Full Description
When he was out playing Indian, enacting Hollywood-inspired scenarios, it never occurred to the child Roger Welsch that the little girl sitting next to him in school was Indian. A lifetime of learning later, Welsch's enthusiasm is undimmed, if somewhat more enlightened. In Embracing Fry Bread Welsch tells the story of his lifelong relationship with Native American culture, which, beginning in earnest with the study of linguistic practices of the Omaha tribe during a college anthropology course, resulted in his becoming an adopted member and kin of both the Omaha and the Pawnee tribes. With requisite humility and a healthy dose of humor, Welsch describes his long pilgrimage through Native life, from lessons in the vagaries of "Indian time" and the difficulties of reservation life, to the joy of being allowed to participate in special ceremonies and developing a deep and lasting love of fry bread. Navigating another culture is a complicated task, and Welsch shares his mistakes and successes with engaging candor. Through his serendipitous wanderings, he finds that the more he learns about Native culture the more he learns about himself—and about a way of life whose allure offers true insight into indigenous America.
Contents
Acknowledgments 1. First, a Story 2. Introduction 3. A Beginning 4. Beyond the Handgame 5. History, Long and Short 6. Who Are We? 7. The Call of Curiosity, Keep the Change 8. Enter the Wannabes 9. What's in a Name 10. Who Is "The Indian"? 11. Who Is the Wannabe? 12. The Contrary Lesson of the Prime Directive 13. First Steps 14. The Fix Is Out 15. Indian Wannabes 16. Gottabes 17. Becoming New 18. How It Goes, How It Went 19. The Plot Thickens 20. Why? 21. Gottabes Again 22. The Ways of Foodways 23. Carnivores Forever 24. Another World 25. The Consequences of Incuriosity 26. Symbols and Realities 27. Indian Humor 28. Names and Naming 29. The Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger of 1877 30. Names ... and Names 31. Matters of Faith 32. Deduction/Induction 33. What Is Indian Religion? 34. The Sun Dance 35. The Native Church 36. Inside Native Religion 37. Knowing What We Don't Know 38. What History Teaches Us 39. The Empty Frontier 40. Indians Today 41. Indians as Americans 42. The Land 43. The Real Wonder of It 44. Eloquence 45. From Presumed Inferiority to Rampant Egalitarianism 46. Time 47. Property and Gifts 48. The Gift of Giving 49. The Fabric of Sharing 50. The Spirit of Giving 51. Squaring the Circle 52. So, How Different Are We? 53. What We See 54. Indians and Deeper Truths 55. Conclusions 56. Repositories of Wisdom 57. What's in It for Indians? 58. So You Wannabe a Wannabe?
