The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian - Paul Radin
The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian - Paul Radin
Life, ways, acculturation, and the peyote cult
A slender read, written by an anonymous Winnebego Indian living in the Minneapolis region of the US in the mid-late 1800's. Curious, by western standards rather devoid of descriptions and more of a "these are the facts of my life and my tribe...". Of interest were the notes on the belief in reincarnation, the traditional roles of men and women, traditional knowledge, the narrators doubts regarding initiation and the great earth-spirit, the traditional native idea that to hoard up items you didn't use reflected a poverty of spirit, and that - unless you were actively using them, items were there for communal use - (a sound principle, I might add), there was the emphasis on dying in battle - a heroes death for the warrior clan - rather mirrors the idea of certain extremist Islamic groups.
All and all interesting - always interesting to have keys to the thoughts of long extinct others, and rare enough that we can get it from their own lips. And good to read, if only in that it overturns a lot of the romanticism we've built up over the first nations.
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Stormy Letters
And there was a week with only one letter, and in it some incoherent ramblings about how he was getting paid to pick up dog shit.
Then, the week following, a dozen more letters followed. Some of the more entertaining envelopes and contents as follows - N*** - he still mentions you in every letter?! WTF? Did you reply to him?
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Lake Louise, Postcard
An old postcard of Lake Louise, a bit blurry, sorry, I can't retake the picture as it's already been sent. But notice how few people...those were the days. Now you have to line up just to get a view of the lake, and by merely being there you're the wallpaper to countless "influencers" and a part of every new immigrant families photo album.
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Vending Dilly
A more intelligent approach to addiction. I was pleased (and surprised) to read they were testing it in Vancouver. They could really use a few in Calgary...
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