tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post1925855059592900200..comments2024-03-27T14:08:51.191-05:00Comments on American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHTDebbie Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-63097855393611694632010-01-09T22:25:53.080-06:002010-01-09T22:25:53.080-06:00What I find a little disturbing in those quotes is...What I find a little disturbing in those quotes is the way the Native American histories and stories have been belittled. There was in fact a great flood that washed over the entire Northwest (Glacial Lake Missoula). I'm sure in the Puget Sound area there were also many floods throughout the centuries of this tribes existence. Fastening canoes to treetops for survival actually doesn't seem so far fetched when you consider that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-14438888993987614252009-06-20T07:48:22.975-05:002009-06-20T07:48:22.975-05:00i've read the series at least 63 times, and as...i've read the series at least 63 times, and as i read more of it, it got more racist every time i picked up the book. he, as in edward cullen, has been terroizing jacob. he's been calling him names, ands such but stephenie meyer, the author of this series, has had her religion secretly added to this. there has been accusations that the name"jacob black" came from the book of mormon as a curse. does this prove that the twilight saga is racist, or no?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-9665216994616858962009-06-08T07:02:37.247-05:002009-06-08T07:02:37.247-05:00Quileute Wolf Myths says that two monsters met on ...Quileute Wolf Myths says that two monsters met on occasion in massive battle at the boundary between Elwha and Quileute territory. Equally matched, they devastated a huge area and wounded one another grievously, but neither ever killed the other. After the last such fight, both monsters hobbled home to caves, walled themselves in, and cried over their injuries. The steaming hot tears of both have run off of their dens and amassed to make the Sol Duc and Olympic hot springs. The Quileutes named the monster whose tears make the Sol Duc Hot Springs a’lakil “the monster who cries in the woods”. Perhaps this is the the fabled battle between the wolves and vampires?<br />http://www.quileutes.com/quileute-legend/quileute-wolf-myths.htmlbkstiffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05810760421399551255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-83723040086690595782009-06-07T22:44:14.143-05:002009-06-07T22:44:14.143-05:00Yeah, I read two of the books, and wondered if the...Yeah, I read two of the books, and wondered if the Quiluetes were cool with Meyer basically making up fake legends about a real tribe. I mean, the balls on her. The tribe could probably sue.Ellienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-58011500487198800062008-11-16T23:04:00.000-06:002008-11-16T23:04:00.000-06:00I am very grateful to have found this site.I usual...I am very grateful to have found this site.<BR/>I usually do not blog,but the media hype about<BR/>this series and movie needs a reality check.<BR/>I am an elementary teacher and a mother of a <BR/>12 year old girl. My daughter brought Twilight<BR/>home from her middle school. As a concerned parent, I began reading it<BR/>and have since read the series in its entirety.<BR/>My daughter and I have had several discussions <BR/>concerning the sexual content and the lack of reality<BR/>when it comes to the Native American Quileute reservation<BR/>at LaPush, WA. She is not reading the rest of the series.<BR/> I live in Seattle and have studied, known,<BR/>taught etc about the Native American experience to elementary<BR/>students for quite a few years. I am not an expert,nor do I claim<BR/>to have all the answers. We vacation at LaPush at least once a year, and I am<BR/>struck by the natural beauty and the poverty of the reservation.<BR/>I was quite concerned by the inauthenticity regarding the Northwest<BR/>Native American stories. The book calls them werewolves, but they<BR/>are not the traditional full moon werewolf,rather they are protectors<BR/>of the "tribe". This distinction is not cleared up until the final book.<BR/> I have yet to hear or read such a story from the Northwest<BR/>Indian Clans. Most children/teens do not have the background knowledge to<BR/>separate fact from fiction when it comes to the beliefs, etc of Native American<BR/>This book just continues to provide misinformation.<BR/>As a mom trying to raise my daughter to feel good about her coming womanhood,<BR/>I am aghast at how the media is advertising Edward as some sort of gentleman,and refering to the<BR/>sexual tension as not about sex but about abstinence (give me a break)<BR/>Controlling and obsessive relationships are especially harmful to anyone at<BR/>any age. The book reads like a trash romance, and the characters are especially<BR/>self-centered. That Meyers refrains from references to alcohol, drugs, and swearing<BR/>keeps the books at the PG13 level, and also the movie. The theme is sexual tension<BR/>with overtones of sadism, and masochism. Sexual violence is also present, but it<BR/>is prettied up as a result of the Honeymoon experience in the final book. That<BR/>the media has marketed these books to kids as young as 10 and 11 is a travesty.Terri the teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17723720908260809504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-39585987454318991602008-08-22T11:25:00.000-05:002008-08-22T11:25:00.000-05:00In response to the last comment -- I would not go...In response to the last comment -- I would not go so far as to say that the vampires are not the heroes of the story. Meyer takes great measures to praise the Cullens in their ability to deny their natural urges and rise above their animalistic instincts. In so doing she paints the sparkly white vampires as "civilized". She then takes great measures to show how the Quileute werewolves have great difficulty quelling their animalistic sides. They are ruled by the animal within in a much less controlled and "civilized" manner. One might argue, that Meyer is unconsciously painting the Native werewolf as "primitive" and the white vampire as "civilized". To say the least, this is insulting. It becomes obvious that the Cullen family are definitely Meyer's heroes. <BR/><BR/>I understand how these themes can become embedded in the novel of anyone who has ever read or been taught from a standard American history textbook. Almost all textbooks write using the primitive to civilized continuum -when it would be better for everyone if this racist view of history was uprooted and challenged.<BR/><BR/>Meyer's Twilight Saga is the perfect example of how this primitive/civilized idea is still engrained in fiction. The more time the werewolves spent with the Cullens the more they began to take on some of their ways. Look at Seth - one of the most "endearing" werewolves, becomes so only because of his close relationship to the vampire family. While those werewolves who stay closest to their wolf family - Sam etc are closed-minded, dangerous, animals... Until Jacob, Leah and Seth can show them that the Cullens are really awesome people... That they are really the heroes of the story.<BR/><BR/>There are many aspects of these books that caught a raw nerve for me! Bella's weakness and need for rescue, Edward's dominant control over her to name a few more. But the portrayal of our Northwest Coastal Natives as wild animals with little control over their urges frustated/angered me most.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04855275908983334477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-43985695370529096392008-05-26T02:17:00.000-05:002008-05-26T02:17:00.000-05:00The vampires in this series are not the heroes. Th...The vampires in this series are not the heroes. The Cullens are attempting to exist while not hurting humans --- turning away from the very nature of being a vampire. The Native American tribe (some of whom are werewolves) protects the community from the "regular sort vampires" & has an uneasy alliance of sorts with the Cullens. Since werewolves & vampires are deadly enemies, it is difficult for the Native Americans who are also werewolves & the Cullens to tolerate each other. Add the complication of a competing love interest - Bella-- to both Jacob & Edward -- conflict is inevitable. As this series continues on, the Native Americans who are also werewolves join forces with Cullens to drive out a group of marading vampires from this area & save both the communities -- those on the reservation & in the city itself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-59249743193948739012008-05-23T16:11:00.000-05:002008-05-23T16:11:00.000-05:00It looks a bit like .... umm... vampirism when an ...It looks a bit like .... umm... vampirism when an outsider whose idea has run out of its own red cells & plasma is able to get a transfusion of sorts from indigenous traditions of which he/she has only the most superficial understanding.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-74544025234265337772008-05-23T12:04:00.000-05:002008-05-23T12:04:00.000-05:00Thanks, anonymous, for the note about correct spel...Thanks, anonymous, for the note about correct spelling of her name. I've made the correction.<BR/><BR/>DebbieDebbie Reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-15629630360426953202008-05-21T23:30:00.000-05:002008-05-21T23:30:00.000-05:00I find it interesting that stephenie uses the Abor...I find it interesting that stephenie uses the Aboriginal/Native American angle as a "hook" in her novel and her site makes claims that it will be a series with the potential of Rowlings'....stephenie parallels Rowling's hook into magic/supernatural based in English myth and boarding school ethos the fully developed in the literary mythos...tapping into the blood myths around Native American's in the American psyche is nothing new....or surprising....we know that Rice's vampire series was very much based in the loss of her child from a blood based disease and her own exploration of the meaning and value of blood in her writings.....the anxieties associated with blood/primitive peoples/west coast forests willderness (Forks = Men in Trees)are just so, well....EXCITING.... it will be interesting to see what develops in stephenie's writings since the LDS have some interesting theology around Native Americans and the settling of the west. We will watch to see the development of some of these mythical American relationships as they come out into the light of day/screen/page/WHY.<BR/>Ya godda start with the Indian stories, with blood....to get the hair on the back of the neck to stand up...I think they call it thrills.....drawing on colonial sentiment...for the blood....<BR/>but then I am not much of a horror flick chick....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-77541349488790164082008-05-21T11:28:00.000-05:002008-05-21T11:28:00.000-05:00her name is spelled: stephenie:)her name is spelled: stephenie<BR/>:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-53271929521738957972008-05-19T21:32:00.000-05:002008-05-19T21:32:00.000-05:00There's a community on Livejournal specifically fo...There's a community on Livejournal specifically for Native fans of the Twilight books: <A HREF="http://community.livejournal.com/twilight_ndnz/" REL="nofollow"><B>twilight_ndnz</B></A> <A HREF="http://community.livejournal.com/twilight_ndnz/profile" REL="nofollow">[profile] </A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com