Reaction to October 2 Workshop

I was really happy to come back to the TAH group this fall. It felt like it had been ages since the summer institute. Thomas Doughton, our lead scholar, began the day by telling us that the emphasis would be on 19th century New England during this school year. I am happy we are spending time in this era, since the MA Frameworks require students to learn about this time. The more connections we get with the Frameworks, the better.

I liked the “cautionary tales” that Tom handed out to us that morning. The story of Miss Ann Carter was somewhat ‘sweet,’ I thought, as I read it that night. …Baring your soul, exposing your past…accepting the charming European newcomer…what a soap opera…a romance novel. The last paragraph, however, brings it all into place; two hundred years since the settlement of Boston (at the time the story was written—1830), times have changed. What once was a small colony of Europeans struggling to survive, versus what the writer described as the intelligent, handsome and attractive Indian peoples showing them the way, comes a “mighty and flourishing republic…marked out by Heaven for some great purpose.” Hence the ideation of the “vanishing Indian” is stated.

I wonder how to effectively communicate the idea of “the vanishing Indian” to my young (4th and possibly 5th grade) students. I think I should look into primary source documents that contain some type of narrative about a young person –Native American or otherwise—that shows some evidence of this. I worry that this type of thing is rare, elusive…and will require extensive research. If I do indeed find this information, I will consider it a necessary part of my instruction. This will be a more realistic approach to teaching history as opposed to the usual representation you find in the textbooks.

The Shocking Murder by the Savages! story definitely had a bent towards illustrating what the author termed “savage barbarity” by the Native American population. Poor Mrs. B describes her tale of murder, kidnapping, and escape from “INDIANS, on the frontiers, who are butchering whole families without regard to age or sex!” Here, too, is another way the Indian “vanished” from the New England hills. This time, instead of wholeheartedly offering his/her heart and soul, indeed the very identity of the Native American population, the Indian was presented as an interloper, a butcher worthy of a swift and savage interruption of the progress that the European immigrant was attempting to gain.

This reminds me somewhat of today’s “reality TV” or other popular media ‘entertainment’ that students will be familiar with. I find many of them (and some adults, for that matter, I hardly watch TV compared to others!) often compare stories about what they’ve seen to events happening in school or about town. In the classroom, I would absolutely love to compare/contrast this story to a popular (or recently read) story that the students are familiar with. We could use the “double bubble” technique, where similarities in stories/people/themes are connected to both bubbles, and differences are connected to only one bubble or another. It would be a nice tie-in with E/LA.

Tom’s discussion of Jehovah in the Wilderness further underscored the idea that the “disappearing Indian” was one of the foundational myths of America. Again, the idea of “Blackness expands” and “Indian shrinks” was discussed. In 1869, Massachusetts Indians were considered citizens of the Commonwealth. Indians viewed this, for the most part, as the end of tribal existence due to enfranchisement. By the early 1920’s, the only popular way to describe “European Indian-ness” was to state that your “grandmother was an Indian Princess.”

Alice Nash also presented on this day. She discussed the connection between Thanksgiving and the Manifest Destiny. The Manifest Destiny, according to John O’Sullivan in 1845, indicated a natural right to go forward with the annexation of Texas / the taking of Oregon… “We…” as Americans, have a “greater claim to it” than other countries, including Britain. Progress in the form of overspreading and claiming land, it appears, is a God-given right. Originally, the idea of a “Thanksgiving” was advocated for by the editor of Ladies’ Godey’s Book during the Civil War in 1864. A “day of fasting and prayer” was suggested, rather than a celebration of Pilgrims and Indians.

Alice showed us several images relating to those early days of “Thanksgiving.” Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner , done in 1864, shows a variety of folks around the Thanksgiving table. I liked that image the best. There were people of all races around the table, and it included women participating freely in the conversation going on. Uncle Sam himself looked very different from the current version we are used to. He was a lot younger! But then again, America was young then, too.

Alice’s main topic was the two different ways to look at “history”—either the ocular view (looking directly at something and stating what you see) or the specular view of history (from the Latin “mirror” or through a lens)...measuring yourself against others. “…I’m good, you’re savage,” which is based on either prior personal experience or hearsay.

Alice stated that many historical accounts amount to the base or foundation of the specular view of history. People generally observe the world through a “lens,” which consists of their own experiences, which may or may not affect their plane of existence. Personally, I think this is the way folks naturally view events. As a woman in a sketch on Saturday Night Live once said, “…But enough about me. What do YOU think of me?”

I think that the “ocular” view of history is an important way to see history…as far as I can see from my 4th/5th grade (rather specular) view, people, events, and the very conditions Native people lived in are presented in an extremely specular view—via textbooks and traditional reading materials. I would love to propose a paradigm shift in historical studies—to the ocular view. How about (to use an old adage) walking a mile in the other person’s shoes? There is an elementary school in Rhode Island that does just that. Webster Middle School (where I work) received a FELS grant, which will allow us to take a field trip to visit this school. I am very excited about it…the children participate in a major undertaking every year…they (along with adults) put together a colonial and Native American village in the back of the school. Each child assumes a persona, and researches it so thoroughly that they are able to act as interpreters (as in Sturbridge Village or Plymouth Plantation) of the particular historical time they are involved with. We’re talking cabins, wetus, and even drying fish. Apparently, ask these kids any questions, and they will answer appropriately (e.g., “do you like to chew gum?” “…gum? I know not of which you say. Do you mean the gum from the pine tree?”). This school has been doing this activity every fall for many years. It is a success due to the involvement of the parents as well as the commitment of the staff. I can’t wait to see it.

This last weekend (Oct. 4, 2008), I attended a workshop at Old Sturbridge Village which was entitled “American Indian and Yankee Lifeways,” featuring Marjorie Bruchac. You remember she visited us during our summer session as the “Indian Doctress.” We cooked Yankee and Indian food, talked, looked at primary source documents, and visited the Village. I was struck by the connection between Thursday’s and Saturday’s seminars.

I found myself describing in detail the two ways of looking at history: ocular and specular. Not only was my own understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives deepened…I was also able to ignite the imagination and thought processes of others. For this, I am grateful.

--Nora Werme