Answer
TWO of the following:
Q1:
After confronting the performers at the beginning of the essay, the author asks
herself (and us), “Was I also commoditizing my culture when I performed my
identity, or was I offering reverence to my ancestors? Could anything
profitable be authentic? Did any of this matter if you were simply trying to
survive?” (43). What do you think about this: if you get paid for a
performance, can it be real? And should you worry about authenticity if
you simply need to feed your family (or yourself)?
Q2:
How does the tribe in general feel about “chiefing” and do they actively
support it—or quietly discourage it? What makes it difficult for the tribe to
do away with chiefing entirely? Does the author suggest that they should—or
will—in the near future?
Q3:
The Museum of the Cherokee Indian is unique among many similar institutions in
that it requires “visitors to contemplate human suffering” (47). Why do you
think the museum takes this approach, when so many other museums try to present
history in a more general, non-offensive manner? Wouldn’t this risk offending
or alienating their audiences?
Q4:
The author says at the end of her essay that “their readiness to share so much
with their former tormentors might be one of the most radical acts of
forgiveness I know” (55). What makes this an act of “forgiveness,” and what do
you think the tribe hopes to accomplish by participating in these chiefing
activities? Do you agree, as some people do, that by “forgiving” their
oppressors they are merely perpetuating the cycle of injustice?
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