Aidan King

Blue Winds Dancing

            In any story, the repetition of a word, theme, or symbol typically     marks that thing as important to the author and reader.  It reflects the message of the piece as a whole. In Tom Whitecloud’s Blue Winds Dancing, the word in particular is “home.” It represents more than where he grew up; more than just a birthplace. “Home” means family. It means friends, love, comfort, and protection. “Home is where the heart is” so the saying goes, and for Whitecloud, this couldn’t be any truer. Home is the most beautiful place in the world, and it’s so important to him, he uses the word fifteen times in all.

That land which is my home! Beautiful, calm – where there is no hurry to get anywhere, no driving to keep up in a race that knows no ending and no goal. No classes where men talk and talk and then stop now and then to hear their own words come back to them from the students. No constant peering into the maelstrom of one’s mind; no worries about grades and honors; no hysterical preparing for life until that life is half over; no anxiety about one’s place in that thing they call Society. (P. 276, para. 5)

            Home means more than simply being nostalgic when being away; it’s more than getting excited when it’s time to return; it’s host to your closest friends, kindest neighbors, and fondest memories. Whitecloud attempts to capture the true essence of “home” in this piece. Not only “beautiful” and “calm”, home is a place for freedom.

Home is all these things, and being away in the world of bankers, politicians, and lawyers has taught Whitecloud that. At one point in time, he may have hated his home; hated his family, and all the familiarity and lack of change, but he learned that you truly don’t know what you have until it’s gone. All his life, his keys to happiness and comfort were right in front of his eyes: Home. A place to escape the drudging monotony[1] of “the thing they call Society”, where you work, buy, consume, and die.

While Blue Winds Dancing is truly a reflection on “home”, Whitecloud also shines a critical light upon society, calling into question the legitimacy of life and humanity as we journey through it daily. It’s not just a place to work, settle down, and have kids until the day you retire, implies Whitecloud. It’s where you belong. For him, life is about the “ring of axes in deep woods, the crunch of snow beneath my feet. I feel again the smooth velvet of ghost-birch bark. I hear the rhythm of the drums…” (para. 6).

For the majority of others, however, life is about living in squalor and lavishness, working the same jobs that were worked generations before simply because they were worked by generations before. And despite the state of existence that Whitecloud longs for, he can barely escape the cycle he’s in: Going to school, nodding his head to his teachers and classmates with a smile on his face, and sleeping until it’s a new day. The longer he stays in the cycle, the deeper the rut goes. Society has been twisted and tainted for years and years, and Whitecloud himself shows just how tiring being a member of sophisticated life truly is.

“I am tired. I am weary of trying to keep up this bluff of being civilized. Being civilized means trying to do everything you don’t want to, never doing anything you want to. It means dancing to the strings of custom and tradition; it means living in houses and never knowing or caring who is next door. These civilized white men want us to be like them – always dissatisfied – getting a hill and wanting a mountain.”

Those in a sophisticated niche view any who refuse to conform to the confines of society as outcasts; social pariahs. They’re inferior: less wealthy, less successful, less happy, and less intelligent. “Hobos and prostitutes and criminals are individuals who never adjusted, he [his sociology professor] said. He could learn a lot if he came and listened to a bunch of bums talk. He would learn that work and a woman and a place to hang his hat are all the ordinary man wants. These are all he wants, but other men are not content to let him want only these. He must be taught to want radios and automobiles and a new suit every spring.” (Para 12)

What started as an ode to home, family, rolling green hills and trees blowing in the wind, suddenly turned into a critique of the average human existence, and how pitiful and despicable Whitecloud sees it. The tone shifted, almost to uplift the reader, making him reflect on his own home, and then pulling him back down to reality. Whitecloud is scornful of society, and treated his time amongst “civilized” people as both painfully monotonous and a learning experience at the same time. But he’s almost home, almost free of the “white man’s world” as he puts it.

He closes the story in his home, with his family, friends, elders, and peers. “I watch eyes, and see now that the old people are speaking to me. They nod slightly, imperceptibly, and their eyes laugh into mine. I look around the room. All the eyes are friendly; they all laugh. No one questions my being here. The drums begin to beat again, and I catch to invitation in the eyes of the old men. My feet begin to lift to the rhythm, and I looked out beyond the walls into the night and see the lights. I am happy. It is beautiful. I am home.” (Para 33)

Despite his contempt for society, Whitecloud ends with a pleasant note. Bringing the reader’s mood up, down, and up again with a heartwarming crescendo of sorts. You are a product of your home. It birthed you. It raised you. Nurtured you. It showed you how to succeed within yourself, and taught you how to fall as well. Home is…simply that. It’s just home. Like love, words alone do not have the power to describe it. You just have to wait until you’re there before its meaning can reveal itself.

[1] Not sure which is right. ‘Drudging monotony’ or ‘monotonous drudging’

A Spirit Animal (also known as a Totem Animal, Spirit Guide, or sometimes Familiar) is an animal that aids you not only in everyday life, but in spellwork. This article is geared more towards the Pagan/Wiccan community, but anyone can have a Spirit Animal, no matter what your faith is! If you’re new and curious to finding your Spirit Animal, forget everything you have learned (Well, don’t forget EVERYTHING, but be prepared to set some old information out on the curb and put the new information in its place). You are about to be schooled on the proper way to find your companion!

Spirit animals go back to the shamans, who usually had an animal companion in the astral realm to assist them. They are also prevalent in the Native American lifestyle (many shamans were Native American, but they’re present in all parts of the world). Now, more and more people want to meet their astral guides; but some are going about it the wrong way. Here is a list of the things you SHOULDN’T do to find your spirit animal.

1.       Online quizzes. There are MANY quizzes that say “Find your Spirit Animal”. They give you a list of questions, and then word your answer to trick you into thinking it’s true. Let me tell you right off the bat that this is wrong. No quiz ANYWHERE will tell you what your companion is.

2.        Picking your Favourite Animal. Sometimes, one’s favourite animal from childhood is their Spirit Animal. There is nothing wrong with this; sometimes a favourite animal has become so because they are constantly around, teaching a person or giving some sort of message. What has been happening quite frequently is people simply assuming that their favourite animal is their Spirit Animal. While this CAN happen, it is NOT always the answer!

3.       Picking a “majestic” animal that “relates” to you. One of the themes in this article, I should mention, is that you do not pick your Spirit Animal; your Spirit Animal picks YOU. A lot of people choose the Wolf as their Spirit Animal without thinking about what it teaches and truly means. Your Spirit Animal might not relate to you at all; maybe there’s a lesson that needs learning!

4.        Having someone tell you what your Spirit Animal is. Now, an exception to this might be a Spirit Animal that runs in the family. However, no one can tell you what your Spirit Animal is. You must go out on the journey and find it yourself.

5.         Assume that certain animals are out of the question. You can have a dragon or a unicorn, a shrimp or a centipede as your Spirit Animal. Don’t push away a Spirit Animal just because it isn’t “cool”. Each one serves a purpose, and can be strong in its own way!

An important message is that your Spirit Animal is not necessarily your Familiar. The term Familiar usually refers to an animal that helps a witch in magick, like a dog, cat, or bird. A Spirit Animal is usually not a domesticated animal, but there are exceptions. Your Spirit Animal is usually just that; spiritual. They can usually be contacted in the Astral Plane, although they may make themselves known in a physical form (like seeing a deer in the woods or an animal in the zoo)

So, how do you find your Spirit Animal? There’s no right answer to this question. I found my lifelong guide through art; the more I drew him, the closer we became, and the more I could communicate with him. However, a common method of discovering your Spirit Animal is through meditation.

When I want to talk to my animal guides, I often relax in my room, on my bed, and burn some incense, maybe turn on some peaceful music that won’t distract me from my journey (I often listen to the same music that I fall asleep to, to give myself the message that it’s time to relax). Then I begin to visualize whatever habitat my animal guide lives in.

This visualization may help you; it’s what helps me contact my Spirit Animal.

First, Visualize a pathway in the woods. There are trees on either side of this dirt path, and the leaves shield you from the harsh rays of the sun. You feel a gentle breeze blowing through the trees, gently ruffling your hair and ghosting over your skin. You can hear the calls of animals off in the distance as the leaves rustle. You go down this path, your heart pounding in not fear, but excitement. You know you are safe here.

As you reach the end of the path, you feel something watching you. You’re not sure what it is quite yet, but you know that it’s your Spirit Animal. You exit the path into a beautiful clearing. The sun shines kindly down on you as you see a small pond in the middle of the clearing, hidden by the flowers. You go down to the edge of the pond, taking off your shoes and dipping your feet into the cool water. As you relax at the water’s edge, you hear a rustling in the grass. You look back with a smile and see your Spirit Animal. It takes a drink from the pond, and you reach out, gently stroking its fur. You converse and ask questions. Before it leaves, you give it a hug before it disappears back into the trees. Invigorated and excited, you put your shoes back on and follow the path back to where you came.

Now, don’t freak out if you don’t meet your Spirit Animal right away. Maybe it’s busy, or you aren’t ready to contact it yet. While they will help you, they are not slaves and may not answer every call. That particular exercise is for most land animals, although it can be changed for aquatic life, aviary life, or even insects! You can come up with any sort of meditation you want; there’s no “right” way to contact them.

A question I often come across is “can I have more than one Spirit Animal?”. The answer is of course! I personally have three: a Fox (my lifelong totem), a Hawk, and a Snow Leopard. I’ve also had Deer and Rabbit come across my path. You can have as many as you need; there’s no limit.

After you find your Spirit Animal, a good thing to do is research it. Find out what it eats, where it lives, how it survives. Know it as well as you know yourself. Figure out why it has come to visit you. I see the Hawk whenever I need to watch and be careful of my surroundings. The Snow Leopard visits me whenever I need strength to travel to the Astral Realm. Even though books (such as Ted Andrew’s Animal Speak, a book I’ve been trying so hard to find in my bookstore and FINALLY succeeded) can tell you what an animal symbolizes, it’s ultimately up to you to discover why your animal guide has paid you a visit.

When you do meet your Spirit Animal, treat it with respect. Honour it in some way. I often draw pictures of my animal guides (as seen on my DeviantART account) or leave an offering outside near the woods. Before I leave the Astral Realm, I usually give my guide a hug or a kiss to show how much I care. Building a good relationship with your guides is VERY important!

When you find your Spirit Guide, you might be surprised how long they have been with you! I’ve had my Fox guide with me since I was a child (under the guise of an “imaginary friend”) and has often gotten me into trouble as a youngster. Now he’s a faithful companion that’s always there when I need him, both in everyday life and when I perform spells. On the other hand, you might be surprised that you have a hyena or a squirrel as your Spirit Animal.

Your Spirit Guide can raise energy, protect you, or just be a friend to talk to. Remember to respect them and take heed of the messages they try to give you.

Native American consultants, advise AC III Game Developers, As reported by Softpedia, Tuesday (04/03/2012), Creative Director, Alex Hutchinson is working on a game on the PS Blog said, “We put the seriousness when we decided to create a killer character of the Native American (indigenous natives of America). We do not like the British soldiers or patriots. We also really liked the idea of ​​having a minority as the main character, especially those not well represented in popular culture. “

Previous Ubisoft confirmed that Assassin’s Creed III game will take place in the American revolutionary war, as well as featuring a new character named Connor unknown. Gaming companies are also choosing a voice actor who is able to show the authenticity and character inspired Connor, and to ensure no problems arise in the accent of the character voices for players who are also Native American.

Hutchinson also spoke about the battle system is dual wielding or using two weapons at the Connor character. “We want him (Connor) to be more like a predator, so that all the battles using two hands, tomahawk and knife or razor blade hidden,” he concluded.

Connor character would use two-hand combat skills. This indicates, the development team must adjust to make many changes, such as the movements of the opponent and the way they approach the fight and the level of difficulty of the game when you’re fighting.

Connor skating (Photo credit: thomascrenshaw)

Reportedly, Ubisoft also makes changes to the control scheme, though not yet final. These efforts allow the gamer to control characters easier and more intuitive game show when the characters interact in the game. Assassins’s Creed III will be launched in October 2012 and landed at several consoles like Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Personal Computer (PC) and the Nintendo Wii U.

When the war of 1812 broke out, he and his followers came to Canada.

They fought the Americans and Sir Issac Brock worked with him in the early battles.

They worked successfully to establish a native confederacy and opposed,

American expansion.

Had the British and First Nations not won with their strategic conflicts,

the canadian border could be considerably smaller.

Tecumseh means “panther crossing across the sky”, he was born in March 1768.

When he was a teenager his father was brutally murdered by white frontiersmen.

These men were there in violation of a recent treaty.

Tecumseh wanted to become a great warrior like his father and wipe out the intruders.

At the age of fifteen he joined the Shawnee in destroying settler’s flatboats on the Ohio River.

In time he became the leader of his own tribe, at one point they virtually stopped all river traffic.

He wanted to save native territory and the native way of live.

He also helped in the capture of Fort Detroit.

He died at the battle of Thames in October

Official language: Spanish

Land area: 42,042 sq mi/108,891 sq km

Population:  14,377,000

Dominant religion:  Christianity

Capital:  Guatemala City

Current leader:  President Alvaro Colom

Guatemala is a country in Central America. It is surrounded by Belize and the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Honduras to the east, El Salvador to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the south and Mexico to the west and northwest. It is the most populous country in Central America.

 The population of Guatemala is roughly evenly divided with half being of Native American ancestry and the other half of mixed Native American and Spanish ancestry.  Most of the population of mixed ancestry follows Spanish customs that were brought over from Spain.

 Guatemala’s main sources of income are its exports. Coffee constitute approximately 30 percent of it exports. It also exports bananas, sugar and spice. Farmers also raise livestock.  Another source of income are Guatemalan citizens who come to the U.S. to work, sending millions of dollars back home.

 Spanish explorers began arriving to Guatemala in the 1520’s  and quickly made it a colony along with the rest of Central American. In 1821, while Spain was at war with France, Guatemala and the rest of Central America declared independence and joined the Mexican empire. In 1823, however, they broke away and formed the United Provinces of Central America. The union fell apart in 1839 and Guatemala became a completely independent country. The following years were marked by almost constant political instability and the military took control of the government on many occasions. Since 1986, however, successive civilian governments been in power.

Artist – Jim Aparo

An only in America story that starts with a proposition that seems to amount to just asking for trouble.

To celebrate their bicentenary, the US Government plans to have an old Civil War train travel round the States carrying various invaluable historic artefacts including the original Bill Of Rights and The Declaration Of Independence around the continent for all to see.

Batman, and the robotic Metal Men are assigned to travel too, both as security measures and to serve as living exhibits in their own right. What could possibly go wrong?

Just about everything really. The scholars sent to present papers relating to the rare documents prove to be disgruntled Native Americans who hijack the train to insist on the US plunder of their lands be put right at last. They capture Batman and strap him to the train’s cowcatcher, and send the Metal Men off on a wild-goose chase after their missing creator (A story-line running throughout their own comic strip is their search for their ever-absent inventor).

When an independent terrorist assault involving a hidden bomb on the train is raised, the Native Americans unite with the heroes to help save the day in a blaze of patriotic glory and the Native Americans are forgiven for their own impassioned protest activity– hooray. 

Arthur Chappell

Berdache is a term used to describe males and females who take on opposite gender roles than their biological sex determines they should. There are both male and female berdaches. Male berdache dress as females and do women’s work such as housework, and taking care of the family. Female berdache dress as men and become the providers and hunt for the family. Forgey’s research (1975) states that, “the essence of berdache lies not in the wardrobe, but rather in the publicly recognized, institutionalized change in role and status” (Forgey, 1975, p.2).The change in gender identification by the individual has to be recognized by the other members of their tribe to truly call themselves ‘berdache’. Courouve’s research (1982) states that the term ‘berdache,’ was borrowed from the Arabic word bardag which, “denote[s] a passive partner in male-male sexual intercourse” (as cited in Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 603). This term is used through anthropology even today though it is not very accurate when using its definition to describe the cross-dressing and change of gender roles within Native American society as not all berdache engage in male-male sexual relations.

History of Berdache

            The institution of ‘berdache’ has been around for many centuries, even as far back as the 16th century. For example, according to research by Fulton and Anderson (1992), “conquistadores [who] arrived in the New World early in the 16th century … encountered certain male aboriginals who dressed in women’s garb and practiced sodomy” (Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 604). The “male aboriginals” being referenced are the ‘berdache’. The “sodomy” being referred to in this instance is male-male sexual relations. More recently berdache is still seen and misinterpreted. Fulton & Anderson’s research (1992) also mentions that in the, “middle of the 20th century” the only anthropologists who discussed the berdache “continued to study it in terms of a ‘pathology’” (Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 605). Pathology is most often defined as the study of the cause of a disease. These well-educated social scientists were not seeing berdache as a different lifestyle of another culture but as a disease as recently as around the year 1950 (approximately).

Origins of Berdache Existence

How did one become a berdache? There are actually many different ways to become a ‘berdache’. Fulton & Anderson’s research (1992) states, which you can become a berdache through, “recruitment… by [showing] a childhood proclivity for the social function of the other gender or by a vision of some other supernatural validation” (Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 607). This means that if, when you are a child, your parents or tribal elders see that you have tendencies to want to do things that the opposite sex should be doing, as is defined by gender roles of your society or through a vision. Girolamo Boscano’s research states that the visions seen were in fact hallucinations induced by a combination of alcohol, sleep deprivation, and semi-hypnosis followed by selective vision interpretation by the elders (as cited in Trexler, 2002, p. 626). These extreme tactics were to convince the young boy, normally a teenager at the time, that he was in fact meant to be a woman and get him to become a berdache.

When you become a ‘berdache’ you dress in women’s clothes and do women’s work. Trexler’s research tells of many ways that people can become berdache or fall into the category of ‘berdache’. Sometimes the child’s sex was dictated before birth by the parents. Trexler’s research (2002) states that, “the executive power to assign a small boys gender was vested in those parents rather than being the boys free choice” (Trexler, 2002, p. 617). At other times, the act of sex could be the thing that influences your standing in society. Trexler (2002) mentions this in his research when he talks of the “origins of berdache status [which is] said to involve homosexual rape in which big men first rape and then dress their victims as girls or inversely first dress their intended victims as girls and then rape them” (Trexler, 2002, p. 617). This act of dressing the victim in woman’s clothing and making him feel weak under another man thereby makes him feel like he’s become submissive, as a woman would be. This event could shatter the man and influence the person’s internal ideals or society might be the one to shatter the man’s masculinity and force him to take on the role of the berdache.

Trexler’s research (2002) suggests that the ‘berdache’ “served a communal purpose as sex servants for young braves who would otherwise violate the marriageable girls of the community” (Trexler, 2002, p. 616). The ‘berdache’ were able to accompany the braves out on war parties and the braves were able to release their sexual energy without tainting the girls of the community. Hurtado’s research (1996) supports Trexler’s claim in that he states that, “Plains Indians generally tolerated premarital and extramarital sex among men but sought to maintain the chastity of women” (Hurtado, 1996, p. 54). The violation of women would make them be seen as unfit to marry but the violation of a man doesn’t affect the man’s ability to marry.

            Trexler’s research (2002) claims that, the berdache “served demographic, prostitutional, and economic functions that maintained hierarchy” (Trexler, 2002, p. 616). This is seen through the different ways that a person could become a berdache. The prostitutional function is seen in the prostituting of the ‘berdache’ to the young braves in order to keep the young girls from being violated. The demographic and economic function can be seen in parents choosing the gender that their child would be raised as which alters the demographics of the visual sex of the children. It also alters through an economic function because of the different role that the child would take on due to their different sex and the economic needs of the family and the community, whether the society is primarily agriculturally based or a hunting dominant society.

Ideology Behind the Idea of ‘Berdache’

The ideology behind the idea of ‘berdache’ is a very interesting one. Women were seen as providing the basis for most things that play an important part of everyday tribal life. Saladin D’Anglure (1988) reports, on the Inuit, that:

Women were not seen as a subordinate gender but in mythology played an integral role in humankind’s first significant discoveries (eg: the power of speech, the power of ritual, & the power of trances). A woman was the first healer and as such assumed a ‘third gender’ … superior to that of common mortals (as cited in Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 607).

The woman healer who “assumed ‘a third gender’ … superior to that of common mortals” sounds like the definition of berdache and its classification as a “third gender”.

            There was another story that could explain the ideology behind the idea of ‘berdache’ and that was the belief in an ability to change one’s sex. Kessler and McKenna (1978) argue that:

It was believed that gender itself was reversible – that a fetus could change its sex while being born. Elsewhere, gender was not necessarily determined by birth; it was something that could be acquired & at times changed according to the needs of the society (as cited in Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 607)

The concept of gender being “changed according to the needs of society” is clearly seen within the berdache with their changes of sex due to demographics, economics, and other factors as well.

Acceptance of Berdache

Not all people accepted the ‘berdache.’ Fulton and Anderson’s research (1992) states that, attitudes ranged from “‘awe and reverence through indifference to scorn and contempt’ and … in some societies the community’s very existence was believed to be dependent upon the role” (Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 607).

Different tribes had different ideas about the ‘berdache’. Forgey’s research (1975) tells the attitudes of the Plains tribes towards the ‘berdache’. The Sioux had a “neutral attitude of quiet tolerance” towards the berdache, and the Cheyenne had a “positive [attitude] of great esteem” towards the berdache. They “played an active role in Cheyenne social life”. The Teton Dakota/Western Sioux “recognized [them] as sacred… [and] ‘supernaturally dictated’” but their role was seen as “inevitable,” “unfortunate,” and they were “slightly ostracized from… mainstream… Dakota society.” The Omaha saw the berdache as, “unfortunate individuals” (Forgey, 1975, p.4-6). Even though some tribes did not have a negative view of the berdache, others did. Trexler’s research (2002) tells of George Catlin’s painting entitled, ‘The Dance of the Berdash,’ “representing either a Sauk or a Fox ceremony dedicated to… ridiculing the berdaches of these tribes” (Trexler, 2002, p. 623).  This tribe dedicated ceremonies to the taunting of these berdache individuals. Within Trexler’s research (2002), Boscana states, “[the berdache] were the most despised people of all” (Trexler, 2002, p. 618). If they were the “most despised of all” they probably faced worse treatment than is already recorded, since the research of the berdache is a relatively new topic.

Outsider opinion of the berdache was not very popular. Trexler’s research (2002) states that, “Spanish missionaries… tended to view [the berdache] as creations of the devils” (Trexler, 2002, p. 613). Something that was different than their culture was not acceptable to them. Hurtado’s research (1996) tells of the Europeans opinion of the berdache. They saw the berdache behavior as “unnatural, lascivious, and wanton, even though native people regulated sexuality according to their own customs” (Hurtado, 1996, p. 55).

            Hurtado’s research (1996) stated that, “the berdache faced persecution at the hands of the friars and the soldiers”. His research tells the story of a berdache man was taken into the mission, stripped of his clothes and thereby his sexual identity, and kept naked doing women’s work for three days before he was allowed to leave. Upon releasing him, the friars told him to stop dressing like a woman and hanging around women and the berdache man ran away from the mission and went back to his lifestyle (Hurtado, 1996, p. 57).

            Trexler’s research (2002) speaks of “contemporary sexual politics” and says that “gays… often resist the notion of social construction in favor of biological determinism” (Trexler, 2002, p. 615). They like to believe that the berdaches made a choice in becoming berdaches, even though that is normally not the case.

            Thomas and Jacobs (1999) say that indigenous peoples find the term berdache “insulting and part of the colonial discourse” (Thomas and Jacobs, 1999). They want the term “two-spirit” to be used instead.

Evidence of Outside Influence

            A lot of outside influence is present but it does not seem to be as bad as the internal forces within their own tribes. Tribes should have solidarity but they are divided within their own people. Fulton & Anderson’s research (1992) states that “[the berdache] numbers greatly decreased following contact with white culture” (Fulton & Anderson, 1992, p. 606). This could be due to a number of reasons, for example, through their exposure to white culture they could have seen that they had more options than they thought possible before. Trexler’s research (2002) tells the story of one berdache who, “married a Christian woman and had two sons by her,” which was unheard of at the time. This was said to be “missionary influence” which “forced” the berdache to modify their status and put “pressure to marry… [through the] Christian insistence of marriage” (Trexler, 2002, p. 618). A berdache didn’t have the option to get married to a woman before and that option was not put in front of him. If he had that option before, who is to say that he wouldn’t have taken it? Robert Lamblin argues that, “since missionization [there have been more young berdaches] revert[ing back] to their biological gender as a result of colonial pressure in the schools and churches” (Trexler, 2002, p. 621). Why is it said to be colonial pressure on them to change? The young children were practically forced into their new gender role. Now that they had an option to revert back and to take control of their destiny, why wouldn’t they?

Conclusion

            American anthropology approaches the berdache as a “free-standing individual” and romanticizes the berdache in popular gay culture even though all the evidence and how it has been interpreted in the past has been about sexual and political construction. Though some researchers say that a free choice has been made – it is not. That is a newer idea because of modern day homosexuals trying to redefine the term ‘berdache’ and have it take on a new meaning. The concept of berdache was forced upon children because that gender was needed in their family for a specific role depending on their need for agricultural workers or hunters. Berdaches were often seen as less than others before the Europeans came. According to the research presented, though they did influence the native’s idea of berdache it was also being influenced through the tribes that they belonged to and other Native American tribes as well. It could be argued that they were on their way out to begin with or that the Europeans influenced them dramatically, but both factors were equally responsible.

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References

Forgey, Donald G. (1975). The Institution of Berdache among the North American Plains

Indians. The Journal Of Sex Research, 11(1), 1-15.

Fulton, R., & Anderson, S. W. (1992). The Amerindian “Man-Woman”: Gender, Liminality, and

Cultural Continuity. Current Anthropology, 33(5), 603-610.

Hurtado, Albert L. (1996). When Strangers Met: Sex and Gender on Three Frontiers. Frontiers:

A Journal Of Women Studies, 17(3), 52-75.

Thomas, W., & Jacobs, S. (1999). `…And We Are Still Here’: From Berdache to Two-Spirit

People. American Indian Culture & Research Journal, 23(2), 91-108.

Trexler, R. C. (2002). Making the American berdache: choice or constraint?. Journal Of Social

History, 35(3), 613-36.

          Do we have respect for death or a fear for death? In my situation I have a fear for death and that gives me a respect for death. A respect for death because I have been there in the way of a boat sinking and I was trapped inside, through luck I manage to survive. In 1985 I had a stroke and then again luck was on my side. As we look at people who have lost their lives we feel remorse for them, we pray for them to go to heaven. It is like we put the finishing touches to their lives, but they will always be with us in our mind. In some countries the dead are with the loved ones all the time, mentally and physically.

          Mentally you know about, but physically is a different matter. In our society we mourn, we bury the dead with respect, and we go home and eat, but in some countries they mummify the corpses and display them. They display them in a way as to respect them all the time. When you think of mummification, you think of Egyptian mummies, but there are mummies all over the world, in Greenland, South Africa, China, and even Native American, and that does not even touch the surface of mummification. There are some cultures that even go as far as putting the love ones on the roof of their houses and some exhibit the dead as fixtures in the home.

           Now there are other ritual effects that are weird to our western culture, such as charm boxes, mystic potions, medicine men, and my favorite is in Haiti, it is zombies. A man in Haiti walked into an emergency room regurgitating blood and had aches all over his body. Three days went by and the Doctors pronounce him dead, he was kept in a cold storage unit for twenty hours and he was buried. He remembered the Doctors saying he was dead and his sister was weeping at his bedside. When he was found he told his sister a voo-doo man raised him from his grave and took him to the sugar fields where he worked as a slave. His death was documented as a Narcisse’s incident. Most Haitians believe in zombies and not Narcissist.   

In Budapest, Japan the priests attempted to mummify themselves while they were still alive by starvation and then they would dry themselves out by candles. When they died their body was almost mummified. To complete the process they were placed in a tomb for three years and then dried out again by candles. In our culture I do not think that this is the Right of Passage, it is suicide.

          The Right of Passage in my opinion is not that you pass away, but how you are presented in death. If you believe in the mores of your culture you will be offered in a honorable way. If your beliefs are different, if you’re an outsider from society and do not believe in what the public thinks you have created a stigma for you and your family. The social consequence for you not believing in what the culture is, is  that your family is disgraced in the eyes of the public.  The passage is one that nobody denies, because death is the last thing you do on earth, it is literally inevitable.

          Bill Gallaher

The fact that Trickster does not behave as a normal male is indicative of the idea that he represents a combination of male and female characteristics. Thus, according to the stories in the Trickster Cycle, he is not a true “character” but the embodiment of an idea. For example, Trickster carries a “box containing his penis” but also became pregnant by his friends the fox, the jaybird, and the nit. This does not seem to be a problem for the story because none of the characters respond to the Trickster’s dual sexuality with bewilderment or surprise. Instead, the chief’s son is disappointed to learn that he engaged in homosexual activity. The fact that the “male” that he had sex with also gave birth to his children is of little consequence to him. Perhaps then the Winnebago trickster is meant to be interpreted as a problematic character or a foolish troublemaker rather than a true three-dimensional character.

In April, 1613, the English lured Pocahontas aboard Captain Samuel Argall’s trading ship, seized her, and held her for ransom. They wanted Chief Powhatan to return some English prisoners. Powhatan didn’t cooperate immediately. During her stay with the English, Pocahontas converted to English-style Christianity, learned the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments, and became “Rebecca.” She fell in love with John Rolfe, a twenty-eight year old colonist. On April 5, 1614, they were married.

By some accounts, Pocahontas was already married to a minor chief named Kocoum. That didn’t bother Richard Buck, the Puritan who married her to Rolfe. The English were looking for a peacemaker, and during her time in the English colony, peace prevailed.

In 1615, Pocahontas gave birth to Thomas Rolfe.

A year later the family and some tribesmen returned to England, and Pocahontas again met John Smith. He arranged a meeting with the English royalty of that time. A 1616 portrait shows Pocahontas in formal English attire.

She died tragically of smallpox in 1617 before returning to her native land.

SOURCES

Profiles in Life and Leadership, Pocahontas, Great North American Indians (book, 1977), F.J. Dockstader.
The Rise and Fall of the Powhatan Empire, After Columbus (book, 1988), J. Axtell.
Virginia’s Great Migrations: Religious Origins, Alibion’s Seed (book, 1989), D. H. Fischer.
Pocahontas, Encyclopedia Britannica (1998)