Talk:Leslie Marmon Silko

Almanac of the Dead

I'm curious if whoever wrote the section about Almanac of the Dead receiving mixed reviews, and the subsequent reasons it was negatively reviewed, could cite the source(s)? I'm not saying I don't believe you, I would simply be interested in reading these reviews (I personally thought the book was beyond excellent). Particularly, I found the idea that the book has "villians" to be interesting; almost everyone in the book had a shadey or criminal past, the fact that a few of these (numerous) characters were gay could probably boil down to being merely statistically likely. -- Antepenultimate 23:21, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

• Unfortunately I don^t have access to ATHENS, MUSE or J-Stor at the moment, any of which would provide sources. When I get access again in January I^ll try to add sources. I didn^t mean to imply that the criticisms over sex and the Popul Vuh were the reason for the mixed reviews, though - there are a lot of reviews out there (e.g. Time`s review) which just plain think its poorly written and\or underedited. Vizjim 09:48, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
  • See http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v026/26.4romero.html. I'll quote a footnote in full: Almanac 's negative portrayal of men who desire men works against the acceptance and inclusiveness Silko advocates in her cross-cultural politics. Although Silko has stated in Yellow Woman that ancient Keresan culture was tolerant of, and at times even highly respected, same-sex desire and transgendered individuals (67), her portrayal of men who desire men in Almanac does not express this tolerance or respect. Perhaps, like Silko's use of the phrase "all things European," this gap in her politics indicates a tension between ancient American Indian traditions and contemporary practices in which Silko has internalized some of the homophobia of mainstream American culture despite her best intentions to follow more accepting ancient American Indian traditions. For further information on Almanac 's portrayal of same-sex desire, see Janet St. Clair, "Cannibal Queers: The Problematics of Metaphor in Almanac of the Dead, " in Leslie Marmon Silko: A Collection of Critical Essays (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1999), 207-22; and Tara Prince-Hughes, "Worlds In and Out of Balance: Alternative Genders and Gayness in the Almanac of the Dead and The Beet Queen, " in Literature and Homosexuality (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000). Vizjim 12:43, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Almanac of the Dead was published in 1991 and the Zapatista Rebellion ocurred in December 1994. I admit there are striking similarities, but I'd like to know how Alamac could possibly be a reference to this historical event since it was published several years earlier. Ohjeeztower (talk) 21:08, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Bibliography

Please could someone double-check the categorizations in the bibliography section? I am not that familiar with most of Silko's works other than the novels and the major collections. Vizjim 06:49, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

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Not enrolled

@User:CorbieVreccan I'm not seeing any sources definitely saying that Silko is enrolled either. I believe her father was, since he is described in some sources as serving as a tribal treasurer. But her complaints about being excluded for being "mixed-breed" and her seeming to not meet the Laguna blood quantum requirement indicates non-enrollment. I added some sources, but still looking for more. Bohemian Baltimore (talk) 23:00, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

@User:CorbieVreccan Her genealogy is a bit convoluted to follow, but from what I can tell she is claiming that her Laguna ancestry comes from her paternal grandfather. The surname Marmon is a European name going back to Ohio. I believe she is saying her paternal great-grandmother, Maria Anaya, was a Laguna woman who married a white man from Ohio who settled at the Laguna Pueblo and served as some sort of colonial administrator. This would be the mother of her father Lee Marmon's father Henry C. Marmon. I'm aware that online genealogy cannot be used as a source, but it's worth looking at to get a clearer picture of things (page 17 in link)...especially when the online genealogy seems to match what she has written herself. If it is true that her father's father's mother was Laguna, that makes her maybe one-eighth Laguna. That would be consistent with her father being one-quarter and potentially enrolled, but it would mean she couldn't be enrolled per Laguna Pueblo BQ requirements. The other Cherokee and "Plains Indian" ancestry she claims seems to be very distant and quite possibly just Pretendian stories from white ancestors. I have yet to see anything in writing saying that either her or her father were definitely enrolled. What do you think? Bohemian Baltimore (talk) 06:40, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

Like with other genealogical evidence, as with evaluating any source, we have to see if it's sourced: official tribal rolls, people indicated as Indian on census, military, social security, marriage, birth, death, and any other official documents. If those genealogy sites had sourced the trees with those types of documents cited, that would be different.

Unfortunately, the only one that cites sources is the Scribd one, and it's self-published. It doesn't link to the sources it names. It would take finding those actual sources and checking them see if they confirm the information. Cites for that section, however, are two links to other gedcom file by the same author, an unspecified LDS/familysearch link, and finally, a census, but no link. I admit I stopped looking at that point, due to what was being prioritized by the author. The author has not made this easy. The first two don't seem usable or legit. The other has to be dug up to confirm. Not looking good or transparent here, unfortunately.

I know she's respected. This is just unfortunate to see. If she's a descendant, we list her as such. But someone needs to see the actual censuses or there's just no evidence. *sigh* - CorbieVreccan ^☊ ☼ 19:23, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

@User:CorbieVreccan The article for Paula Gunn Allen says she was related to Silko. Do we know how? Bohemian Baltimore (talk) 21:00, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

I don't know. I'll check. - CorbieVreccan ^☊ ☼ 21:10, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

This is the source cited for them being related: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20736907. My access is partial through wikipedia and I can only see the preview. Someone with full access will need to go through and see if it cites the content - is there is a direct familial relationship or is this is a generalization of "relatives" only based on them both being Laguna descendants? For a general readership I think we should only call them "related" if it's the former. In Indian Country, in-group usage, the latter might be used, if they're both accepted in the community; but Wikipedia is written for a general audience. - CorbieVreccan ^☊ ☼ 21:25, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

@CorbieVreccan The source says on page 30 that she is a cousin: "Allen is related to Laguna writers Leslie Marmon Silko (cousin) and Carol Lee Sanchez (sister)." No further details. I don't see a citation. Bohemian Baltimore (talk) 21:43, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

Hmmm... without a cite, "cousin" might also be a generalization. It might be safest to just refer to them as both being of Laguna descent or something. - CorbieVreccan ^☊ ☼ 22:09, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

@CorbieVreccan Right, "cousin" could be 3rd cousin twice removed or maybe even someone not related by blood. Paula's great-grandfather was named Kenneth Gunn. The surname "Gunn" shows up on both of their genealogies, just not sure how it may link.

Okay - Leslie's great-grandfather was Robert Gunn Marmon, a white man from Ohio who settled on the Laguna Pueblo. Another link about Robert Gunn Marmon here: "...an Anglo transplant from Ohio who moved to Laguna in 1872 and learned Keresan fluently before marrying into the tribe...Accepted by the Laguna as one their own, in 1880 he became the first white man elected governor of a New Mexico pueblo and was later appointed captain of Company I, a New Mexico Cavalry regiment solely made up of Laguna tribal soldiers." The Marmon Battalion of the New Mexico Militia went to war against the Apache during the Apache Campaign. Silko's "A Geronimo Story" was based on her great-grandfather's campaign against Geronimo. When Silko writes that "The Marmons are very controversial even now...I think people that watch us watch us more closely than they do full-bloods or white people", this may be what she's referencing. Here's another source that describes her re-telling of the story, where scouts from Laguna Pueblo only pretend to hunt for Geronimo. This is disturbing, but probably explains why the Marmons were controversial. Bohemian Baltimore (talk) 01:43, 10 August 2023 (UTC)

@CorbieVreccan Maria Anaya/Analla's files and photos from the Carlisle Indian School. A letter she wrote is featured in the book "Boarding School Voices". Bohemian Baltimore (talk) 21:16, 9 August 2023 (UTC)