Post 26: “Survival”

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal —

December 4, 1982 – EXCELLENT

“The family went out for a trip. A blizzard hit & they found a cabin. Charles went out for game & he passed out. A wanted Indian helped him home. A sheriff who is looking for him is in the cabin too. He makes the Indian put away his rifle & ties him up. He gets away. Later he brings back the deer. He is shot. Charles takes care of him. The sheriff leaves and doesn’t tell about it. At the end he waves to Charles as they are leaving.”

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From Tracy —

Ah the redemption of the Native American in pop culture! When did it officially begin? Was it with literature and the “noble savage” archetype in the late 1800s? Or did it begin when Native Americans “occupied” Alcatraz in 1969 (Ironic since tribes stayed well clear of the island in centuries past as it was “cursed.”) My vote would be for this 1970 “Keep America Beautiful” TV commercial which saturated my consciousness as a child:

But for LHOP’s sake, let’s grin and say it was this episode that marks the beginning of real political correctness towards our country’s natives. All through it Pa Ingalls is noble towards the noble savage and strikes out against the law. The real Pa Ingalls actually was squatting on Indian land in the beloved “Little House in the Big Woods,” hoping against hope the Indians would move. They didn’t.

However if I’m honest, the real interest for me as a little girl watching this episode was not the poor Indian fugitive. It was the horses! Was Pa really going to shoot them and feed them to his family? What a choice! And then at the very end Laura narrates to describe THREE WEEKS passing before they can get out of that damned cabin. After one week, I would have slashed my wrists and fed the blood to Carrie. Then Pa could spare the horses.

Ah, I hear my pioneer forebears turning over in their graves. Right alongside my Cherokee forebears.
Sorry guys. I know I’m a bitter disappointment.

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From Anne —

Thanks for the Iron Eyes Cody link, Tra. What a generation-defining PSA. Apparently, Cody was Italian — not even Indian. At least the dude who plays the Sioux in this episode is of Algonquin origin, IMDB says.

I found myself distracted by the fashions in this episode. The fabulous deerhide cape on Lame Horse. The cute crocheted hats on the girls. The loving gesture of Ma wrapping the scarf around Pa. Winter affords this kind of apparel opportunity, both expressive and strategic. No doubt the racist ranger wouldn’t have been frost bitten had he had the Sioux’s boots.

With all the interest in preppers and doomsday-ers, it seems like we all ought to be ready to slay the horses, so to speak. I can’t promise I’d be as ready as Pa (I’d first want to exhaust all vegetarian options — tree bark, anyone?), but tough times call for all kinds of choices. Perhaps they all should have roasted the racist. Forgive me, I just saw Django Unchained — and am feeling a little raw about race. Some alliances and emnities have no explanation.

We leave you with a fascinating read about Little House, race, history and the present in one of my favorite magazines, believermag.com