(I've spent way too long trying to think of a title other than "Reflection 1" so this is what you get)

    This semester has been challenging, but I’m sure that anyone involved in this course isn’t surprised by this statement. One of the products of a student attending college is the testing and determination of their opinions and beliefs. This reflection is the first of three that allow me to take a few steps back and consider my current thoughts on class discussions and group readings. With a busy semester, this is really the first time that I have done so for this class.

    I was very excited when I found out that the group I was placed into would be studying Leslie Marmon Silko. She is a current Native American writer who focuses on parts of Native American culture such as storytelling, man’s relationship to the Earth, and their relationships to each other. Initially, I was attracted to Silko because she was described as “The Storyteller” by one of the professors. Storytelling fascinates me because I’m awful at it. I was also excited to find out that Silko is part Native American because, according to my dad, my great-great-grandfather was a Cherokee Indian who was adopted by my European ancestors. I think it’s important and helpful for a reader to find a connection to the author that they are reading.

    So far, my group has read two of Silko’s works: Ceremony and Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit: Essays on Native American Life Today. Ceremony has presented me with an obvious issue between the Native American and White American cultures. This is the issue of land ownership. The thought of European explorers and immigrants forcing the Native Americans out of their homes really bothers me because of the injustice in that situation. I have never been in a situation like that, but I imagine it would be like an unknown and malevolent alien race with superior technology telling humans that we must leave Earth and live somewhere else. This may sound ridiculous, but to Native Americans, the idea of people owning land sounded ridiculous. These days, the United States Government have Indian Reservations set up, but it’s not hard to see that the Native Americans still drew the short straw in this arrangement, and it still doesn’t remedy the cultural differences on property ownership. When Silko’s characters talk about America, they often refer to it as “stolen land”.

    The reason that this issue upsets me so much is that I see no easy solution to it. It’s obvious that the land can’t be given back for multiple reasons. These include finding new homes for the +300 million Americans who currently live here, damage done to the environment by the industrialization and modernization of this country, and infrastructure such as roads, buildings, and tunnels that can’t be removed. So, what are we to do? I’m not sure what an American is to do, but last week’s chapel sessions give me an idea of what a Christian can do.

    To briefly summarize, last week’s chapel sessions were about the responsibility of Christians to take care of the environment and God’s creations. While listening to the speaker and the panel discussion, I kept noticing similarities in the Christian and Native American attitudes toward nature, even if they have different motives. Both share a respect for nature and feel a responsibility to take care of it. So, in a short statement, I think that the best way to remedy this injustice is to try to share and take care of the land alongside the Native Americans.