Note: all original writing (presented here) is copyrighted by the Library of Congress to Mary Magoulick. It may be used only according to copyright law and by permission of the author.

“HEY! GET UP! You got no relations here!”

Native American Humorous Narratives of Cultural Renewal in Michigan

In many Native American cultures people are overcoming centuries of oppression and attempted assimilation to reclaim their cultural heritage, and to build ethnicity that will shape lives meaningfully and with beauty. In Michigan=s Upper Peninsula (the U.P.), Ojibwe people reap the benefits of casinos and resultant political and economic power through processes of cultural regeneration.^[1] During this period of renewal, as Nishnaabeg return their focus to their Native American ethnicity, they often re-imagine themselves and re-think their own culture, along with the mainstream American culture. Affirmation of the worth and special nature of this renewed Native culture involves some mocking of the social institutions and imperfections within the dominant culture. Resultant humorous narratives, like those I will present and discuss here, reflect the process of cultural recuperation, affirming Native American values and worldview, while criticizing the dominant, non-Native culture, and providing direction and enjoyment to listeners.

Native American writer N. Scott Momaday describes processes of refashioning oneself as fundamental to the human experience when he writes: AWe are all, I suppose, at the most fundamental level what we imagine ourselves to be@ (1998: 3). He affirms culture as a dynamic process by which Aall@ of us make and potentially re-make ourselves. During fieldwork in the Eastern U.P., I saw numerous examples of self-imagining and of re-making of self and community that comprise general cultural renewal. Stories and jokes help facilitate such processes. Ojibwe writer Gerald Vizenor elaborates upon the power of stories to help in imagining lives, in his discussion of a similar statement by Momaday: AMomaday was talking about Indians, about Native American Indians, that the worst that can befall us is to go unimagined. And today, we are talking about the imagination of tribal stories, and the power of tribal stories to heal. Stories that enlighten and relieve and relive. Stories that create as they=re being told. And stories that overturn the burdens of our human existence@ (1993: ). Narratives play a role in stimulating cultural growth or renewal even as cultural renewal stimulates narratives. Such reciprocity reveals that neither narratives nor culture remains fixed. Neither determines the other, since both are processes as creative and mutable as life itself.

Renewal involves reconsidering, even mocking, mainstream culture as a way to achieve community. Sigmund Freud notes the effectiveness of jokes as a means of attacking social or moral imperfections. He writes that as Aa jest that betrays something serious,@ a joke can direct aggressiveness toward: Ainstitutions, people in their capacity as vehicles of institutions, dogmas of morality or religion, views of life which enjoy so much respect that objections to them can only be made under the mask of a joke and indeed of a joke concealed by its facade@ (Freud 1960: 107, 108-109). Thus we expect humor to serve effectively as a means for Native people to express anger at the dominant White culture. By specifically attacking Athe Whiteman,@ they also help build a portrait of Native people today. Keith Basso explains that: Ain all Indian cultures >the Whiteman= serves as a conspicuous vehicle for conceptions that define and characterize what >the Indian= is not . . . [and] constitute what Clyde Kluckhohn once described as >cultural portraits of ourselves=@ (1979, 5). These humorous narratives represent, reflect, and may stimulate the complex interactions between Natives and non-Natives (Indians and Whites).

In addition to attacking an Aother@ culture as a means of negative definition, jokes may also build culture positively. Jokes convey the importance and resonance of the emergence of culture, at the same time as they affirm the worth of living as a Nishnaabe. Dell Hymes recognizes such potential of humor in establishing or dissembling social order: AThe mind of man seems everywhere to analyze, and reassemble, something of the fabric of a cultural order, often in the mode of mockery@ (in Basso 1979: xiii). Jokes help build and affirm Athe fabric of cultural order.@

When I did fieldwork in the U.P., one consultant, John Cappa, delighted in telling me a series of humorous narratives, shortly after he had discussed the overall importance of humor in Native life. He explains the mood in many talking circles, and the fear he has of some people mocking the circles or not taking them in a good way^[2]:

It=s not an entertainment time for the people in there. But you do have elements of laughter. You do have elements of humor that goes along with that. It=s not like Sunday 10:00 o'clock morning masses, when you have to go in there and be very, very quiet. Heaven forbid don=t even chew anything. [laughs] I always found that bizarre, and when the priest was up there trying to be humorous, you don=t know whether to laugh, or you=re not supposed to laugh, you know. You look around and finally somebody laughs, and, AOh yeah, that=s funny.@

It=s not funny anymore, you know [laughing], and we do exactly the opposite. Be who you are in that circle. If the moment hits you as the time to laugh, AYeah.@ Because those [jokes/humor] are part of teaching. It=s a way of people. It=s not one day, but everyday and night, nighttime.

John affirms that spirituality is a way of life not limited to one day of the week (as he perceives to be the case in Catholicism). As something more all encompassing, spirituality, like all aspects of Native life, may include humor. As opposed to the unnatural and uncomfortable injection of humor in mass, John feels Native humor flows naturally in various situations. For John humor doesn=t fit in mass, but it does in talking circles, demonstrating the superiority of such ceremonies for Natives. John has thus established a context in which his listeners may feel good about the positive nature of Native humor while he also establishes a negative frame for non-Native culture.

After this discussion of humor, John broke into performative mode to relate a series of four humorous narratives. The first pokes fun at NASACand by proxy our Western pride in science and technology. The second and third jokes mock Western religion, even to the point of making Jesus Christ the joker, and the final one mocks Whites who are over-zealous and in John=s opinion inappropriate in their appreciation of Indian culture.

John=s first joke pits NASA B representative of the highest technological achievements of America and Western culture generally B against the humble, traditional Native people. Here is John=s telling of the first joke.^[3]

JOKE #1 B Cow Bones on the Moon

The people went up to the moon,

and one of the instructions that they were told

that the astronauts were told, was that

AWhen you go up to that moon,

the first thing that you=re doing up there,

[unclear word] bring [back] elements from the moon.@

That would be rocks,

moon dust

and everything else.

So upon their return they brought a sample of these things. 10

So with the high, sophisticated equipment that NASA has

they sifted through every molecule of things they found up there.

And upon their amazement, while sifting, they came across some objects.

And they didn=t know what they were.

And they looked and looked at them,

And finally one of the, ah, scientists made a lot of, you know,

an identification that said, AThis is a bone, an animal bone. Wow!@

And he just could not figure out why,

why they would have this bone on the moon.

So they thought and thought and thought. 20

Finally somebody says, AYou know, the Native people have been here [the moon], so they say,@

Of course they [ the Natives] didn't know.

Cause they ah [were there] more than three thousand years [ago],

you know ten thousand years.

AMaybe they would know.@ [quiet voice he uses for scientists B slightly excited]

So they said, AWell, why not? Let=s go and ask them.@

So they went around and they found that there just happened to be a gathering not too very far from Houston, an Indian gathering.

So they went over there, and they had asked if they could ask the head people what they wanted to know. 31

So somebody directed, telling them to go to those four elders that were

down there.

They motioned those elders to come on up, cause they [the scientists] weren=t allowed to come into the circle.

So they were talking up on the hill.

And they had asked these elders what they had found [on the moon].

So all the old people looked at one another and says, AOh, okay.@

And as a good tradition, they=re not gonna tell you the answer right away.

AWe=ll let you know.@ [in the voice of an elder B slower and deeper] 40

So the NASA people says AOkay!@ [with excitement]

So the elders went back down [to their circle].

They commenced to talk about it a little while, while these guys, up on the hill, NASA, were preparing for this answer.

So they got all the cameras and everything else, all stage lights ready

and microphones all set.

We people are real fanatic about microphones

[He worried about our microphone before & during our interview]

Mary: [laughs a little]

John: I don=t why! [sarcastically; he also laughs] 50

But they were all setting up there.

And then meantime, the ah, Nishnaabeg were down on the hill

[Note that he refers to all Indians as Nishnaabeg]

Talking about,

Oh they=d forgotten these guys up there,

Talking about the finalities of the day and

What those women were doing over there.

And finally one of those elders says,

AHey wait a minute [in an elder-like voice]

We gotta go back up der@ [he says Ader@B pronounced Adare@ B for Athere@ as dialect of an elder for whom English would be a second language]

He says, AOh yeah!@ [John laughs] 60

So they went back up and so the people that asked,

The NASA people asked, AWell did you come up with an answer?

Why, why are there animal bones on the moon?@

By this time these guys forgot about the question.

And they=re standing around there.

So one of the guys raised their hand,

And he thought he had to raise his hand

cause that=s the way they B white people B understood things,

to raise their hand.

So B pshew! B all the cameras went on him 70

and lights came on, microphones came on, electricity,

ASo why is that, why is there bones found on the moon?@

[in an excited scientist voice]

Nishnaabe thought for a long time and he says,

[dramatic pause]

AWell, they have [in a deep and slow elder=s voice]

they have been up there,

for a long time,@ he says.

And he said, AThe only thing that we can come up with is B

one cow didn=t make it.@

[We both laugh]

So, the NASA tied up all their little things and went away. 79

The plot of NASA scientists coming to a gathering of some Native people in the hopes they may have insight into their unsolvable mystery reveals inadequacies of the pinnacle of western science, but also the potential superiority of Native culture. After exhausting all their resources as to how animal bones could be found on the moon, the scientists decide to ask the Natives because of their oral tradition of having visited the moon thousands of years ago. The scientists wait expectantly with all their cameras and microphones turned on, only to receive the punch line that, AOne cow didn=t make it,@ referring to the nursery rhyme line that Athe cow jumped over the moon.@

Much of the joke=s significance can be found in the details of John=s narrative. For instance, he elaborates upon scientific instruments and knowledge of NASA and their eagerness for an answer (ll. 41-46). With all their Aelectricity@ and other impressive technology, the scientists still cannot figure out everything (ll. 11-12). They come in earnest supplication to Native people to get answers (ll. 20-31). John emphasizes that in trying to understand what they collected on the moon, NASA uses every means at its disposal: ASo with the high, sophisticated equipment that NASA has, they sifted through every molecule of things they found up there@ (ll. 11-12). As meticulous as they are in their methods, they cannot figure out their puzzle.

Their urgent hurry to determine the Atruth@ of what is on the moon contrasts with the Native people, who are relaxed and ultimately unconcerned with the puzzle. The Native people sit in a circle gossiping and joking all day (ll. 51-56). The Nishnaabeg are thereby depicted as having a better sense of themselves and the world. Although the scientists are Aabove,@ apparently on a hill (l. 51-2, 61), the Natives appear centered, literally and figuratively, as opposed to the scientists who wait at the fringes, excited, intense, and running about in hopes of understanding the universe (or at least this one part of it). John even changes his voice to represent the over-excited scientists to convey this sense of urgency (ll. 26, 41, 73). In marked contrast, the Native people feel no sense of urgency and his voice is slower and deeper when portraying the elders (ll. 40, 74). They make the scientists wait, as part of their Agood tradition@: AAnd as a good tradition, they=re not gonna tell you the answer right away, >We=ll let you know,=@ the elder says (ll. 39-40). They spend the day entirely unconcerned with the problem that perplexes NASA: AAnd then meantime, the ah Nishnaabeg were down on the hill talking about, oh they=d forgotten these guys up there, talking about the finalities of the day and what those women were doing over there@ (ll. 52-55). Their concerns are both more mundane B what the women are doing B and more centered and human finally B Athe finalities of the day.@ They even forget the question (l. 64).

The nursery rhyme punch line reference feels appropriate since even with all their technology, the scientists appear more like children than sophisticated men from NASA (indicated by their excitement, curiosity, and impatience). Faced with a puzzle and nowhere to turn, they think of Nishnaabeg, because of rumors of their superior knowledge, potentially even of the cosmos itself. John relates a belief that Native people may have visited the moon Amore than three thousand years, you know ten thousand years,@ so AMaybe they [the Native people] would know@ (ll. 21-26). In contrast to the childlike nature of the men from NASA, the Nishnaabeg they seek out are specified as Aelders.@ In the end we realize that the elders have been toying with the scientists, offering a European nursery rhyme as mock explanation for why a cow=s bone should be found on the moon. The NASA men do not exhibit any humor: ASo, the NASA men tied up all their little things and went away@ (l. 79). His phrasing Aall their little things@ deflates the would-be giants of science. This joke thus minimizes and mocks the importance of one of the most prized institutions of Western Civilization. After attacking science, John continues in this vein, now turning his attention to the other pillar of our civilization B religion.

The next joke mocks further White self-importance, while simultaneously confirming the worth and humor of Native culture and ceremonies. John prepares us for his attitude about Catholicism by explaining some of his own negative experiences with church attitudes and actions toward his people:

We like to, as much as the Catholics and the Jesuits made fun of us,

and called us Apagans@ [says this word with disgust]

and everything else,

We in turn are getting wiser in our old age,

and we say, AYeah, hey, we have some for them,@ you know.

Being called Apagans@ was unfair and distasteful, along with Aeverything else@ suffered by Native people. Thus John feels justified in offering jokes that turn the tables.

So he begins his Pope joke, in which the Pope tries to make amends by apologizing to Nishnaabeg and Aletting them@ practice their ceremonies.

JOKE #2 B Easter Eggs

The day came when the POPE decided to apologize to Nishnaabeg,

Said, AWe are sorry that, all the things we have said.

We=re gonna, we=re gonna make amends,

and the, you people can have your ceremonies.@

Notice he says Ayou people,@ you know,

categorizing us still.

Says, AYou people can still have your ceremonies@

And he puts on a little crying, crying jag, you know.

Popes don=t cry, not supposed to.

[John sighs and clears his throat]

So, so the Native people went ahead [practicing their ceremonies] 10

And then the high priests came over to the ceremonies,

And they wanted to know,

These are the high priests of way up there,

And they, they wanted to know

from the spiritual leaders of the Nishnaabeg,

what was their idea, of Christ rising on Easter Sunday.

So they caught the elder=s, the spiritual leader=s attention right off the bat.

And he says, Ayou know,@

So all the ears of the high priests

listened right away, 20

said, Ahuh oh, something=s gonna be

said here. In our revelation of our teaching

we have taught these savages something.@

The elder turned around and says,

Ayou know, that if the greatest phenomenon that happens on that day, it is that day, that mystery, for all Indian people, we still wonder today, is that,

why, why is it that our rabbits lay eggs on that day B

that are colored?@ 28

The extent of the damage and bad feelings caused by the Catholic Church in regard to Nishnaabeg is so great that it requires the Pope himself to redress the wrongs. Yet even in the current climate of apology, John notes a hypocritical message encoded within the Pope=s speech when he refers to the Nishnaabeg as, Ayou people@ (ll. 4-5). The Pope tries to show his sincerity by crying, but John shows he doesn=t believe it by his phrasing, Ahe puts on a little crying, crying jag,@ and by his disgust when he says, APopes don=t cry, not supposed to@ (ll. 8-9). His Aputting it on@ indicates it may not be sincere and it=s a Ajag,@ or a spree, not something he necessarily really feels or would do outside this particular circumstance.

As this narrative continues, some Church leaders approach the Native people in supplication. As with NASA, some of the highest, most honored members of non-Native culture seek out the Native people and recognize their wisdom. Even the Ahigh priests of way up there@ come to the leaders of the Nishnaabeg to learn Atheir idea@ (ll. 11-16). As in the NASA story, the Native people taunt the religious leaders with the notion that they are serious and indicate that they have an idea about the holiest of Christian holidays, Easter: AThe high priests of way up there / . . .wanted to know / from the spiritual leaders of the Nishnaabeg, / what was their idea of Christ rising on Easter Sunday@ (ll. 13-16). As the Nishnaabe elder, a spiritual leader, begins to answer, Aall the ears of the high priests / listened right away,@ in the belief that they=re going to hear their own glory parroted back at them (ll. 19-20). The priests think, AIn our revelation of our teaching / we have taught these savages something@ (ll. 22-23). Predictably, the priests are wrong and the great mystery that the Native people finally inquire about is revealed in the punch line, AWhy is it that our rabbits lay eggs on that day B that are colored?@ (ll. 25-28). It=s unclear whether John meant to say that rabbits laid the Easter Eggs (as in the Cadbury chocolate commercials from Easter time) or whether he meant to ask why chickens lay eggs that are colored on that day. That he would confuse some of the details of the Western holiday only emphasizes his rejection of the dominant culture.

As in the first joke, this final line in the mouth of a Nishnaabe elder ends with bathos. This silly question deflates the hopes and self-importance of the priests as the NASA joke had done that of the scientists. The imbedded message is for white people to stop taking their concern with the ATruth@ so seriously, whether it is Truth according to religion or science. In both cases, as well, the use of children=s folklore signals how the Whites appear to the Nishnaabeg. In critiquing two of the most believed and valued institutions of Western Civilization, these narratives further serve to affirm Nishnaabe culture, which demonstrates levity and an implied ability to live happily without worrying so seriously about the truth.

Feeling that he is on a roll, John wishes to keep telling these humorous stories. Quickly after delivering that punch line, while I am still laughing, he asks:

Do you want to hear another one?

Mary: Sure!

John: [laughs again]

It was on that fateful day [in a dramatic voice]

John is now officially recognizing his own breakthrough into performance. After the success of the first two stories, he wants to keep going. Interestingly he started out by approaching this interview reluctantly, not sure he wanted this on tape. Now he consciously takes up the tone of the master storyteller, using a framing device (a classic opening line) to begin another story, of indeed, the most fateful day in Christianity.^[4]

The joke he then delivered also focuses on religion, this time putting the punch line in the mouth of Jesus Christ himself. This time the setting is Good Friday, for which John gives the Ojibwe term, thus signaling a Native element to Christianity=s holiest day and setting us up for the appropriation of Jesus himself as sympathetic to Natives. In setting up the joke, John also emphasizes the brutality of the act of killing their savior.

JOKE #3 B Even Jesus Jokes

It was on that fateful day

on what they call,

k'chi dojiibaatiibuyiigiguk B Good Friday

And it was on that day,

These people put this good man to death,

They put him to death in such a barbaric way,

I mean they nailed this man to the cross.

Indian people never do that. Never.

First, we never had nails.

They nailed this man to the cross. 10

He focuses upon the Abarbaric@ nature of the act for which, by implication, all non-Native people share the burden. John is certain that Nishnaabe people Anever@ would have committed such brutalities (for which he offers what he considers the proof that Afirst, we never had nails@B l. 9). This supports John=s overall message of the worth, even superiority, of Nishnaabe culture. He continues with his narration:

The man was thirsty so they gave him something that

made him more thirsty, made it more painful, gave him vinegar. [sighs]

So while this man was lying, was on the cross,

S p r e a d out,

The clouds are coming in real low

Lots of people watching this [whispering]

And in his weak, weak, deathly voice

He [Christ] says, APeter . . .

Peter . . . @

And his voice seemed like it echoed 20

Because there was a silence,

that sorrow, what not.

People, some of the people laughing.

It=s going on and all a sudden,

Peter hears his voice [spoken with excitement]

So he came through the crowd [spoken quickly]

And pushing, he=s,

AExcuse me, get out of the way! Get outta the way! Come on!

The LORD wants to see me, the Lord wants me!@

He goes over there and he looks up, and, AYes, lord?@ 30

Man who=s on the cross says,

APeter [whispering]

I can see your house from here.@

In his telling, John continues with his disgust at the barbaric nature of the crucifixion. He draws out Christ=s agony, as when he is given vinegar when he was so thirsty (ll. 11-12). His emphasis on this Abarbaric@ behavior demonstrates the hypocrisy of non-Natives who so often have characterized Native culture as savage and inferior even while sharing such a story of torturing and killing their own God. In a dramatic, pained voice, John portrays Christ calling for Peter, who is full of self-importance and seriousness (ll. 18-22). Peter rushes to answer Athe Lord=s@ request to see him, pushing ahead and saying: AThe LORD wants to see me, the Lord wants me!@ (ll. 26-29). As in the previous jokes, we are led to expect to hear some profoundly meaningful words, perhaps even more so this time. John encourages this expectation by dragging out the words and phrasing and trying to build the drama with pauses between words, whispering, detailing the weakness of Christ, the sorrow of the crowd, and the echo of Christ=s voice because of the silence around him. Yet, perhaps remembering the story the way the priests told it and wanting to make it believable, John allows for some levity to the situation in the people laughing before the spectacle (further demonstrating their own delusion B l. 23).

In spite of the expectation of profundity, like the words of Nishnaabeg characters in previous jokes, Jesus= final line deflates those expectations when he whispers in his dying breath to Peter: AI can see your house from here@ (l. 33). As the deliverer of the punch line, Jesus thus parallels and demonstrates his sympathy with the Nishnaabe point of view and humor. Yet John as narrator refers to him as AMan who=s on the cross,@ in contrast to how Peter describes him emphatically as Athe LORD@ (ll. 31, 29). Peter=s sense of self-importance and urgency matches that of NASA and the priests, as he pushes others out of the way to hear the last words of his lord. Associating levity with the darkest, most serious hours of Christianity confirms a point that John made earlier, that no event, no way of experiencing the world should be without humor. John emphasizes that he heard this joke from Aa very spiritual woman.@^[5] Hence humor does not indicate an inability to value, understand, and experience spirituality, religion, or other important matters; rather it implies that even spiritual matters may be treated with a sense of humor. It also affirms that Nishnaabeg, like Christ here, are just people. This relieves some pressure for them to be super-human or perfect (which John indicated at various times B including in the last joke he=ll tell in this cycle B was an implicit burden he felt from many Whites wanting to learn about his culture).

John breaks out of narrative mode to offer an explanation of the importance of ceremonies at just this point in his joke cycle:

Ceremonies, ceremonies are real important things,

important factor for Native people.

It=s a time for renewal,

It=s a time for rejuvenation

It=s not a time to

to put all your

put all your things in one.