The Lakota Way: Generosity

“What is the point of having experience, knowledge, or talent if I don’t give it away? Of having stories if I don’t tell them to others? Of having wealth if I don’t share it? It is in giving that I connect with others, with the world, and with the divine.” -Isabel Allende 

 

I was particularly struck by the chapter concerning generosity. The first thing that came to mind when I read this chapter was the rather offensive term "Indian giver." I've always found the term to be offensive, but especially after reading  "The Story of Brings the Deer." 

In this particular story, deer have become very scarce and the people of the tribe are starving. The elderly are dying because they are giving their food to the strong, young ones and things are beginning to look hopeless. It is then that the village sends two hunters, Left Hand and Sees the Bear, out to hunt for deer in hope that they will find enough food to survive until the end of the harsh winter. After many days of searching, the hunters happen to kill a deer that happens to stumble into their camp and fall. However, on their journey home they are asked to share their meat with several creatures who have also fallen upon hard times. Sees the Bear agrees every time, despite Left Hand's angry objections. In the end, Sees the Bear's (who becomes Brings the Deer) life is rewarded by his people and the world around him. The deer becomes whole again, the people have more than enough to eat, and Brings the Deer is given the location of a group of deer by an injured hawk he shares meat with. 

One of the most striking things about the story (at least to me), is that Sees the Bear remembers the lesson that he learned from the elderly's example. He says to Left Hand, "The old ones have taught us that it is good to share. Is that not the truth?"  The elders felt it was better to give their lives to better the young than to allow both the young and the old to suffer, and Sees the Bear acts with a similar mentality.

I have been fortunate enough to experience this in my short lifetime. I live on a tight budget (as we all surely do while we are in school), and at times it is very tempting to horde everything I have and keep it for myself alone. But I have learned an important lesson in the past semester. I began to give without grudging. I picked up volunteer work that requires me to put time and money into serving those in need. Though on paper it appeared that I wouldn't be able to afford it, I have yet to be short of anything I need. I was given extra work,  another grant from the state, and my parents (who have been distant from me since my move to Asheville) even helped me with car maintenance as needed. I couldn't have been more amazed at the way my life changed when I began to think with an outward focus. Though I am still selfish in many ways and will likely never be a saint, I couldn't be more happy with the new attitude of generosity that has become a part of my life. I am connected with the world and others in a new way.

I couldn't have been more pleased to find this video!

Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit

Though I loved the majority of the reading for this week, I took special interest in the second section titled, "Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective" (Imagine a Literature major selecting that piece, its unthinkable). What caught my attention was her comparison of the Pueblo style of narrative with a spider's web. After reading that, I looked at every book on my shelf and realized that I had never read anything that description before this class. 

Silko describes the literature as a web "with many little threads radiating from the center, crisscrossing one another." As I pondered this thought, it hit me that this does not apply only to individual stories, but all of the stories act in the same manner. They all connect to one another in an intricate, beautiful circle. Spider webs do not necessarily have a beginning and in end, they aren't "linear," just as humanity and the natural world is not linear. Everything happens in cycles, and it is difficult to prove that life works in a linear fashion. The stories that are so deeply rooted in the Pueblo culture embody the cyclical pattern of life quite well. 

It hit me after reading this section that it connected very well with the portion before it, "Interior and Exterior Landscapes." The idea that the natural world reveals things about humanity and represents truths about life and living fits perfectly with the web analogy. The web reveals the unity of the stories and their connection to the rest of the world. Consider a spider web. Certainly it is beautifully connected, but not every strand is perfectly placed. Some strands are crooked compared to others. Some strands appear to be unnecessary, but they all fit into the web nonetheless (much like the portions of Silko's book). 

Pay attention to the strands. Not one is the same and none are "perfect" (as the mainstream might define it).