Reckonings: The Family in Contemporary Native American Literature

In the selection below, J.M. provides us with our second weekly student blog.

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The injustices that the larger predominantly white American society and the United States government commit against Native Americans appear as a powerful undercurrent in much of Native American literature. Nearly all of the stories in Reckonings, for example, at least contain a passing reference to trouble with government officials, problems historical tragedies, or the superficiality of white culture, even if they do not make up the core of the plot.

Yet, despite constant concerns for these wrongs, none of the authors in Reckonings conveys simple hate for the larger the larger American society, each, instead, weighing the two cultures in a more complex fashion. Two works in particular that caught my attention on this subject were Patricia Riley’s “Damping Down the Road” and Beth H. Piatote’s “Life-Size Indian,” each of which looks at the interactions between Native American and white culture in the context of family. Both works present a clear distinction between the white, popular American culture and a more traditional Native American culture. However, neither provides an obvious answer as to how they can or if they should interact. What do these authors actually think about the worth of white culture in a Native American family? Do they think it should be embraced, tolerated, resisted, or something else?

Although Riley’s “Damping Down the Road” features a family with the majority of its members multiracial, it starts by setting up a distinct cultural divide within the family. In a scene in which the family discusses haircuts for Carnel and Ruby, Riley aligns Carnel and her father Eli with Native American culture by making them appreciate “Good old Indian hair” (Riley 154). Carnel’s mother Nettie and Carnel’s sister Ruby, in contrast, like the idea of a getting a perm and bleaching hair blonde, reflecting popular white culture.

Riley, however, does more than simply divide the family. She takes advantage of Carnel’s role as protagonist to make the reader sympathize in particular with Carnel and Eli’s side. She allows the reader just into Carnel’s thoughts. These, then, provide negative commentary on her sister Ruby, comparing her speech to that of “poor white trash” (154) or her bleached hair to “an old washed-out dishrag” (155). Similarly, Riley uses Carnel’s perspective to characterize her mother as bitter, combative, and unpleasant: regarding Nettie’s efforts to damp down the road, Carnel supposes she is fighting “[a]gainst the way things wanted to be” (155) and further notes that “[s]he was [the road’s] Captain Ahab. It was her Moby Dick” (155). In addition, although Nettie’s backstory that Eli provides encourages the reader to sympathize with her, it does so by making her Native American culture the victim of the policies of a Catholic boarding school. Riley suggests the reason Nettie becomes such a disagreeable character is because of her punishment for telling Native American stories at school: Eli asserts that “she was a completely different person when she came back from that place. She seemed sad all the time, and nervous” (160). Using exclusively Carnel and Eli’s impressions, then, Riley seems to provide a strong criticism for white culture and a comparatively favorable impression of Native American culture.

However, Riley does not end her story with a full criticism of Nettie. Instead, Nettie admits “[she] was wrong” (165) and repairs the turtle figure Eli makes, making Carnel “[feel] overwhelmed with love” (165). Eli’s death seems to have allowed Nettie to come to a resolution regarding her allegiance to Native American culture and white American culture. However, since the reader never gets her perspective directly, the actual resolution in her mind remains unclear. If fixing the turtle represents resurrecting her appreciation for Native American culture, does that mean Nettie simultaneously forgets her white culture? Or is she somehow able to appreciate both? Is Riley suggesting Nettie is better off embracing Native American culture rather than white culture, or is she simply suggesting that both should have their place in the family?

Riley’s “Damping Down the Road,” of course, does not reflect all of the interactions between Native American and white culture in the family. Nettie’s mixed heritage prompted an internal struggle within her. Piatote’s Life-Size Indian, in contrast, features two separate families and emphasizes a more removed interaction between the two cultures.

Piatote makes the contrast between the two cultures most explicit during Nate’s conversation with Jen about family. Nate’s Native American family is much closer than Jen’s white family. He has his family reunion story, and she only “wish[es] [she] had a story like that” (Piatote 275), since she can only see her extended family every two years.

What is Piatote actually saying about the respective worth of these two family structures, though? Like Riley, Piatote only gives the reader one perspective on the matter. Nate “detect[s] a certain wistfulness to [Jen’s] voice, perhaps a secret longing” (275) and “project[s]” (275) that Jen’s family treats her badly in compared to how his family treats him. He “imagine[s] the world he could give her” (275). Piatote at first might seem to suggest that Native American culture is richer than white culture and can improve it by association. However, the language she uses here specifically makes the point that these comments on Jen’s family involve Nate’s subjective analysis. Piatote even points out Nate’s judgment may be biased because of his attraction for Jen: he seems to want to make Jen seem weak just so that “he could love her” (275), although “perhaps he already did” (275). If that explains Nate’s opinion on white culture, though, then what is Piatote’s? Does she sympathize with her protagonist’s views? Or is she using his subjectivity deliberately to point out flaws in his opinions?

Piatote does not offer up an answer immediately, leaving the conclusion of Nate’s relationship with Jen ambiguous. In that way, she ends similarly to Riley, leaving the reader to question if the two cultures can work together in one family, or if they are better off treated separately.

J.M.