I mean, a discussion forum dedicated solely to discuss the relevant topic at hand - whether it be on federal indian policy, assimilation, the use of the word "Indian" and its alternatives - filled with people who want to learn, eager to discuss the topic, and have wonderful insights based on their personal experiences... it makes the intellectual in me drool, makes me 10 times more garrulous and eager to share info....it fills the intellectual yearning in my heart...pretty much perfect!
We were just discussing the topic of names and how one of our classmates has 2 names - one is her traditional/real name and the other is her government name. I quoted LeGuin (one of my favorite writers ever) in response. One of my classmates responded back with more LeGuin!:
Elizabeth:
There is a passage in Ursula LeGuin's book "Dancing at the Edge of the World" found in the her essay titled " A Non-Euclidean View of California as a Cold Place to Be" that I think of often. Ms. LeGuin wrote " What the Whites perceived as a wilderniess to be "tamed" was in fact better known to human beings than it has ever been since known and named. Every hill, every valley, creek, canyone, gulch, gully, draw, point, cliff, bluff, beach, bend, good-sized boulder, and tree of any character had its name, its place in the order of things. An order was perceived, of which the invader were entirely ignorant. Each of those names named, not a goal, not a place to get to but a place where one is: a center of the world."
Now I feel bad that, as a LeGuin aficionado, that I haven't read it yet. Link+ here I come. :)
