The United States Army General's Knowledge and the Native American Chief's Wisdom
I hope you enjoy this entry.
upsidedowncarl@earthlink.com
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This is a story that a college professor told a class I was in that I feel has real depth to its meaning.
The setting is the plains in the Midwest as the United States Government was in the final phases of conquering the Native Americans. A general from the American army and a Native American chief are standing in the middle of the wide-open desert plains. There are mountains off towards the horizon in the west.
The two are having a conversation. The general has been explaining to the chief how much more the western Europeans know than the Native Americans.
Finally, after hearing all the general has to say about the subject and all his reasons for thinking this to be true the chief draws a circle in the sand around them that is about 4 feet in diameter and says, “if this circle represents how much my people know…”
And then he draws another circle far larger surrounding the first circle. The second circle is about 30 feet in diameter, and he continues, “and this circle represents how much your people know…”
And then he simply turns in a circle pointing to the vastness of the horizon and describes the circle of the horizon surrounding them in all directions, as he finishes his thought, “then this circle represents how much your people do not know.”
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posted by upsidedowncarl at 3/13/2006 02:44:00 PM
2 Comments:
I'm trying to figure out what this story is supposed to illustrate. I see a Native American Chief kind of one-upping an arrogant US Army General who had been doing a little one-upmanship himself on the Chief. But at the end of the story, the Chief points to the horizon and indicates that it contains all that which "you" do not know. If the Chief said, "we" instead of "you", I would have more sympathy for the Chief. Instead, I just find him snarky.
Can you explain?
Lauren
9:17 AM, March 14, 2006
Hey Lauren,
Good to hear from you. And I have to admit, you always seem to find something interesting to present.
I guess I will start with the word “snarky”. I love the way this word sounds. How expressive! What does it mean? I wonder if the chief of a people in the process of being conquered would mind the idea that he came off as “snarky”, while having a conversation with one of his conquerors? ☺
But really, I feel it is unfortunate if the story does not come across as well in writing as it does when you see this story depicted in person. The gestures that go with the story are sort of important.
The chief has already drawn a circle that completely envelops a smaller circle to represent that all the knowledge of the Native Americans is contained inside the circle that represents the knowledge of his Western European conquerors. Perhaps this was not clear enough from my presentation.
But the meaning of a story like this is supposed to be contained in its transmission. It is meant to be interpreted by the people hearing or reading it. What the story means to each individual is up for interpretation and if you have a different interpretation of the story than I do, I think that is fine. If, for you, the chief comes off as having an attitude because he uses the term “you” instead of “we” when referring to how much more there is to be known in the universe, then that might be quite a valid perspective
Perhaps it is how I told it that is problematic for you but I always felt that the emphasis was on how much more there is to be known and how life’s mysteries are sometimes unknowable. I always felt that there was a sense of reverence and respect for life in that concept. But I would say, feel free to feel what ever you like about the story, the chief and my presentation of the story. Anyone who tells you that you are wrong to feel a certain way about something might not understand what feelings are.
Take care and thanks for your interesting comments and your participation.
upsidedowncarl
2:26 AM, March 15, 2006
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