What's real and What's NOT?!

When reading Greg Sarris, The Woman Who Loved a Snake, many thoughts had crossed my mind. First of all, I'm not fond of snakes but ironically I was born in the year of the snake according to the zodiac. For me, the snake has always seemed to symbolize a negative image. However, I was also confused by the meaning behind the story that Mabel McKay has told Sarah. It was interesting how the context of the story of "The Woman Who Loved a Snake" were being compared with Shakespeare in the essay. I don't really understand Shakespeare much myself and in contrast to the story of the woman and the snake, I also considered the same feelings about the real meaning of the spoken words but more importantly the perceptual messages and context of cultures as listeners and readers. As we have touched upon in class discussion, Sarah and Mabel McKay differs in their cultures, traditions, and languages, so, it was problematic by the hidden and true meanings of the snake and the man in the story. To Mabel McKay, she was just practicing her culture's oral traditions, but to Sarah there was more to the story than it was told because it raises the questions of what's real and what's not real. Language is very important to every single beings because that is what we all practice when communicating with one another. But if we're not careful when using words and languages to communicate, the words can easily be confused to have infinite meanings. There's a saying that my mom would always say to me whenever I'm quiet around others, that "words does not cost money to buy." I guess my mom just wanted to encourage me to be more talkative to communicate with others, but I always found that the meanings of these words changes diachronically as I grow older and experiencing life.

Tree of Souls

At the end of The Soul of the White Man, Charles Eastman states "I am an Indian;...Nevertheless, so long as I live, I am an American." This seems confusing to me because I am unsure whether he is considering himself to be an Indian or an American, as in being white. But judging from the argument he presented, my guess is that Eastman is saying he still considered himself as an Indian culturally. However, because he has been influenced by the American/Western way of life, he has adapted to the civilized lifestyles.


Of course, Charles Eastman made a very convincing argument in regards to the white men's religion of Christianity. I agreed with Eastman that the white men "are anxious to pass on their religion to all races of men, but keep very little of it themselves." It's true, evidence from historical context examined that those who claimed to be "Christian" were murderers that feeds on those considered to be "weak" and are society's "outcasts." The question to be ask is not "why" they call themselves "Christian" while being guilty of executing the wicked and evil act because the reasons are obvious, but rather the question is "how" are these "less developed people" getting away with their crime? And the answer is quite simple yet does not fail to shock some people, that society today has not outgrown this system. It doesn't do anyone a favor to be pointing fingers or passing the blame because ironically enough every individual is at fault. Moreover, "the white man's religion is not responsible for his mistakes," and it does not create peace for anyone but may ignite more chaos. Another way to look at this issue is "the system of life is based upon a trade-off system when civilization is reduced to its lowest terms." By nature mankind are selfish: they are selfish to achieve an immortal life where they refuse to age, they are selfish to help others, they are selfish to share with one another, they are selfish at looking attractive, and so forth. Like the white men, society do composed of hypocrites and less developed people, who are blinded by the media and religion. These people in some way neglect their own cultures as well as beliefs and in exchange they foolishly pursued a life full of miseries and disgusts. Perhaps deep down somewhere in the illusions of being a "Christian" they are able to realize that they are spellbounded by their own spell in the attempt to cast it upon mankind. Little do they know that their souls are being sucked out of their bones and flesh and in place of it is replaced with a little monster because they have passed on a genuine religion but forgot to have faith in their God.

One World, Zero Pieces

To the American Indian is confusing at times yet very remarkable to read because the stories were very descriptive. In chapter one of the book, I was able to relate the story of the doctors and the Native's way to cure sickness. I find it interesting when Thompson mentioned that "most of the doctors were women" since there are usually mostly male doctors in other cultures that were acknowledged. For instance, in the historical times, both America and China alike had always strictly regulated literacy and education to only men. Therefore, the men were in favor of becoming doctors while the women were expected to become housewives. Also, the methods the Natives used to cure a snake bite and other sickness cases were especially crucial to their culture. Unlike the Caucasians and their advance form of medicine, the Native Americans "did not know anything about surgery" and instead they were able to provide medical treatments with only nature's products of roots and herbs. Similarly, the Chinese has always been an expert with herbal medicines in their culture. From experience, I can relate to these two distinct cultures because I have been exposed to such special methods for cure by my own cultural preferences. Everyone is alike in that we all share this planet Earth. However, everyone are different in ways that we are raised in differing environments, situations, and are exposed to our own cultures. Additionally it's hard not to make references to our own cultures because that's the first instinct we get when we admire or criticize someone or something. In fact, this happens daily in society, from the element of business, academic, social status, class distinctions, to the nutritional diet. Language and culture are very important, but what's more important is the way we communicate and respect one another. Perhaps, not everyone feels obligated to respect each others' cultures as they may choose, but learning about someone's culture is as challenging as learning a foreign language. This is the feeling I get in regards to the issues of the White men that tried to civilize the Native Americans with the Western way. It's no wonder an extensive number of innocent lives has to suffer by the chaos and changes the foreigners brought upon the Natives' culture.

Blog 1b: Popul Vuh, written proof of how history repeats itself

The Popol Vuh reminds me of the stories from the Bible. Of course, there are some differences and similarities in context but I feel the moral of the thematic elements has a lot in common. For instance, the thematic elements of trickery and deceit and the relationship of women and men are still acted out in today's world. Throughout history, the issues of gender roles and battle of the sexes still remain a controversy. Even in stories such as those in the Bible and the Popol Vuh, the males has always been viewed as the dominant sex while the females are viewed as the weaker sex. It appears that despite the women's movement and women's rights, the men will always be the leader with the greater power. In Popul Vuh, the idea that women cannot exist without men was portrayed when the evil lord was defeated and his wife was not able to continue life because her husband has died. This idea of the strong yet invisible bond that exists between each and everyone is written proof that society allows history to repeat itself. Needless to say that the thematic element of trickery and deceit still happens throughout the world, but it is only known to everyone in a different form or terminology. What I am trying to hint at is the competitive side of society. It's true, this is a dog eat dog world and as Darwin's great mind had proposed, it's "survival of the fittest". Everyone is always competing with each other and is willing to make sacrifices in order to acheive "survivance". So you see, history will continue to repeat and renew itself throughout time because we are living in a round cycle. The Earth is round and so is the cycle of life, which means fate is unavoidable.

Blog 1: why GREENtea?

Hi all,

I am greentea327! Does anyone else likes the color green or tea? or how about greentea?! Well, I know I do! In fact, I absolutely LOVE greentea related things!!! It's just as simple as that. If you are unfamiliar with any of the greentea related things I'm about to list below then I suggest you go out there and try it for yourself! But first of all, did you know that greentea has many health benefits?! It's true, studies have shown that greentea can help lower your risks for heart disease and certain types of cancer. It also contains anti-oxidants and can help in weight loss. Convince yet? If you are, great! If you're not, that's cool too. Anyways, despite these health benefits of greentea, I have to say that I really enjoy the greentea-flavored ice cream, greentea frozen yogurt (@cultive), greentea frappucino (@starbucks), greentea-scented lotion, greentea ointment, greentea tapioca milktea, and many more!!! Now, about the numbers 327 after greentea. The number 3 stands for the third month of March, which is a great month because it's in Spring and daylight savings starts again! The number 27 is consider special and somewhat lucky to me because I was born on this day! Also, I don't know why but the number 7 is even more special because it is one of my lucky numbers! Last but not least, go GREEN! Afterall, the green planet Earth is the only planet with ice cream! :)

I forgot to mention the second part to my title: greentea's whirl. It's pretty simple actually. I decided to use "whirl" instead of "world" because I like the sound of "greentea's whirl," it sounds a lot better. But it should mean the same thing as "greentea's world," does that makes sense?