ONE WEEK IN THE USA: A TRAVELOGUE
This is a not an ordinary travelogue. I have just spent one
week in the USA. I flew in from London on American Airlines and left on Etihad
Airways.
All of the seven days were spent with American Indians, from
now referred as Indians. I touched the Non-Indian world briefly, for food and
transportation but friendships, joy, celebrations were carried out in the world
of the Indians.
Ethiopian Restaurant with an Indian friend, who has good
taste in food and wants to try various types of food and we went to this
Ethiopian Restaurant. It is amazing that the owners had left their country, for
whatever reason and now are cooking for a Midwestern USA population, hoping they would like the
Ethiopian Cuisine. It is not an exciting cuisine, the meat and bread (Injera)
based cuisine is hardy, does remind you of Africa. The spices are pungent
rather than smooth that you find in Asian Curries.
Drive to the Indian reservation on this sunny day was
pleasant enough. You pass through some small towns which have seen better days.
Vast tracks of land, stretching to the horizon. Loess hills which is a unique
form of sand hills, found only in three places on earth, guards you as you
drive up to the Reservation. Cars speed along the highway, otherwise there is
no sign of human presence,
The next three days we were busy looking after the health
and welfare of many Indians. Such an immersion (you are not here to do a “job”)
sees you in the front seat of the drama of symbolism, so obviously present in
their behavior and ways of thinking. All the patients without exceptions went
home happier, since we pay attention to what and where they need attention.
Here are some of
their explanatory models, which are so culturally bound.
:Now that I am older, they gave me too much food
:When there is no halushka (dance) my blood sugar goes up.
:I don’t feel good because I went drinking with my
girlfriend. (The explanation is not the obvious one, but the fact that the bar
he was drinking was raided and the police found an outstanding arrest warrant
from many years ago, thus he was incarcerated for 30 days)
Food is central to Health and Ill-health. Food has many
symbolic meanings for the Indians, which makes it somewhat difficult to eat
wisely or dieting.
In this isolated community of Indians, there are always some
ceremonies or “doings” during the week, especially during the weekends.
For American (Non-Indians) who may have rigid meanings to
their ceremonies ( going to a place of worship) or who have assimilated their
ceremonies to the mainstream modernism, it may be hard to imagine that small
communities of Indians carrying on their tradition and ceremonies, as they have
done for hundreds of years.
I attended one of them.
You do not need any special invitation. The level of your
participation is up to you. You can don the full regalia of a war dancer and
dance to your heart’s content or simply walk around the arena to the timing of
the drum. Or, wait your turn at the buffet table to be set. People who organize
these ceremonies are happy you are there, expect nothing in return.
A girl was turning four years of age, so it is a significant
birthday. The drum and the singers were going to sing war songs of yesteryears,
this is not done often. The proficient dancers welcome this, as would those
Indians who love to listen to these songs,
There were about 100 people present, people of all ages.
Many of the children were dressed in traditional dresses, as were many of the
adults. The dancers were in full regalia (it takes a while to don it, and you
need help). Grandmothers were braiding the hair of their granddaughters, girlfriends helping adjust the costumes of
their boyfriends, little boys and girls were running around while dressed in
homemade, bright, traditional dresses. A sense of togetherness pervaded, they
were affirming their cultural identity. I have long association with this
tribe, I noted with gratification that I was the only Non-Indian present.
Many tourists including Americans and Australians and
Europeans go to Vietnam and Thailand and visit the “hill tribes: where a
performance is put on, for a fee for the tourists. These very same tourists
would not take the time to look into their own backyards, whether it is
American Indians in USA, or Aboriginals in Australia or Bretons in France,
where the rich cultural traditions are maintained, not for show but for
affirmation of identity and a sense of togetherness, to assert the importance
of the collective over the individual.
Prayers are an integral part of the Indian life and
spirituality, the person organizing the ceremony, talks, bringing in the
culture of the tribe, the lineage of the family, importance of solidarity and
good will, he offers gratitude and prayers, this serving as a lesson for the
younger ones and the benefit of prayers
for all present, with its attendant ceremonies.
When the prayers and the ceremonies were over, often to the
accomplishment of the drums, while the fully ornamented dancers walked around,
the buffet table was set up. Food is served in a certain order, the elders are
served first and then they invite people in the order. It was gratifying to see
the children not growling but patiently awaiting their turn. I noticed also
that parcels of food were being made ready for the elders to take home. Tonight
it was a balanced meal of traditional and modern foods. I enjoyed the
traditional soup with hominy and meat, which was very tender.
Dance begins!
Even an outside like me, who is not an expert on the songs
of this tribe, I could feel the power and force of the dancers. I was told that
these beautiful songs are not sung that often, the dances that go with are
different, including the mocking of the enemy.
The girl whose birthday it was, was not at the centre of
attraction. They were being together to show their solidarity and affirm their
identity. Equality and lack of hierarchy are fundamental characteristics of the
Indians. There was special dance for the Little Girl, when all in the audience,
participated to show their respect for her.
The village is in the midst of a food desert, the nearest
restaurant or food store is a good 40 km away. I feel lucky that the nearby
town has two Thai (one good and one so-so) and a Vietnamese restaurant with
unchanging good quality food. In the week I was there I had three Thai meals
and one Viet meals and needless to say, when you are with Indians, you never
eat alone.
The highlight of the week was a visit to the home of an
Indian couple, in the company of four other Indians (who had all known each other for ages). We
had gone out to eat together earlier (at the Thai restaurant). I thoroughly
enjoyed observing them, while participating in the conversations and laughing
my guts out at the recall of stories and jokes so abundant among them.
I have to remind Europeans and Asian Indians that it is
important to know WHO you are and not WHAT you are. Those impressed by
qualifications and an engorged CV, would be attracted to the next bigger one.
Indians from the very beginning has taught me: pay attention to WHO you are. To
this day I am not interested in the quantitative aspects of people when I meet
them, but pay attention to the qualitative aspects of their character.
I was so happy to be among them, because they were all so
happy to be with each other. No one in America laughs the way Indians do, the
laughter arising out of the depth of their souls. Constantly, jokes, stories,
laughter were exchanged, each taking their turn spontaneously. Indians are very
family oriented and young adults join the older ones in these long hours of
conversation and laughter.
It is interesting to note that conversations tend to focus
on the welfare of the individuals within the tribe and also about the tribe
itself, and also our own personal efforts to better the ill health of the
people. The emphasis is never on the individual and always on the collective.
On the day I left the village, the local high school
basketball team had won the State Level championships. One of the elders
remarked, perhaps the work of all of us, over the years to prevent illness and
promote good health, teaching healthy lifestyle to the younger Indians were
bearing fruit, and boys and girls are beginning to show their prowess of their
knowledge about good health and lifestyle!
It felt gratifying.
The last time the championship was won by this high school
was back in 1940, a distant 75 years ago. The festive mood in the village was
palpable.
Almost one week to the hour of my arrival to the USA from
Bruxelles, Belgium, this flight takes off, taking me over the Loess Hills
formation (found in only three places on earth) in the direction of Chicago.
PS Within 40 hours
after that take off, I would arrive at Cochin International Airport, having
taken the 14 hour flight from Chicago to Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways and
connecting with a flight to Cochin. On
this geographical dislocation ( I thought to myself, I am going from Indians to
Indians), I made four new friends from Etihad Airways : a Tunisian, a
Palestinian with whom I had a lovely talk (if only our politicians can get
along as well as we did!), an Indian from Bombay as well as a Japanese from
Nagoya.
