On November 14, 2012 I attended the
lecture presented by ALANA and the Native American Student Association here at
Loyola. Luis Eagle Warrior, a Native
American Indian who resides in Delaware with his tribe, gave the lecture. Luis Eagle Warrior is a member of the Lenape
tribe, and Lenape means we the people.
He spoke of the many different brother and sister tribes across the
nation such as the Cheyenne tribe. He
plays the Native American flute and the author of the book Dynamics of the Self.
Although Eagle Warrior touched on many interesting topics about his
Indian tribe, there few a few points that I felt directly correlated with Shane by Jack Schaefer. These two relate because the aspects of
dressing differently, being protective, and forming roots in one’s homeland.
At first glance Luis Eagle Warrior
was dressed very differently compared to the faculty and students seen roaming
the campus everyday. He wore his native
clothing that he wears everyday on the reservation. It was worn over his other clothes and was
brightly colored with blue, yellow, red and an eagle imprinted in the
center. This relates to Shane because at the beginning of the
novel Shane is dressed rather differently from other western people of the town
where Bob Starret lived with his parents.
Shane came riding passed the Starret’s house wearing dark colored
everything, pants, boots, hat, coat, and belt.
Clothing is significant because it gives off a certain impression of a
person. Eagle Warrior wears bright
colored clothing and bright colors usually indicate happiness, joy, and
friendliness. Shane, on the other hand,
wears dark colors, which usually relate to gloomy thoughts, and often give the
impress that the person is unapproachable.
Throughout the novel Shane is very
protective of the Starret family and their farm. Fletcher continuously tries his hardest to
provoke Joe into selling him his farm until Shane comes to town and begins
staying with the Joe and his family.
Shane encountered multiple altercations with other townspeople who are
supporters of Fletcher such as Chris and Stark Wilson. Shane gets into bar fights with both of these
men in order to protect Joe’s family. He
first gets into a brawl with Chris and it results in Shane breaking Chris’
arm. The other altercation with Stark
Wilson ends on a more serious note where Shane ends up killing him. Due to the seriousness of the situation Shane
decides it is time for him to leave town although Bob tries his hardest to
convince him otherwise. This marks how
Shane was a hero and protector in the novel.
Luis Eagle Warrior described the support behind a tribe and how a
reservation came together years ago to protect each other. He described how in the past when Indian
tribes were often attacked they needed to be alert and have protective
instincts at all times. Eagle Warrior
spoke of how whether the person lived or died it was an honor because no matter
they fought for their tribe and what they loved above all else. These give depictions of true heroes who
fought what they believed in no matter what the consequences were.
Indians on a reservation are rooted
there for life. They build their
families there and stay there indefinitely.
Eagle Warrior described the history behind his tribe and how they had
been residing there in Delaware for decades.
These related to Shane because
at the end of the novel when Shane leaves, Joe contemplates selling his farm to
Fletcher and moving on as well. Joe’s
wife, Marian, tells him that they can only move if he can uproot the posts that
Shane had put around the farm during his time with them. Joe says he cannot accomplish that task and
his wife responds by saying that they are rooted to their land and cannot
abandon it for the sake of their family and for Shane. Families form special memories in their homes
and moving is always a bittersweet feeling, these two examples portray just how
profound some memories can be that link a person or family to their home,
reservation or farm.
The lecture with Luis Eagle Warrior
and the novel Shane by Jack Schaefer
are two completely unrelated ideas that had many aspects in common. Luis Eagle Warrior describes the importance
of having pride in where you come from, protecting your own, and forming
permanent memories to your homeland.
Schaefer similarly depicts these points by the difference in clothing
between Shane and the townspeople, Shane’s protective instincts over the
Starret family and their farm, and how he made the family recognize their
connection to their farm. These main
ideas can been depicted in one’s own home and even here at Loyola. Loyola takes pride in being a Jesuit institution
that lives by the motto of “living for and with others”. As a student body Loyola students go above
and beyond to live up to this Jesuit belief.
Loyola protects its own as well as others. We come together and help fellow students in
need and their families when necessary, for instance with providing counseling
and support for those students whose families and relatives were badly affect
by Hurricane Sandy. Although I am only a
first year I can see from the way all the upperclassmen act and carry
themselves that they are rooted in Loyola and have a profound connection to
this school and the people around them.
My only wish is to gain this experience throughout my academic career at
Loyola.
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