Show Notes 105 A and B "Elements"
Hello, Agents, and welcome to the show notes!
As always, you can listen to this week’s episodes while you read along with the show notes by clicking here for 105 A and clicking here for 105 B. You can also click play on the embedded player below, if it appears for you.
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More important than any commentary or analysis regarding the themes in this week’s episode are the lives of the people that cultural misappropriation affects…
…so we’re putting the link to the Lenape non-profit organization that this week’s expert recommended right here at the top.
There were a whole lot of ~heavy themes~ this week.
But we were so grateful to be able to shine a light on not only general issues of cultural misappropriation but also the misrepresentation and homogenized representation of Native and Indigenous people in media, which is something that is rarely discussed or even addressed in mainstream discourse.
These show notes will address all of the issues we touched on, but don’t worry. It’s not all heavy! We still love Warehouse 13 and appreciate the lighter moments in the episode as well as the ways the episode helped to grow Pete and Myka as a team and as individual characters.
Let’s kick it off.
We started 105 A with an excerpt from the Tracks by Louise Erdrich. The excerpt is copied below. (The chapter is widely available online from many sources, so I feel comfortable posting it here also. Especially as it is for the purposes of quotation, criticism, and review.
C H A P T E R O N E
Winter 1912
Manitou-geezisohns
Little Spirit Sun
--
NANAPUSH
We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall. It was surprising there were so many of us left to die. For those who survived the spotted sickness from the south, our long fight west to the Nadouissioux land where we signed the treaty, and then a wind from the east, bringing exile in a storm of government papers, what descended from he north in 1912 seemed impossible.
By then, we thought disaster must surely have spent its force, that disease must have claimed all of the Anishinabe that the earth could hold and bury.
But the earth is limitless. And so is luck and so were our people once. Granddaughter, you are the child of the invisible, the ones who disappeared when, along with the first bitter punishments of early winter, a new sickness swept down.
To iterate what I already said in the podcast, I highly recommend that you read Tracks. It is fascinating, important, and beautifully written. Also, from a linguistic standpoint (for those interested in such things), it often applies some elements of Ojibwe language in astounding ways to Nanapush’s English-language narrations, which creates a really refreshing and new perspective on language than one would typically find in a novel with influences from only western/European languages.
While I do recommend it as a standalone novel—and you do not need to read any of the other novels to understand it (because it is set in the earliest part of the timeline of the series)-it is part of a tetralogy of novels. Here’s more information on the novels and writings of Louise Erdrich.
Despite an embarrassing amount of time spent researching this for you, I was unable to find an electronic version of the book to share with you. But it’s worth spending money on this truly excellent novel. Here it is for purchase as a paperback. You can also download it from Audible (with or without a membership) as part of a pair of audiobooks. The other audiobook is Louise Erdrich’s Four Souls, a standalone novel.
So, why include this specific excerpt in our podcast? Well, in addition to the reasons we discussed near the end of our discussion in 105 B, we felt that the points in this excerpt were deeply relevant to the issues we brought up in our own discussion and—more importantly—the issues that our brilliant and generous expert, Dr. John Norwood, brought up.
Let’s break this down.
“We started dying before the snow,” but the rest of the paragraph goes on to describe that they didn’t all die. Nanapush’s people—the Anishinabe—survived illness, Eurocentric colonization, and American Westward expansion. It brought heavy losses, but the Anishinabe (and indeed, native cultures more broadly) continue to survive. That’s one of the things that Miranda and I agreed was among the most vital to impress upon our listeners:
Native cultures continue to exist. It is harmful to treat native cultures as if they are relics of the past.
(Note: I know I spell Anishinabe without the double-a. I went with the spelling in Tracks. If the other is preferred, please let me know)
One important way you can take this to heart is by educating yourself about what native cultures exist in or around your area.
Because I promise there are native cultures that exist around you.
Here is the Wikipedia page detailing indigenous peoples around the world that may help contextualize more specific information that is linked below.
For the United States of America…
Here is a list of federally recognized tribal nations.
For Canada…
Here is a list of Canadian First Nations and their associated languages.
For Mexico…
Here’s what info I could find on Mexico’s indigenous population as well as a thorough Wikipedia page on the subject.
Moving on to South America…
Here is a list of the indigenous people of South America.
Now for Australia and New Zealand…
Here is information on the history and modern life of the indigenous people of Australia and New Zealand.
There are also indigenous populations in Europe!
That’s a complex subject that I can’t provide a single comprehensive page for, but here is the link to the entire Wikipedia category on the topic.
Two-thirds of the world’s 370 million indigenous people live in Asia…
…but they still face widespread non-recognition and marginalization. While I couldn’t find a separate page of information detailing the indigenous groups of Asia, there is a wealth of information on the page of indigenous peoples around the world at the top of this section. And here is an article about some of the issues facing those communities.
And in Africa…
There are indigenous people from island nations, as well
Finally, it’s also important to note that many native cultures don’t have official federal recognition, but that does not mean that they don’t exist.
Here is a list of those (for the United States).
This is why we say it is so important to recognize that indigenous and native peoples are still here, living, surviving all around us. It is so, so vital that we do not contribute to a culture that makes them feel invisible, when clearly there are so, so many people who deserve to be seen and heard.
This week, our Writer Appreciation Corner focused on Dana Baratta. Interestingly, this episode is her only “written by” credit for Warehouse 13. However, she remained a co-executive producer on the series for seven episodes.
We talked about how having so many writers credited for story and teleplay didn’t necessarily do this particular episode of television any favors. However, we also mentioned that seeing multiple people credited for writing an episode isn’t necessarily a negative thing. We mentioned Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as it provides many examples of well-written episodes with a lot of hands involved in crafting the script.
Those episodes are:
707 "Conversations with Dead People” (written by Jane Espenson and Drew Goddard)
#NightmareFuel
708 "Sleeper” (written by David Fury and Jane Espenson)
710 “Bring on the Night” (written by Marti Noxon and Douglas Petrie)
717 “Lies My Parents Told Me” (written by David Fury and Drew Goddard)
and 721 “End of Days” (written by Douglas Petrie and Jane Espenson)
Other notable episodes of the show that remain fan-favorites include (but are not limited to): 111 “Nightmares” (Story by Joss Whedon; Teleplay by David Greenwalt); 311 “Gingerbread” (Story by Thania St. John and Jane Espenson; Teleplay by Jane Espenson); and 221 “What’s My Line (Part 1)” (written by Howard Gordon and Marti Noxon).
Moral of the story? It’s tempting to think there’s too many cooks in the kitchen, but having many hands on a project is not a reliable indicator of poor quality. It’s all a matter of the writers’ ability to share a vision and work as a team.
We weren’t sure if the language in the opener was accurate (and based on the rest of the episode’s level of cultural accuracy, I highly doubt it would be), but here is some information about Lenape and Delaware languages.
Dr. Norwood also mentioned that many Algonkian tribes came from the Lenape people. There are many Algonkian tribes—among them the Ojibwe-speaking Anishinabe people featured in Tracks—but I’m unsure which amongst them are related to or descended from the Lenape. From what I am able to gather, an Algonkian tribal nation refers to those native groups and cultures that speak Algonkian languages.
When talking about the flute trills in the opening scenes of the episode, Miranda referenced that this is a common pan-Indian filmic trope about which she learned from the podcast Metis in Space—a podcast about indigenous representation in science fiction.
Click the picture to go to their website!
Shifting gears a bit…
I mentioned seeing a piece of art that I really liked sitting in a chair in Leena’s Bed and Breakfast. I tried to screenshot it for you all only to find that—as it turns out—its impossible to screenshot anything from Amazon prime on any device! If you try, you just get a big black square or rectangle saved as a picture! Thank goodness for you, dear listeners—for many reasons—but specifically at this time for coming together to solve this problem for me!
Thanks to the teamwork of @AslamChoudhury and @Zincstoat I can now tell you that the picture looks like this:
The picture is “Ophelia,” by Lyse Marion of Imagine Studio, Montreal, Canada.
Unfortunately for me and for anyone who shares my ~aesthetic~ the picture is no longer available for sale, but many other works from that artist are. Click their Etsy shop to find something that speaks to your soul.
Thanks again to @AslamChoudhury and @Zincstoat! I looked for hours to find that piece of art and couldn’t find anything. For your extraordinary retrieval of this artifact and for allowing me to catalogue it, I’m naming you Agents of the Month!
Speaking of art, Miranda references not understanding modern art and being a pre-Raphaelite type of lady. As for myself, I’m divided. I absolutely love art of all kinds and can spend hours looking at anything from antiquity through to the age of impressionism and surrealism…at which point my brain kind of breaks. I love half of modern art—especially paintings and half don’t understand it at all. I went to the MoMA once and had a great time until I was standing in a room where the lights were dimmed and there was a pole in the middle of the room with lots of heavy cannon-ball sized orbs scattered across the ground. I…did not understand what was happening. I still don’t understand what was happening. Art is vast and ever changing. It’s okay not to understand it all. If you’re interested in learning more about Modern Art, here’s some information straight from MoMA itself! And, from The Art Story, here are some terms to know.
Think that might be too much for you and you might be a Pre-Raphaelite kind of bloke? That’s chill. Here’s some information on what Pre-Raphaelite art is from the Tate Museum! Interestingly, the Tate’s first example of Pre-Raphaelite art is this painting:
This painting is also called Ophelia and is a work of Sir John Everett Millais
This is interesting not only because of the parallel to the painting from the B&B linked above, but also because of the connection to Myka that we’ll see in a future episode. This, my friends, is what we call a motif.
In the episode, Pete mentions wanting to see a Broadway show. As a theater fan myself, I can relate. If you’re one of the lucky people who can afford tickets to a Broadway show (or live close enough to wait in lines for more affordable rush tickets) here’s a list of the shows currently playing on Broadway.
In New York, Pete locks eyes with Lacell for the first time. We can’t blame ya, Pete. We also both found Lacell (or, rather, the actor who plays him) quite attractive. That actor’s name is Caleb Verzyden, and he does…not have an extensive filmography. Now, initially, Miranda and I tried researching him further to see if he was an actual Lenape person cast as a Lenape character. We were unable to find this information, but we did find something awesome, and in the episode we promised to share it with you:
Live your best life, man.
Y’all, he runs a lumberjack company now!!!!! His current hobbies include cutting down trees and sitting in front of the big pile of wood while smiling and wearing a suit. Go on, Caleb. Live your best life!
That was a fun interlude, but unfortunately, it’s time to return to the rather serious matters in the show.
Dr. Norwood talked about Powwow culture representing a specific cultural exchange within American tribal nations and not representing Native culture as a whole. Here is some information from the Nanticoke tribal nation on the matter and information from the Lenape people on the same matter.
For more information on the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation outside of powwow culture check out their online learning center and museum and their official website.
We also talk a little bit about now the Warehouse itself participates in the oppression of native peoples. Here is some information on the Native history of the South Dakota badlands on which Warehouse 13 resides.
There is a great joke about the band Earth Wind & Fire in the show.
But you know what’s not a joke? The way Artie conflates all Native creation myths as if they’re one thing. Here is some information on the real and multiple creation stories of the Lenape people.
Moving forward, we address the issue that is Jeff Weaver. On Jeff Weaver, I have this to say: Money isn’t a personality and Jeff is boring as heck. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Miranda wonders in the episode if Jeff is supposed to be some kind of White Savior figure. For those unfamiliar with the term, here’s what that means in relation to filmic and televisual storytelling.
In the Warehouse, Claudia solves Artie’s chess conundrum and Miranda and I talk about the deeply impressive nature of a person who understands chess. There is a beautiful film called The Dark Horse that I saw a few years ago that is deeply relevant to this episode. The movie is based on a real-life man named Genesis Potini who was a man of Maori (Native culture of New Zealand) descent who taught chess to underprivileged teens in Auckland New Zealand while homeless. It is moving and highly worth a watch.
We pick up in the hospital with Pete recovering and Myka dutifully standing watch over him. Myka mentions Jeff asked her on a date…
…and Pete tells Myka she’s pretty when she smiles.
It was a sweet moment (and a funny one when he calls her scary right after).
Miranda and I use the moment to talk about the problem of men telling women to smile (even though Pete was loopy and totally wasn’t the kind of bad guy we’re talking about in this particular situation). Here’s one of many, many think pieces on the subject.
After that, we get back to our super uncomfortable but necessary to talk about ~heavy themes~ where Artie tells Leena that the Lenape “sold Manhattan for $24 of arts and crafts.” The episode talks a lot about why this is such a problem. Here’s some more information on how indigenous understandings of land ownership differed from European views and lead to these kinds of insensitive summaries of complex histories.
Moving on to 105 B (Yes, those were ALL notes from 105 A, but don’t worry! The first part of 105 B involves a lot of me talking about how much I dislike Jeff Weaver and—while important, because he’s really, really boring—it isn’t a subject that lends itself to extensive show notes.)
Let’s give Pete a big shout out for pulling himself out of his hospital bed to get to work. Poor guy. In the show, he rips out his IV. Don’t do that. It’s a bad idea. It hurts and is super bad for you.
They talk about an artist named Walter Burleigh in the episode. The one in the episode is fictional for the show. But there was actually a real Walter Burleigh who is relevant, but he’s not an artist.
Spoiler alert: he was TERRIBLE.
The real dude lived after the dates relevant to this episode and he lived in a different area, but he did deal with native populations in the Dakota Territory and the native populations with whom he interacted hated him. I wonder if that was more of a plot point and was more accurately portrayed in an earlier draft of the episode and, if so, why, how, and when in the writing process it was changed.
In lighter news, Pete made a great I Love Lucy reference.
Fun fact about the famous “You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do” line from Ricky Ricardo in I Love Lucy: No character was ever allowed to make fun of or imitate Desi Arnaz’s accent aside from Lucy herself (for those who don’t know, the two were married in real life). This is because they were mindful even back then of allowing there to be a real joke that would exist in the lives of interracial romantic partners but also not allowing it to become an excuse to treat the minority character as a joke or a stereotype. You can find out more about that and other aspects of Lucille Ball’s life with Desi Arnaz (and without him) in Episodes 82 and 83 of The History Chicks.
Finally, Miranda and I talked a little bit about ley lines and telegraph lines. If listeners are interested in a great fantasy novel about ley lines, Miranda recommends The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. Bonus! It's queer. Second, the source of her information about telegraph cables and Australia having bad internet is a book called The Undersea Network by Nicole Starosielski.
That’s all I have for this episode.