Published - October 25, 2016
Along with lost languages came lost family connections. Many children who attended boarding schools left their tribes to try to live in cities. As they did, they gave up their cultural identity. Many children were born never knowing their tribal history, clans within the tribe, or even that they had a Native American background.
This children, adults, parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents today, often search in vain for their ancestors. They feel something is missing. Even those who live on the reservations feel it there. Many generations are missing. Or blended with other cultures.
As the story of Ishi, the Yahi tribal member demonstrates, that loss can never bring back those who are gone, nor whom their descendants should have been. Their future, and ours, are intertwined. Connecting the past with future is a complicated generational long process.
In Crosswinds, Terra is pushed to make decisions to bring a future to the tiny village that lives in the past. Grandfather Honaw, who renounces the present in his own village, pushes Terra to save the smaller villages that she has worked with to become a full member of the tribe.
Works Cited:
A Lost Indian Tribe but the Spirit Lives On. Indians.org
http://www.indians.org/articles/yahi-tribe.html . Date Accessed: September 2, 2016.
Comments