Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Book Review: TOUCH THE EARTH: A Self-Portrait of Indian Existence (up through Part One)


This is not the first time that I read this book, nor is it likely to be the last – which is as high a compliment as probably can be given to a book by any reader!
It is not a new book, either. In fact, it was published before the writer of this particular piece was even born! But that said, there is a timeless quality to the words and pictures here.
In the introduction, T.C. McLuhan notes that the wisdom of the Indian has been available for a very long time, but was very often ignored. But increasingly, as we inhabit a world that seems completely absorbed in the process of destroying itself and destroying whatever open spaces still exist, and consuming every last untapped natural resource remaining and draining everything that we can so that we can live it up at this very moment, even at the expense of future generations, these words and thinking of the old Indians and their way of viewing the world overall begins to ring true, as do many of the projections about the ultimate direction of the conquerors, the white men or, nowadays, the society at large. We are in need of a different direction, a new way of thinking, and perhaps we should look towards the past to give us a new direction for a better future.  "Perhaps now," McLuhan states, "after hundreds of years of ignoring their wisdom, we may learn from the Indians."
The book is split up into four parts, and I will review each individual section.
Part One: The Morning Sun, the New Sweet Earth and the Great Silence
The first section focuses on the Indian attachment to the land – in many cases, literally. Chief Luther Standing Bear of the Lakota describes how the land itself was the source of life, both past and present, as well as for the future, and illustrates the physical attachment that Indians had to the land:
"That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces. For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly; he can see more clearly the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him…"
He concludes by explaining the wisdom of the old Lakota, saying that he "knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." (6)
There is much about how Indians consumed what they needed, and not more. When they killed a beast they got sustenance in terms of food from it, and they got clothing to keep them warm. They lived in a much greater balance with nature than the modern society that displaced them did. The white men who came and conquered essentially destroyed whatever lay in their path of progress, in order to get at what could be properly utilized.
This destruction was widespread and touched everything, weakening the traditional Indian way of life, including diet and even water sources. In the early twentieth century, Okute (Shooter) said that Indians "have less freedom and and they fall an easy prey to disease. In the old days they were rugged and healthy, drinking pure water and eating the meat of the buffalo, which had the wide range, not being shut up like cattle of the present day. The water of the Missouri River is not pure, as it used to be, and many of the creeks are no longer good for us to drink." He concludes in the last paragraph of the passage, saying, "A man ought to desire that which is genuine instead of that which is artificial." 19
Mentioned in this section is not only the attachment to the land, but also the notion that life had to be in spiritual accordance, that Man and nature, as it were, are not separate, let alone opposing, entities. That being enemies with nature is ridiculous. Everything is tied into with traditional spirituality of the Indian. Bedagi (Big Thunder) says, "The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us, and healing plants she gives us likewise. If we are wounded, we go to our mother and seek to lay the wounded part against her, to be healed. Animals too, do thus, they lay their wounds to the earth." (22)
*Tatanga Mani points the accusing finger at the whites who displaced the Indian from his land, explaining, "We were lawless people, but we were on pretty good terms with the Great Spirit, creator and ruler of all. You whites assumed we were savages. You didn't understand our prayers. You didn't try to understand….Without understanding, you condemned us as lost souls just because our form of worship was different from yours." 23
There are some truly poetic and wonderful parts included, such as the funeral speech reported by Jonathan Carver, which is truly a beautiful and eloquent praise for a recently departed member of the tribe.
"But whither is that breath flown, which a few hours ago sent up breath to the Great Spirit? Why are those lips silent, that lately delivered to us expressive and pleasing language?" (31)
The reader gets a glimpse into the Indian attachment to the land itself, and being a part of it. Far from the Christian religion being offered to them by the invading army, which promised a wonderful Heaven beyond this world, the Indians believed that you make your own Heaven or Hell right here on Earth. William Warren, the mixed son of an white man and an Ojibway woman, explains that while camping, "the soul arrives in the land of spirits, where he finds his relatives accumulated since mankind was first created; all is rejoicing, singing and dancing; they live in a country interspersed with clear lakes and streams; forests and prairies, and abounding in fruit and game to repletion – in a word, abounding in all that the red man most covets in this life, and which conduces most to his happiness. It is that kind of paradise which he only by his manner of life on this earth, is fitted to enjoy." (33)
We hear more about Indian life as well, including the way an Indian would typically wake up, walking to the water and splashing water on himself or herself, then facing the rising sun in the East, and coming to terms with one's own spirituality on their own, without any company, since everyone had to come to this on their own. I enjoyed this part about traditional spirituality, and was particularly impressed with the lack of need to have all the answers, something that Western religions tend to need. An example is provided by Mato-Kuwapi (Chased-By-Bears), who mentions that it was "the general belief of the Indians that after a man dies his spirit is somewhere on the earth or in the sky, we do not know exactly where but we are sure that his spirit still lives." 39
The reader also learns about the importance of circles in the Indian tradition by vivid descriptions from Hehaka Sapa (Black Elk) and Tatanka-Ptecila (Short Bull). Everything in the world worked in circles, and life was a series of cycles – an idea not altogether foreign to us in the modern day.
Hehaka Sapa says, "The Sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The Wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in  circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round."
The season also seemed cyclical, and thus, circular, and so did life itself, from childhood to old age. So the Indian also built his tipis in circles, as well. 

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