Saturday, September 4, 2010
The way of the human being
I started reading the book assigned to us, I was really judgemental at first about what Napoleon had to say. I totally do not agree with him that one culture could be more susceptible to becoming to alcohol or any other drug than another culture. I do believe however that yes there is a spiritual or mental component to drug addiction which is almost worse than the physical addiction. It always a person's choice to decide to drink so you can not blame alcohol on your problems or on your cultures problems. I have not finished reading the book yet but I will this weekend.
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I was also quite judgmental in reading the way Napoleon talked about the white man. Napoleon doesn't directly blame the white man, yet through the attitude in which he talks about him, it seems almost evident.
ReplyDeleteWould this link to blaming him for the result of alcoholism???
Still reading...more to come.
I see where you guys are coming from, and I'd have to disagree. In the Anthropology/Alaska Natives Studies class we learn that the "white men" basically come in an completely take over villages throughout Alaska. Im not saying that in Napoleon's essay it is the white man's fault for the alcoholism, but they did play a large role in tearing up communities and changing life significantly for the Native people of Alaska...
ReplyDeleteTo me as I was reading it seemed like Napoleon was not blaming the “white men” directly, he was explaining that the Yup'ik people were not immune to the diseases that the "white men" were already exposed to, so a lot of the Yup'ik people died as a result of the diseases. I agree that it is a person’s choice to drink or not, I think it is just making excuses for them to drink by blaming problems or your cultures past. I am also not done reading yet, but am in the process.
ReplyDeleteNapoleon mentioned in his book about whose fault it was involving alcohol. Society already has enough blame as it is and I don't think blaming is the answer. I also absolutely agree that Post Dramatic Stress Disorder led to alcoholism in the Native Alaskan people, however I'm not sure that it is true to say that the generation now is entirely acting out in a passive aggressive manner.
ReplyDeleteLike Gilmore I would have to disagree with the main post. I took an Alaska Studies class and learned about how the "white man" came in forcing the children to move to larger villages to go to schools. Although all the blame cannot be place on the white race, the white mans goal in the early to mid 1900's was to force Native Alaskans to act and become as close to their culture as possible. Doing so the children had to move away from their families to go to school to make them more like the white people, and I think alcohol was a part of that. The Alaska Natives had to try new things like learning English, drinking alcohol, and going overboard by not knowing the consequences
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with colbi about this statement. I felt as though Napoleon wasn't necessarily blaming "the white man", just simply stating the fact that the natives weren't used to the same things or immune to the same diseases. That's not to say that he is completely neutral in his arguments, it does come across to me that he, in a sense, favors the natives over the "white man" when he is talking and describing things. Still reading...
ReplyDeleteI think that Napoleon is very subtle in his remarks about when the "white man" came they also brought disease and death to the native alaskans living here because they had never been exposed to those kinds of illness. I do think he does favor the natives over the "white man" because for his people they brought the ruin of Yuuyaraq...they damaged their way of life. Not to say they didn't do some good, but if a people are already established and thriving why should they be changed simply because another culture thinks their ways are better? ...still have a lot of reading to do...
ReplyDeleteI don't think Napoleon blames "the white men" directly. I think his style of of writing really states the bitterness and resentment from his culture's history. It's cultural baggage from their generational experiences that they carry with them. There are other Alaska Native cultures that have similar language from my experiences. From an outsider, yes, they may seem they're blaming. We have to understand that these people were persecuted because of who they were. They were forbidden to practice their beliefs, their traditions, their language...
ReplyDeleteToday is completely different than how they were treated then, but these sentiments take ages to heal...
Napoleon talks about nallunguaq, the yuupik word for pretending something isn't happening. He says its what the elders teach the next generation. I wonder if this makes them more likely to become alcholholic? Because many have carried these sentiments to the next generation, and how JR said it takes time for them to heal, is it just easier for them to fall into the traps of alcohol? And they just use nallunguaq, pretend they aren't really alchololic, or just don't talk about it with anyone. If the each generation of Yuupik was taught to keep things to themselves it seems like maybe it would be easier to start drinking...Im not sure if i linked all my thougths together properly on this one.
ReplyDeleteIt is true the Yup'ik were vulneralble to the disease of the white man. It is not so much a blame of the Great Death but just a happen of chance. But what led them to the cultural distruction of today of the influence of alchoholic/drugs. First was "NALLUNGUAQ" (pretend it did not happen) was the "ANERNEQ" (breath) was death of the Yupik spirit. None of the Great Death was celebrated through the "Great Feast of the Dead" The elders were not there to say lets celebrate the lives that they lost because they had no leadership because they were all dead. So at there vulnerable state of no leaders they had to suppress their grief and look to new leadership. Because they did not know otherwise. So through that suppression that was overcome by letting others take care of the people there was no dignity no culture value to be standing for. So what did they have to live for? All was lost and each generation from then on only knew to be dependent.
ReplyDelete"Obviously they were not impressed with the white men, even though they quickly adopted their technology and goods" (9).
ReplyDeleteSo...they were obviously not hesitant to trust the white men and their technology. Hm...
The solution to the PTSD makes sense. To talk and communicate. For the Natives in their communities to share their hurt and anger and fear and deppression with each other so they can group together and overcome it. Generations can breach the gaps that are occuring. They can teach the young some of the old ways, and try to understand the new ways. They can try and take the best from both cultures..and maybe find their way to a new yuuyaraq. That seems like what their aim would be anyway. And this will make them healthy in spirit. Debbie J pointed out that they never had a "Great Feast of the Dead" for the Great Death. They were too busy reeling from the heavy losses. Well, maybe once they have started to share and come together as a community htey can have the Feast in recognition of the Dead, and how it has affected each generation since.
ReplyDeleteI agree about alcoholism being passed down by the children seeing family members deal with their problems by drinking. Parents and grandparent do not talk about their problems and many native cultures have been taught to keep to themselves. I'm not sure if I feel that today's generation is hurting from the great death but instead hurting because they are behind .In my Alaskan ANTH and Linguistics classes we talked about how far children are behind in schools growing up in villages. When they are taken out of the village setting I feel like they become lost in the world we all live in. Not being raised in a working culture also makes it hard to keep jobs because they have no experience like the rest of us would. Not to say that people growing up in the village are not smart I just think they have to really work harder to get ahead and when they fail to get ahead they turn to what they see everyone else doing.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is who decided that alcohol would numb their pain? If they saw eachother having drunken outbursts wouldn't people start to realize this wasn't a real solution to hiding their pain? How has alcoholism turned into such a huge cycle without people really wanting to deal with their pain?
ReplyDeleteTo answer Jzanazzo's question, I think that the cycle has mostly to do with the addictiveness of alcohol, and denial. For example, if a family member dies, you might think, "well just this once, to make myself feel better." Then, after no repercussions the first time, it starts happening more often and before you know it you're addicted and even if you do start to notice consequences, it's too late. Also, a large part of human nature is the ability to think, "but that would never happen to ME." They see the things other people do under the influence of alcohol, but it doesn't compute that they would ever be capable of that themselves. And so the cycle continues.
ReplyDelete