Smoke Signals Essay

Cultural traditions, stereotypes, and history can have a big impact on who we are as people. Among other things, these elements can change our personalities, physical appearances, and relationships. In the film Smoke Signals, the characters struggle with their own identities because of their perceptions of the identities of their ancestors. However, these characters also find power and meaning through their culture and history, which ultimately brings them together and causes them to realize that their history is not completely as it seems. In this essay, we’ll be taking a look at the challenges of the characters in Smoke Signals, as well as the triumphs.

There are two main characters in this film: Victor and Thomas. Victor is stoic and generally unkind as a person, especially towards Thomas, who is a more cheerful, though much more annoying character. In one particular scene, Victor tells Thomas that he needs to loosen his braided hair, stop smiling, and be more hunter-like as a person. Victor believes that this is the way of their people, although the viewer realizes that most of this can be attributed to Victor’s father, who left him at a young age. Thomas reminds Victor that their specific tribe, the Coeur d’Alene, were fishermen. Victor doesn’t take well to this, and refuses to back down from his unfriendly ways. In the same scene of the movie, our protagonists are faced with two men who have taken their seats on the bus and are refusing to give them back. Despite both of our characters now “looking Native American,” the men harshly tell them to go back to their reservation. This is just one example of facing harsh stereotypes in this film. Although living on a reservation isn’t a stereotype in and of itself, the fact that it was automatically assumed that Victor and Thomas live on one is a stereotype.

While Victor is beat down by the aforementioned scuffle, Thomas finds power through it. He tells Victor something along the lines of, ‘I guess the hunter look doesn’t always work.’ Thomas is a pivotal character when looking at finding power through stereotypes and culture/history in this film. Throughout Smoke Signals, Thomas is asked by various people to tell a story. Each time he happily obliges. Through a bit of research, I discovered that Native American traditions, culture, myths, and much more are passed down through generations by storytelling. In telling his stories, Thomas allows his memories and ideologies to be passed to other people, who will likely pass them to even more people. In fact, just by watching Smoke Signals, those stories have been passed to us! 

As I mentioned before, Victor believed that he needed to be stoic, which is not only an example of his harsh father, but it also serves as an example of him succumbing to a stereotype. Through advertising and media, Native Americans are often perceived as such stoic characters, though this is not always true of the people themselves. In living this way, Victor is only hurting himself. He causes other people to not like him because of his mannerisms, thus furthering the stereotype. In doing this, he also holds on to the pieces of his father that he no longer needs. All he finds through his stoic ways is misery and pain.

A big theme throughout this film is family. The best example of this comes through one of Thomas’ stories. He begins telling Suzy Song about the frybread that Victor’s mother makes. He says that she once fed one-hundred Native Americans with only fifty pieces of bread. Of course, it is quite anti-climatic to realize that all she did was rip the bread in half, but that actually makes the story more powerful. The amazing parts to Thomas were the bread and the people around him, not the number of people she fed. If Smoke Signals teaches us anything, it’s that the frybread tastes best when someone loves you enough to make it for you.

This is the Redskins logo, which is just another form of advertising that could persuade somebody like Thomas to act in the way that he did.

The Totally True and Unheard Story of Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is a holiday which everybody knows of, but few actually know about. The history of the wonderful Turkey Day are often misunderstood. From the real story of the Separatists to the triumph of Sarah Josepha Hale, all the way up to modern advertisers, Thanksgiving is an always-evolving and changing holiday. For most, this is merely a day during which to eat food until you pass out, only waking up when the smell of dessert and drinks punches your nostrils. For some, however, this is truly a day to be thankful and to celebrate the past expeditions and cultural gatherings of ancestors in the distant past. Wherever you stand on Thanksgiving, it is important to understand the true reasons for this holiday existing.

The story of the first Thanksgiving is misrepresented by textbooks and other media much too often. In reality, the so-called “Pilgrims” were not actually called that until the late 1800s. During their time, they called themselves “Separatists,” and their reasons for coming to North America were not exactly what you might think. Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims already had religious freedom in Holland, which is where they came from. Instead of coming here for religious freedom, they came to establish a religious theocracy, and, as any sane people would, they came to make that precious cash. When they arrived, the land was no longer inhabited, as almost all of the natives had died of plague. One remaining Native went by the name of Squanto, and his story is more interesting than most give him credit for. You see, Squanto was captured and taken into slavery for a few years. He spent some time over in England, where he learned to speak, well, English. When he eventually returned to his tribe, they were all dead. Squanto met the pilgrims in March of 1621. He was a translator for them, and he taught them the proper ways of planting and fishing. The first Thanksgiving was later that year to celebrate a successful harvest. Now here’s where the stories offered by textbooks and Charlie Brown really begin to differ from reality. There is no evidence to suggest that Natives were invited to the celebration by the Pilgrims, only that they somehow managed to show up. In addition, there is nothing saying that turkey was served. In fact, the only meat that was definitely served was venison.

If we press the fast forward button and stop in the 1830s, we’ll find that New Englanders have rediscovered the Pilgrims’ feast and have decided that it looks like a version of one of their own holidays. They decided to call it Thanksgiving. It was not until the 1860s, however, that Thanksgiving became nationally recognized due to a woman by the name of Sarah Josepha Hale, who was a writer and an advocate for women’s education, among other things. It’s likely that you’ve never heard of Sarah Josepha Hale, but there is a 100% chance that you know one of her works. Sarah Josepha Hale is responsible for the easiest to learn piano song of all time, “Mary’s Lamb,” or as it is more commonly known, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Hale grew up celebrating Thanksgiving, but it was not nationally recognized. She believed that by having a nation-wide Thanksgiving, tensions between the North and South could be eased. Eventually, over 30 U.S. states and territories celebrated Thanksgiving by 1860, but she was still unhappy. In 1861 and 1862, because of Hale’s efforts and multiple Union victories, Abraham Lincoln issued a decree for a national day of thanks. In 1863, the official Thanksgiving decree was issued and we still celebrate it to this day (as if you didn’t already know that.)

The food that we consume on Thanksgiving was certainly not at the Pilgrims’ feast, so why do we eat these items? This question can be answered in the same way that the question of “Why does everyone know Charles Pitman’s phone number?” can be answered: advertising. In the years leading up to the 1920s, chicken, ham, and turkey were all eaten on Thanksgiving. By the 1920s, however, the primary meat eaten on Thanksgiving was turkey. This comes down to advertisers pushing it to be this way. From turkey farmers to turkey baster manufacturers, every advertisement began to revolve around turkey. Religion was used to appeal to families in ads such as Swift’s Premium Turkey, now known as Butterball. The sides that we consume on Thanksgiving are mostly due to turkey as well, as these products were advertised as the perfect pairing for the bird. Of course, not every product that tried to become a part of Thanksgiving tradition succeeded. For instance, Diamond Walnuts and Welch’s Grape Juice never quite hit the mark. Interestingly enough, I do associate Welch’s with Turkey Day, but I digress. According to the Smithsonian, around 88% of households have turkey on Thanksgiving, and around 20% of all turkey sold in a year is sold for Thanksgiving. This is a true testament to the insane power of advertising in America, and while all of these foods are quite enjoyable, it’s a bit frightening that we can have products drilled into our heads with such ease.

The journey to a modern Thanksgiving has had many bumps in the road, but also a few little unknown holiday spin-offs. One such holiday was called “Ragamuffin Day” and it’s just about as horrifying as the name sounds. On this day, little children would dress up as poor people and beg for food and money from random adults. It was like Halloween, but sad. Now you might be wondering, “What would happen if I didn’t give these kids what they wanted?” Logically, the answer is that they would move on to the next random adult… but we don’t live on a logical planet. No, instead of that, they would beat you over the head with a bag of flour and blurt instruments into your ear until you succumbed to their demands. Sounds reasonable, right? Anyways, according to The Hattiesburg News, there is no known origin of this holiday. Either way, thank Christ we don’t do this anymore. Thanksgiving is a holiday which I, along with countless other Americans, adore and treasure, and I hope to celebrate it for years to come.

The Official Thanksgiving Decree of 1789

"Everything You Learned About Thanksgiving is Wrong", Maya Salam, November 21, 2017: This is where I got the information in the second paragraph about the first Thanksgiving and the true story of the Separatists.

"How the 'Mother of Thanksgiving' Lobbied Abraham Lincoln to Proclaim the National Holiday", Barbara Maranzani, November 19, 2019: This is where I got the information regarding Sarah Josepha Hale and her journey to a nationally recognized Thanksgiving.

"The Invisible Way That Marketers Set the Menu for Your Thanksgiving Feast", Samantha N. N. Cross, November 22, 2017

""Ragamuffin Day" in New York City", Unknown Author, November 24, 1908: This is where I got the information regarding the strange tradition of Ragamuffin Day.

Slavery in Media

The portrayal of slavery in media varies from source to source. In many of the books that we used in class, the stance of the slave is never taken, and most of the books are written based on "fact" alone. The author will often deliver his perception of fact in an authoritative manner, with little or no emotion regarding the subject. In one book, the author is clearly biased towards Christianity, as he says that an advantage of slavery was the fact that it taught black people about "the glowing hopes of [Christianity]." Generally, elementary and middle school children were taught about slavery in a storybook manner, where history was presented with a moral. High school students were generally taught as mentioned above, with the authoritative author, as were college students.

In the passage from The Half Has Never Been Told, enslaved labor was viewed in a very factual way, but not in the sense that the author thought they were right. In this case, most of the fact was backed up with evidence; tangible results. In the other books that we read, this was often not the case. The author would tell you the "truth" but not tell you why it's the truth. In this book, however, you know why the author was right.

12 Years a Slave is a film which tackles a primary source written by a man named Solomon Northrup, a free black man who was kidnapped and brought into slavery. The film is extremely heavy and uncomfortable in numerous ways because it feels very realistic. Throughout many years and many masters, Solomon learns what freedom truly is. One moment in the film that stood out as particularly powerful was the scene where Solomon gets tied up by the neck and hung. He is lowered just enough to where his toes can barely touch the ground. He tip toes for almost 3 minutes (although it was hours in the world of the movie) trying his hardest not to slip into unconsciousness. I think that watching a film like 12 Years a Slave is very valuable because it gives you a visualization of something you would normally read; it engages more of your senses. You can learn so much just by the facial expressions of an actor, the score of a film, or the camera angles that you just can't get from reading. I would certainly recommend watching this film to anybody who wants to learn more about the impact of slavery on individuals, although I would warn people to proceed with caution when viewing this film, as it is not a pleasant experience.

Butch Cassidy

In discussing outlaws and the “wild west”, it is important to remember the myth behind many of the stories which fall into those categories. For the past month or so, I have been researching an outlaw by the name of Butch Cassidy. It is virtually impossible to discuss outlaws without bringing up Cassidy, and there are many reasons for that. One of the most prominent reasons for that is the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which, if you know anything about Hollywood, is not an entirely true story. What you may not know, however, and what has surprised me recently, is the fact that even the stories that you may have read about Butch Cassidy aren’t entirely true either. After the Civil War, the idea of “cowboys” was very appealing to the public. Most of these legends, however, were mostly myth. These outlaws often capitalized in their own myth through publications such as dime novels. On some occasions, they would even write their own spiced-up version of their life. To find out the truth about Butch Cassidy, you must examine the firsthand sources that were written during the time when he was alive. While researching Butch Cassidy, I have learned that although the idea of outlaws is fascinating after the fact, while they are alive it is anything but fun.

At 10:00 A.M. on June 24, 1889, four men robbed a bank in Telluride, Colorado. Three of the men entered the bank with revolvers and demanded the money from the tellers. After they secured a few thousand dollars, they ran outside to the fourth robber who was waiting with their horses. As the robbers were leaving, they fired shots into the air to threaten the citizens and warn them not to go after them. The robbers begin heading for Arizona with the sheriff closely pursuing them. People believed that the robbers would be apprehended within 24 hours or less, but this could not have been further from the truth. The identities of all the robbers are not known, but it is known that they were part of the so-called “Wild Bunch.” The leader of the Wild Bunch was a man by the name of Harvey Logan, known as Kid Curry by his peers. Another man who was a part of this gang, and one who was certainly at the robbery in Colorado, was Butch Cassidy. This is the first major robbery accredited to Cassidy, and it will certainly not be the last. Within no time, Cassidy’s name will be all over every newspaper in his area.

Butch Cassidy may have been an outlaw, but he understood what it meant to be loyal to his partners. In 1896, Matt Warner was on trial for murder. During the trial, he was being kept in a prison. Butch Cassidy had a plan to break into the prison and release Warner, but this plan was quikly foiled when he was moved to a prison in Ogden. Cassidy decided to get the money to bail Warner out. He may have been an intelligent fiend, but he was by no means a rich one. So he did the only thing he could think of: he robbed a bank. On September 17, 1896, he and the Wild Bunch robbed a bank in Montpelier, Idaho. In an attempt to lessen, or perhaps exterminate, Warner’s sentence, the robbers threatened to kill anybody who testified against Warner. I’m not exactly sure what they thought they would get out of all this, but I’m assuming they were trying to decrease the amount of money needed to bail (or bribe) him out of jail. Though nothing significant came of it, a detective did figure out a connection between the Montpelier robbery and Matt Warner. This prompted the sheriff to interview Warner’s wife. She said that she told Cassidy not to get the money, and that she wanted to see Warner convicted. She told him that she was threatened by the robbers to not say a word about it, although she still ended up confirming the identities of the men who stole from the bank in Montpelier. Interestingly enough, I found that later on, Butch Cassidy confessed his identity to a man in Wayne County. However, he told the man that although he would do anything for Matt Warner, he had nothing to do with the bank robbery in Montpelier. This is very peculiar, since he fully admitted to being Butch Cassidy, but denied a specific robbery. This is a fantastic example of the myth behind many outlaws. We will never know if Butch Cassidy robbed that bank, although it will generally be accepted that he did, as it was during his time.

Butch Cassidy seemed to enjoy toying with authority. I found a few instances where Cassidy was going to turn himself in, but then decided against it. I even found one incident where Butch Cassidy was fully pardoned. On January 19, 1896, Governor William A. Richards of Wyoming pardoned Cassidy. He was asked to do so by a District Court Judge named Jesse Knight. He hoped that by pardoning Cassidy, he and his associates would become good citizens. This of course did not happen. Cassidy remained an outlaw. Shortly after this pardon, in June of 1900, the Wild Bunch disbanded. After Cassidy’s partner, Elza Lay, died in Mexico, he decided it was time for a new one. Enter Harry Longabough, “The Sundance Kid”. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made their way to Bolivia in order to escape Pinkerton detectives. They bought a ranch in Argentina, but returned to a life of crime in 1906. They found themselves as the leaders of a band of outlaws with Kid Curry. From here on out, there are numerous variations as to how the rest of their lives went. One of the most popular says that in 1909, while trapped by Bolivian soldiers, Sundance was killed, while Butch Cassidy killed himself. However, we will never truly know how each of them met their demise. This just goes to show that myth and reality are two very separate things. 

Butch Cassidy's Mugshot From Wyoming Territorial Prison in 1894

Butch Cassidy in Fort Worth, Texas in 1900

Matt Warner

A 1901 Wanted Poster For Butch Cassidy

Butch Cassidy and His Horse

• "Cassidy, Butch." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Britannica Digital Learning, 2017. Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/ebconcise/cassidy_butch/0. Accessed 04 Oct. 2019.; I used this source for some dates in the essay, such as Cassidy's DOB and when he became partners with Sundance, and for specific information such as Sundance's real name and place of death.

• "On This Day in Wyoming History… Butch Cassidy is Pardoned", Wyoming Postscripts, 1896.; This source was used for the section regarding Butch Cassidy's pardon by the Governor of Wyoming. No other source was used for this portion of the essay.

• "Topics in Chronicling America - Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker)", Library of Congress, January 22, 2013.; This is where I got the date of the Telluride Robbery. I also got the date of the Montpelier robbery. The date of the Wild Bunch disbanding also came from here.

• "A Bank Robbery in Colorado," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), June 25, 1889, Page 1, Image 1, col. 3.; I got the time of the Colorado bank robbery from here. I also got the information that one robber had horses outside of the bank, the shots fired in the air, the few thousands secured, and the fact that the robbers were headed for Arizona from here.

• "Desperadoes at Castle Gate," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), April 22, 1897, Page 1, Image 1, col. 5.; Used for context on the life of Butch Cassidy, although nothing specific was drawn from this source.

• "Most Desperate Plot Unearthed," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), September 9, 1896, Page 1, Image 1, col. 1.; Used for the info regarding the liberation of Matt Warner and the interview with Mrs. Warner.

• "Outlaws are in the South," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), September 17, 1896, Page 1, Image 1, col. 4.; Used for the information regarding Butch Cassidy revealing his identity to a man in Wayne County.

• "Passing of the Hole-in-the Wall," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), January 7, 1902, Page 3, Image 3, col. 1.; Used for the info regarding the passing of Elza Lay.

• "Thirty-two Brave Men pursue the Outlaws," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), May 29, 1900, Page 1, Image 1, col. 1.; Used for context into the life of Butch Cassidy, although no specific information was used from this source.

• "Butch Cassidy in Argentina," The Ogden Standard (Ogden City, UT), February 21, 1910, Page 4, Image 4, col. 1.; Used for info regarding Cassidy's time in Argentina. 

• "Butch Cassidy now leading a Band of Brigands in Argentina," The Ogden Standard (Ogden City, UT), February 21, 1910, Page 1, Image 1, col. 1.; Also used for information regarding Cassidy's time in Argentina.
• America's History Textbook, Page 488; This is where I got most of the information in my opening paragraph regarding the myth behind legends and the ways that they capitalized off of their own mythology. 

Reflecting on Paraphrase Practice

Learning Goals of Paraphrasing Activities:
1. Only use a direct quote when it adds power and style to my writing.
2. Always make it clear, from context, that I understand the full meaning of any quote I use.
3. Whether I quote or paraphrase, I must always be transparent about the source and how I'm using it. 4. If I use another author's exact words or phrases, to any extent, I have to use quotation marks and provide attribution, in the text, so that it’s perfectly clear which words are not my own.
5. If I use another author's presentation of facts or ideas, but put their ideas in my own words, (paraphrase) I must give credit and provide attribution, in the text, so that I show clearly exactly how I’m using the words of another author.
6. The issue of plagiarism is not simply a matter of formal source citation. In different disciplines, sources may be cited or credited in different ways but the key point is to achieve total transparency in my writing when I use the work of others.
7. I understand that an “oversight” on my part, when it comes to crediting a quote, paraphrase, and source (hyperlink or citation, as directed) is, in fact, plagiarism, regardless of my intentions.

I rate myself a 5 on the Likert Scale of understanding how to use sources appropriately. I am ready to be held accountable for my skill and knowledge.

Paraphrase Practice

"Lincoln believed slavery was immoral, but he also considered the 13th Amendment a masterstroke in cutting away the financial foundations of the Confederacy. I've rarely been more aware than during Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" that Abraham Lincoln was a plain-spoken, practical, down-to-earth man from the farmlands of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. He had less than a year of formal education and taught himself through his hungry reading of great books."- Lincoln Review, Roger Ebert

My paraphrase of this selected passage:
Although Lincoln did not consider slavery virtuous, he thought up a very clever way to remove funding from the Confederacy, and this came in the form of the 13th Amendment. Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" does a fantastic job of showing that Abraham Lincoln was a regular, level-headed farm-boy from Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, a fact which I had never thought much of until watching this film. Abraham Lincoln was only knowledgeable by choice, as he only had months of traditional schooling, but he learned about the world through his own desire to read many books. 

Thinkin' About Lincoln

The film "Lincoln" offers many instances that could lead one to make the argument that Abraham Lincoln is a hero. Generally, this argument would come down to the fact that Lincoln "abolished slavery" which isn't exactly true, though he was the biggest push behind the 13th Amendment, which did abolish slavery in America. In the film, Lincoln makes many sacrifices from his personal life to achieve the passing of the amendment. The most prominent example, in my opinion, comes from Lincoln's tumultuous relationship with his wife, which only grows more unstable as the movie progresses. She begins to resent him throughout various parts of the film, and he doesn't restrain himself very well either. He also shows the courage to stand for what he believes in when he discusses the Amendment with his friends, family, and Cabinet. He never strays from wanting the Amendment passed, and he makes it clear that he will go to extremes to get it passed, such as buying votes, which is much more common than some would like to believe. When it all boils down to it, one could easily make the argument that Lincoln was a hero, only in also pointing out that no hero is without their flaws.

Learning About the Confederacy

The Confederacy is a very touchy and interesting subject. For some people, the ones who still hold fondly onto things of the past, it can be a subject full of denial and defense. For others, who's ancestors may have been affected by the Confederacy, it can be a subject full of harsh and unnecessary responses. Most people view the Confederacy in a negative light, which is likely the proper response. In reading about the Confederacy's reasons for secession from the United States, you get the same type of answer, phrased differently, across the board. At the end of the day, the Confederacy was fighting for racial superiority. Many Confederate leaders and supporters have voiced their displeasure with their colleagues dancing around this subject. A fair portion of Confederates were not only unapologetic about their beliefs, but proud.

The Confederate flag is also quite fascinating, since there are so many varying opinions on it's modern definition. The "Confederate battle flag" is somewhat of a misnomer. There were many Confederate units who fought under various flags, not just the Stars and Bars. Nowadays, the commonly seen "Confederate flags" are actually not that, but rather a variation of it. The flag has been used in many ways, from the Ku Klux Klan to Dukes of Hazzard to everyday people. Personally, I believe it is possible, even necessary, to separate the battle flag of the Confederacy from the stated goals of the Confederacy itself. If we cannot disassociate the flag from the goals of the Confederacy, it becomes all too easy to make unfounded presumptions about people that we do not know. We must get to know people before we make harsh assumptions regarding their character.

Nowadays, the battle flag of the Confederacy is widely associated with country life or "good ol' boys." That's what I personally associate it with. I don't really care if somebody decides to fly that flag, as long as they know why they're flying it. Throughout the duration of my studies regarding the Confederacy, I have gained a more informed knowledge on the beliefs of the Confederacy and the origin of their battle flag, which has helped solidify my opinions regarding the Confederacy as a whole.

Thinking about Heroes

What makes somebody a hero? Is it cunning, valiance, or an extreme will to get absolutely anything done? At the root of it all, it's a combination of those attributes and more. So, who do I see as genuinely heroic? One person who I definitely see as a hero comes from the 2004 TV series "Lost." On the surface, "Lost" is about a group of people who's plane crashes on an island in the middle of nowhere. If you go a bit deeper, however, "Lost" is all about relationships, in every sense of the word. Eventually, it becomes about the battle between what we perceive as good and evil. One of the main "heroes" in this adventure is Benjamin Linus. When we first meet Benjamin Linus, he seems like a person of no consequence in any way, he simply exists. But as we get to know him, he shows a more vile, sinister side of his personality. Ben is willing to do whatever it takes, from having friends and family killed, to misleading his crew for selfish reasons. Ben, above all, has the power of immense persuasion. If Ben tells you to do something, you best believe you're going to do it, because you won't want to find out what happens if you don't. For a while, Ben only used his "power" for cruelty, but he never saw it that way. Ben always believed that he was doing what was best for the island and the people on it, even if a few of them didn't make it along the way. However, as Ben gets to know the rest of the survivors, he begins to open up and he realizes that his persuasion tactics can be used for better purposes and with less loss of life. (Spoilers ahead.) Ben eventually makes a complete 180 and becomes someone that you want to root for because he's so charming, yet so obviously insane. In the end, it becomes evident that he is now willing to make personal sacrifices, instead of only letting others be the sacrifice. This is why I believe that Ben Linus is a hero. He is able to channel his selfish tendencies into something truly good and help save the other survivors. In my opinion, anybody who can make such a great turnaround is truly worthy of being called a hero.

Benjamin Linus