Ask an Indian Not Wannabes: Essays and Other Musings

Simon,

Ask An Indian Not Wannabes has nice balance of righteous indignation and snarky humor, so that this Anglo reader is simultaneously laughing and feeling guilty. Is it possible to appreciate and celebrate a culture not one's own without co-opting it and/or looking like an idiot to those who have a claim to that culture? We liberal Seattleites have a hard time with this question, living as we do in Paradise thanks to and at the expense of the indigenous communities that were here first.

I wonder if all the Anglos who claim Cherokee heritage were also Cleopatra in a past life . . .

These essays are well written and articulate, with a distinct voice and strong use of language. The "ripped bag of hot trash" was an awful and striking image. The parallel you draw between Indian boarding schools and the "ex-gay" movement is insightful and chilling. And not surprising, once you think about it -- fundies do not learn from history.

I noted only a couple of corrections:

Ch 1
biscuit-fired I don't know if this is technically wrong, but I would have said "bisque-fired," a term dredged up from a long-ago ceramics class.

Ch 4
a darker hew of red You want "hue"

Good work!

Karen Eisenbrey
CRANE'S WAY
ENDURANCE
TIME SQUARED

It is very refreshing to know that I am not the only one that either A. feels a similar sentiment or B. so clearly leaves the sarcasm dripping from the pages.

I thought this was an interesting study of a phenomenon that, being from England, I am not overly familiar with.

When you are focused and reasoned in your argument this is a cutting and entertaining piece of non-fiction.

When you drift off into more of a rant then I think it loses its way a bit.

But overall, fascinating stuff.

One tip from a commercial point of view, the title is a little offputting. I do love Too Many Cherokees To Count though.

How about Too Many Cherokees To Count: How Everyone Wants To Be An Indian?

Or something like that.

Hope that helps a little.

Dear Simon, this in an articulate examination of the stereotypes that you have encountered. Unfortunately for a reader in Britain, a lot of the cultural references and slang is a bit lost on me. I am too young to be an ageing hippy, and too old to have much energy left for fiery disenchantement. I am interested in what you write, but you gallop at such a furious pace that I find it hard to keep up. I think you are on to something here, that is as well to be said: we hear too much about the romance of the past, and tend to gloss over the horrid bits, don't we? Rated. All the best, Fran Macilvey, "Trapped"

Your passion and thoughts shine strongly in the book.

You have every right to be angry at the idiots in this world. You use your anger to express yourself creatively.
You do it with style.
I hope you put the completed book on this site.
I look forward to reading it.

When you speak of Wannabees, I knew a few black people who would swear they have more indian in them than African just because they want to be anything but black. This is a very intriguing book and I see somewhere that Anglos might want to run from who they might be as some black people. My book talks of this self hatred among blacks when they are elevated to where they have more access to white society and culture.

I think your chapter can be said also for the African American population. Remember when Black was cool. Bo Derek wore african braids. Whites began sporting Afros. That was a mystery to me how their fine hair could conform to such tight curls. Hmm. I think you can get your point across without so many swear words. I can pick up your frustration in your writing. This communicates well. I like how you include historical facts in your writing to confirm your point.

Chapter 1 Pulled me in right from the start. Interesting concept-Wannabe's and the anomaly. I ususally warn against long sentences with commas. However, so far, this works well with this piece.(however, I do feel obliged to let you know so that you should consider whether or not to follow the norm and shorten them)
Paragraph 6 the 'no pun intended' comment throws a red flag to me to recommend that you reconsider the wording so that you don't have to put that in.Paragraph 11 the word 'frenziedly' stands out only because its an adverb and not recommended in writing. However, sometimes I'm a rebel, I can't find a better choice. (This is another FYI moment. If you can find a better way to say this, then I recommend you do, if not, leave it and hope you aren't put to the task by an editor.)
I'm going to stop here because I have a hard time 'hanging in there' when I see too many swear and vain words ,even though many have lost being in the 'swear' category, they still affect me. So I'm going to stop here. Good luck with your book. 'Ask an Indian Not Wannabes: Essays and Other Musings' seems to be and interesting book. Continued growth up the ladder.
Dennise
Summer Vacation

Whoa Simon, I'm as white as the driven snow, virtually all German, but I try to understand Native American cultures. As a child I searched for arrowheads in the field behind my rural home. I wanted to know who these ancient people were. What did they believe in? What was their language? What other Native Americans were their friends, or enemies? I don't want to be a wannabe. I just want to learn. I taught school on the Papago Reservation outside of Tucson Arizona. The O' Otham as they prefer to be called saw another world than I, and so I accepted that. I ate fry bread, but I don't want to be a wannabe. Why is it when ever the Cleveland Indians are in the World Series, only then the mascot protesters come out? Because they want to be a wannabe on the nightly news? I detect a lot of anger in your writing, but enlightenment too.

Let's all try to live together,
David Schild

I think I'm in love with this. If you're the real thing, you know there's no such thing as an Indian princess seriously. Last time I checked native Americans living on a res can be compared to third world countries. Many tribes are still fighting to be federally recognised and people don't realize how much discrimination we face. We are still here, though the numbers are dwindling and we are basically ignored by the government. My theory on the wannabes is that everyone wants to be part of some oppressed group or something or they want federal assistance. Little do they know we don't get anything. Backed and will be on my shelf for a while! I hope this will get more reconition than most native American activists and writers.

Brittany E.
Melaney and The Mirror/ My Last Notes

Very well written! You have an excellent "voice" with dialogue in Chapter 6. Have you considered writing "fiction"- maybe not fiction but creative non-fiction? You really have a talent for the dialogue aspect.
I know Sherman Alexie has done a lot of great stuff with that genre- but like you said- everyone( read political-powers-that-be) keeps trying to lump Native Americans together into one socially-defined "race box," when each tribe has its own culture and traditions. And I'd liked to hear YOUR stories.
The same thing is done in the Latino community. They try to lump over 25 distinct cultures , with more than 23 million people of different races, classes, languages, national origins and religion, under the "pan-Latino" umbrella. Now everyone thinks that if you speak spanish you must be "Mexican". Go figure!

People say, 'Oh, they're put together because they all speak spanish.' Well..... umm. NO! Not only that, but people don't realize that there are OVER 10 Spanish dialects in the world and over 7 hybrids being spoken in the U.S. That is why that two people that "speak Spanish" and both "boxed" as 'Latino' can't even understand each other sometimes. Different language really. As close maybe, as Dead Latin is to Italian.
In your book, you say that you don't speak your tribe language. Is there a way that it can be reclaimed?

Keep writing! We'll keep reading. You are a 'game-changer" and I look forward to reading more of your work.

Best wishes,
Laura A. Diaz
"Come What May"

I really like this. You've hit on something. You could take it further - as in, from where I come from - the Celtic wannabe: 'Oh, I'm a quarter Welsh/Irish/Scots on my mother's great aunt's side.........' It is perhaps from an identity-less people, so mixed now, that they feel no particular connection. Shall comment further when I've finished reading it. Happy to back a non-fiction book - a premise I've not seen written out before.
Cariad.

This is a very educational and interesting read! Shelved and starred.

Skater