"John Wayne's Teeth" Alexie mocks the "greatest" cowboy of all-time. According to Jim Charles' essay "Contemporary American Indian Life in 'The Owl's Song' and 'Smoke Signals" "John Wayne's Teeth" is a humorous "49" song, this style of song comes from the Kiowa Indians but has spread throughout American Indian culture. The 49 refers to 1849, a time which is thought of nostalgically as the "good old days." These songs are traditionally sung at social Pow-Wow dances. Daniel Gelo's article "Powwow Patter: Indian Emcee Discourse on Power and Identity" provides further historical information about the "49" song's origins. At the 1911 Caddo County Fair there was a side-show titled "Girls of 49" this song was a tribute to the gold rush of 1849 (the origin of the San Francisco 49'ers). The Kiowa Indians were not allowed to attended these "49" side-shows, so they started their own "49's" Rather than focusing on the gold rush, these songs covered a wide range of topics from war journeys to non-sensical humorous powwow songs.
The order and graphics of your site is awesome. It makes it really interesting as a reader and splitting up each section with videos and pictures makes it easy reading as well.
ReplyDeleteYour writing is consistent and clear. I love your use of video and graphics on this page. I think you need a tiny bit more content, perhaps some quotes from the novel. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job comparing and contrasting the book and the film. I liked your videos, but I could not hear them...maybe just my computer? I agree that quotes would definitely help improve your site.
ReplyDeleteI really liked everything you discussed in here, and the depth you went into with the characters was really interesting. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI'm really impressed with the selection of media for this site and the compare/contrast of the movie and book is helpful and clear. More quotes/explanatory content in the beginning would make it even better.
ReplyDeleteI think more can be said about the comparison between the character in the novel. You have great media, but I think you could do more with the text.
ReplyDeleteGet rid of the extra Dr. Adams vid.
ReplyDeleteI too would like more quotes and comparisons. SS is a film, so try to bring the differnce the medium makes into your discussion. Good videos!