Dr. Flyswithhawks Lecture

     Since I was absent on 26 October I can only comment on Dr. Flyswithhawks presentation.
     Dr. Flyswithhawks is a very powerful speaker and obviously very educated.  Her stories of growing up and the challenges that she faced were very surprising to me.  Before hearing her and reading Reservation Blues, I had no idea that life on a reservation was like that.  I could definitely tell she is very passionate about passing her knowledge on and her life stories.  I got this feeling when she started to compare reservations and how Native Americans were put into them, to Adolf Hitler and what he did with the Jewish communities in Europe.  Thats a comparison that you don't hear on a regular basis.  The way Dr. Flyswithhawks presents herself and how she talks, I can tell that she seems to be a strong woman and determined to educate people on these events that are going on in our country.  It really makes me ask the question, why do we spend so much money on foreign aid to other countries, when we should focus on fixing these poverty stricken reservations that our own country men and women have lived on for generations?  After listening to Dr. Flyswithhawks, I have a whole new perspective on the Native American people and I am now aware of the fight they continue to struggle with day to day.
     Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie was a very interesting read.  There is a strong message in the novel about reservations and the problems they face.  His writing style is one that I found to be confusing at first, but once I caught on it was effective.  The confusing part was when he skips around from situation to situation, but somehow he relates them eventually.  The story line and everything was very interesting.  All the characters had an important part throughout the novel which made me remain interested in every problem that every character faced because I wanted to see how it ended.  Music and dreams are a huge part of the novel as well.  The different dreams the characters had seemed to help explain what just happened or gave me insight on what to expect.  Overall I thought the novel was very good and Sherman Alexie is a very powerful writer.