“The Medicine Bag”

Read: Most Native Americans Live in Cities, Not Reservations. Here are Their Stories –
read the intro, and then select one of the “close-ups” to read.

Write 3 take-aways when reading the article and the end of the story:
-the adjustment to urban lifestyle is crippling for many Natives
-many natives are not educated in sustaining life in modern cities
-despite this the majority of Natives live in the city

Topic and Theme of “The Medicine Bag”: (10 minutes - individual)

Topics of the Story

-generational customs define the family

-the boy take pride in his grandpa and traditions he knows and passed
on

Theme of the Story The Medicine Bag by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve portrays the
message how traditions and customs of past generations passed down
on to present and future familial members majorly define the culture and
pride of the family. The author accomplishes this in the telling of Martin–
 who was once not interested in his grandfather’s past– and his
increasing appreciation and interest of his family's history.

-Families and communities heavily rely on the communication of past

traditions to continue the legacy and culture of the family.

Characterization: (20 minutes - groups)

Character (Highlight yours):

● Joe Iron Shell
● Martin

How are they

characterized -”We never showed our friends Grandpa’s picture. Not that we were
ashamed of him, but because
early in the we knew that the glamorous tales we told didn’t go with the real thing.”
story? Provide
examples. -does not share his culture because it is not like his friends who rave
about theirs

-he dismisses any information the grandfather shares as he is

uninterested
-

How does the

characterization
-He listens to the grandpa and his past tendencies with his family
shift over the -”“I kept the bag until my son, your mother’s father, was a man and had
course of the to leave us to fight in the
story? Provide war across the ocean. I gave him the bag, for I believed it would protect
examples. him in battle, but he did
not take it with him. He was afraid that he would lose it. He died in a
faraway place.”
-He becomes interested and extremely grateful of his grandpa for
sharing about their culture
–”“Thank you, Grandpa,” I said softly, and left with the bag in my hands.”

Conflicts – (5 mins):
What conflicts are present in the story (need multiple)?
● Man v man
● Man v self
● Man v society
● Man v nature
● Man v technology
● Man v supernatural

Example: There is man versus society conflict present in Into the Wild →
McCandless is in conflict with societal norms which he disagrees with, such as
a desire for materialism.

Martin is in conflict with his community because he does not want his friends to
view him differently since his Grandpa has a different cultural history than them.

Symbolism:
What is the symbolism of the medicine bag? Does it shift over time?

It symbolizes history and new additions that make up the family. It stays the
same with little additions; this represents the past family with the additions of
new family members.

Putting it Together:
After identifying shifts in characterization, conflicts, and symbolism, analyze
how these contribute to the themes which we determined earlier?

Bullet points are fine for this, but they need to be detailed. I’ve provided a
model below this box.

-In the Medicine Bag, Sneve expresses the message of acknowledging your
past and to not overlook the richness of it all
-the development and maintenance of the culture could be at risk if it is
overlooked
-Early on, Martin is someone who overlooks the richness of culture, he is
almost ashamed of it
-As the story develops, Martin gains an intense respect and interest about his
culture, specifically coming from his Grandfather’s recollections
-In the end, Martin realizes the significance of culture and is prideful to carry it
on for the rest of his family

Analysis Bullet Points of “The Shawl”

● Theme: In “The Shawl”, Erdrich expresses the power of reshaping stories
in native communities, and the influence of turning victimization into a
source of empowerment. She does so through the story of the daughter
being sacrificed to the wolves.
● Early in the story, the daughter is clearly the victim
○ She is the care-taker for the younger sibling
○ She does not receive equal affection from her mother
● The story is framed so that the daughter is the victim of the mother’s
choice to sacrifice her to save the baby
● As the story progresses, the narrator rethinks the story
○ Instead of the daughter being the victim, she might instead be the
hero who chose to sacrifice herself for the benefit of the mother and
the child
● Ultimately, the story of the daughter serves as a representation of
reshaping stories as a whole. It serves as a parallel to the native
communities that were victimized through forced movement, but have a
new opportunity as they acknowledge the generational trauma that
influences their communities.