war trauma because he was the first person that Tayo was ever able to talk it out with. I have a feeling that the poem on pages 128 to 130 is in fact about Betonie's littler help boy. I think this because why would there just be a poem about a random kid after Betonie had introduced his helper to Tayo. I thought it was interesting how after Tayo told Betonie about Emo and how he played with human teeth, Betonie brought up the legend of how white people were created by witchery. In a way, I could see how this could be true because witchery is something that is looked down upon by the Indian people and white people treat the Indian people very poorly. My one question for this section is: Is Night Swan Betonie's granmother? Because Tayo said he noticed that Betonie was an Indian with hazel eyes, and Night Swan did in fact have hazel eyes.

Favorite quotes:
"He looked at his face. The cheekbones were like the wings of a hawk soaring away from his broad nose." Page 119
"He had to touch his own hand to remember what year it was: thick welted scars from the shattered bottle glass." Page 139

Jessicas # 6

So this portion of the reading starts off with the discretion of Gallup. Gallup demonstrates how the white people are above the Indians. They all work in the same town and perform the same work but the white people are still superior to Indians. The town is part of the motif of how Indians strive to be equals to the white people and join in their world. The passage talks about how the Indians are basically disposable. The white people pay their Indian workers poorly and treat them unfairly but the Indians just take the abuse. Also I found it interesting that even the Indians demonstrations of their traditions and culture are profited from the White people. The Indians create traditional foods and artifacts to be sold and they come together to perform their traditional dances but the white people are the ones that are profiting. The only thing that the Indians have that the white people don’t is a strong tie to their roots and culture and the white people even take advantage of that and I strongly believe that it is wrong. I cannot tell if the boy the author is talking about in Gallup is Tayo or someone else. I don’t think it is because I think the boy is too old to be Tayo because Tayo went to live with Auntie at age four and this boy seems older, but maybe not; I just cannot tell. How Tayo sympathized with the couple who were begging shows that he might relate to their situation so the boy could be Tayo. The reader learns that Josiahs cattle were stolen and it sounds like he died looking for them. I think Night Swan killed him, just because I want her to be bad and she left town right after he died. The reader learns about this medicine man named Betonie. He is super weird and not very traditional. He says some pretty deep words of wisdom about how culture has to adapt to the changing times or it will die away. I completing agree with this statement because the reason why we have traditions and why the Indians have their ceremonies is to fit the needs of the people or ourselves. Since we as a people are always changing are traditions have to change with our bodies and mind. Betonie seems to be helping Tayo by just being there for him but he does not really do any huge thing to help him. He has not danced or has given him medicine, he just keeps talking about all this random stuff so Tayo just wears his heart on his sleeve and he is like look at those people and Tayo just keeps telling his problems and Betonie is not even listening. I think that Betonie lives near the poor and drunk Indians living on the side of Gallup because he wants to support them with his presence. He being there causes them to think about their culture. O and I almost forgot Betonie says about how white people are not to be blamed because Indians brought on the evil. Yup tired so explain that in next blog!!!!
Quotes:
“The sun was above them now, in a deep blue sky like good turquoise” (pg 115)
“The cheekbones were like the wings of a hawk soaring away from his broad nose” (pg 119)

Daniel Post 6

This reading section, pages 108 to 139, was fairly interesting. In this section Tayo's health seems a lot better. It's mostly in the present but contains one flashback, which is good for Tayo. In the previous sections there are usually several flashbacks. This reduced number of flashbacks could indicate an increase in Tayo's health. For the most part this section describes the town of Gallup. Basically a town where Native Americans seeking a better future head to. Most of them are unsuccessful and become alcoholics and go to live in arroyo. With this Silko is trying to show what is becoming of Native Americans. She is presenting the stereotype that they are mindless drunks. Silko also indicates in the arroyo that most of the women constantly sleep with strangers. She doesn't say if they are prostitutes though. Also in Gallup white people run the town. They mistreat the Native Americans and pay them to little. Silko is showing how society mistreated the Native Americans, how they made them outcasts and helped them very little. All of this is shown through Tayo in what I believe is a flashback of him as a kid. As a kid Tayo constantly watches his mother come back with strange men. After this flashback Tayo continues up to a mountain overlooking Gallup and meets the medicine man Betonie. Betonie has interesting out looks on life. He suggests change is a natural occurrence that must happen for things to continue thriving. I totally agree with this. Tayo then meets Betonies helper Shush. Shush is a small boy caught between two worlds, the bears and humans. In a way I think he symbolizes Tayo who is also stuck between the worlds of whites and Native Americans. Betonie then explains that white people aren't causing everything that they too are responsible for all these bad things, that they can't only blame the white people.

Quotes:
"The wind will blow them across the ocean thousands of them in giant boats swarming like larva out of a crushed ant hill." (Page 136) - This simile the witch says in his story describes how the white men will swarm over everything just like larva would. The white men will be like ants attacking anything to stay alive. It's a good way of putting what did happen. Also I noticed that larva are white and the people being described are white but that's probably a coincidence.

"It is very peaceful with the bears; the people say that's the reason human beings seldom return." (Page 130) - In this quote Silko could be comparing how some Native Americans go to be with the bears because it would seem to be an easier life. Just how many are leaving the reservations to go into cities to be successful. She's showing how the white world draws Native Americans in and how it's difficult to bring them back to their culture.

Blog 5-Natalie

I finished pages 108-139 and i really enjoyed this section of the reading because i learned more about the childhood Tayo had had with his mother. The farther we get along in the story Tayos health seems to be improving. Tayo's childhood with his mother is really explaned in deatail in this passage. His childhood does not seem to be a pleasant one at all, Tayo was basically left to fend for himself while his mother go drunk. His childhood flashbacks take place in a town called Gallup. Gallup sounds like it is somewhat of a ghetto town due to the fact that people live under bridges, or in tin shacks, and they get drunk all the time. It sounds like the people there are very low class and are portrayed as low lives. Silko paints an image of the people of Gallup to be drunken all the time and "loose" with there sexuality.

As a kid Tayo constantly watched his mother come back drunk with strange men. "Late in the night he heard voices, men stumbling and falling down the steep crumbling bank into arroyo, and he could hear bottles rattle together and the sound of corks being pulled from the bottles" Pg. 113. For the short while when Tayo's mother was around she it seems she was there in presence but gone in spirit, she never really cared for him appropriately and she just went off and did her own thing while he was left alone. Tayo basically had to care for himself as a child, he found food in trash cans and sucked on bones. The way Tayo was raised effected him socially, he never learned the right people skills early in his life because his mother was always drunk and had no time to raise him. "he did not play with the other children; he ran from them when they approached" Pg. 111. In Tayo's flashbacks as a child with his mother we learn that he saw a lot of traumatic things, "the next day it was quite, and the woman carried a bundle of bloody rags away from the bridge, far away north, towards the hill" Pg. 111. if i was a child and i saw someone caring bloody rags from there house i think it would effect me in a negative way. I think the trauma from his earlier life, going to war, and seeing Rocky being killed all had an adverse effect on Tayo's mental state and i think all these reasons are why he went temporary insane.

Night Swan is no longer around in the story but a new character named Betonie is introduced. Betonie is a medicine man, and has an intresting outlook on life. I really agree with what he he thinks about change. Change is a natural part of life, and that everything is subject to change. i agree because without change everything would be boring in your life and you would not progress in you life because nothing would have change to do so. It will be interesting to see what role this character has later in the story.

Some quotes i find amusing are..."He leard to watch out for shit and in the winter, when it was frozen, he played with it- flipping it around with a willow stick. This quote makes me laugh because he played with frozen shit.

“The cheekbones were like the wings of a hawk soaring away from his broad nose” (pg 119). i think this is a very beautiful and creative way to explain someones face. this is also a great example of beautiful simile.

"He crawled deeper into the tramatic bushes and pulled his knees up to his belly. He looked at the stars, through the top branches of the willows. he waited for here, and she would come back (pg. 113). This quote really shows that even though his mother was rarely around she would always some back for him st least he hoped. i don't get how she can just leaves him alone to fend for himself.

Geoff- Post 6

Alright, pages 108 to 139 are down... I still need to do all those questions. AP test tomorrow...eww. Anyway, here it is.

Just a comment (I think this was earlier): I'm glad Night Swan has left the plot. I'd had enough of the scandalous part of the novel.

The passage opens with a description of the town of Gallup and the homeless camp in the gully. It seems obvious this is a flashback of Tayo as a child; we gain some insight to his mother's "occupation" during the retelling, as well as a message about the evils of alcohol. Indians, stereotypically, drink a lot, so "the ones (women) who would go down for a half bottle of wine" (111) are predictable characters. Silko always seems to refer to the lowlives in Gallup as drunk, implying a derogatory message about alcohol. I'm not sure what type of message Silko is trying to send about law enforcement; on the one hand, the police clean up the gully every so often, hauling away miscreants, but Tayo hides from what he considers scary men when the police come. A quote: "He found two quarters and tossed themi into the man's outstretched hands, swaying above his head, and both the man and the woman dropped to their knees in the sand to find them." (114). I think this says a lot about Tayo's character; he is too sympathetic. This is evident when the poor man and woman stumble off to wait for the bar to open. This trait of his is also evident in his sympathy to Japanese soldiers- this sympathy is not in his best interest.
We are also introduced to the character Betonie, who carries on a lesson (supposedly) taught by Night Swan's encounter. " 'I have made changes in the rituals. The people mistrust this greatly, but only this growth keeps the ceremonies strong.' " (126). The author teaches that change is a natural part of life, and that everything is subject to change. I understand the author's point, but I do believe there are some things that never change; some things are universal to all people and times. I also like Betonie's perspective about his choice of living space; the town is out of place, after all! I'm still not sure what the significance of all the junk in Betonie's house is; maybe he's just a packrat.
I thought the poem at the end of the story was sort of unsettling; I never thought of myself as "like the belly of a fish/ covered with hair...The world is dead to them...swarming like larvae...bring terrible diseases..." (137). I'd call this an instance of scapegoating, seeing as, after all, Tayo lives in the modern world, went to school, and is a US citizen.

Post #5

Okay so I just finished reading pages 109 to 139. In this section we are introduced to Betoine. He is a medicin man and is helping Tayo with his ceremony. I'm almost postitive that this section is written in the present tense. I like this section because I think it shows how Tayo starts his journey to being mentally healed. I also like the deeper insight that betoine gives to the motives of the white people and where the originated from. I also like how he doesn't blame everything on the white people and how Betoine teaches Tayo that what the white people did to the indians is an offset of what indian witchcraft started years ago.
"This is the trickery of the witchcraft, he said, they want us to believe all evil resides with white people. Then we will look no further to see what is really happening. They want us to seperate ourseves from white people, to be ignorant and helpless as we watch our own destrution."(132)

Shaun Blog 5

"It isn't just me, Robert. The other guys, they're still messed up too. That ceremony didn't help them." (106) This is an example of Tayo being seen as different by other people. Old men in their village are talking about Tayo and his sickness. Saying he needs help right away. Tayo can feel himself being seen as different from the rest of the people in his village. He starts to get that feeling of being invisible again. Tayo feels that the people in his village are all right about him about him being different and about him being sick. "They are afraid Tayo. They feel something happening, they can see something happening aound them,and it scares the. Indians or Mexicans or whites-most people are afraid of change." (99-100) This part of the long quote makes alot of sense. Night Swan has a good idea of why Tayo is looked at so diffeently and treated differently. Tayo can open up to Night swan she understands what Tayo is going through being seen as different. I still can't balieve Tayo and Night Swan had something going on. Isn't she alot older than he is. Tayo did think that she didn't look old or young to him she had no relation to age which is really interesting.