Comparing The Medicine Bag And Apache Girl's Rite Of Passage

The two short stories that I will use for this essay are “Three Generations of Native American’s Birth Experience” by Joy Harjo and “Black Mountatin, 1977” by Donald Antrim. In “Black Mountain, 1977”, the story is about a grandson and grandfather that try to keep a relationship even when the grandfather’s daughter doesn’t want them to have a relationship. The grandson would stay with his grandparents and found a way to keep their relationship strong even with some of the problems that happened along the way. In “Three Generations of Native American Women’s Birth Experience”, the story starts out with a girl as a pregnant teenager about to give birth on a reservation in a hospital that gave her free care but was not a pleasant place. Then goes on to tell about her next child’s birth and other women in her family about how different their birthing experiences were. Despite “Black Mountain, 1977” telling a story about a dysfunctional family, “Three Generations of Native American Women’s Birth Experience”, tells the growth of a family through hardships.

Beginning with “The Medicine Bag” , the main character is Martin. His Grandpa, who is an Indian on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, came to visit him and his family. When Martin's sister, Cheryl, saw their grandpa, she got extremely excited and couldn't wait for her friends to come and meet him. Martin on the other hand was not too excited. He

The last and final difference between “the Medicine bag” and the apaches girls rite of passageis that one is for the growth of girls and the other for boys. As said many time, the Apache celebrate the growth of girls and welcmoning them into woman hood.While in the Medicine bag, Gfrandpa clearly states the the bag is to be passed onto the oldest male in the famly, which makes sence ,maturity wise.

Sanity is in the mind of the beholder; one man’s reality may not be the reality of everyone. This becomes a sticking point when two men meet in either a psychiatrist’s office or in the depth of space in the short story “The Yellow Pill.” Since both men cannot be in reality, the story takes place in a comfortable office based on evidence from the story.

One day me my mom and dad and sister we were driving to my aunt and uncle's house.It was about 3:00 and me and my cousins we were playing football.And my mom and my auntie they were making dinner.And my dad and uncle were watching a baseball game.And then it was time to eat.

Although both Native tribes have rites of passages, they are very different and can be easy to find the contrast. In the Apache native American tribe the young women have to go through a four day ritual on July 4th for their right of passage. These days are filled with dancing, small amounts of sleep, and the need to set aside emotion. This if different from the Lakota boys’ rite of passage. The Lakota boys’ rite of passage doesn't take a whole four days to complete, and certainly did not include an all night dance to test his endurance. Also, from what the book has stated the boy didn’t need to set aside emotion. Although, for the boy to accept the medicine bag, his great grandfather passed. Which can cause different results in emotion. This is different from the Lakota girls’ rite of passage because from what was stated, she didn’t experience loss in her ritual. There are plenty more differences due to native tribes having different rituals, but these are the ones that stick out the most.

Another reason that the medicine bag’s rite of passage is most significant to me because when his

31). In the PowerPoint; slide twenty-five, Gladys devoted her life to understanding her culture as well as carrying out the duties of the chosen one. She succeeded at this task because it came as natural as breathing. Although she never attended high school, she received her education at home from her nanus. Her great-aunt Emma Baker began with a story of where the Mohegans came from where it had been passed down from other generations. Gladys was young at the time when she was receiving this proud gift that she was destined for, she still understood the value of her lessons. The most important lesson Gladys learned for the medicine trail is only good medicine is allowed for healing. If good medicine was not being used, the spirits would make her medicine tainted and ineffective with the result of harming herself and others. It was taught that she should surround herself with items that brought good spirits such as ancient artifacts, silver, quartz (p. 40). These constant reminders and lessons on how to provide protection and continue comforting for her members gave Gladys strength in discovering not just her culture but other Indian’s

an American Indian male with diabetes who receives care at a non-tribal clinic. He reports that he does not feel much of a connection with his provider or his clinic, and says that he feels misunderstood when he tells his provider about his traditional healing practices.  He struggles to remember to take his medications and sometimes does not take them because he feels that they don’t work.

In Lakota Woman, a biographical account of Mary Crow Dog, there is established a reoccurring theme centered around Native American women and their outlasting strength as they play their roles of wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters. Especially so in trying times, which Crow Dog illustrates, that have spanned for centuries and are as inescapable as they have ever been. Remarkable are her feats of bravery fueled by strength she’s derived from other influential women in her life and her love for her people and their traditions. Without a doubt, Native American women had and always will play a large role in keeping the ardor behind their fight for equality and justice lit. Whether it be physically, such as it was in Wounded Knee, spiritually, in their participation in keeping up rituals and religion, or traditionally, as they help uphold old values beloved by their people for centuries.

The “Medicine Bag”, ‘‘The Apache Girl”, and the “Cherokee Indians” all have very similar rites of passage. They all have to accomplish something to become a woman or a man in their tribe. ‘‘The Apache Girl” and the “Cherokee Indians” both have to show strength and confidence. Dacina has to dance for 10 hours and the “Cherokee Indians” have to sit on a log through the night with a blindfold on. This helps them show that they are strong enough to become a member of the tribe. The ‘‘Medicine Bag’’ and the “Cherokee Indians” also have similar rights of passage because they both don't have to face their journey alone. During Martin's right of passage his grandpa passes the bag down to him and during “Cherokee Indians” right of passage their dad sits with

In this narrative in particular, the boy and his community learn the importance of acceptance and tolerance. When the community disproves and shames the boy for his illness, the boy becomes depressed, wanting to end his life. However, when the boy assumes the role of a healer, he is accepted by his community and lives a fulfilling life. The lesson taught by this story relates to many other First Nations stories. The reason behind oral tradition is to pass along a message or lesson through many generations, so present members continue with the same morals as their ancestors. The Boy and the Loon relates to First Nations culture as it carries the tradition of passing along a message through many ages of people. In all, this story has many commonalities with First Nations stories that relate to indigenous

Like a coin dropped between the cushions of a couch, traditional oral storytelling is a custom fading away in current American culture. For Native Americans, however, the practice of oral storytelling is still a tradition that carries culture and rich history over the course of generations. Three examples of traditional oral stories, “How Men and Women Got Together”, “Coyote’s Rabbit Chase”, and “Corn Mother”, demonstrate key differences in perspectives and values among diverse native tribes in America.

“People say i'm crazy if they met the rest of my family the would understand.”(unknown When i read the medicine bag i felt that i could kind of relate so this is why i choose this story. This is how I relate to the story medicine bag.

There are many arcane and superstitious references in Lu Xun’s short story “Medicine.” Many of these deal with the political turmoil of his time, and point out how we can’t go feeding the resources we need in the present to the past and continue to live (243). Instead, Lu Xun makes the point that we need to keep moving forward to live. The first reference to the paranormal comes from how Big-bolt looks at the other people around him at the execution site. He describes them as “strange looking” and says they are “all pacing back and forth like so many demons” (254).