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A’atsika’s Cultural Beliefs in People of the Whale
ɪ. Introduction
People of the Whale is written by a native writer, Linda Hogan. In this novel, Hogan fabricates a Native American tribe named A’atsika. Their traditional cultural beliefs are related to whales and the ocean, the elders and the ancestors. Hogan mentions that the American modernized life leads to the destruction of A’atsika tribe. I would like to explore the importance of the traditional cultural beliefs to the indigenous people through portraying the A’atsika’s traditional cultural beliefs in the following paragraph. In this paper, it will be divided into two parts including the traditional cultural faiths, and their loss and recovery.
Ⅱ. The Traditional Cultural Faiths on Worship and Honor
In the first part, I would like to talk about the traditional cultural belief. There are four dimensions on the A’atsika’s cultural beliefs, include worship on whale and the ocean, worship on the ancestor, honor on the elders, and animism on natural phenomenon and nature.
First, I would like to talk about the worship on whale and the ocean. A’atsika is a tribe also called People of the Whale because they live on the ocean; they have songs about the ocean. A’atsika’s traditional life is related to whales and they worship whales. For A’atsika people, “The whales were sights to behold, and were watched with awe and laughter. The whales have always been loved and watched, their spumes of breath blowing above water, their bodies turning, rising” (Hogan 10). In my view, A’atsika people regard whale as the holy being, they love whales and respect them. According to Dave Aftandilian in the essay “Toward a Native American Theology of Animals: Creek and Cherokee Perspectives”, “Human ought to treat other animals with humility and respect, rather than in an exploitive or domineering fashion” (Aftandilian 195). Although they love whales, the A’atsika people still hunt whales while they are hungry. Before they hunt whales, they plead whales for mercy and speak to them: “Look how we are suffering. Take pity on us. Our people are small. We are hungry” (Hogan 21). For Aftandilian, “Contemporary Creek medicine man David Lewis, Jr. explains that his people do not kill animals unless they are needed. This is a form of reciprocity, which Lewis expresses as the idea that ‘we take care of them, and they care of us’” (Aftandilian 200). In my view, A’atsika’s tradition in hunting whales for survival as the Creek case Aftandilian has mentioned. When the whaler, Witka hunts the whales, the villagers stops doing anything, “All they did was waiting, the women singing, eerily, at ocean’s edge. They were solemn and spoke softly and they considered this the great act of a man who sacrificed for them” (Hogan 20). After Witka kills the whales, “they sew a whale’s mouth closed’’ (Hogan 18) to avoid the whales’ lungs filling with water and the whale sink to the bottom of the ocean. In my view, A’atsika people are selfless. A’atsika people concern the whales after they kill them. They regard the act of hunting whales as a holy ritual and honor this act and the whaler. According to Dave Aftandilian, “Showing respect to animals and thanking them for the gifts of their lives are both forms of reciprocity” (Aftandilian 200). In addition, Hogan shows that A’atsika people have many stories about the whale. They respect whales and their traditional lifestyles are related to the whales in People of the Whale:
All their stories clung like barnacles to the great whale, the whale they loved enough to watch pass by. They were people of the whale. They worshiped the whales Whalebones had once been the homes of their ancestors who covered the giant ribs with skins and slept inside the shelters. The whales were their lives, their comfort. (43)
Besides, A’atsika’s traditional faiths on other marine organism also play the same important roles as whales. A’atsika people use the names of whale, sea lion, and octopus to name the constellations. While the protagonist, Thomas Just born, “the octopus left the water, walked on all eight legs across land and into Seal Cave’’ (Hogan 15). Thomas’s wife, Ruth born with gill slits like the salmon has. And Thomas’s son, Marco born with webbed toes like the whale has. In my own interpretation, these people born with the name of the oceanic animals show that A’atsika is a tribe of the ocean. It also shows that Ruth and Marco act like the oceanic animals. After Marco’s death, the elder tells Ruth that “They say when a real whaler dies at sea he will become a great whale’’ (Hogan 107). For Aftandilian, “Animals are people like humans, but that other animals actually once were humans. This establishes a deeply felt a kinship relationship between humans and other animals, which makes each side willing to sacrifice on behalf of the other’’ (Aftandilian 197). In my own view, in their tradition, A’atsika’s people don’t categorize specifically on the oceanic animal and human being. In my view, they like the same.
Secondly, I would like to mention that in A’atsika cultural beliefs, A’atsika people worship their ancestors and their ancestor ties their offspring forever. As I have mentioned before, A’atsika is a tribe which worships on not only the oceanic animals but their ancestors. Witka is a famous whaler and hunts whales for others. After Witka is dead, his offspring still remembers him. For example, “His grandson, Thomas Witka Just, now dwells, thinking of his grandfather, whose watch on the sea had been constant, that man who spoke with the whales . . .” (Hogan 18). In my view, Thomas’ grandfather, Witka heavily contributes to his people. Although Witka is dead, his grandson, Thomas still remembers him what Witka has done in Witka’s life after Thomas lives in the Witka’s house. For me, it means that Witka still exist in the earth although he passes away. He is unforgettable by people. In addition, Wilma enters to the room for a private meeting to oppose against Dwight’s decision on hunting whales. Wilma takes a seat before the man and expresses that “You see these chairs. They are not empty. Your ancestors sit there. They are listening to you” (Hogan 67). In my interpretation, as the previous case, A’atsika’s ancestors are dead now, but they still hear what their offsprings speak. For me, it means that the ancestors become spirits and exist in the earth. In addition, Hogan portrays the younger generations of A’atsika people who can inherit the ability, face, and laugh from their ancestors. For instance, both Witka’s grandson, Thomas and Thomas’s son have the similar characteristic capacity about “How long they could hold their breath underwater’’ as Witka has (Hogan 23). In my interpretation, Thomas and Marco’s capacity of holding his breath underwater shows how the ancestors relate to their offsprings. Besides, Marco has the same sound of laughter as Witka’s and he is like Witka. For example, “Like Witka, Marco had felt the presence of the whale. Except for his tidy, pulled-back hair, Marco had been like old Witka” (Hogan 112). In my view, Witka’s ability, laughter, and face which all pass down to his offsprings mean that the ancestors never disappear and affect the succeeding generation.
In the third place, I would like to mention that A’atiska people also respect the elders in their beliefs. The elders have the capacity of predicting the natural phenomenon such as the storm and the drought. For example, the elder woman, Wilma perceives and articulates that “A storm is going to come” while Dwight, Thomas and other people hunt the whale and the storm does come after a while (Hogan 90). Also, the old man warns Ruth that “Mark my words. There’s going to be a drought. A wrong thing was done. Maybe more than one wrong thing. There will be a drought” (Hogan 108). In my interpretation, A’atsika people must respect their elders because the elders can know what kinds of disasters will be happen. If the younger generation knows the warning from the elders before the disaster comes, they will escape it and survive. If they don’t respect the elders, they will die. For me, those A’atsika’s older people are so selflessly to the nature that they could learn exactly from the natural phenomena.
Ⅲ. The Traditional Cultural Faiths on Animism
What’s more, I would like to talk about animism on natural phenomenon and nature by quoting Nurit Bird-David’s insights to define the term “animism’’ in her essay. “‘Animism’ Revisited: Personhood, Environment and Relational Epistemology” Animism “an ethnographic example of a hunter-gatherer people is given to explore how animistic ideas operate within the context of social practices, with attention to local constructions of a relational personhood and to its relationship with ecological perceptions of the environment” (Bird-David 67). From Bird-David’s insights on animism in his paper, I found that there are three instances on animism in this novel. At first, I would like to talk about the song which is sung by Witka’s wife before they beg whales for hunting whales:
‘Oh brother, sister whale,’ he sang. ‘Grandmother whale, Grandfather whale. If you come here to land we have beautiful leaves and trees. We have warm places. We have babies to feed and we’ll let your eyes gaze upon them. We will let your soul become a child again. We will pray it back into a body. It will enter our bodies. You will be part human. We’ll be part whale. Within our bodies, you will dance in warm rooms, create light, make love. We will be strong in thought for you. We will welcome you. We will treat you well. Then one day I will join you’. (23)
For Bird-David, he mentions the hunter-gatherer Nayaka’s perspectives on “others as kin, relatives, ones related with. In everyday social interaction they normally referred to and addressed each other by kinship terms (‘my big-uncle,’ ‘my brother,’ ‘my sister-in-law,’ etc.). Anyone they persistently shared with they regard as kin” (Bird-David 72). In my view, Witka’s wife called these whales as their kin because A’atsika people’s lifestyles related to whales as Bird-David mentions. They must hunt whales for survival. A’atsika people regard whales as their ancestor. Also, A’atsika people eat whales and these whales live inside their bodies. In Witka’s wife’s song, A’atsika people eat whales and they become a part of the whale. According to Bird-David, she also mentions that “Nayaka also appreciate that they share the local environment with some of these beings, which overrides these differences and absorbs their sorts into one ‘we-ness.’ Beings who are absorbed into this ‘we-ness’ are devaru . . . The devaru are often objectified by kinship terms” (Bird-David 73). In my view, A’atsika people eat whales and become a part of whale. And the process about those whales are eaten by A’atsika people and becomes part of humans also may regard as devaru. Because A’atsika people and whales become we-ness through eating the whales. However, there are other interpretations of this song. For Aftandilian, “how other animals are viewed as not just people like humans, but relatives; that animals are spiritually powerful; and that humans ought to treat other animals with respect, enter into reciprocal relationship with them, and renew the world on their behalf’’ (Aftandilian 201). In my view, Aftandilian mentions that the relationship between other animals and human beings are inseparable. For example, in Witka’s wife’s song, A’atsika people mention them and whales become half of the same being with each other. Hence, Aftandilian demonstrates that human being should recognize other animal as “others of God’s creation, rather than differentiation from them’’ (Aftandilian 202).
Secondly, I would like to mention that the process of extinguishing fires is animism. After Dick Russel found that the fire is burning in the forest, he remembers there is an old woman from his homeland who knows how to extinguish the fire. And the woman comes and directs other people to place her bed in the path of fire. “And so this old woman from the north, not having such a bed, lays her large body down on the ground in the direction fire is traveling and she begins singing and talking to the fire and the fire dies out just before reaching her withered old body” (Hogan 140). For Bird-David, “Ojibwa sense of personhood, which they attribute to some natural entities, animals, wind, stones, etc., is fundamentally different from the modernist one. . . . The Ojibwa conceives of ‘person’ as an oversearching category within which ‘human person,’ “animal person,’ ‘wind person,’ etc., are subcategories” (Bird-David 71). In my view, the fire extinguisher, the old woman regards fire as a fire person as the Ojibwa does because the old woman sings and talks to fire. And actually the fire is a fire person because the fire can hear the sounds from the old woman and it dies in the end.
Besides, I would like to portray that the octopus which becomes the Rain priest is animistic. In the story, Ruth offers her ship Marco Polo as a tribute to the rain priest. But later on, one day Vince found Ruth’s ship and speaks to her “I saw an octopus climbing down out of it as I approached” (Hogan 155). According to Bird-David, ‘“other-than-human person’ may regard as ‘superpersons’ (persons with extra powers)” (Bird-David 71). In my view, Hogan portrays that the octopus with extra power about giving the rain as the idea about ‘superperson’ Bird-David mentions. For Aftandilian, “Other animals also have souls or spirits, which are often considerably powerful than those of humans” (Aftandilian 196). Also, Aftandilian portrays that “Native peoples have also watched animals closely and tried to understand them because they were deeply dependent upon the animals for both physical sustenance and spiritual knowledge and power” (Aftandilian 192).
Ⅳ. The Loss of Traditional Cultural Faiths
In the second part, I would like to talk about the loss of traditional cultural beliefs and their recovery. Firstly, I would like to refer to the loss of A’atsika people’s traditional faiths on the whales and the ancestor. Due to the impact of the American modernized life and the Vietnam War, A’atsika people lose their faith and even become capitalistic and utilitarian. A’atsika people forget the original tradition on hunting whales. For Dwight, the tradition of hunting whales is a way of cheating others and helping him to get fortune. But for Thomas, the tradition of hunting whales is a way of connecting his grandfather, Witka. Thomas must hunt whales to continue his legacy. But Thomas forgets that Witka’s hunt of whales is for survival. And A’atsika people forget the songs for begging whales to come and the ritual about “sew whales’ mouth shut so it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the ocean” (Hogan 82). Even Thomas forgets the older people’s lesson about “Never kill a timid whale’’ (Hogan 94). Even if Thomas’s son, Marco’s reminds to him: “This is the wrong whale to kill”, Thomas still shots the whales because he had the rifle in his hand and it reminds him the war. After Thomas kills the whale, “The whale whipped about and broke the canoe. Thomas and Marco and the others were cast into the bloody water” (Hogan 93). In my view, Hogan attributes Thomas’s crime to the Vietnam War for America. According to Dave Aftandilian, “animals are more powerful than human” (Aftandilian 195). Also, for Aftandilian’s warning: “If we do not treat them with respect, they may take revenge against us” (Aftandilian 198). In my view, the whale is angry and it fights back after Thomas kills the whale. Hence, those people on the canoe fell into the ocean. A’atsika people also forget the customs that the ancestor must do after they hunt the whale. For instance, “the men cut it, laughing, talking about its sex organs, calling it names, all the love for the animal missing” (Hogan 95). In my view, A’atsika people not only lose the respects on the whales but ignore the whales. Even they mock the whales. Thomas feels shameful for the whalers because “Nowadays A’atsika people didn’t apologize to the spirit of the whale, nor did they sing to it or pray as they said they were going to do” (Hogan 95). Even some of the A’atsika’s whalers, they are “drinking in the boat that day, smoking marijuana, and put beer in the blowhole of the whale with irreverence and stupidity” (Hogan 95). In my interpretation, it shows A’atsika people’s disconnection with the ancestor. And they are selfish, brutal, capitalistic, and utilitarian human being now.
In addition, I would like to mention that A’atsika people’s connection with whales disappears. For example, “The three women told the whales not to come. But the whales no longer heard their voices or thoughts” (Hogan 87). In my view, Ruth’s prays doesn’t work because A’atsika people forgets their traditional religious faiths. So the whales can’t hear their warning and leaves. Even Hogan mentions that “A whale sprayed and breached in the distance. ‘Oh my. It’s a whale. Do you see it? This is terrible. It’s going toward the men’’’ (Hogan 90). In my own interpretation, it is satiric because the whale not only couldn’t hear the Ruth’s warning but also it goes to hell voluntarily. I don’t know why Hogan chooses this way to portray this case. For me, the whale may escape the whaler but in the story they can’t. I think it is controversial. Also, the death of Marco symbolizes the loss of traditional faith. Because unlike most A’atsika peoples Marco is the only person who knows how to treat the whales correctly as the ancestors do.
Ⅴ. The Recovery of Traditional Cultural Faiths
Finally, I would like to mention that the A’atsika people’s traditional faith on the whales and the ancestor return. Due to the mistakes A’atiska people have done, there are no any fish in the ocean. They can’t fish so they have time to think. “They think about the whale and what they’ve done, who they have become in time, each person examing their own world. They do not feel the spirits that once lived in the fogs and clouds around them. The alive world is unfelt. They feel abandoned” (Hogan 128). In my own interpretation, people must confess the mistake they have made so as to recover the past tradition. After the rain priest comes, the rain falls. “The rain revealed even this. Not far from here another hill fell, mud sliding down into water in a great heave, and the old place was exposed, a harpoon of older times, rock carvings made with love and human desire for survival” (Hogan 153). In my view, Hogan portrays that the natural phenomenon, the rain has extra powers. The rain not only purifies the people’s mind but also makes the traditional cultural beliefs return. After the rain comes, Thomas decides to go to the DOA: department of the army to return his medals and confesses to Ruth the mistakes he has done. After the repentance, Thomas goes to the white house and lives with the elders to recover the traditional cultural beliefs. While Thomas and other A’atsika people drag the canoe into the water, Thomas was murdered by Dwight. After the rain comes, the A’atsika people are selfless. For example, one of A’atsika people voluntarily accuses Dwight of murdering Thomas. It shows that the traditional cultural belief does return.
Ⅵ. Conclusion
In this novel, Hogan takes a positive attitude toward A’atsika people. Hogan also emphasizes the traditional cultural beliefs which are important to the indigenous people. To sum up, A’atsika people’s cultural beliefs on worshipping the whales, the ancestors, the elders, and the ocean are important and the cultural beliefs never disappear in their life.
Works Cited
Aftandilian, Dave. “Toward A Native American Theology Of Animals: Creek And Cherokee Perspectives.” Cross Currents 61.2 (2011): 191-207. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.
Bird-David, Nurit. ‘‘‘ Animism’ Revisited: Personhood, Environment and Relational Epistemology.” Current Anthropology 40 (1999): 67-91.
Hogan, Linda. People of the Whale: A Novel. New York: Norton, 2008.
ɪ. Introduction
People of the Whale is written by a native writer, Linda Hogan. In this novel, Hogan fabricates a Native American tribe named A’atsika. Their traditional cultural beliefs are related to whales and the ocean, the elders and the ancestors. Hogan mentions that the American modernized life leads to the destruction of A’atsika tribe. I would like to explore the importance of the traditional cultural beliefs to the indigenous people through portraying the A’atsika’s traditional cultural beliefs in the following paragraph. In this paper, it will be divided into two parts including the traditional cultural faiths, and their loss and recovery.
Ⅱ. The Traditional Cultural Faiths on Worship and Honor
In the first part, I would like to talk about the traditional cultural belief. There are four dimensions on the A’atsika’s cultural beliefs, include worship on whale and the ocean, worship on the ancestor, honor on the elders, and animism on natural phenomenon and nature.
First, I would like to talk about the worship on whale and the ocean. A’atsika is a tribe also called People of the Whale because they live on the ocean; they have songs about the ocean. A’atsika’s traditional life is related to whales and they worship whales. For A’atsika people, “The whales were sights to behold, and were watched with awe and laughter. The whales have always been loved and watched, their spumes of breath blowing above water, their bodies turning, rising” (Hogan 10). In my view, A’atsika people regard whale as the holy being, they love whales and respect them. According to Dave Aftandilian in the essay “Toward a Native American Theology of Animals: Creek and Cherokee Perspectives”, “Human ought to treat other animals with humility and respect, rather than in an exploitive or domineering fashion” (Aftandilian 195). Although they love whales, the A’atsika people still hunt whales while they are hungry. Before they hunt whales, they plead whales for mercy and speak to them: “Look how we are suffering. Take pity on us. Our people are small. We are hungry” (Hogan 21). For Aftandilian, “Contemporary Creek medicine man David Lewis, Jr. explains that his people do not kill animals unless they are needed. This is a form of reciprocity, which Lewis expresses as the idea that ‘we take care of them, and they care of us’” (Aftandilian 200). In my view, A’atsika’s tradition in hunting whales for survival as the Creek case Aftandilian has mentioned. When the whaler, Witka hunts the whales, the villagers stops doing anything, “All they did was waiting, the women singing, eerily, at ocean’s edge. They were solemn and spoke softly and they considered this the great act of a man who sacrificed for them” (Hogan 20). After Witka kills the whales, “they sew a whale’s mouth closed’’ (Hogan 18) to avoid the whales’ lungs filling with water and the whale sink to the bottom of the ocean. In my view, A’atsika people are selfless. A’atsika people concern the whales after they kill them. They regard the act of hunting whales as a holy ritual and honor this act and the whaler. According to Dave Aftandilian, “Showing respect to animals and thanking them for the gifts of their lives are both forms of reciprocity” (Aftandilian 200). In addition, Hogan shows that A’atsika people have many stories about the whale. They respect whales and their traditional lifestyles are related to the whales in People of the Whale:
All their stories clung like barnacles to the great whale, the whale they loved enough to watch pass by. They were people of the whale. They worshiped the whales Whalebones had once been the homes of their ancestors who covered the giant ribs with skins and slept inside the shelters. The whales were their lives, their comfort. (43)
Besides, A’atsika’s traditional faiths on other marine organism also play the same important roles as whales. A’atsika people use the names of whale, sea lion, and octopus to name the constellations. While the protagonist, Thomas Just born, “the octopus left the water, walked on all eight legs across land and into Seal Cave’’ (Hogan 15). Thomas’s wife, Ruth born with gill slits like the salmon has. And Thomas’s son, Marco born with webbed toes like the whale has. In my own interpretation, these people born with the name of the oceanic animals show that A’atsika is a tribe of the ocean. It also shows that Ruth and Marco act like the oceanic animals. After Marco’s death, the elder tells Ruth that “They say when a real whaler dies at sea he will become a great whale’’ (Hogan 107). For Aftandilian, “Animals are people like humans, but that other animals actually once were humans. This establishes a deeply felt a kinship relationship between humans and other animals, which makes each side willing to sacrifice on behalf of the other’’ (Aftandilian 197). In my own view, in their tradition, A’atsika’s people don’t categorize specifically on the oceanic animal and human being. In my view, they like the same.
Secondly, I would like to mention that in A’atsika cultural beliefs, A’atsika people worship their ancestors and their ancestor ties their offspring forever. As I have mentioned before, A’atsika is a tribe which worships on not only the oceanic animals but their ancestors. Witka is a famous whaler and hunts whales for others. After Witka is dead, his offspring still remembers him. For example, “His grandson, Thomas Witka Just, now dwells, thinking of his grandfather, whose watch on the sea had been constant, that man who spoke with the whales . . .” (Hogan 18). In my view, Thomas’ grandfather, Witka heavily contributes to his people. Although Witka is dead, his grandson, Thomas still remembers him what Witka has done in Witka’s life after Thomas lives in the Witka’s house. For me, it means that Witka still exist in the earth although he passes away. He is unforgettable by people. In addition, Wilma enters to the room for a private meeting to oppose against Dwight’s decision on hunting whales. Wilma takes a seat before the man and expresses that “You see these chairs. They are not empty. Your ancestors sit there. They are listening to you” (Hogan 67). In my interpretation, as the previous case, A’atsika’s ancestors are dead now, but they still hear what their offsprings speak. For me, it means that the ancestors become spirits and exist in the earth. In addition, Hogan portrays the younger generations of A’atsika people who can inherit the ability, face, and laugh from their ancestors. For instance, both Witka’s grandson, Thomas and Thomas’s son have the similar characteristic capacity about “How long they could hold their breath underwater’’ as Witka has (Hogan 23). In my interpretation, Thomas and Marco’s capacity of holding his breath underwater shows how the ancestors relate to their offsprings. Besides, Marco has the same sound of laughter as Witka’s and he is like Witka. For example, “Like Witka, Marco had felt the presence of the whale. Except for his tidy, pulled-back hair, Marco had been like old Witka” (Hogan 112). In my view, Witka’s ability, laughter, and face which all pass down to his offsprings mean that the ancestors never disappear and affect the succeeding generation.
In the third place, I would like to mention that A’atiska people also respect the elders in their beliefs. The elders have the capacity of predicting the natural phenomenon such as the storm and the drought. For example, the elder woman, Wilma perceives and articulates that “A storm is going to come” while Dwight, Thomas and other people hunt the whale and the storm does come after a while (Hogan 90). Also, the old man warns Ruth that “Mark my words. There’s going to be a drought. A wrong thing was done. Maybe more than one wrong thing. There will be a drought” (Hogan 108). In my interpretation, A’atsika people must respect their elders because the elders can know what kinds of disasters will be happen. If the younger generation knows the warning from the elders before the disaster comes, they will escape it and survive. If they don’t respect the elders, they will die. For me, those A’atsika’s older people are so selflessly to the nature that they could learn exactly from the natural phenomena.
Ⅲ. The Traditional Cultural Faiths on Animism
What’s more, I would like to talk about animism on natural phenomenon and nature by quoting Nurit Bird-David’s insights to define the term “animism’’ in her essay. “‘Animism’ Revisited: Personhood, Environment and Relational Epistemology” Animism “an ethnographic example of a hunter-gatherer people is given to explore how animistic ideas operate within the context of social practices, with attention to local constructions of a relational personhood and to its relationship with ecological perceptions of the environment” (Bird-David 67). From Bird-David’s insights on animism in his paper, I found that there are three instances on animism in this novel. At first, I would like to talk about the song which is sung by Witka’s wife before they beg whales for hunting whales:
‘Oh brother, sister whale,’ he sang. ‘Grandmother whale, Grandfather whale. If you come here to land we have beautiful leaves and trees. We have warm places. We have babies to feed and we’ll let your eyes gaze upon them. We will let your soul become a child again. We will pray it back into a body. It will enter our bodies. You will be part human. We’ll be part whale. Within our bodies, you will dance in warm rooms, create light, make love. We will be strong in thought for you. We will welcome you. We will treat you well. Then one day I will join you’. (23)
For Bird-David, he mentions the hunter-gatherer Nayaka’s perspectives on “others as kin, relatives, ones related with. In everyday social interaction they normally referred to and addressed each other by kinship terms (‘my big-uncle,’ ‘my brother,’ ‘my sister-in-law,’ etc.). Anyone they persistently shared with they regard as kin” (Bird-David 72). In my view, Witka’s wife called these whales as their kin because A’atsika people’s lifestyles related to whales as Bird-David mentions. They must hunt whales for survival. A’atsika people regard whales as their ancestor. Also, A’atsika people eat whales and these whales live inside their bodies. In Witka’s wife’s song, A’atsika people eat whales and they become a part of the whale. According to Bird-David, she also mentions that “Nayaka also appreciate that they share the local environment with some of these beings, which overrides these differences and absorbs their sorts into one ‘we-ness.’ Beings who are absorbed into this ‘we-ness’ are devaru . . . The devaru are often objectified by kinship terms” (Bird-David 73). In my view, A’atsika people eat whales and become a part of whale. And the process about those whales are eaten by A’atsika people and becomes part of humans also may regard as devaru. Because A’atsika people and whales become we-ness through eating the whales. However, there are other interpretations of this song. For Aftandilian, “how other animals are viewed as not just people like humans, but relatives; that animals are spiritually powerful; and that humans ought to treat other animals with respect, enter into reciprocal relationship with them, and renew the world on their behalf’’ (Aftandilian 201). In my view, Aftandilian mentions that the relationship between other animals and human beings are inseparable. For example, in Witka’s wife’s song, A’atsika people mention them and whales become half of the same being with each other. Hence, Aftandilian demonstrates that human being should recognize other animal as “others of God’s creation, rather than differentiation from them’’ (Aftandilian 202).
Secondly, I would like to mention that the process of extinguishing fires is animism. After Dick Russel found that the fire is burning in the forest, he remembers there is an old woman from his homeland who knows how to extinguish the fire. And the woman comes and directs other people to place her bed in the path of fire. “And so this old woman from the north, not having such a bed, lays her large body down on the ground in the direction fire is traveling and she begins singing and talking to the fire and the fire dies out just before reaching her withered old body” (Hogan 140). For Bird-David, “Ojibwa sense of personhood, which they attribute to some natural entities, animals, wind, stones, etc., is fundamentally different from the modernist one. . . . The Ojibwa conceives of ‘person’ as an oversearching category within which ‘human person,’ “animal person,’ ‘wind person,’ etc., are subcategories” (Bird-David 71). In my view, the fire extinguisher, the old woman regards fire as a fire person as the Ojibwa does because the old woman sings and talks to fire. And actually the fire is a fire person because the fire can hear the sounds from the old woman and it dies in the end.
Besides, I would like to portray that the octopus which becomes the Rain priest is animistic. In the story, Ruth offers her ship Marco Polo as a tribute to the rain priest. But later on, one day Vince found Ruth’s ship and speaks to her “I saw an octopus climbing down out of it as I approached” (Hogan 155). According to Bird-David, ‘“other-than-human person’ may regard as ‘superpersons’ (persons with extra powers)” (Bird-David 71). In my view, Hogan portrays that the octopus with extra power about giving the rain as the idea about ‘superperson’ Bird-David mentions. For Aftandilian, “Other animals also have souls or spirits, which are often considerably powerful than those of humans” (Aftandilian 196). Also, Aftandilian portrays that “Native peoples have also watched animals closely and tried to understand them because they were deeply dependent upon the animals for both physical sustenance and spiritual knowledge and power” (Aftandilian 192).
Ⅳ. The Loss of Traditional Cultural Faiths
In the second part, I would like to talk about the loss of traditional cultural beliefs and their recovery. Firstly, I would like to refer to the loss of A’atsika people’s traditional faiths on the whales and the ancestor. Due to the impact of the American modernized life and the Vietnam War, A’atsika people lose their faith and even become capitalistic and utilitarian. A’atsika people forget the original tradition on hunting whales. For Dwight, the tradition of hunting whales is a way of cheating others and helping him to get fortune. But for Thomas, the tradition of hunting whales is a way of connecting his grandfather, Witka. Thomas must hunt whales to continue his legacy. But Thomas forgets that Witka’s hunt of whales is for survival. And A’atsika people forget the songs for begging whales to come and the ritual about “sew whales’ mouth shut so it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the ocean” (Hogan 82). Even Thomas forgets the older people’s lesson about “Never kill a timid whale’’ (Hogan 94). Even if Thomas’s son, Marco’s reminds to him: “This is the wrong whale to kill”, Thomas still shots the whales because he had the rifle in his hand and it reminds him the war. After Thomas kills the whale, “The whale whipped about and broke the canoe. Thomas and Marco and the others were cast into the bloody water” (Hogan 93). In my view, Hogan attributes Thomas’s crime to the Vietnam War for America. According to Dave Aftandilian, “animals are more powerful than human” (Aftandilian 195). Also, for Aftandilian’s warning: “If we do not treat them with respect, they may take revenge against us” (Aftandilian 198). In my view, the whale is angry and it fights back after Thomas kills the whale. Hence, those people on the canoe fell into the ocean. A’atsika people also forget the customs that the ancestor must do after they hunt the whale. For instance, “the men cut it, laughing, talking about its sex organs, calling it names, all the love for the animal missing” (Hogan 95). In my view, A’atsika people not only lose the respects on the whales but ignore the whales. Even they mock the whales. Thomas feels shameful for the whalers because “Nowadays A’atsika people didn’t apologize to the spirit of the whale, nor did they sing to it or pray as they said they were going to do” (Hogan 95). Even some of the A’atsika’s whalers, they are “drinking in the boat that day, smoking marijuana, and put beer in the blowhole of the whale with irreverence and stupidity” (Hogan 95). In my interpretation, it shows A’atsika people’s disconnection with the ancestor. And they are selfish, brutal, capitalistic, and utilitarian human being now.
In addition, I would like to mention that A’atsika people’s connection with whales disappears. For example, “The three women told the whales not to come. But the whales no longer heard their voices or thoughts” (Hogan 87). In my view, Ruth’s prays doesn’t work because A’atsika people forgets their traditional religious faiths. So the whales can’t hear their warning and leaves. Even Hogan mentions that “A whale sprayed and breached in the distance. ‘Oh my. It’s a whale. Do you see it? This is terrible. It’s going toward the men’’’ (Hogan 90). In my own interpretation, it is satiric because the whale not only couldn’t hear the Ruth’s warning but also it goes to hell voluntarily. I don’t know why Hogan chooses this way to portray this case. For me, the whale may escape the whaler but in the story they can’t. I think it is controversial. Also, the death of Marco symbolizes the loss of traditional faith. Because unlike most A’atsika peoples Marco is the only person who knows how to treat the whales correctly as the ancestors do.
Ⅴ. The Recovery of Traditional Cultural Faiths
Finally, I would like to mention that the A’atsika people’s traditional faith on the whales and the ancestor return. Due to the mistakes A’atiska people have done, there are no any fish in the ocean. They can’t fish so they have time to think. “They think about the whale and what they’ve done, who they have become in time, each person examing their own world. They do not feel the spirits that once lived in the fogs and clouds around them. The alive world is unfelt. They feel abandoned” (Hogan 128). In my own interpretation, people must confess the mistake they have made so as to recover the past tradition. After the rain priest comes, the rain falls. “The rain revealed even this. Not far from here another hill fell, mud sliding down into water in a great heave, and the old place was exposed, a harpoon of older times, rock carvings made with love and human desire for survival” (Hogan 153). In my view, Hogan portrays that the natural phenomenon, the rain has extra powers. The rain not only purifies the people’s mind but also makes the traditional cultural beliefs return. After the rain comes, Thomas decides to go to the DOA: department of the army to return his medals and confesses to Ruth the mistakes he has done. After the repentance, Thomas goes to the white house and lives with the elders to recover the traditional cultural beliefs. While Thomas and other A’atsika people drag the canoe into the water, Thomas was murdered by Dwight. After the rain comes, the A’atsika people are selfless. For example, one of A’atsika people voluntarily accuses Dwight of murdering Thomas. It shows that the traditional cultural belief does return.
Ⅵ. Conclusion
In this novel, Hogan takes a positive attitude toward A’atsika people. Hogan also emphasizes the traditional cultural beliefs which are important to the indigenous people. To sum up, A’atsika people’s cultural beliefs on worshipping the whales, the ancestors, the elders, and the ocean are important and the cultural beliefs never disappear in their life.
Works Cited
Aftandilian, Dave. “Toward A Native American Theology Of Animals: Creek And Cherokee Perspectives.” Cross Currents 61.2 (2011): 191-207. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.
Bird-David, Nurit. ‘‘‘ Animism’ Revisited: Personhood, Environment and Relational Epistemology.” Current Anthropology 40 (1999): 67-91.
Hogan, Linda. People of the Whale: A Novel. New York: Norton, 2008.
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