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Native American Author Roundtable
6.
AOTW: What are some of the key issues for Native Americans that you hope to convey through your books?
Margaret Coel: The central issue is the way in which they must straddle two different and contradictory worlds. They are what the Arapahos call "edge people" who live at the edge of two cultures. They struggle to preserve their own culture, which values such things as family and generosity, yet at the same time they're part of the dominant culture which, too often, appears to be anti-family and selfish.
Thomas Perry: I'm a bit leery of advocating a position on social or political issues for groups of which I'm not a member. I do try to convey the fact that those issues are there. An example from my books is the continuing debate within the Seneca world about gambling casinos. They've been voting on it periodically for a number of years. Just a few days ago I was in Buffalo, and read that the Seneca Nation (the Cattaraugus and Allegany bands) might accept a cession of land for a casino in Niagara Falls. The Secretary of the Interior has allowed the 45 day period she had to object to elapse. The Tonawanda band, (my character Jane's relatives) have continued to vote down all similar proposals. But Jane is undecided on the issue. The issue is inextricably linked with the problem of endemic poverty on all reservations, and she hasn't been able to figure out whether gambling is a solution or a new problem in disguise.
Joseph Marshall III: Key issues for Native Americans, in my opinion, are that we are still here, we are a part of the American landscape, we continue to be what we are in terms of ethnic identity, we are concerned about being misrepresented in any way, casinos (gaming in general), education, and health care issues, and the economies of our reservations.
Aimee and David Thurlo: We learned from our contact with Navajos that, traditionally, a person never presumes to speak for someone else. We believe this is a sound practice, so we don't function as advocates for this tribe or any other. Our books are meant to entertain the readers while representing the culture as we view it. But one of the most important, ongoing themes in our books is the conflict Native Americans face when dealing with tradition --- their cultural heritage and beliefs ---and the modern world.
Penina Keen Spinka: The Iroquois I met and those I discovered through my research had a more accepting attitude about differences than did the Europeans who came into their lives. They were very sincere about promises. My characters are thrown into cultures that are not their own, and find acceptance at last with the Mohawk, in spite of their cultural upbringing. If the United States was as sincere about the treaties they forced upon the Six Nations, there would have been improved relations and we would have been better for it today. Even our "always tell the truth" George Washington used treaties to gain concessions from the tribes, then felt free to break promises to them which he did. General Washington was the first to use "germ" warfare, against the tribes. Although this happened closer to today than the time setting of my novels, it brought a realization to me that there is much more in history than what I was taught.
David Marion Wilkinson: First, I hope that all Americans reevaluate the Cherokee during the period prior to the Trail of Tears. By any measure, their accomplishments during the period of 1770-1839 were absolutely remarkable. They proved themselves many times to be a tough, resilient people with an iron will. They have overcome more than any race I can think of and they are due a great deal of respect and admiration. They suffered terribly under the heel of the dominant culture, but they have so many things to be proud of, too. Second, for those who hold Major Ridge responsible for the Trail of Tears, I really hope that they will take a second look at the impossibility of his situation. Forces beyond any one human being were responsible for this horrible tragedy. Major Ridge signed the Treaty of New Echota for what he believed to be very good reasons. The Trail of Tears was a worst-case scenario, a disaster wrought by man and nature that Ridge couldn't possibly have seen coming. I'm certain that Major Ridge was devastated by what became of his vision and his efforts to preserve the Cherokee people and culture. Regardless of whether one feels that Major Ridge was wrong to sign the Treaty of New Echota, the fact remains that it was one of the bravest individual efforts in American history. Ridge believed that he was trading his life for thousands of others.
David Matheson: I want the public in general to feel that our people are just deep feeling people, like any other of the good people of the world. Our old folks and our people today have strong hopes and powerful wishes. We have a deep love for our children and grandchildren. We have a deep respect and loving admiration for our elders, the ones with the long braids and talk our language, and gather the Indian foods. These elders took care of their children and grandchildren in the times of economic depression over the last century. I want readers of all backgrounds and races to know that our people stand for something good --- for faith, determination, survival, and that we have a right to be. In a sense we are an endangered species. What makes us unique is what God gave us. He gave us our own language, culture, our own beginnings, and our own land. These things need to be preserved to us. They were given to us and preserved for us by a higher power than this nation or government. Yet thru the laws of modern society we have treaty agreements that restate our right to be on our own land. These things must be preserved.
W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear: First, we hope to drive home that we have over fifteen thousand years of complex, sophisticated, and fascinating cultures in the United States and Canada. For the most part, we do not teach this history in our schools. More Americans have heard of Ankor Wat in Cambodia than have heard of Cahokia in the United States. That, in our opinion, is a crime. Ours is the forgotten heritage, and we pay a price for that. If you don't know where you've been as a nation, you can't hope to chart a reasonable future for your diverse peoples.
Second, let's face it, science can be scary. Sometimes facts coming out of the ground conflict with traditional teachings, stories, and oral traditions. We all build myths about our distant past. The lessons of history and prehistory are often painful. We stumble over literal skeletons in our human closet. We hope our books help people to understand that Truth and Fact can stand side by side and people can be made stronger when they live in the shadow of both.
Additionally, we want people to understand that American culture is unique. Our concepts, philosophies, and government were formed as an amalgam of European and Native American ideologies --- most particularly from the marriage of English common law with Iroquoisan political philosophy. The concepts of one person, one vote, referendum and recall, are no more European than the concept of political equality. Those ideas were sucked up from the soil of Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Ontario, where they had been planted and nurtured by the Algonquians, Iroquois, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek.
Once, at a book signing, a Native American lawyer took us to task. He repeated the common --- and false --- myth that before the arrival of the Europeans, life in North America was idyllic, without war or disease. We want people to walk away from our books with the understanding that prehistoric peoples were no better or worse than anyone else. Know what? They were just plain old garden variety human beings. They made war, got sick, committed atrocities, loved their families, searched for God, sacrificed for the common good, helped the poor and disabled, and aspired to a greater good, just like the rest of humanity the world over.
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