There's No Place Like Home

We've finished our first book (House Made of Dawn by Momaday) for Life and Lit of the Southwest. Our discussion of this book has encompassed what my proffesor calls the Native American Plot. Friday, he stated something to the effec that no Native American can wrtie about Native America without a critque of Anglo America in the background. My notes question whether the two cultures are really as exteremly oppisite as that statement suggests. Now I must question myself. If he meant it literally, my question has valdiity. However, if it's more of a matter of perception then my question should change. Perhaps, he meant that the authors see the cultures as opposites and thus cannot keep out a critique of the other world. This meaning I have no problems with. I wonder what brought me to the point where a broad, yet vauge statement of a people's perceptions easier to believe than any statement of fact- hen really both are unproven suppositions.

Taken as such, the idea of opposing cultures is an interesting one. Dr. C gave examples such as the Anglo's disreagard for the land and its resources. In keeping with Momaday, who critcizes the lack of any sort of community in a city such as L.A., Dr C asked how a culture could turn pregnant immigrants away from hospitals because they don't have health insurance. Of course, I've never really thought about these things outside of the political arena, so I'm trying to grasp my mind around the idea that there is another way. How would these things funtion in the Native American world?