Chapter 4: Fools Crow and the Nineteenth-Century Blackfeet, pt. I

            Due to the length of this chapter and the importance of the content that it contains, I have decided to split it up into two segments.

            The chapter begins with the author providing an example of a piece of Native American literature that he uses quite frequently, Fools Crow by James Welch.  This novel is a piece of historical fiction that provides a glimpse into how life was like for the Blackfeet and their neighboring tribes during the nineteenth century.  During Goebel’s summary of the book, I skipped a lot.  I plan on reading the book when the semester ends and I hate spoilers.  If you would like to read a summary, one can be found here.

            Instead of what the novel is about, I chose to focus on the novel’s intent.  The book reflected heavily on themes common throughout many Native American texts.  The most important portrayed is that, “…being an adult means accepting responsibility for one’s own actions, taking a role in civic leadership, and giving back to one’s community” (48).

            This is a notion that not many outsiders to Native communities may be familiar with.  The way Hollywood has portrayed Native communities and customs has been off the mark to say the least.  Goebel reminds the reader that they should discuss issues of masculinity and warfare in regards to Blackfoot traditions because of movies and television.  In fact, a point that was made that caught me by surprise was that except in extreme situations, individuals were not forced to bend to the opinion of the chief or the majority.  Coming from a culture where we elect our representatives and then are at their mercy, I found this to be fantastic while becoming overwhelmed with jealous rage.

            Goebel also reminds the reader that student’s should be allowed to apply their own understanding and experiences to Native American literature so as to draw comparisons.  To me, this reaffirms the point that Native literature should not be viewed as a separate entity that we read in November, but a piece of American literature.  Period.

            The author mentions that Fools Crow, like most Native literature, is a gateway to issues such as manifest destiny, racism and the (im)morality of warfare.  In my next post I will focus on how literature can and should be used to address sensitive subjects such as these.