Camp Oahe
In the later 1800s, and early 1900s, a new industry was born in Munsonville. The “Tourist’s
Guide-Book to the State of New Hampshire” was published in 1902. It listed summer hotels and boarding houses throughout the state. Summer resort hotels had been developed near the railroad stations a generation earlier. Now with improved roads it was a quick comfortable stage ride from the depots to lakes throughout the region. It was at about this time that Munsonville Pond became known as Granite Lake, during an apparently unorganized but widespread move to beautify the names of NH lakes to attract more visitors. To this day, tourism being New Hampshire’s largest industry.
Water had a new leading role in Munsonville as the 20th century arrived. Its beauty and recreational enticements were drawing visitors. Within a decade summer camps for youngsters were founded on the lake as well. Camp Oahe was opened at the other end of the lake by the Sioux Indian Ohiyesa – Dr. Charles A. Eastman.
Last year Charles Eastman was inducted into the 2010 YMCA Hall of Fame. He was also honored by Boston University Medical School with a posthumous Humanitarian Award for his efforts on behalf of Native Americans.
For more information on Eastman, see an an earlier blog post about him.
Cucchi also compiled a must-see video of historic Munsonville and Eastman which he posted on YouTube illustrated with historic photos.
He has since contacted the Flandreau Santee Dakota Sioux, descendants of Charles Eastman, who are angered that a cell tower has been proposed on "The Hill of Vision." According to Cucchi, Franky Jackson, a cultural anthropologist who heads the Cultural Committee and Tribal Council, has already been dealing with the FCC on Native American issues and is planning a trip to New Hampshire to protest the proposed AT&T cell tower.
Comments About Dr. Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa):
“In the process of bridging the gap between the traditional Indian world of his youth and the white world of his adult life, Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) managed to preserve the teachings of his forefathers; lessons today's world needs and thirsts for. It is a small miracle that these important spiritual teachings have been preserved for us....In its efforts to include American Indians in the 'melting pot,' the United States Government nearly destroyed a way of life. Much of what we learn about American Indian spirituality today must be interpreted through the often imperfect efforts of non-Indians. Learning from Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) is learning from the source.”
—James Trosper, Shoshone Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief
“[Charles Eastman] did succeed in becoming an educated man, but what he came to realize is that if you lose your culture and traditions, you lose your identity not only as an Indian, but as a part of society. He learned that in the end it didn't matter how educated he was if he was not helping his people.”—Adam Beach, native American actor, speaking in an interview with HBO about his role as Charles Eastman for the HBO Films productionBury My Heart at Wounded Knee
“Eastman was one of a very small number of Native Americans at the turn of the twentieth century to have authored book-length autobiographies in the modern Western tradition. As a founding member of the Society of American Indians (SAI), he belonged to the first official pan-Indian organization, served for a time as its president, and became a nationally recognized figure in support of Native causes. While he also worked for Anglo organizations such as the YMCA, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Carlisle School, his work always had strong Native American associations. Service of one kind or another was always central to his motivations.”—Drew Lopenzina, Sam Houston State University, American Indian Quarterly
“Reflecting both his long-standing immersion in the bureaucracy of colonial domination and his desire to act as a cultural mediator between whites and Native Americans, Charles Eastman's Indian Boyhood is a complex and intriguing work. Like a number of his contemporaries (writers such as Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, Zitkala-Ša, and Francis LaFlesche), Eastman set out to interpret Indian culture and identity for the benefit of his (hopefully sympathetic) white readership…At the same time, Eastman also frames his work as an autobiography, a sincere attempt to record, organize, and make sense of his own individual memories of the process of becoming "civilized." What is most interesting about Indian Boyhood is the complex way in which these personal and collective narratives intertwine.”—David J. Carlson, California State University, San Bernardino, American Indian Quarterly
“After Wounded Knee, the ghost-dance movement quickly faded and the peyote movement swept through Indian country. Charles Eastman,on the other hand, left Pine Ridge in 1892 and went on to emerge as the most influential American Indian writer of his time.” —Robert Allen Warrior, Oklahoma University, World Literature Today
“Ohiyesa, also known as Charles Alexander Eastman, was the first great American Indian author, publishing eleven books from 1902 until 1918. In his later adult life he was the foremost Indian spokesman of his day and his contribution to our understanding of the American Indian philosophy and religion are so significant that at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, Ohiyesa was presented a special medal honoring the most distinguished achievements by an American Indian....Eastman became the first and arguably the only American Indian to be raised until he was a young man in a completely traditional nomadic life, later receive both undergraduate and graduate college degrees and then continue to dedicate his life to the well being of his native peoples.”—Michael Fitzgerald, author of Indian Spirit, Spirit of Indian Women, and The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)
“The works of Ohiyesa are monumental treasures and must be appreciated for their singular nature. The chances of insight into the comprehensive Santee Sioux and plains Indian life is so slight. Given the crushing events of Ohiyesa’s time, the probability of finding another highly literate, fully knowledgeable member of Native society as well as American society like Ohiyesa, is miniscule.”—Janine Pease, founder of the Little Big Horn College
"On that clear winter morning when in command of the search part that had reached the scene of the battle (at Wounded Knee), Dr. Charles Eastman became momentarily a man cast between two worlds. One was the world of the Grandfathers and his youth that had perished at Wounded Knee; and the other was the world of his white benefactors with its confusion of religions; its rigid interpretation of what was truly civilized; and its disinclination to tolerate any treat to progress.”—Raymond Wilson, author of Ohiyesa: Charles Eastman, Santee Sioux
“Charles Alexander Eastman, the Sioux, Ohiyesa, is unique among Indian writers. No other writer moved so far culturally in a lifetime, from the tribal life of the Santee Sioux…to the white society of Dartmouth College and Boston University Medical School.... As a result, Eastman’s autobiographies, biographies and stories are told by him as he experienced and perceived them. His Indian contemporaries, on the other hand, have provided mainly "as told to" biographies, with all of the possible misunderstandings and misinterpretations which occur when there is a recorder or editor and often a translator as well.”—Anne Lee Stensland, University of Minnesota, Duluth, American Indian Quarterly
No comments:
Post a Comment