Chapter 2 and More Press Pause Play

     Our society thrives off the internet and most the people in this country would feel naked without it now. The internet involves a source of communication and information for everybody and most peoples jobs and lives rely on being able to use the internet for communication and information. "The mass media, media technology, and our culture all interact with one another"(Culture and Communication 22). Our society and the internet go hand in hand now and ely on each other to continue our efficient society. The beginnings of mass communication began in the 15th century with the movable type. Being able to type instead of everything handwritten was a huge breakthrough at the time and allowed writing to be spread out more efficiently and quickly. Prior to the movable type this handwriting and books were limited to the elite, "Because of this, reading material was scarce and limited to those in the elite culture- the clergy and the nobility"(Beginnings of Mass Communication 22). Now the middle classes and the normal folk could now access writing and this was monumental in mass communication at the time. Later on what became a real game changer in mass communication was the ability to print. The first things to be mass printed were pictures and more accurately Albrecht Durer, one of the most successful renaissance artist. His portraits were limited until they began to be printed. This allowed everybody to enjoy the portraits and things only advanced from there. Later on in our constantly growing industrial society one of the most influential inventions in mass communication was the metropolitan newspaper. "Although newspapers had existed since the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they had been read by the educated elite, not the general public"(Culture and Communication 26). Like earlier these forms of communication and information were limited to the wealthy elite but once they evolve to the majority of the people they change the whole world of mass communication. Technology and communication only improves and advances and that builds our society.

Albrecht Durer's, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 

The New York Sun, the first paper in the United States

        

          The film Press Pause Play gives the viewer a deeper understanding of numerous forms of art and what they have become today. Press Pause Play gives the sides of both the positives and the negatives of the art world and whether or not things are improving or getting worse. "This changes everything. The industry is dead. There has never been a better time to be an artist"(Seth Godin, Press Pause Play). Some experts believe the time period we are in now is better than ever because art can go ay direction and people are understanding and acceptable now to new forms of art. People have changed and so has art in general. "50 years ago, people didn't make things. People would go to photography exhibitions. They would go to record fairs. They would watch movies. Now everyone is a photographer. Everyone is a musician. Anyone can make film(Moby, Press Pause Play). Now every form of art there is most people can create it and enjoy all themselves, they dont need someone else to do it for them anymore. The film just reassures the viewer that art is now more accesible than ever now and it's never going to slow down and will only continue to evolve.

Moby, an extremely influential figure in the film

An idea that art will continue to evolve and it will be never ending

Intro to Edentity

   Knowing your identity and figuring out who you are can be a major struggle for some people and it can take them several years. How you want to be viewed by others and how you define yourself is your identity. Within the last ten years the idea of edentity has surfaced and that's because of the advancements of technology and how it's affect the planet and the people on it. Our edentity is composed of, "an electric identity composed of the digital traces left behind as we participate in virtual worlds". Our edentites have already been created whether you realize it or not when you interact with technology. Things like sending an email, or watching Netflix involve your edentity and people won't even think twice. People can see everything though, "yet those actions leave digital footprints that can be mined for data by various companies and corporate entities". Pretty much everything on the internet is trackable and it's overlooked by everyone who used the internet and doesn't think about the affects of their edentity. Something else that could be one of the most interesting things about our edentites is what happens with death? The internet and the social world has no set lifespan, "Even after our deaths, our online identities may still be visible in our social networking profiles that remain online". Our generation is going to have to experience this never ending edentity that stays with everyone. It's sounds a little freaky to some but to others it can be a great way to remember somebody who's gone. At this moment in time social networking seems never ending which means your edentity will be never ending. It's interesting to think about and will be even more interesting to see what happens in the future. 

The idea of an Edentity

Social media is never ending and edentities will carry on

      

          Another important aspect of this idea is through film and music. Our world is changing and it has been changing rapidly for years now. Technology never sleeps which means our world and the changes occurring in it cant either. Our universe is unique, like Neil De Grasse tyson said, "The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on earth, the atoms that make up the human body are crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures". Basically everything on this planet can be traced back to the human body and the human race. Everything that's happened in the past and the existence of this planet is within us and can be traced back to us. This includes technology and internet and the more recent discoveries made by human beings. Technology and science are never going to slow down which is why literature, film, music, poetry, etc. is never going to settle down and will be constantly changing. The technology advancements are good but we can't get carried away, Jason Silva said, "The scientist and engineers who are building the future need the poets to make sense of it". This is a really cool quote because it applies to everyone. People enjoy the technology and always having new and unique "toys" but we need normal people and people like Silva to help us understand why and help keep a source of balance and equilibrium. 

Jason Silva

Neil DeGrasse Tyson and the Most Astounding Fact

Smoke Signals

   Smoke Signals just like Dances With Wolves really gives the viewer an idea of what most people think when they think of Native Americans. They both can be very stereotypical and you see this all the time with movies and cinema regarding Native Americans. With help from movies and cinema the Native American has been portrayed to be a fierce and fearless warrior and in most cases is meant to be the "bad guy". With all the stereotypes there are some facts and honest parts of Smoke Signals as well. Throughout history Native Americans and their land as well as the aspect of being American citizens has always been a tricky conflict. From the film Smoke Signals, "You know how Indians feel about signing papers". Deciding who's land is who's is still a a significant issue today and most likely always will be. The film is also represented with the colors red, white, and blue a ton and that has some significance. The colors blue especially show the conflict of becoming an American citizen. The colors of the American flag also represent freedom and that's something Native Americans never felt like they've had much of. The combination of cinema and the stereotypes it brings for Native Americans only brings that opportunity of freedom and a different opinion down. Thomas builds-the-fire said, "You know there are some children who aren't really children at all, they're just pillars of flame that burn everything they touch. and there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that fall apart when you touch them... Victor and me, we are children of flame and ash". These kids experienced the fire when they were young but there is a deeper meaning here. They feel like because of the past and what has happened to them in there lives that they can't amount to anything or they are set up for failure. It seems most things regarding Native Americans has them failing which is something extremely difficult to grow up in.

The American flag and freedom

One of the many examples of how Native Americans have been inaccurately portrayed

       Another huge aspect of Smoke Signals and Native American culture in general is storytelling. Every story has the ability to heal and sometimes that's what makes them so important and special. Smoke Signals and Ceremony both portray characters with troubled pasts and storytelling allows them to overcome the past and heal. Thomas build-a-fire said, "Hey Victor! I remember the time your father took me to Denny's, and I had the grand slam breakfast. Two eggs, two pancakes, a glass of milk, and of course my favorite, the bacon. Some days, it's a good day to die. And some days, it's a good day to have breakfast". Even though this quote from Smoke Signals isn't a traditional Native American story or anything like that but it can get to you and that's what storytelling is all about. Even a small story like this can bring back old memories good or bad and have a significant impact on anyone. Something else very evident in Smoke Signals is racism and how the Couer D'Alene are treated. Victor said, "You gotta look mean or people wont respect you. White people will run all over you if you don't look mean. You gotta look like a warrior! You gotta look like you just came back from killing a buffalo". Cinema and society in general has discriminated Native Americans to the point that things like this have become acceptable.

An idea of what everyone expects of an Indian

Storytelling being so important in the Native American culture

Ceremony Conclusion

   The Ending of Ceremony is all about Tayo's realization of what his life has become and looking back and realizing the reasons for every setback or mishap in his life. Tayo discovers what western medicine and the western lifestyle ended up doing to his life. At the time Tayo believed western medicine was helping him and allowing him recover from things like PTS and his childhood but it was only disguising it. Tayo is constantly throughout the book being pulled back into his old lifestyle but at the end of the book it seems as if he will do anything to escape that lifestyle and complete his own ceremony. You begin to realize just like Betonie has explained to Tayo that in order to cure new illnesses, new ceremonies were needed to overcome these illnesses. In order to cure these illnesses for Tayo he needs to heal and T'sheh is able to begin that process for Tayo. T'sheh brought new hope for Tayo, Silko said, "But his room was the same, the creaking bedsprings and frame pushed into the southeast corner below the small window. The terror of the dreaming he had done on this bed was gone, uprooted from his belly ; and the woman had filled the hollow spaces with new dreams". the healing process is in full affect from this point on because of the help Tayo receives from T'sheh. Tayo's not just healing with himself but with every aspect of his life. He's healing with the earth and becoming content with life. Another important part of Tayo's healing is the changing of seasons. Silko said, "Only the sky had changed, washed clear of the dust and haze which had swirled off the red clay flats that summer before. He could smell wild flowers growing in the weeds and grass besides the road, and he heard the big bumblebees and the smaller bees sucking the blossoms". With the beginning of Tayo's change and healing the season change is extremely important.

Tayo and the healing process

The changing of seasons

        Another extremely important part of the ending of the book and understanding of Tayo is witchery and its use in Laguna Pueblo tradition. Throughout the entire book witchery is expressed through poem or saying and it affects Tayo greatly. Whenever you think of witchery you think of evil and that's exactly what witchery is with the addition of manipulating people like Tayo throughout the entire book into loss. Tayo ultimately loses everything and in the end of the book he figures out how to get himself back. an example of witchery near the end of the book is when Tayo sees Leroy and Harley and thinks he's going to be getting a ride but in fact they were just trying to give him up to Tayo. These men were his friends but the witchery had consumed them too and Tayo had to overcome that. Silko said, "He looked down at them. If he had not known about their witchery, they might have fooled him." This is a perfect example of how Tayo has changed. He can sense and realize the witchery now and it becomes extremely beneficial for him and his ceremony. There is a poem at the end of the book that says, "Every evil which entangled him was cut to pieces". All the witchery and evil that was with Tayo for his entire life was being lifted and it seems as if his ceremony was becoming complete. 

Tayo finally overcoming his past life and being content

Tayo is betrayed by Harley and Leroy who were his friends but they were taken over by the witchery

Ceremony 177-201

   This section of the reading explains Tayo's journey in search for the cattle and everything he experiences along the way. One of the most important parts of this reading is the proof that Tayo is beginning to open up and believe in Betonie and his ideas. Tayo never believed in medicine men and thought they were a joke but Betonie's visions were beginning to come true for Tayo. Silko said, "but suddenly Betonie's vision was a story he could feel happening-from the stars and the woman, the mountain and the cattle would come". Everything Betonie predicted to happen was coming true for Tayo so he begins to believe the mountain and the cattle will come as well. When Tayo reaches the Texans land in search for the cattle he discovers the horrors of how the white man was using the cattle and there ways of hunting and maintaining the cattle as well. The barbed-wire fences that keep the cattle in play a huge role in the reading and have a much deeper meaning. Silko said, "The barbed wire fence paralleled the rim, and he could see bits of belly hair the deer left on the barbed wire where their trails crossed the fence." These fences dont allow for the animals to be free and in Tayo's mind it was completely wrong, especially them being barbed wire and able to hurt the cattle. The fences were the only thing from keeping Tayo from the cattle and he wasn't about to let the fence get in his way. Silko said, "Fences had never stopped the speckled cattle either, but there was no sign they had been there. so he rode north, looking for another fence that might be holding them." A fence had never stopped the cattle in the past and it wasn't about to stop Tayo either. This search for cattle was able to help Tayo get his mind off everything that has happened to him in the past and help begin to move forward which was also on the most important sections of this reading.

What the barbed wire fences would look like in this reading

Tayo finally beginning to believe in Betonie and it's starting to really help Tayo

      Another important part of this reading is how Tayo begins to express how he as an Indian has been mistreated and stereotyped his whole life by the white man and most importantly how he begins to blame the white man. Silko said, "Why did he hesitate to accuse a white man of stealing but not a Mexican man or and Indian?" The white man has to be held responsible too and isn't above the law and Tayo is beginning to realize that. Not just the Indians or the Mexicans anymore, but the white man has to face judgement and consequences as well. This trip for the cattle wound up to be one of the best solutions for Tayo and his PTS. Silko said, "Hes topped on the edge of the clearing. The air was much colder. He had been so intent on finding the cattle that he had forgotten all the events of the past days and past years. Hunting the cattle was good for that. Old Betonie was right. It was a cure for that, and maybe for other things too". Like stated earlier Betonie's visions begin to become a reality for Tayo and even Tayo sees them start to help with things like his PTS. Silko said, "It was changing, unraveling like the yarn of a dark heavy blanket wrapped around a corpse, the dusty rotted strands of darkness unwinding, giving way to the air; its smothering pressure was lifting from the bones of his skull". Just in tis quote there is proof that Tayo's PTS isn't as strong anymore and things are beginning to change. This search for the cattle is what really turns Tayo in the right direction and sets the tone for the rest of the book.

An idea of something veterans do to help support there PTS, just like Tayo with the Cattle hunt

Shows everyone is equal and the white man is responsible too and it's not always the Indians and Mexicans

Ceremony Continued

  This section of the book begins with Tayo and his experiences with Leroy and Helen Jean. Right away you can tell Tayo cares for Helen Jean when he becomes very protective over her with the Mexican men in the bar. Tayo was too drunk and Harley and leroy didn't even notice Helen Jean leave but she left the bar that night with the Mexican men. Helen Jean then decides she's done with the men in Gallup and the one night stands, she wants to move on to better things. The way of life in Gallup for woman is a never ending trap and she knows that. "You can start today, but you might want to change your clothes." She went in looking for a desk and office job and was offered the janitors positions which shows how woman in Gallup were treated. These woman get hit on and mentally abused by most men because the men are desperate and usually drunk because they're always at bars. Something that really catches the readers attention is when Helen Jean decides not to leave with Isleta and Isleta says "You bitch! You think you're better than a white woman?" Thankfully the Apache at the bar stands up for Helen Jean but this part was really important. Isleta is still living in the past and his experience with Doreen when he was still a soldier and had a uniform. His PTS is making him treat Helen Jean this way because he still thinks that he's superior and can get any woman with his uniform but that uniform is no longer there. This is what happened for most Indian vets returning from war. They struggled to succeed in white america without there uniforms and that led to anger and outbreaks.

Alcohol abuse because of PTS is still very evident in this reading

Indian woman struggled even harder with equality and equal rights

   Another one of the most important parts of this reading is the story at the end. The story about the gambler is full of deeper meanings and is crucial to this book. This most Native stories it has to do with the weather and in this case the gambler kidnaps the clouds which over the years leads to drought and they get freed. The story reminds you of The Boy Who Cried Wolf and how the gambler ticks each visitor into trading all there valuables for his but he always wins. When grandson answers every one of the gamblers questions correct he gambler continues to find more questions because he never loses but this time was different. Kaup'a'ta the gambler was magical though and Sun Man knew that and was going to pretend to be dead. "My children, I have found you!" Sun Man after he cut out the gamblers eyes and unlocked the clouds. Now mother earth can thrive again and this story resembles rebirth in a sense and how the land changed. 

An idea of the rebirth of nature

Mother Nature

Ceremony and Intro to Betonie

   This section of the reading is one of the most important parts of the entire book. The introduction of Betonie is extremely important because he becomes a bridge for Tayo between two worlds and finally gets Tayo to open up and it allows Betonie to help Tayo. For so long Tayo allows his past and how he feels to turn him into somebody he's not and Betonie is able to help Tayo. When Tayo first meets Betonie with Robert he's suspicious of Betonie because of his appearance and the hogan he lived in on the side of mountain. "The old man was tall and his chest was wide; at one time he had been heavier, but old age was consuming everything but the bones. He kept his hair tied back neatly with red yarn in a chongo knot, like the oldtimers wore. He was sitting on an old tin bucket turned upside down by the doorway to his hogan." Betonie's hogan was secluded in a way from Gallup but it still overlooked the land. When asked about why he lives there Betonie said, "I tell them I want to keep track of the poeple". From the start Tayo questioned Betonie's ability to be a medicine man but that statement alone caught Tayo's attention. There is more to Betonie and Tayo quickly learns that. Betonie could connect with Tayo, like Tayo he was mixed raced and was judged for it also. Betonie was Navajo but that didn't interfere with any connection between Tayo and him. Betonie said, "My grandmother was a remarkable Mexican with green eyes". From this point on Tayo feels more comfortable with Betonie and begins to open up about his mixed background and everything he's been through.

Realistic and accurate idea of what Betonie could look like.

Gallup, New Mexico where Betonie's Hogan was located looking over the town.

  Something very special about Betonie was his Hogan and the possessions inside. "Tayo sat down, but he didn't take his eyes off the cardboard boxes that filled the big room; the sides of some boxes were broken down, sagging over with old clothing and rags spilling out; others were jammed with the antennas of dry roots and reddish willow twigs tied in neat bundles with old cotton strings". The description of Betonie's house and the picture Tayo paints of it describe it as a dump. Betonie's hogan was a not a dump though, everything had a specific meaning and every little aspect of the home fit in a unique and special way and Tayo later learns that. When Betonie's hogan is described is when the idea of integration is introduced and how the craziest things put together could still be extremely meaningful and that's what Betonie does. He uses the most of everything, nothing gets wasted and nothing goes unseen or without a deeper meaning. At first Tayo cannot understand Betonie and the deeper meaning of most the things he says but that changes. Betonie said, "Take it easy, don't try to see everything all at once". This is when Betonie and the deeper meaning comes into place because Tayo is quick to judge and overlook most of the things in Betonie's hogan but Betonie just laughs at him because he knows Tayo doesn't understand the deeper meaning yet. Some would say Betonie is a hoarder but everything in his home has a purpose. This connection Betonie builds with Tayo in the hogan is extremely important and plays a major role in Tayo's future in moving forward.

Idea of what a traditional hogan would look like

Things may appear unorganized but everything has a purpose. Especially with Betonie.