RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

The case study by Elizabeth Noll really opened my eyes to the American Indian culture. I have never had the opportunity to interact with this population, and I am interested more in these cultures.

As a child, my family and I traveled to Cherokee, NC for family trips. I remember going to a program called “Unto These Hills”. From that point on, I had this preconceived notion that those of a Cherokee decent were painted, feathered and half-clad, running around with sharpened tools and singing songs of praise. I guess that I had this lasting image in my head until I was in middle or high school and did a project on Native Americans (American Indians) of North Carolina. Here is a link that depicts what I thought happened day in and day out of the Cherokee Indians: http://www.cherokee-nc.com/index.php?page=56

At that point, I realized that this culture was a lot like my own. Both of our cultures had our traditions. In my family, we had a turkey on Thanksgiving, a Frasier Fir tree on Christmas, and gave gifts for birthdays. I attended church in my best “Sunday Dress” and spent my time reading the Bible, looking for guiding words to understand the world around me. American Indian families are just like my family. They have “everyday” practices just as I did. They have meals with their families, attend their pow wows and practiced their religions. I was right that they do dress up in their special costumes for special occasions, but I did too. Halloween meant scary costumes for trick-o-treating. Easter meant frilly dresses with shiny shoes and baskets full of eggs. I thought we were very different, but I found out that I wasn’t completely correct.

As for the Noll case study, I see more points that back up my beliefs that American Indians practice their “native” customs as well as “American” customs.

It seems that our first student, Daniel, is a husky 7th grade student who sports dark, long hair with darker features. He finds himself quiet at school and is encouraged to take up for himself by his father. Daniel is not organized, and seems to take no interest in school work outside of the classroom. He uses literacy only when it interests him such as when he reads his favorite genre of books, or when he reads about his culture. He describes his other school assignments as “not important to learn” (such as politics) and earns himself only C’s and D’s in language arts class. However, Daniel seems to be very into his culture. He spends his free time learning to play instruments at powwows and practices dances. It seems that Daniel’s culture is #1 in his life. Daniel also displays a liking to literacy when he writes for his own experiences. He describes times in his life that he was attacked racially by others in his school. Daniel expresses that he wants to “help children of all races live in harmony”.

When I re-read information about Zonnie, I saw quite the opposite of Daniel. Zonnie is an 8th grade girl who is of Lakota and Navajo decent. She is a family lover and spends lots of her time with students of other races. Zonnie experienced lots of opportunities at home to be immersed in literacy. She found a strong liking to poetry. Zonnie is described as liking other arts as well. She enjoys bead work, and writing and listening to country song lyrics. Zonnie says that she uses her relationships with her family members to write her songs. Unlike Daniel, Zonnie shows the upmost respect for her teachers. She has a love for school and wants to perform well. Zonnie, although fairly popular, has found herself stuck in a racist qualm, and uses writing as a way to share her feelings.

Both American Indian students use literacy to expose how they feel about racism. Writing seems to be an outlet that allows a nonviolent flow of feelings and words to surface for Daniel and Zonnie. The study describes that this is possible due to the fact that both students were influenced by supportive families at home to continue their practice in literacy. Along with literacy, both students seem to be in tune with their cultural differences among the white population in which they live among. They both use the arts in their cultures. Dance is important to both, while Daniel enjoys making music. Zonnie likes to write music. A thread is woven between the two students that connect the cultural differences to the literary differences.

Renee Hennings June 8 2010