SFF from Less-Represented Cultures

[The Bluestocking]

Getting back on topic, as a Native American, I find the description of Rebecca Roanhorse's series interesting. For once a Native American culture is not portrayed in an offensively stereotypical or belittling way. Hurray? It's kind of a low bar to clear, but still... I'd like to see more NA cultures portrayed correctly in sci-fi and fantasy, but alas J.K. Rowling currently dominates with her offensive renditions.

Rebecca Roanhorse's SIXTH WORLD series is SPECTACULAR - Maggie the monster-hunter awesome!

Roanhorse herself is Native American and her portrayal of Native American culture comes from a mix of her particular heritage (I think she's said before that she's Pueblo), her husband's culture (he's from a different Native American culture though I can't remember off-hand which tribe), and Navajo mythology. She's talked about this with my anti-violence against women nonprofit:

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What's interesting is when you compare her series with Faith Hunter's JANE YELLOWROCK and Patricia Briggs' MERCY THOMPSON series - Roanhorse's presentation and treatment of Native American culture and storytelling is helluva lot more organic and natural in feel. This is not to say that Hunter and Briggs have done a bad job with their Native American protagonists (they've done a superb job) but Maggie feels more authentic.

 

[OHB]

Roanhorse herself is Native American and her portrayal of Native American culture comes from a mix of her particular heritage (I think she's said before that she's Pueblo), her husband's culture (he's from a different Native American culture though I can't remember off-hand which tribe), and Navajo mythology.

Unfortunately, a number of Navajo writers have stated that her portrayal of Navajo religious practices is offensive. Her book apparently uses sacred objects as weapons, even though they should have no association with violence. They also stated that she made a mockery of their religious figures. I looked up the complaints against her book after another user pointed them out. I find it disheartening that she did not do her research before writing about another tribe's culture.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

"The best place for an artist to be is just outside their comfort zone." - David Bowie.

 

[hitmouse]

Unfortunately, a number of Navajo writers have stated that her portrayal of Navajo religious practices is offensive. Her book apparently uses sacred objects as weapons, even though they should have no association with violence. They also stated that she made a mockery of their religious figures. I looked up the complaints against her book after another user pointed them out. I find it disheartening that she did not do her research before writing about another tribe's culture.

Without taking a position on what may be culturally insensitive or on the literary merits of these books, do we know that the author did not do her research, or have some first-hand knowledge? The complainers may have a perspective that is not clear from published literature or that simply differs from that of the author. Equally, a potential offence may have been obvious, but the author may have simply decided to go with it. There are plenty of novels with a, shall we say, edgy take on better-known religion and culture, that are very likely to offend some, but which are not deliberately racist and which still have literary merit.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Yeah. Anything I write about Northern Ireland can cause offence to one or other side. All you can do is be honest to your own perspective on things

 

[The Bluestocking]

And while I think it is fair to point out that being black doesn't make you an expert on everything black (and the rest of it), it is a very fine line to walk as the people of the various diasporas on earth get enough "Oh you're not real X" as it is and deserve support, not endless questioning.

Yup. I grew up as part of the Chinese diaspora (or the "Overseas Chinese" as we sometimes call ourselves), specifically the Southeast Asian branch. And I heard this all the time: "Oh, you're not real Chinese because you don't speak Chinese at home with your parents" (Yes, because Malaysia is a post-colonial country where a whole generation of children attended missionary schools for their education and the language of government until the 1960s was English) or my own father telling me: "You're Chinese, so you will learn your Chinese and appreciate the Chinese food that we eat at home" despite the fact that we're Anglicised by our educations and environment. (For the record: I did go to Chinese school for 12 years because if I didn't learn Chinese, none of my grandparents would've been able to understand me because they didn't speak English)

The same thing happens betwen the writing members of the post-colonial/diaspora/marginalised cultures which are judged on their region (yes, an entire region) regardless of whether they are from different cultures or ethnicities:

"You wrote X about our culture but that is not true - you are not a real member because you're spreading these lies about it" OR for authors who write adjacent cultures in the same region (e.g. Okorafor making Binti Himba instead of Igbo), they get a double helping of scrutiny about authenticity because representation matters and all of us who are not from the dominant White Anglo-American and European cultures and traditions need to be extra careful to make sure we represent ourselves and other people and groups from our regions well.

In fact, I've just wrapped up a live YouTube session with Horror maestro Stephen Graham Jones (who is Blackfeet) whereby he addresses how #OwnVoices authors can and do write more authentically because they are immersed in the culture but can still get shot down by someone else from the same culture because everyone's experience of the culture is different:

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I'm writing Fantasy now which has plenty of riffs and influences from Japanese, Malaysian and other Pacific Rim mythologies, spearheaded and threaded together by Chinese myths and figures because that is my culture and what I grew up with (alongside Anglicised post-colonial education being the other main thread of my childhood).

Someone somewhere is bound to read my books (if they ever get published) and start going on about "I'm Chinese too and this woman writes absolutely rubbish about our myths!"

Well, that's THEIR perspective then. Because maybe they grew up Cantonese but I'm from a household that has Hakka, Cantonese, Fujianese, and Teochew traditions mixed in (every grandparent's lineage is from a different region - that's what you get when you're born in the Chinese diaspora).

It doesn't make my writing or portrayals of Chinese culture/mythological figures any less authentic.

 

[OHB]

Without taking a position on what may be culturally insensitive or on the literary merits of these books, do we know that the author did not do her research, or have some first-hand knowledge? The complainers may have a perspective that is not clear from published literature or that simply differs from that of the author. Equally, a potential offence may have been obvious, but the author may have simply decided to go with it. There are plenty of novels with a, shall we say, edgy take on better-known religion and culture, that are very likely to offend some, but which are not deliberately racist and which still have literary merit.

I'd encourage you to look up the complaints against her book. I could give my opinions, but I am not Navajo and it was not my religion she wrote about. It's best to hear straight from those who were offended as to why they were offended.

 

[Brian G Turner]

That's an interesting question - so going a little off-topic, I'd be interested in recommendations for own-voices accounts of the lifestyles and culture of Native Americans, before the arrival of the Europeans.

 

[The Big Peat]

Without taking a position on what may be culturally insensitive or on the literary merits of these books, do we know that the author did not do her research, or have some first-hand knowledge? The complainers may have a perspective that is not clear from published literature or that simply differs from that of the author. Equally, a potential offence may have been obvious, but the author may have simply decided to go with it. There are plenty of novels with a, shall we say, edgy take on better-known religion and culture, that are very likely to offend some, but which are not deliberately racist and which still have literary merit.

While I'd encourage you to do as OHB said and look at the complaints yourself, to avoid things being lost in translation (searching Rebecca Roanhorse Navajo has found a decent amount of content) - this blog here confirms that she did work with Navajo on the Navajo parts, and is indeed married to one. And in this article by her its clear she is fairly embedded in the Navajo - she's lived there for two years (possibly longer now), her child's first word was in the Navajo language, she's learned some of it herself, she's practised Navajo law. It's not that she didn't try or didn't have experience. And its not that there aren't Navajo who like the book.

At the risk of being wrong - my guess would be that part of this is that not all Navajo agree on what can be communicated to outsiders, or what are acceptable portrayals. In the blog I just linked, the writer talks about how "there are things that don't belong in books" and that there is "A curtain between what can be disclosed, and what cannot be disclosed." Well, some Navajo disclosed it to her. You can find some other criticisms here and here and a lot of them center on her representation of the divine, particularly in terms of the violence she has near them. Yet some Navajo are clearly alright with it - just like members of other religions differ on acceptable portrayals.

I don't know to what extent Roanhorse was unaware that some Navajo would dislike what she was doing or simply deciding she was okay with not pleasing everybody.

I do know that as a general rule, all fields of art would be a lot poorer if works of art that might offend on religious or cultural grounds were never done. But that's got to be balanced out by the fact not all cultures are equal - not all thrive equally, not all have the same concept of what's appropriate to share, and so on. What might be fair to change in one culture might not be fair in another - but then, there'll never be complete agreement in a culture.

 

[tinkerdan]

I think it is important to look at Roanhorse as fitting the criteria of the OP in that it is a person from a less represented culture writing stories.

I loved the books in that it has a good adventure vibe with a strong protagonist.
However, I was disappointed in the first novel in that it didn't offer anything new because it devolves into mostly another zombie apocalypse story.
Even though the main character was a strong female character I didn't feel the authenticity of the culture being depicted as being relevant to the story nor did I feel that the depiction was strong or even a strong driving force and that's what disappointed me the most. This could have been any tribe.

But this difference of opinion is exactly what writing and reading are all about; and the bottom line is that as an author she does belong in this category.

Read the books before letting other people judge for you.

 

[OHB]

I'd be interested in recommendations for own-voices accounts of the lifestyles and culture of Native Americans, before the arrival of the Europeans.

That'd be pretty hard to find given that Europeans came here first in the 1300s with the Vikings and then in 1492 with Columbus. Most tribes didn't develop written languages until the 1600s, so finding first-hand accounts from before those times is unlikely. If you mean that you're looking for books written by present-day Natives about their pre-colonial ancestors, I'd suggest looking at the websites of different tribal nations. They usually contain pages that discuss cultural traditions and history as well as sell books (usually on the "Tourism" pages) by tribe members. Here are a few in no particular order (other than listing my own people first):

Chahta/Choctaw Tribes:

Home - Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest Indian Nation in the United States with nearly 212,000 tribal members and more than 12,000 employees.

www.choctawnation.com

Books & CDs

Offering Choctaw Nation branded items, handcrafted Choctaw Artisan items and Made in Oklahoma items.

www.choctawstore.com

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

JBCI

Our Mission

www.jenachoctaw.org

Cherokee Tribes:

Cherokee Nation Home::Cherokee Nation Website

The Cherokee Nation is the federally-recognized government of the Cherokee people and has inherent sovereign status recognized by treaty and law.

www.cherokee.org

Cherokee Gift Shop | Oklahoma. Books And References

Books And References

cherokeegiftshop.com

Koasati/Coushatta Tribes:

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana

ALABAMA-COUSHATTA TRIBE OF TEXAS

Chikasha/Chickasaw Tribes:

Home | Chickasaw Nation

The Chickasaw Nation website is filled with the latest information regarding programs and services, events, facilities, history, culture and more.

www.chickasaw.net

Mvskoke/Muscogee/Creek Tribes:

Home - The Muscogee Nation

www.mcn-nsn.gov

Seminole Tribes:

Seminole Tribe of Florida

Seminole Tribe of Florida official homepage is dedicated to the rich history, culture, and services of the Florida Seminole Indians.

www.semtribe.com

Kaw/Kanza Tribes:

http://kawnation.com/

Wichita Tribes:

http://www.wichitatribe.com/default.aspx

Osage Tribes:

Osage Nation

Official website of the Osage Nation, a federally-recognized Native American government. Headquartered in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, approx. 60 miles northwest of Tulsa, Osage Nation exercises governmental jurisdiction over the Osage reservation, a more than 2200 square miles area extending from Tulsa...

www.osagenation-nsn.gov

Diné/Navajo Tribes:

https://www.discovernavajo.com/

Ho-Chunk/Winnebago Tribes:

Tribal Organization - Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is a tribal organization with a talented Tribal workforce who have helped grow our capabilities.

www.winnebagotribe.com

There are many, many more. If you're at all interested in current events surrounding tribal nations, some good sources of information are the Native American Rights Fund, Indianz, National Native News and its radio station Native Voice One, and Native News Online.

(This may be information overload. Sorry.)

 

[hitmouse]

While I'd encourage you to do as OHB said and look at the complaints yourself, to avoid things being lost in translation (searching Rebecca Roanhorse Navajo has found a decent amount of content) - this blog here confirms that she did work with Navajo on the Navajo parts, and is indeed married to one. And in this article by her its clear she is fairly embedded in the Navajo - she's lived there for two years (possibly longer now), her child's first word was in the Navajo language, she's learned some of it herself, she's practised Navajo law. It's not that she didn't try or didn't have experience. And its not that there aren't Navajo who like the book.

At the risk of being wrong - my guess would be that part of this is that not all Navajo agree on what can be communicated to outsiders, or what are acceptable portrayals. In the blog I just linked, the writer talks about how "there are things that don't belong in books" and that there is "A curtain between what can be disclosed, and what cannot be disclosed." Well, some Navajo disclosed it to her. You can find some other criticisms here and here and a lot of them center on her representation of the divine, particularly in terms of the violence she has near them. Yet some Navajo are clearly alright with it - just like members of other religions differ on acceptable portrayals.

I don't know to what extent Roanhorse was unaware that some Navajo would dislike what she was doing or simply deciding she was okay with not pleasing everybody.

I do know that as a general rule, all fields of art would be a lot poorer if works of art that might offend on religious or cultural grounds were never done. But that's got to be balanced out by the fact not all cultures are equal - not all thrive equally, not all have the same concept of what's appropriate to share, and so on. What might be fair to change in one culture might not be fair in another - but then, there'll never be complete agreement in a culture.

I will look her up. An interesting thought exercise occurred to me as I read your helpful post. Take another well-known novel, The Da Vinci Code, and in your post sustitute Dan Brown and The Roman Catholic Church for Roanhorse and Navaho. Making some allowances, the transposition works surprisingly well. I expect the points could be generalised to other works.

 

[soulsinging]

I'm writing Fantasy now which has plenty of riffs and influences from Japanese, Malaysian and other Pacific Rim mythologies, spearheaded and threaded together by Chinese myths and figures because that is my culture and what I grew up with (alongside Anglicised post-colonial education being the other main thread of my childhood).

Someone somewhere is bound to read my books (if they ever get published) and start going on about "I'm Chinese too and this woman writes absolutely rubbish about our myths!"

Well, that's THEIR perspective then. Because maybe they grew up Cantonese but I'm from a household that has Hakka, Cantonese, Fujianese, and Teochew traditions mixed in (every grandparent's lineage is from a different region - that's what you get when you're born in the Chinese diaspora).

It doesn't make my writing or portrayals of Chinese culture/mythological figures any less authentic.

I think this is getting towards what @tinkerdan mentioned earlier... that some of these readers might have problems with expectations. Namely, that just because literature is FROM the culture doesn't necessarily mean it's ABOUT the culture.

Readers don't quibble with CS Lewis or Tad Williams's representations of the Catholic church and dismiss their entire works because of inaccuracies in their version of the doctrine or function. That's in some part because the security of being part of the group that dominates the genre (western Christian) provides more license. When you're in some sense wearing the mantle of representing an under-represented culture, there's pressure to provide "accurate" portrayals of those cultures, no matter how counter-intuitive that idea is for speculative fiction. Why WOULDN'T a fantasy story present creative and novel takes on Chinese or Native American mythology in the same ways Williams plays with medieval church history?

I think the trouble is when you venture into cultures you're not "from," you run a great risk of relying on cliches and stereotypes that cheapen the work and the culture. That's why I think Rowling's take on Native American myth is more problematic than Roanhorse's. I'm not reading the latter to learn ABOUT Navajo culture, I'm reading it to see if/how that culture can offer new surprises in a well-traveled genre. On the flip side, I expect Rowling's take on Native American culture to reveal more about US/British views on such than any actual reality of it.