COUNTER-DISCOURSE in
Native American Literacy Practices BY CLARK FENNIMORE People of many ethnic groups live throughout the Western Hemisphere. However, the descendants of the indigenous peoples have become minorities. An important issue has become how they deal with this situation. There are many countries to which the issue applies, and they have different legal and cultural relations to the natives. The United States is the nation of interest here. Literature is a major area in which Native Americans deal with the situation in this country. Their use of counter-discourse expresses their identity in literature portraying many aspects of their culture. Of particular interest here is counter-discourse in their literacy practices, meaning the way they write materials of different kinds. The definitions of two major terms form the basis of discussing this theme. First is counter-discourse, which Tiffin defines as the writings and discussions about imperialism that deviate from those that have been common historically. While the European nations tended to see their empires in a panoramic view, in which the lands were the same due to being inhabited by savages, counter-discourse looks with respect at the experiences of these lands. It looks both at the individual experiences in the lands and at larger patterns in imperialism. Furthermore, it has a general context in the aftermath of imperialism (Tiffin). The next term is Native American, which refers to people groups who have been in the Americas since before the coming of the first European explorers. It is an interesting idea because these people groups are native to different parts of two whole continents. Based on the differences among people in Europe alone, since that was the homeland of the explorers, it is not surprising that the Americas would likewise comprise many differences. According to Mann, the use of a single term for them, such as Native American or Indian, deviates from their historic sense of identity on a tribal basis. The United States alone represents a great range in tribes with different cultures, since it ranks among the largest countries in the Americas (39). As a result, counter-discourse is a major part of this Native American identity. Practice of ancient
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traditions keeps them separate from the dominant culture around them, connecting them instead to their own history. Furthermore, literature becomes a means of declaring that identity. The literacy ingrained in American culture as a whole brings the possibility of a wide readership of such writings, even outside of the Native American context. It makes the dominant culture aware of the natives who have been outnumbered by them. They declare that they are not the same as the majority, showing pride in their unique ways. Furthermore, part of what is to be declared to the majority is the range of native cultures. Part of counter-discourse, as deducible from its definition, is declaring differences among groups covered by the general term Native American. Therefore, two specific authors of very different kinds of Native American background are to be discussed. First is Lesley Marnon Silko, a novelist of Pueblo background. Her tribe is native to the southwestern states. Of particular interest here is her novel Ceremony, in which she portrays many aspects of her people’s experience of being outnumbered by white people while still living in their traditional homeland. In other words, the homeland is very different from what it was (Silko, Preface). The other author is Luis Valdez, a Chicano playwright. According to Anzaldua, a Chicana writer, the culture of interest comes from the intermarriage of Spanish settlers with the indigenous people of Mexico. The first half of the nineteenth century saw white Americans come into the northern lands belonging to the independent Mexico, resulting first in the independence of Texas after the Battle of the Alamo, and then in the Mexican War. With Texas, California, and some surrounding lands becoming states as a result of this process, Chicanos became minorities in American culture (27-29). This is why Valdez fits into the scope of this discussion. Of particular interest is his play Zoot Suit. These two examples of Native American experience are important because they deal with the experience of being a minority population, adding to their people’s history through literary contributions.
