Nebraska...

There are a few states that I always forget, Nebraska is definitely one of them, a close second to Delaware. As chance would have it Nebraska has been popping up recently. This may have something to do with my research on Alice Fletcher or maybe I'm being drawn to the West. I'm currently revisiting Willa Cather's My Antonia and just finished Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent, where it is simply put that "Nebraska must be the most unexciting of all states." This declaration actually sparks some interest and a challenge. 

On October 21, 1881 Alice Fletcher describes Nebraska with slightly more tact than Mr. Bryson. She writes, "I would not have credited a story of how they looked , but when one is days away from any sight but these prairies, the sense of proportions becomes enfeebled and judgment erring until one learns to discount in judgment." It would be a great feeling if we could discount judgement but is it worth moving to Nebraska? Lets look, it doesn't seem that bad...I'm not sure if I would want to drive in a Cart with Oxen across 77,421 Sq. miles of open tundra but at least the state motto is "equality before the law" that is almost on par with "live free or die". Having never been there I can only assume that Nebraska surely can't be that bad...can it? The way Alice Fletcher depicts the landscape seems refreshing with the rest of the country under construction. It would be nice to see a slice of the west, the real, nothing but horizon line, no mountains, no skyscrapers. It might not be exciting but it is what it is which is  the best lesson of all. 

What do the Omaha and the Capitals Have in Common?

Last night the Washington Capitals played the New Jersey Devils at the Verizon Center ice rink. As my luck would have it the Capitals lost after a very intense hour leading to overtime and then a shoot out. If you ever have a chance to go to a big sports arena GO. There is really nothing like it, there is so much noise and heat. The days of a quaint stadium with family and friends is long gone. There are loud speakers, giant TVs, Burritos thrown into the audience, cowbells, movie clips and of course beer, beer and more beer.
Before the game my friend and I went hunting for the ceremonial red Capitals shirt to somehow prove to ourselves that we belonged or that we were from DC (both of us just moved here). Downtown was packed with signature memorabilia: Jerseys, flags, face paint. All we could see was Red. The adrenaline that comes from joining a throng of impassioned fans is daunting and electrifying.
This morning I still couldn't help thinking about the intensity of the game so I decided to see what Alice Fletcher had been up to on October 13Th...
The Omaha were preparing for a dance at Spotted Tail's. There is something familiar about her description of the ceremony, "all the Indians were in dress. Buffalo-chip put on his Indian dress, white shirt, blanket and ornaments, Mrs. Buffalo-chip painted her hair part and put on her large earrings and dress gay in color, and when the chief called, he too was in full dress, paint and feathers."* This instance is not unlike the preparation for a hockey game, the painting of the face, putting on the home jersey. There is a phenomenal amount of pride shown through the effort of ceremony and celebration. I'm not sure how Alice Fletcher participated in the dance other than watching but I'm sure it was a remarkable experience.

*Video of Capitals game: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=629427404&ref=ts#/video/video.php?v=151830532404&ref=mf

*http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fletcher

21st Century Horse

In my first few days in DC I was shocked when I was almost flattened by a flock of Segway's. If you have seen these tour groups then you know what I mean, it is one of the most awkward devises. For safety you wear helmets, shin pads and elbow pads...just some additional paraphernalia to make you look even more like an alien.
For a mere $70 you can take a Segway tour of DC. You'll have to keep up with the tour guide though other wise you'll be lost in Independence Ave. traffic. In the US Segway's cost between 5,000-7,000 smackers! Have Segway's become the 21st centuries version of a horse? I'm not sure if someone could ride a Segway across the US but it should be attempted!

Horses were important to the Native Americans because it showed wealth and power, we still have the same desires, its the vehicle that has changed.
On October 7, 1881 Alice Fletcher and her companions (a Mr. Tibbles and Suzette La Flesche) were traveling with the Omaha across the Niobrara River in Nebraska. They were traveling by horse. Fletcher writes that they "had to pay $1.25 toll...50 cents horse, 10 cents for passengers". Now this doesn't compare exactly to the rent of a Segway, or even driving through Delaware but it is an example of what transportation was like in 1881. It must have been exhausting to take a horse and buggy from Washington, DC to Nebraska as Alice Fletcher did.
There isn't anything exhausting about riding a Segway. We wonder why Americans have weight problems. We can't even walk from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

Then and Now

Through out her field diary* Alice Fletcher discovers the cultural and societal differences between her background and the Native Americans. Some of the most interesting instances in her writing reveal the relationship between men and women.

On October 5, 1881 Fletcher describes an instance of adultery, "[the] woman left her husband and went off to Spotted Tail. The husband appealed to the council and the council decided the woman must return and Spotted Tail give four horses to the husband who was poor." It was really that simple! This probably shocked spinster Alice Fletcher since adultery was still looked down upon and uncommon in the 1800's.

This issue got me thinking about affairs and divorce statistics in the US today. According to "Divorce Guide" the divorce rate has been consistently 50% for most first marriages. 50%! By the time college rolled around I remember being one of the few kids who had parents that were still together, go mom and dad! Should lasting relationships be in the minority or is something wrong? Today you can do everything you need on "Divorce Guide", with a simple click of the mouse you can fill out divorce papers online, get them faxed to you in 50 seconds or if you are more conventional FedEx can deliver them in two business days.

What then has become of our society? Are we that unhappy or are we simply bored? In 1881 the Native Americans handled marriage pretty similarly: something goes wrong, you go to court and there is a settlement. In their case it just happens to be live stock. The big difference however is that they don't make a big deal out of it, Spotted Tail wasn't challenged to a duel and the woman got back together with her husband. Their attitude is much less high strung, life happens, people will always be people. Maybe we should take something out of Spotted Tails affair: forgiveness and acceptance.

*(http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fletcher/fletcher.htm)

Discovering Alice Cunningham Fletcher

Sitting in a cubicle at the National Museum of Natural History all I can think about is Alice Cunningham Fletcher. On October 1, 1881 she was living in Nebraska with the Omaha Indians. I have been researching and reading the field work of this incredible woman for the past month and it dawned on me. Am I a modern day Alice Fletcher?

She started her journey out west in September 1881, 43 and single with an unquenchable desire to learn. She had no family and was one of the first women to study at Harvard. She was active in womens rights. Throughout her life she was refused jobs becasue she was a woman, this did not stop her efforts to help the Native American's adn practice Ethnology.
I also started my own journey to Washington, DC in September 2009, 20 and single to intern at the Smithsonian for a semester. I have a very different background, born in rural Vermont with a large family that has pushed and helped me to where I am today. Going to a women's college. So what do we have in common?
What we all have incommon, a desire to understand people and how and why we do what we do.

But what has changed? There are of course the obvious that an Excelsior field diary and a fountain pen have morphed over the years into a blog and that we have gone to space, invented the Segway, have microwavable meals and numerous other anomalies.

I want to look however at how people have changed or more importantly if people have changed. By juxtaposing what I experience in my life in DC and Alice Fletcher's life in Nebraska.

On this very day in 1881 Alice Fletcher wrote: "I went down to the river in the moonlight to bathe my face and comb my hair and think. The world seemed small, yet wide and empty and the stars too. Echoless, echoless."

There is nothing more empowering than going off on your own adventure and I feel comforted that Alice Fletcher is in a way guiding me through.