The novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven exemplified the acculturation hardship and blessings of Mark’s experience living in an Indian village. Mark the vicar slowly acclimated to their society through sharing, bonding in a collective and interdependent society. Their value orientation of interdependence made it easier for him to become one and not withdraw from their culture. He learned about the fundamentals of life and the power of sacrifice and love. Their traditions and myths helped Mark to make Quee a place of his own. In this essay I will discuss the acculturation process and his pluralistic influence. I will discuss the factors that created conflict and the bonding of his soul to this village. I will compare the acculturation process of the youth at Quee and the changes and conflict that disrupts the normal lifestyle of the Indian tribe.
Nature
The Indians village extended to the sunrise and to the moon and the people were one with nature. The river, white killer whales, and the salmon were one with the village. The village was the talking bird and the owl would call a man if he was to die. If an Indian hunted for food, he didn’t shoot him but knocked him on the head. They gave names to the animals that they hunted and fished. They spoke with respect to the salmon and they called him ‘swimmer.’ The value orientation of the relation of nature to people was harmony, integration and balance with nature. Unlike the United States, the Indians did not have a dominance attitude towards nature because they belonged to nature. Even people were named after the fishes. For example, Gordon’s name was Che-Kwa-la, which meant fast moving water while Keetah’s name was pool. Mark had grown to belong to nature, been exposed to it day by day and found rain to be an element of life just as the air he breathed. They believed if a great chief died, his soul came straight back to the village in a body of a raven. When the young vicar died Peter waited for him and for his soul to come back in the body of a creature.
The Essay on Liberal Nature of Indian State
The state is being perceived as an “organised structural and institutional whole” epitomizing the power relations of society. The state in a developing society arise from historical factors and interacts with society through its decisive role in the economic process of the nation. To study the nature of any particular state, it is necessary to analyse to relation between state, power, ...
In the United States a person’s relationship to nature is of dominance, having a quality that is absent of all other forms of life; a soul. “No other forms of life in the physical world possess souls, so they are conceived of as material and mechanist (Clayton, 2003, pg. 55).
Consequently, huge corporations would pollute and cut trees and consider nature as material and mechanistic resources. In many cultures, human beings are just one form of life differing from others only in degree (Clayton, 2003, p.55).
In the Indian village they respected the woods. Life in nature was portrayed in one of their marriage tribal dance. The woods came to life and had human traits like the old stump that looked for its trunk.
Socialization and Collectivism
Socialization is the way in which a person becomes a member of the family, the community and the culture. Socialization is learning how to live, soaking up all of the assumptions that are shared by the family, the community, or the culture; learning the fundamental perspective on and practice of life. It is the process of absorbing what is acceptable in the group (Clayton, 2003, p. 28).
Mark the vicar had a learner attitude and respected their traditions. His openness to change helped him to be socialized and part of the tribe like a son towards the older members. Also, the major impact towards a healthy socialization process and acceptance to the tribe was greatly influenced by the tribe’s interdependent culture. They had to rely on each other and needed each other to survive through the natural elements. Mark learned the fundamental perspectives and the practice of life. He conformed to their ways because he needed them just as they needed him. In order for them to stay alive they had to depend on each other.
The Essay on Mark Twain: Man of Many Tales
Mark Twain, the father of American literature, was a prominent figure in the writing world. He used realism in his works and created American based tales drawn from his own life and experiences. It can also be said that Twain was a humorist. Some may ask why is Mark Twain considered to be the father of American Literature? The only way to answer this question is to analyze Mark Twain, his life, ...
Life was built around the river and transporting items was a difficult task for one man. On ancient boats they carried supplies for the vicarage and the whole tribe helped and even the women carried large items and the children bent their backs to the kegs and the others provided water. Even the Chief wanted the tribe to help build the vicarage and every available man and women helped build the new vicarage (pg. 93).
Mark was forced to be dependent on Jim because he did not know how to function in a new and foreign setting. Mark relied on him as if he had never relied on anyone. They took long trips on the boat and it wasn’t necessary for them to say a word. Initially they didn’t have to bond through the activities because Jim faithfully was a friend. Jim found the good nature of Mark and trusted him, although he was new to the tribe. In the beginning the tribesmen trusted him and came to his house and provided him warm food and the ladies washed and ironed and the men cut and stacked the wood. Nature and the weather forced interdependence. Winter was a harsh and the rivers that they relied on as food and for transportation froze over. The village was ice-bound and not one boat could go for oil or propane. They kept their houses warm by dragging any wood that could burn. No one kept their fuel and resources for their own family. If they had shot a deer most likely they would share it. Even there physical boundaries were limited, men’s arms would wrap over the shoulder of the other, which was no indication of homosexuality. It was the warrior-to-warrior relationship (pg. 131).
The manner in which the tribe helped and collectively cared for each other was not based by living conditions or being isolated from the modern world but it was based on their value system, their group consciousness, sense of self-worth, and loyalty to the group. They valued the importance of remembering their traditions, learning their ancestral worship rituals and history. All of these values were taught and reinforced through story telling, myths, dances and following the examples of the older generation.
At night the men sat by the fire and told old myths. Myths and traditions were talked about as if it were the present. Traditions were told even through the ordinary daily tasks. Marta Stephens who was the grandmother of the tribe and daughter of a hereditary chief shared to Mark after a picnic about a sea hunter and where he went after he died, to the land of the killer whale. She taught Mark what a swimmer looked like and how twins were swimmers. Mark learned that he was a swimmer and belonged to the salmon people (pg. 47).
The Term Paper on Concept Of God One Life Man
Zarathustra by Me Published 1895 translation by Gerardo Published 1999 PREFACE This book belongs to the most rare of men. Perhaps not one of them is yet alive. It is possible that they may be among those who understand my "Zarathustra": how could I confound myself with those who are now sprouting ears? -- First the day after tomorrow must come for me. Some men are born posthumously.The conditions ...
“Collectivists, due to their group consciousness and the importance of ancestors, consider history to be more important than individualists who are more focused on themselves (Clayton, 2003. pg. 30).” Their traditions were taught through feasts such as preparing for the coming of the oolachon, the candlefish. It was a season which marked deep traditions and remembering and following all the taboos and superstitions. All the people in the village attended the feast and the elders and chief recalled the myth of the oolachon. This myth reinforced their tradition of fishing and the importance of being part of the river and how to treat the fish with dignity. The children attended and participated in catching the fish with tins. The festival was a way for the children to learn about their traditions and realize the importance of fishing. The children learned their values through songs. Marta sang a song to the children in Kwakwala. She taught them the value of pursuing the swimmer, hunting the bear and lacking nothing through these qualities (pg. 86).
For Mark, his religious institution was his primary socializer. Mark had a few years to live and did not know that the Bishop sent him to the hardest parish to help him learn the fundamentals of life. At the end of the book, Mark realized the purpose of his mission. He was sent by the Bishop to purposely learn the practical truths of life. The purpose of the mission was successful. Mark worked too hard and was “activity” oriented and overlooked the important things in life. The Indians lived to become part of nature and to be one with each other through the transforming power of love. Previously, Mark was activity orientated and lived to get things done. He found purpose in his work and activities. He worked hard in everything that he did. Each day he consumed himself with chores. He would wake up at daylight to work on his boat. In one day, he could checked everything on his boat, wash the dishes, check the logs, clean the refrigerator, and close the portholes until the sun was high in the sky (pg. 21) In the beginning, he hardly took the time to meditate and contemplate. The author rarely mentioned his deep thoughts or gave us a glimpse of his inner feelings. Even the book content was activity enriched.
The Essay on NATURE AND WILD LIFE
God created the world for people to live in or so we all have learnt and believed. No matter our views on the creation or spontaneity of life, we all must understand that nature is us and all around us. Thinking ourselves as the source of destruction may be true or an ignored folly in the mind of righteous beings. Being mindful of the gracious creatures living around us is a pre requisite for ...
The bishop shared to him the essence of life and the main reason of his mission that was the transformation by the tribe and to live in a community that worked together. It was a community that sacrificed their money, time, and loved one another. “That for me it has always been easier here, where only the fundamentals count, to learn what every man must learn in this world (pg. 144).” This knowledge of the meaning of life was enough for one man to feel they had accomplished all they needed in life.
Identity
Keetah’s concept of identity was that she was part of the whole and her village was her identity. When she moved to an individualistic society, it was hard for her to separate herself from the world she knew and to assimilate to the new world. The woman of the house didn’t accept her as one of them. Initially they were afraid of her; they thought she was dirty and would steal. At school, she didn’t belong there. Her identity was part of the whole, the people, the river, fish and mountains. In the western culture, an individualistic society, a person is a whole unit in oneself and is made up of unique qualities. Therefore, a person find’s their confidence in demonstrating uniqueness and their goal is to find one’s true self through the pride of being better than others (Clayton, 2003. pg. 58).
Keetah knew her self through her people and village and she didn’t have to find her identity through competing. Her sense of self and identity tied to her environment and community but the new world did not offer her that opportunity. “The world swallowed me, and I knew I could not stay there because my village is the only place I know myself (pg. 138)”
According to Roland (Culture and Self, 1998) and from a psychoanalytic perspective, the ‘familial self’ of the Indians is an experiential sense of self as a ‘we-self.’” For Keetah’s case she had a stronger desire to find completeness in her environment because her identity strongly correlated with her context. Americans, on the other hand, understand self and explain behavior in terms of context-independent, stable, and personality descriptions. According to the Twenty Statements Test (Kuhn & McPartland, 1954) by Cousins which repeatedly asked “Who am I?” he found that American subjects used psychological trait descriptions of them, whereas the Japanese subjects a collective society were more concrete (situational) and role specific. (Culture and Self, 1998) We could say that the Indians are also situational and role specific society because they are also collectivists. If a culture is highly collective than they will also have a higher collective self (Culture and Self, 1998) As a result, the Indians being a collective society will rely on their environment to define their self identity.
The Essay on Culture As Nature Warhol Image Images
346 / CULTURE AS NATURE Rauschtubcrg's view 'f his landscape of media was both aff " ection ate and ironic. He like cl cxcavating wll ole histories within an image histories of the media themselves. A pcrfcct cxamplc is the red patch at the bottom right corner of Retroactive I (plate 229), It is a silkscreen enlargement of'a photo by Gj on Mili, which he found in Like magazine. Mili's photograph ...
human nature and Individualism
In the beginning, Mark was lonely and didn’t belong to the tribe and had nothing to identify himself. Mark had an individualist and self-reliant attitude. The American culture finds itself having to create a distance in relationships and devalues the importance of human relationships as a permanent form of protection and security. However, all humans need social interaction and that can only be satisfied through other people and that is why Americans look for meaningful human relationships through activities, a core group circle, exclusive neighborhood and clubs. (Hsu, 1981)
The Indians belonged to the birds, the fish and the mountains and everyone was part of the land. The concept of being in harmony with nature was foreign to him and loneliness was an unavoidable element of his life. He wanted interaction with the Indians but thought he had to prove himself to be trusted. He relied solely on himself because in his perspective, human nature needed to be proven. Perhaps this stemmed from America’s value orientation that human nature is basically evil; it has the capacity to remain as such or to change and people need to be wary of others (Clayton, 2003, pg. 53).
“But for what” How must he prove himself? What was it they wished to know of him? And what did he know of himself here where loneliness was an unavoidable element of life, and a man must rely solely on himself (pg.37)?”
The Essay on The Joy Found from Inner Life and the Life of Nature
William Wordsworth's, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” is what inspired his friend, Samuel Coleridge, to write “Dejection: An Ode.” The connection the two writers have with nature is their method of nature to express the feelings of their inner soul. Coleridge was in a state of sadness, confusion, and separation from his imaginative soul when he composed “Dejection: An Ode.” The separation from ...
Perhaps his perspective was that one had to build trust. He built their trust by healing the sick, helping his neighbors in the smallest things like fixing an ancient washing machine. In contrary the nature of man was good in the eyes of the children. The children were his first friends. They trusted him although he was the first white man they had ever encountered. At first sight and without knocking on his door they smiled and befriended him. When he wanted to take a walk by himself, the little boy didn’t ask but insisted on going with him. The children warmly touched his hand when he held it out (pg.40).
The children trusted him without doubting his nature. They trusted strangers. The children’s value of human nature was basically good and people were trustworthy.
Human Activity and Communication
Jim Wallace was a silent and shy man and he hardly spoke a word but he served Mark well and dutifully. He had this cautious waiting in his eyes (pg. 43).
There relationship changed drastically and formed a bond when Mark entered into his world. Mark talked to nature as if it was part of him. Mark’s acceptance of nature and his initiative in crossing over to Jim’s culture created a bond between the two. They would sit in silence and would watch the restless water of the falls come to rest in the pool. “Comfort with silence may be more prevalent also in cultures whose activity orientation is more “being” or “becoming” rather than “doing (Clayton, 2003, pg 57).” Silence was considered a time for fulfillment. Mark and Jim were focused on being and retrospectively thinking about the deep meanings of life without using words. “Development is paramount, while being is more important than doing, a sense of personal growth and introspective self-development must occur to become an integrated whole (Clayton, 2003)” “In a high context, nature and silence speaks louder than words. Comfort with silence is more prevalent in cultures where the activity orientation is becoming (Clayton, 2003).” Jim saw silence as a time of fulfillment. Nature bonded them and they became brothers. They had once stood in the rain and became one with nature and knew that their friendship was connected not through words but through silence. Perhaps this silence was used as a form of respect.
They built trust and friendship through retrospectively thinking, being together in silence, and deeply thinking about life through nature. Mark respected Jim’s value orientation and crossed over to his world. There could have been a cultural bump with Jim’s silence however Mark allowed Jim to have his own space to think. He didn’t probe him or demand him to talk although his American value orientation on activity was different. “Americans demonstrate themselves typically as “doing” people. They make efforts just to get things done, get the problem solved in the most efficient way and what they care about is the result only. Very little emotion or interpersonal relationship will be involved in the process (Clayton, 2003, pg. 57).” Mark could have made Jim fit into his agenda but he respected his retrospective thinking and silence. In the Western culture opposition and arguing is the best way to get anything done and setting up a debate is the best way to discuss an idea. When someone criticizes it is the best way to show that you’re really thinking (Fighting for our lives, 1999).
In the “doing” culture silence conveys a waste of time. Mark did not criticize him for the silence and praised him for his dutiful service and even learned Jim’s communication mode by observing and modeling his behavior.
General Attitude Toward Time
The Indians revered the past. They focused on the way things were and did not care particularly about change. They tried to maintain and restore their traditions. This was found to be hard due to the influence of the modern society around them. The young ones went to the modern society for their education and came back assimilated to the Western culture. They returned with lower recognition of their customs. “And what will he say when he knows we are losing our sons, and that our young no longer understand the meaning of the totems(Pg. 31)?”
Therefore, traditions, preserving and honoring the past played an important role (Clayton, 2003).
These traditions guided the lives of the Indians. Fishing and hunting were the means for their living and became part of their tradition. These traditions unified themselves to nature and with each other. The old had a common bond through the remembrance of their traditions. The young did not remember the old ways. Mark valued their tradition and encouraged Keetah to remember the past and to write down the traditions as if they were small treasures. Gordon was not interested in the past. His mind reached only ahead to the future. His mind had changed and he had changed. This was the reason why he was able to stay in the Western culture and assimilate to their culture. He was planning to enhance his future. “Children in the West are taught to not be content with what is at hand but to always strive for something better and progress to the future (Clayton, 2003, pg. 56).” Gordon wanted to go to the university and enter a profession and did not want to stay with his tribe.
The old were afraid that the people would lose their tradition and become selfish and forget the traditions that unified them. “The young will follow Gordon. Very soon only the old will be left and a very few others, and when the old die, the others will leave. The tribe is going to trade its simplicity for the shiny gadgetry of our complex world (pg. 127).”
Acculturation
Keetah’s Acculturation Process
When Keetah came back from Mark’s world she absorbed certain dominant cultural values. She was not the same and saw how the equality between the relationship of a wife and husband. “I am not the same; I have seen how the white man treats his woman. He shares his pleasures and even his work. He does not marry her and leave her to fish (pg.139).” There was an individualistic relationship by which autonomy was recognized. The husband and wife shared their roles at home and at work. Mark knew that there was a fine line between a man’s job of hunting, building and fishing and the woman’s role in the home. He acculturated Jim Wallace with his knowledge of his culture. “When you build Keetah a house, let her plan it with you. And don’t leave her alone. Take her and the children with you on fishing (pg.153)”
Mark’s Acculturation Process
In Mark’s first stages of acculturation he was lonely and afraid and acknowledged that it was an escapable part of life. Although he felt separated he did not isolate himself but explored their traditions. He had asked Chief Eddy the pronunciation of his tribe. He listened intently like he had never listened to any word in his entire life. He took efforts to become acquainted with the new community and took notes on how to say things. He was a student and wanted to learn the name of the band to which the Chief’s tribe belonged and even the name of the cannibal. He made efforts to become acquainted with the new community. He even said, how do you do in Indian, “Weaksauce,” with an English pronunciation and the Indians laughed at him. When Mark was with Jim he saw a school of fish and talked to them as if they were part of his family. “Come, swimmer, I am glad to be alive now that you have come to this good place where we can play together. Take this sweet food. Hold it tight, younger brother.” He maintained a positive identification with the Indians, became a “swimmer”, observed all their traditions and was a curious learner of their myths and heritage (pg.41).
Although he assimilated to a large degree he still kept his religious roots. He added their myths and traditions to his own religious beliefs. Mark faded more into the general or overall culture. He was part of the fourth Newman theory, a modified cultural pluralism: A + B + C = A1 + B1 + C2 (Clayton, 2003. pg, 132).
Mark was young and the younger generations decreasingly maintain their ethnic identity and increasingly acquire the dominant culture (Clayton, 2003. pg. 132).
“To adults, the host culture’s response matters. Newcomers continually assess the context and if, despite their good efforts, they experience rejection over and over again, that experience drives them deeper into their own community, into a response of separation. Adults who perceive a warm and welcoming attitude will adjust easily; those who perceive a hostile environment will use strategies of withdrawal or reaction (Clayton, 2003. pg. 138).”
Mark did not experience rejection but was welcomed warmly into the community. He adjusted easily and integrated himself into the community. He was fortunate to have Jim Wallace as a traveling companion who helped him with the maintenance of his boat and the construction of his vicarage. Jim gave him the insights on the village and the stories of his people and traditions. He respected Mark and worked diligently. He affirmed him when he doubted that he would ever belong to the village and fish like an Indian. “You are doing well with the boat. In another six months you will be almost as good as an Indian boy by the time he is ten (pg. 52).”
In his first days, the Indians were polite and were not unfriendly. Even Marta Stephens the grandmother of the tribe warmly welcomed him and prepared a knitted toque to keep him warm for the winter. The woman would smile at him shyly and they were polite and that was all. Everyone had the sad eyes and the shy smiles. This nonverbal communication was a sign of respect because he was not able to speak their language. He felt lonely and had to prove himself and wasn’t assured that he was welcomed through their silent smiles.
Marta Stephens encouraged him and indirectly gave him advice through a story of the first white man that came to the church. He had to learn the language in order to engage the Indian people. She recalled that the first white man who came to church was patient with them. He learned the language so that he could teach them (pg. 42).
In the last stages of his acculturation process Mark went through the separation anxiety phase. He had a hard time coping with leaving than newly arriving. He agonized with the thought of leaving a place where he grew to love. “He was going to leave it, and the thought filled him with a twinge of sudden anguish and the little, unexpected fear that precedes any big change, sad or joyous. (pg. 145) ”
Leaving the village was like leaving his family. He became unified and whole with them. He suffered with them through the hard, cold and dark winters. Through this sacrifice, service and love for the people he created harmony and oneness with them. He was part of this strong collective society. The bishop even acknowledged his strong bond and brotherhood with the tribe, “You suffered with them, and now you are theirs, and nothing will ever be the same again (pg. 87).” “A return trip back “home’ introduces reverse culture shock which is often more severe than the initial one (Clayton, 2003, pg. 134).”
He had assimilated, acquired most of the dominant culture and had stripped off the old that it was hard for him to take on the old characteristics. “How would he live again in the old world he had almost forgotten, where men throw up smoke screens between themselves and the fundamentals whose existence they fear but seldom admit (pg. 145)?” Leaving the tribe meant more than stripping his identity. He unified spiritually and emotionally with the Indians and leaving meant he was leaving part of his heart. “But almost as big as the fact of death was the thought of leaving. How could he return now to that far country he no longer knew, where, while awaiting death, he would be a stranger (Pg. 150)?
At the end of the book, Mark conformed and socialized with the Indian tribe. He absorbed the dominant culture values and traditions and he became whole with them. “Marta, something strange happened tonight. On the bank of the river I heard the owl call my name (pg. 149).” According to their tradition and myth, if a great tribesman died he would come back to life in the form of an animal. If he was not such a respected man he would return back into an insect. This foreshadowed his death in which he finally united in tradition and belief. Marta answered him, “Yes, my son (pg. 149).” He was one with them.
The tribesman considered Mark as their own fellowmen and honored him as a chief. Peter who was the carver highly respected and cared for Mark and waited for his return. He waited for his soul to return in the form of an animal. He knew the depth of Mark’s love for the tribe and how he identified it as his own. “Yet it seemed likely the soul of the young vicar would return to the village he had loved, as would his own, and surely it would be the most inhospitable if no one was awake and waiting. Here, where death waited behind each tree, he had made friends with loneliness, with death and deprivation, and solidly against his back had stood the wall of his faith (pg. 158).”
As I investigated this book I’ve come to see the important values of life. As an American we are always looking for the future to enhance our lifestyles and to create progress. Like the Indians, these values may seem selfish to outsiders. It makes me wonder why we are not content with the things that we have. The technology we have is always expanding and growing to create an easier lifestyle but we are always trying to keep ourselves busy. Sometimes it is healthy to sit back and reflect, contemplate, be introspective about the present, the past and about the meaning of life. Mark was busy with his chores and the daily things that preoccupied and he was choked from enjoying life. The Indians were spending time at the fire talking about the past, the myths and bonded through these experiences. I am reminded about the fundamental values that being dependent is important to survival. We need each other to survive and it’s selfish to use people to fit in our agenda. Sacrifice, service, listening, and even being silent are ways to become part of someone’s life. Life is not mainly “doing” but is more of “becoming” part of each others lives and making an impact to the world.
References
Clayton, J. B. (2003).
One Classroom Many Worlds: Teaching and Learning in the Cross-Cultural Classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Deborah, T. (1998) Fighting for Our Lives: The Argument Culture. Random House.
Hsu, F.L.K. (1981).
Americans & Chinese: Passage to Differences. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii.
Kagitcibasi. (1996).
Family and Human Development Across Cultures: Culture and Self. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
