Anthology Essay

Anthology Essay.

Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit is a book authored by Leslie Marmon Silko. Its essays were meant to express the voice and spirit of Native Americans. The basic themes in the book are interconnected. These themes are the inseparability of the community from its land, veneration of Native-American wisdom; and racism against Native-Americans (as expressed by the US government).  The basic link that connects these themes is that in pueblo culture, human values and morals were determined by a person’s temperament, disposition, strength of character, actions, empathy, quality of interrelationships and care for other people. As such, the concepts of racism, land disposition and cultural destruction were new and strange to the pueblos (Silko 43).

The thesis of this collection is that there are stories that need to be remembered, ways of life that require preservation and injustices that need to be redressed. These are also the three main ideas discussed in the text.

The author clearly expresses the idea that in pueblo culture, the external appearance of a person in terms of physical appearance, facial ornamentation, looks and bodily decorations do not have a bearing on the social standing of that individual in the society. She attributes this fact to the wisdom inculcated into the community by its elders, who had realized that in future times; the community would probably forget these time-tested age-old values and in turn adopt profanity and superficiality as the guiding moral compass in their lives (Silko 87). It can be argued that Silko discussed these subjects as a polemic against the western values which are eroding the cultural uniqueness of societies, thus leading to emptiness which is being filled by profane ideas such as determination of social status by the physical appearance of an individual hence leading to people undergo unnecessary cosmetic surgery. In this respect, Silko wants people to model their lives according to the advice given by the ancient pueblo elders.

Silko also reveals how the stories she was told when growing up express the value the pueblo community placed on peace, equality and personal well-being. In Yellow Woman, she states that the yellow woman was used to express and represent both the feminine and masculine aspects of beauty and splendor among all women regardless of race. In Mother Creator and Spider Woman, she shows how the pueblo conceptualized beauty as a projection of health and harmony (in mind, body and spirit). She also states that the ancient pueblos were non-judgmental in nature, and that they valued human life, for instance, a woman who became pregnant before marriage still gained social acceptance, and each and every newborn was celebrated as an addition of a unique and precious member to the community (Silko 157). It can be argued that Silko considers that Yellow Woman, Mother Creator and Spider Woman are stories worth remembering since they describe ways of life than require preservation. It can also be deduced from these stories that pueblo culture was liberal in nature. Moreover, these stories provide an understanding of Native-Americans holistic approach to health, unlike the modern systemic approach to health.

In pueblo culture, extramarital sexual affairs were permitted. Moreover, the pueblo considered that reincarnations of the soul enabled every human being to have both male and female qualities, and as such any form of gender-based discrimination was a crime against the very soul of humanity. The community could also thus permit homosexual marriages. It can be argued that Silko discussed these subjects in her book as a polemic against the values of Christianity. Analysis of these subjects as presented in the book brings one to the realization that Silko supports leftist politics and liberal ideals because the pueblo culture was liberal in nature.

The ancient pueblo respected nature and everything that possessed life. Thus, they never condoned hunting even if meant allowing people to starve (Silko 97). It can be argued that Silko considers veneration of this specific aspect of pueblo culture as a remedy to the modern environmental degradation. It can be inferred from her writings that she considered environmental degradation as an injustice that must be redressed, and that the US government should give consideration to ancient pueblo lifestyle instead of disregarding such lifestyle as primitive, archaic and unsuited for the modern realities.

Two other books do express similar themes and theses as Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit. They are Carriers of the Dream Wheel: Contemporary Native American Poetry and Spider Woman's granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women.

Carriers of the Dream Wheel: Contemporary Native American Poetry is a book authored by Duane Niatum. Its poems do express the voice and spirit of Native Americans.  

In the poem titled Carriers of the Dream Wheel, the author expresses his veneration to Native-American mythologies, songs and lifestyle. Moreover, the author expresses his longing for the aboriginal names of what once belonged to Native-Americans (Niatum 152). The themes thus expressed in this poem are the inseparability of the community from its possessions and a strong veneration of Native-American culture and lifestyle. It can be argued that this poem is a polemic against the erosion of Native-American lifestyle and history, and their existence as a unique people; as per the analysis below.

One of main determinants of civilization is language, and this poem does explore the verbal facet of Native-American cultures. Carriers of the Dream Wheel  is a well-written poem that gives dignity to the voice of the anciently learned Native-Americans thus revealing the depth of their ancestral history. This poem thus reveals the unique relationship that language (through storytelling) has to creation. It also places emphasis on the concept of circular motion as a component of aboriginal language. Thus, it can be inferred that this poem is used to convey the idea that Native-Americans had a sense of circularity in their life, and that this created stability and harmony within their society. This is exemplified by the fact that even though the wheel is in continuous motion, its stable base bears its weight just as a community can adapt to the changing times while still adhering to the tenets of their culture. The term “center upon being” that is used in line 4 of the poem does indicate that Native-Americans had only one God and that the existences of their societies were based on monotheistic worship. This can be seen as a polemic against Christianity and the Christian proselytization as most Christian missionaries castigated the Native-Americans for their polytheism, and encouraged them to abandon and renounce their culture and language if they want to redeem their souls. Subsequent activities of Christian missionaries led to near-extinction of several native-Indian cultures and their unique identities, as their proselytization missions bore fruits and native-Indian began to join the universal cultural framework that was dictated by Christianity.

Spider Woman's granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women is a collection of biographical writings authored by 17 accomplished Native-American Women and compiled and edited by Paula Gunn Allen. The content of the book does express the voice and spirit of Native Americans.  These authors consider themselves as adherents of the noble traditions of the Grandmother Spider, who they consider to be the being that enlightened the Cherokee people and thus liberated them from the bondage of ignorance, obliviousness and ignominy. The authors presented their writings as war stories, and justified this decision by stating that Native-American Women have been at war for the past 500 years. However, they do admit that they have acquaintance with defeat as their possessions were conquered, and they themselves were subjugated to an authority that seeks to ensure that they do recover the rights they lost upon their defeat.  Some selections from this book do have a bearing on contemporary issues such as the devastation occasioned on Native-Indian women due to the destruction of their unique personal and national identities (Allen 187).

The basic theme that is expressed in this book is the strong veneration of Native-American culture and mythologies. Inspiration is derived from the glorious deeds of the mythological Grandmother Spider. It can be argued that this biography is a polemic against the erosion of Native-American history, their existence as a unique people and subjugation of women in general. The authors express their strong opposition against oppression of women in the modern society by their adoption of the traditional Native-Indian slogan of “We Shall Endure” as the slogan of their feminist struggle.  It can be deduced from the selection of “The Warriors” that women are being encouraged to be self-assertive, fearless, self-defining and respectful, as the warpath requires women who possess these attributes. Also, women are encouraged to respect their beauty and maintain their values systems. This can be seen as an attempt of the authors to reign in on the degeneracy that occasioned the feminist movement in the latter half of the 20^th century, and as such the authors invoked the qualities of the Grandmother Spider as their guiding principles.

Works Cited.

Silko, Leslie. Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013. Print.

Niatum, Duane. Carriers of the Dream Wheel: Contemporary Native American Poetry. New York: Harper & Row, 197. Print.

Allen, Paula Gunn. Spider Woman's granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1990. Print.