Two Old Women by Velma Wallis chronicles the tale of Ch'idzigyaah and Sa', elderly women from a band of nomads known as The People. While The People are making their annual winter journey in search of food, the chief decides to leave the women behind for the sake of the tribe. This is the custom of The People when the elderly become too weak for the arduous journey. No one fights for the womem; many are relieved not to have to care for the women anymore, not even family.
The short novel contains a number of layers that have to be peeled when examining this story. It is a combination of folklore, fairy tale and morality tale. Wallis dispels the common perception of what many individuals think Native Americans should be like, yet it remains true to the Native American literature motif. Wallis breaks stereotypes as to what many individuals have been taught from childhood about Indians.
In primary school, many are exposed to Indians for the time through Longfellow's Hiawatha; therefore, native people are teepee dwellers of the Plains and Western regions of the United States, wearing feathers and buckskin clothing, carrying tomahawks and using bows and arrows. In modern times, many tend to think of Indians confined to reservations in the lower 48 states and Canada.
However, Two Old Women transports them out of teepees and reservations, expanding long-held views of Native Americans. The story reminds readers that many North American tribes were once nomadic people, traipsing the continent in search of food for survival. The story also reminds us of Native Americans who dwell in Alaska, killing the notion of people living in igloos and spear fishing.
In addition to changing peoples idea of what Native Americans look like, Wallis writes this story as folklore. She says she wrote this story "because it not only taught [her] a lesson that [she] could use...but also becasue it was a story about [her] people and...past" (xii).
Wallis feels that this story, in addition to other stories she heard as a child, are gifts from her elders. Nevertheless, Wallis creates a female centric tale, placing the elderly women at the forefront of the story and endowing them with the extraordinary ability to survive harsh conditions while those who've abandoned them suffer.
Although the tribe seems to suffer from malnourishment, the women survive, and food appears as their savior at times in the story when they are hobbling toward death and are ready to give up. When the tree squirrel appears, it reminds me of the biblical account of Abraham and Isaac. As Abraham is about to sacrifice his son to God, a ram becomes caught in a bush to serve as a replacement for Isaac, sparing his life.
The women somehow muster the strength to recall outdoor skills and "ended the small animals life in one calculated throw with skill and hunting knowledge...not used in many seasons" (20). Thus, they acquire superhuman powers that are uncommon for those of advanced age.
Nevertheless, Two Old Women serves as a morality tale. The tribe abandon Ch'idzigyaah and Sa' because elderly are viewed as burdens and easy to discard. The People consider the aches and pains of the elderly as "character flaws" (4). The two women tell them that their actions, though, show "disrespect for elders" (14). The chief realizes his mistake when they locate two healthy women while the tribe is "half-starved" (113). Their survival teaches the lesson that dire consequences occur when you treat your elders like trash.
Like other Native American writers, Velma Wallis uses a mixture of folklore, fairy tales, and morality tales. Yet, because there seems to be very little Native literature out of Alaska, this book is eye-opening. Thus, Two Old Women educates readers about a different culture.
Source:
Wallis, Velma. Two Old Women. 1st ed. New York: HarperCollins.
