5 Powerful And Respectful Insights From Suzan Shown Harjo’s Last Rites for Indian Dead

Greetings, aspiring literary archaeologists! Are you currently wrestling with Suzan Shown Harjo’s powerful essay Last Rites for Indian Dead and feeling like you’re trying to decipher ancient hieroglyphs in the dark? Fear not, for StudyCreek is here to illuminate your path! (And if you’re pulling your hair out over your own magnum opus, remember our friends at DissertationHive are always ready to lend a hand).

Harjo’s essay is a masterful, and frankly, deeply unsettling, critique of the historical and ongoing desecration of Native American graves and cultural artifacts. But beyond the immediate shock, how do we, as literature students, dig into its rich layers of meaning? Let’s unearth some analytical gems!

First off, consider Harjo’s tone. Although the topic is doubtlessly beyond reproach and grave, there is a certain stinging irony and an almost sarcastic note that runs through the work. She writes with professional diction, of course, but she also writes to emphasize the absurdity and hypocrisy of how the dominant culture treats indigenous remains. Imagine her as a literary Indiana Jones, except that she is not digging up tombs, but fervently defending them, all the while presenting a stinging intellectual critique.

Then, we will discuss the rhetorical strategies. Harjo does not simply give facts; she makes a strong argument. Look for her use of:

• Pathos: What does she do to reach the emotions of the reader? Does she arouse anger, sorrow or injustice? Listen to how she describes the remains and how it affects Native people.
• Logos: Where does she present logical arguments and evidence? Then she appeals to the facts of history and legal precedent to illustrate her points and demonstrate the apparent violation of human rights and cultural dignity.
• Ethos: What is her credibility and authority on the subject? Her personal relationship and lifetime efforts as a Cheyenne and Hodulgee activist and writer give her words invaluable weight.

And don’t be afraid to look at the symbolism at work. What are the museums, the anthropologists, even the “scientists” in the Harjo story? And vice versa, what is the symbolism in the act of reburial? These are not merely literal actions, but they have implications of a more cultural and ideological character as well.

And, last but not least, there is the call to action in the essay. Harjo does not only complain but is demanding change. What does she want her readers to do? What does she hope to change attitudes and encourage a more reverent attitude towards indigenous tradition? It is here that the essay moves beyond analysis and becomes a strong agent of social justice.

Thus when you read the book Last Rites for Indian Dead, remember to see past the surface. Enhance the intellectual rigor, anger and humor that Harjo uses so well. And when you come up to the point of feeling inadequate to explain your own deep thoughts, keep in mind that you can always use a tool like StudyCreek to help refine your arguments and perfect your prose! Now away into battle get thee!

Read Suzan Shown Harjo’s “Last Rites for Indian Dead” and answer ALL OF the following questions.

1. What is the issue Harjo identifies? How extensive does she show it to be?
2. What is Harjo’s position on the issue? Where does she first state her position?
3.  Broadly speaking, is Harjo’s argument a claim of fact, a claim of value, or a claim of policy?(Most arguments have aspects of more than one type of claim, but which one best represents Harjo’s main argument? HINT: Look at the conclusion!)
4. What evidence does Harjo present to refute the claim that housing skeletal remains of Native Americans in museums is necessary for medical research and may benefit living Indians?
5. What types of evidence does Harjo use to support her argument? (Examples? Facts? Analogies? Etc.)
6. How does Harjo use her status as a Native American to enhance her position? What kind of rhetorical strategy is this? (Pathos, Ethos, or Logos?) And, do you think Harjo’s argument would be as credible if it were written by someone of another background?
7. How does Harjo appeal to the emotions of readers in the essay? What kind of rhetorical strategy is this? (Pathos, Ethos, or Logos?) In what ways do these strategies strengthen her logical reasons?

Analyzing Suzan Shown Harjo’s “Last Rites for Indian Dead”

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Suzan Shown Harjo presents the problem of Native American skeletal remains being possessed and exhibited in museums without regard to their cultural and spiritual importance. She demonstrates that the issue is widespread as thousands of remains in the United States were usually harvested without permission. Through the emphasis on the scale, Harjo is showing that the practice is entrenched at the academic and museum levels.

Harjo stands by her argument that the practice is unfair, disrespectful and needs to be terminated. She makes this evident at the very beginning of the paragraphs when she describes how Native Americans are the only group where the dead are not given the dignity of burial. Broadly speaking, Harjo’s main argument is a claim of policy, because she calls for action: the return and reburial of Native remains. While her argument contains elements of fact and value, the conclusion stresses a policy change.

To counter the claim that storing remains benefits medical research or Native communities, Harjo argues that such benefits are speculative and disrespectful. She clarifies how Native people have led healthy lifetimes without this study, and that no real gains, in the form of tangible benefits, have been accrued to their communities. Her evidence contains facts, examples and analogies, including a comparison of how Native remains are treated to how shocking it would be to store or display the bodies of other groups.

Harjo also appeals to her Native American status in order to gain credibility. This rhetorical appeal is ethos because her experience adds credibility to the argument that she lives. It would not be the same essay had it been written by any non-member of the community, as Harjo writes as an advocate and descendant of the actual people harmed.

Lastly, Harjo goes directly to the emotions of readers when she explains how the display of ancestors remains is an abomination and hurts the spiritual well-being of the people exhibiting them. This pathos builds her logical arguments and compels the readers to move their focus past the logical arguments and to empathy. Harjo uses ethos, pathos and logical evidence to create a convincing case which is not only just but also humane.