I hope the books has been a good, yet powerful read for you. Here is week Three's discussions question? Have a great weekend!
Junior refers to his home
reservation as “the rez,” a familiar name for theplace in which he was born, the
place in which his friends and relatives formany generations back were born
and are buried, and the land to which he istied that, no matter how bad things
get, will now and forever be called “home.”What would Junior think of a
cultural outsider, such as Ian Frazier, who visits a reservation to gather
material for a book and then calls his book On the Rez?
To respond to the question about what Junior would think, it has to be said, that Ian Frazier is going to come up short, credibility-wise. But if you had gotten the opportunity to immerse yourself in an excerpt from Frazier's book in Atlantic Magazine, you might have to cut him some slack. I perceive that Frazier feels affinity for the friends he sets in amber for the purposes of the story, warts and all. I also perceive that his writing is skillful and humorous, and his voice conveys an honesty that would be (and is) enviable to many a fellow writer. In "On the Rez", Frazier tells the story of SuAnne Big Crow, an Oglala athlete from Pine Ridge High School, who turned cruel jeers from a home crowd in Lead, South Dakota into stunned silence as she turned her warm up jacket into a butterfly shawl, dancing and singing at center court while representing the visiting Lady Thorpes at a basketball game. It brought tears to my eyes to read of the account, because she immediately turned the hearts of the crowd, and the opposing team of girls went on to become friendly with SuAnne and her teammates, thereafter. Although Big Crow died young, she still inspires people on the reservation, for her athletic grace, beauty and fortitude, good heartedness, Native pride, and stance against alcohol. Just one more example, Frazier points out, of exceptional people hailing from the Black Hills region. Tell me, where exactly I was going to hear that story if this author hadn't been moved enough to convey it?
ReplyDeleteI think Junior would look at it for what it is, a perspective from someone who was not born and raised on the “rez”. I would like to see a drawing Junior might do of the author‘s perspective
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