Apparently Even Indians Have Lord High Executioners
Yesterday I fulfilled a life goal and broke a life vow.
Well, you could put it that way if you want to be dramatic.
I planned to go to the school library anyway to get some articles for this final senior project paper that stands between me and final graduation, and I got an e-mail for an evening with the international students learning about the Blackfoot Indian tribe. I'm a sucker for cultural events and demonstrations, and I met up with Lady Bleu by the fountain.
We arrived a little bit early and were quickly put to work cutting out dreamcatcher instructions and highlighting significant parts of Blackfoot legends. The person in charge was a fellow student, which was cool, and she had everything highly structured. It wasn't for nothing that the other residents of the house call her "Mother." We drew Indian names and activities out of a basket. Ironically, I drew Koko, which means "night," and references one of my favorite operettas, but I sort of orchestrated selecting "dreamcatcher" as my activity by opening each piece of paper until I found the one I wanted. I was scolded, but since we didn't have enough people to require strict adherence, it didn't matter. Nearly everyone wound up with clay or jewelry, but Lady Bleu joined me at the dreamcatcher table.
I've always been captured by the poetry of dreamcatchers, and I ordered one of those silly little kits from a Scholastic book order form when I was a kid in elementary or middle school. I couldn't quite get the hang of the weaving then, and I was always so jealous of Jenn who could do it. One of Jewel's prize treasures, if not the most precious, is a tiny dreamcatcher that Jenn made out of a gold earring hoop and gold thread. As "Mother" assured us, it really was easy and getting started depended more on gluing the first round of stitches in place than intricacy or skill. After a couple false starts, I had a respectable dreamcatcher, and Lady Bleu helped me tie on the feathers.
But poor Lady Bleu! She kept saying she didn't know why she was having so much trouble because she was an artist. She's painted for years so she didn't know why she couldn't make a dreamcatcher. I didn't understand at first because the two skills are completely different. Now, I'd understand her confusion if she'd said she's been knitting or weaving baskets or a similar skill for years and couldn't figure out the dreamcatcher, but painting has nothing to do with it. I haven't a clue how to blend or apply paints because I've never even tried it, nevermind studied it, but I quickly caught on to the dream catcher because I'm used to knitting and string games with twisted loops. Since I'm the Queen of Analogies, it would be like expecting to play jazz saxophone almost instantly because you already know how to play the organ.
Fortunately, dreamcatchers still work if a friend makes it for you and gives it as a gift. It didn't take me long to stitch Lady Bleu's dreamcatcher since she'd already completed the first round. We tied on feathers and beads, and it was done! The director's little girl was fascinated and kept asking me "What is it?" and handing me huge beads for the little spider bead in the middle.
After I finished the dreamcatchers, I finally got to eat. "Mother" cooked corn on the cob, and--get this--buffalo meat. Lady Bleu was horrified when I said I wanted to try it and for some reason thought I was going to gorge and make myself sick. Um, no. I'm not under any holy vow of vegetarianism, I don't get kicked out of the vegetable garden if animal flesh passes my lips, and I'm technically not vegetarian anyway since I still eat shrimp and crab occasionally. I just like the greater variety of foods and flavors I eat when I don't eat meat, and I've never liked meat all that much anyway.
But if an opportunity comes up for something a little unusual, I'll try it. However, I don't have the tongue of a professional taste-tester so about all I can say about ground buffalo meat is it tastes like ground beef except lighter and more flavorful. Lady Bleu said it wasn't as oily as beef. Still, I recoiled a bit automatically because it's definitely red meat. Besides the fact I haven't had any red meat cravings at all, I think that's a clear sign that my body has no interest in red meat, provided I eat enough spinach and beans, nuts, and whole grains. But I'm glad I tried it. Besides, it gives me a conversation topic with the carnivores.
As for the dreamcatcher, I confess I feel a little bit uneasy about it. I know a lot of people of Native American heritage don't like how popular they've become and how white people have appropriated them. I'm not sure of the correct response. I don't like violating people's cultures or turning parts of their lives into cultural collectibles, but I know more about Native Americans because of them. I get the same feeling about yoga sometimes. I don't like the American yoga classes that treat it purely as a form of exercise like aerobics or, at best, stress relief, because it's really a philosophy of life, but I came to yoga through that path. But I don't want the full Indian yoga classes either because I'm too materialistic and fidgety to meditate under a tree all day. I've found a happy medium in American yoga classes that concentrate on using the poses to increase awareness of the body, strengthen the mind, promote calm, and so forth, but I don't know where the dreamcatcher happy medium is. I don't want to sell them in a New Age store, but I'd like to make a few for some friends and hang mine over my bed.
Well, you could put it that way if you want to be dramatic.
I planned to go to the school library anyway to get some articles for this final senior project paper that stands between me and final graduation, and I got an e-mail for an evening with the international students learning about the Blackfoot Indian tribe. I'm a sucker for cultural events and demonstrations, and I met up with Lady Bleu by the fountain.
We arrived a little bit early and were quickly put to work cutting out dreamcatcher instructions and highlighting significant parts of Blackfoot legends. The person in charge was a fellow student, which was cool, and she had everything highly structured. It wasn't for nothing that the other residents of the house call her "Mother." We drew Indian names and activities out of a basket. Ironically, I drew Koko, which means "night," and references one of my favorite operettas, but I sort of orchestrated selecting "dreamcatcher" as my activity by opening each piece of paper until I found the one I wanted. I was scolded, but since we didn't have enough people to require strict adherence, it didn't matter. Nearly everyone wound up with clay or jewelry, but Lady Bleu joined me at the dreamcatcher table.
I've always been captured by the poetry of dreamcatchers, and I ordered one of those silly little kits from a Scholastic book order form when I was a kid in elementary or middle school. I couldn't quite get the hang of the weaving then, and I was always so jealous of Jenn who could do it. One of Jewel's prize treasures, if not the most precious, is a tiny dreamcatcher that Jenn made out of a gold earring hoop and gold thread. As "Mother" assured us, it really was easy and getting started depended more on gluing the first round of stitches in place than intricacy or skill. After a couple false starts, I had a respectable dreamcatcher, and Lady Bleu helped me tie on the feathers.
But poor Lady Bleu! She kept saying she didn't know why she was having so much trouble because she was an artist. She's painted for years so she didn't know why she couldn't make a dreamcatcher. I didn't understand at first because the two skills are completely different. Now, I'd understand her confusion if she'd said she's been knitting or weaving baskets or a similar skill for years and couldn't figure out the dreamcatcher, but painting has nothing to do with it. I haven't a clue how to blend or apply paints because I've never even tried it, nevermind studied it, but I quickly caught on to the dream catcher because I'm used to knitting and string games with twisted loops. Since I'm the Queen of Analogies, it would be like expecting to play jazz saxophone almost instantly because you already know how to play the organ.
Fortunately, dreamcatchers still work if a friend makes it for you and gives it as a gift. It didn't take me long to stitch Lady Bleu's dreamcatcher since she'd already completed the first round. We tied on feathers and beads, and it was done! The director's little girl was fascinated and kept asking me "What is it?" and handing me huge beads for the little spider bead in the middle.
After I finished the dreamcatchers, I finally got to eat. "Mother" cooked corn on the cob, and--get this--buffalo meat. Lady Bleu was horrified when I said I wanted to try it and for some reason thought I was going to gorge and make myself sick. Um, no. I'm not under any holy vow of vegetarianism, I don't get kicked out of the vegetable garden if animal flesh passes my lips, and I'm technically not vegetarian anyway since I still eat shrimp and crab occasionally. I just like the greater variety of foods and flavors I eat when I don't eat meat, and I've never liked meat all that much anyway.
But if an opportunity comes up for something a little unusual, I'll try it. However, I don't have the tongue of a professional taste-tester so about all I can say about ground buffalo meat is it tastes like ground beef except lighter and more flavorful. Lady Bleu said it wasn't as oily as beef. Still, I recoiled a bit automatically because it's definitely red meat. Besides the fact I haven't had any red meat cravings at all, I think that's a clear sign that my body has no interest in red meat, provided I eat enough spinach and beans, nuts, and whole grains. But I'm glad I tried it. Besides, it gives me a conversation topic with the carnivores.
As for the dreamcatcher, I confess I feel a little bit uneasy about it. I know a lot of people of Native American heritage don't like how popular they've become and how white people have appropriated them. I'm not sure of the correct response. I don't like violating people's cultures or turning parts of their lives into cultural collectibles, but I know more about Native Americans because of them. I get the same feeling about yoga sometimes. I don't like the American yoga classes that treat it purely as a form of exercise like aerobics or, at best, stress relief, because it's really a philosophy of life, but I came to yoga through that path. But I don't want the full Indian yoga classes either because I'm too materialistic and fidgety to meditate under a tree all day. I've found a happy medium in American yoga classes that concentrate on using the poses to increase awareness of the body, strengthen the mind, promote calm, and so forth, but I don't know where the dreamcatcher happy medium is. I don't want to sell them in a New Age store, but I'd like to make a few for some friends and hang mine over my bed.