(no subject)
man i read a good book recently. Last Standing Woman by Winona LaDuke. historical fiction, so beautifully written, about the experience of generations of Ojibwe people from the beginnings of colonization to present day. the historical basis was mostly things that i've read about in a general sense concerning the colonization of native peoples, but her writing gave it a personal twist and an emotional piece that you don't get from a history book. basically it felt very real.
"Her distant relations as well were contained in the boxes of ancestors, but to her the ceremony was about becoming whole again. A family history is a mirror of a people's history. Disassembled and violated, the longing to be whole never wanes until whole again. She had found that her path home was only a single strand in a web of generations who still wandered, looking for their clan markers."
what made the book exceptional to me, was that on one hand the story progresses thru generations of people being stripped of their land, livelihood and culture; yet simultaneously is telling a parallel story of a people resisting colonization/assimilation and maintaining their culture! fuck yeah
so home and heritage are very important to me, and were central to the lives of the characters in this book. there's this tattoo idea i've had for a while that would represent those things and you'll havta excuse me cuz im 24, have never quite gotten there in terms of getting down to business and getting a tattoo, so ive ended up puting too much thought into this one. but the ending of this book prompted me to get on with it and make an appointment. im pretty pumped now. the tat is an apple (washington, duh) and will ask how do ya like dem apples? which ive been told was a favorite expression of my grandpa. he died before i was born but ive always felt a strong connection to him from the stories ive been told by my mom, uncle, and grandma. basically he was a really great man whom everyone loved and respected and without trying my other family members made him into a role model for me growing up. even to this day who i imagine him to have been becomes greater and greater because now i see that he truly treated his family well and treated my grandma right. she was always quick to tell you what she didnt like about you or if she thought you were being stupid. because of this i believe she would have given me an unbiased view of who he was and the only negative thing she ever said was when she'd go off about him playing pool all night haha which as a child i thought was totally cool. i can't say the same for the other men in my family or life and so without ever meeting in person grandpa is someone i look up to.
so at the end of this book (this won't ruin it if you choose to read it btw) a man asks a middle aged Ojibwe woman, who has had one helluva life, to cast a spell on a younger Ojibwe woman who lives off the reservation in order to bring her back home and fall in love with him. in this pursuit, the woman begins singing to their ancestors in order to channel the love of generations of their people. i was struck by this. i can't relate, but it resonated with me. i think it explained my tattoo idea to me: that im trying to harness the love and respect of my ancestors to carry with me.
"Her distant relations as well were contained in the boxes of ancestors, but to her the ceremony was about becoming whole again. A family history is a mirror of a people's history. Disassembled and violated, the longing to be whole never wanes until whole again. She had found that her path home was only a single strand in a web of generations who still wandered, looking for their clan markers."
what made the book exceptional to me, was that on one hand the story progresses thru generations of people being stripped of their land, livelihood and culture; yet simultaneously is telling a parallel story of a people resisting colonization/assimilation and maintaining their culture! fuck yeah
so home and heritage are very important to me, and were central to the lives of the characters in this book. there's this tattoo idea i've had for a while that would represent those things and you'll havta excuse me cuz im 24, have never quite gotten there in terms of getting down to business and getting a tattoo, so ive ended up puting too much thought into this one. but the ending of this book prompted me to get on with it and make an appointment. im pretty pumped now. the tat is an apple (washington, duh) and will ask how do ya like dem apples? which ive been told was a favorite expression of my grandpa. he died before i was born but ive always felt a strong connection to him from the stories ive been told by my mom, uncle, and grandma. basically he was a really great man whom everyone loved and respected and without trying my other family members made him into a role model for me growing up. even to this day who i imagine him to have been becomes greater and greater because now i see that he truly treated his family well and treated my grandma right. she was always quick to tell you what she didnt like about you or if she thought you were being stupid. because of this i believe she would have given me an unbiased view of who he was and the only negative thing she ever said was when she'd go off about him playing pool all night haha which as a child i thought was totally cool. i can't say the same for the other men in my family or life and so without ever meeting in person grandpa is someone i look up to.
so at the end of this book (this won't ruin it if you choose to read it btw) a man asks a middle aged Ojibwe woman, who has had one helluva life, to cast a spell on a younger Ojibwe woman who lives off the reservation in order to bring her back home and fall in love with him. in this pursuit, the woman begins singing to their ancestors in order to channel the love of generations of their people. i was struck by this. i can't relate, but it resonated with me. i think it explained my tattoo idea to me: that im trying to harness the love and respect of my ancestors to carry with me.