Navigating tropes

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

What informs us?

Close your eyes for 30 seconds: what comes to mind when I ask you to think about American Indians and their colonizers? The word “colonizer” is loaded right up front, and you probably envision explorers—what some would call them invaders—to the New World. Maybe you imagine Christopher Columbus or John Smith, but the point is that years of story-telling have created tales steeped in stereotypes (English majors call them tropes) about the relationships between settlers and denizens of the North American continent. Continue reading →

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Bridging streams

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Telling stories

This week I’ve been writing about the atomistic nature of Western science which I argue isn’t a bad thing: in fact it’s a useful tool for problem solving. Problem is scientists often believe this is the only problem-solving method and we lose sight of the connections between the discrete bits—the atomistic nature of science. Continue reading →

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Holism and the Big Cheese

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Comparing lenses

Thinking about Native science means thinking about western science, and forces you to examine holism and reductionism. Once a student told me about a course she took on time management, and said the instructor recommended the Swiss cheese approach. Continue reading →

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The identity dialectic

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Avatar's native character Neytiri

How is identity formed?

In the past few months I’ve been consumed with writing about identity. Often it seems the more I read the less I know, but I carry on despite my deficits. Continue reading →

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Owning the past

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

What’s ours in mine

Researching news coverage of science and American Indians I’m struck by the divisions created in reporting conflicts. In truth, it’s not just the journalist’s fault; scientists see themselves as a separate breed and Indians are divided by culture and geography. As I’ve noted earlier, the Kennewick Man case placed scientists and Indians into camps of “us and them.” Continue reading →

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When some values prevail and others fail

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Scientific supremacy

Writing a book chapter on mass media and American Indians brings sharply into focus our western love of science. Continue reading →

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News and the scientific approach

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Objectivity

Journalism textbooks take writing seriously and promote an objective style of reporting information. The concept makes perfect sense when, as a reader, you want to make your own judgments about an event—an election, a soccer game, a police shooting—rather than have someone else interpret the event for you. Continue reading →

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Writer’s block

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Taking aim at writing

My book chapter is due.

Even though I write every day the chapter is creeping around my feet, nibbling at my toes, and reminding me to get crackin’. Continue reading →

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Dreams

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The intersection of values in science and culture

I dreamt that I was at an Indian gathering and began to tell a story. The story was to be a humorous tale about one of the women in the group, someone I knew with a good sense of humor. She had long, dark hair flowing down her back and a round build. Before the story began a man brought over a gift for me and said this is for you. The gift was the size of his hand, made of leather and fur. It was like a book and like a purse, with the outer part opening as a flap. Continue reading →

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Filmmaking

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Jody Lawrance as Pocahontas in 1953

Native Americans, cinema and framing

Great news feed forwards articles about native issues worldwide and I scour the site for notices about science. But today I want to focus on cinema because I read on the feed, Indigenous Peoples Issues & Resources, that filmmakers are being invited to send proposals for documentary, performance, cultural/public affairs and animated films to NAPT (Native American Public Telecommunications). Awards will range from $10,000 to $25,000. Continue reading →

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