Cottonwood Tree Talks to Me: Creativity and Life of Juanita Espinosa

This article explores the creativity and life of Juanita Espinosa, the founder of the nation art circle for promoting the work of Native American artists. It discusses her inspirations, challenges, and contributions to the Native American community.

History
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Table of Contents
Summary of the main points.......................................................................................................................2
Quotes and Reasons to select.....................................................................................................................3
Questions for class discussion.....................................................................................................................3
Personal opinion..........................................................................................................................................4
References...................................................................................................................................................5

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Summary of the main points
The ‘Cottonwood Tree Talks to Me' demonstrate the creativity as well as the life of Juanita
Espinosa. Juanita was the founder as well as a prime mover of the nation art circle for promoting
the work of Native American artists (De Royer, Visser, Galudra, Pradhan & Van Noordwijk,
2015). She faced various adverse situations in forming her creativity. Juanita has been inspired
by her grandmother who was a unique person. In one of the public ceremony, Espinosa was
aware of the responsibilities of being an Indian. She believed that they were the epitome of their
ancestors and she was a Dakota woman of the people.
The Seneca Indians has been gathered in a huge longhouse named, the great tree of peace for
reciting the Great law that has been passed for safeguarding the peace as well as the harmony of
the community (McCoy, 2018). Laura Wittstock was one of the people who work for the people
of Seneca as it was her homeland. She belonged to the Haudenosaunee tribe which was known as
the Longhouse people. The false face society played a role in healing the people, and the
members wore a false face mask at the time of healing ceremonies (Wisecup, 2017). American
Indian Movement has been formed for protecting the Indians from the brutal police (Rable,
2018).
Faith Smith was a soft-spoken as well as dignified women who referred to as the president of
NAES College. She believed in the power of people. The Chicago Indian Center has been
opened for binding the people together through various ceremonies or things (Steinman, 2018).
NAES has been started to make a meaningful higher education for the children of Native Indians
by raising funds from the selling of art and crafts.

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Chrystos was a member of the Indian political movement who conveyed her thinking towards the
world in the form of books. There were problems of alcoholism in the reservation of Menominee
and thus, the people have to suffer a lot. Alcoholism has been chosen as a way of overcoming
despair by the people who were sexually abused or neglected (Utzinger et al., 2016). The writing
of Chrystos was influenced by the Beat poets. The native writers who belonged to different tribes
claimed for literacy as well as the power to explain their stories first. People could read the
native writing, and that made them both laugh and cry.
Quotes and Reasons to select
"To live is to be an artist, to be creative."
The reason for selecting the quote is that it is an inspirable quote for the creative artists as well as
it shows the way of living as an artist and the creation of art.
“The essence of legacy is to live a good life while fulfilling our responsibility to our community."
The main reason to select the quote is that it can be considered as a theme of the universe where
the people lived and survived for their next generations and sacred their life in fulfilling their
responsibilities towards their community.
“I joined Common Cause because I feel, we need to have an impact on institutions which
influence public policy."
The reason for selecting this is that it seems to be accessing the power of Indians on the
unstructured economy. It signifies the need for economic development for the lives of the Native
Indians.
Questions for class discussion

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Following are the four questions that could be discussed in the class:
1. What were the situations that have been faced by Juanita Espinosa while creating her
identity related to culture or Dakota women?
2. What was the main reason for forming the AIM and determine its major goals? Why did
Laura Wittstock Joined AIM?
3. Explain the problems or difficulties that have been faced by the different students of
NAES in their community?
4. What can be the effect of being a Native writer for the different tribes or community?
Personal opinion
As per my opinion, both men and women are equals, and they equally take part in the activities
of their lives. Our ancestors lived a legacy for the next generation so that they lived a good life
while performing their responsibility. The laws and movements are must for bringing the people
of the different community together. Women should raise their voice for gaining power in the
community so that they lived with peace and harmony. Alcoholism is not the way of overcoming
any despair, and thus, we need to involve in some of the activities such as writing poetry or
stories.

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References
De Royer, S., Visser, L. E., Galudra, G., Pradhan, U., & Van Noordwijk, M. (2015). Self-
identification of indigenous people in post-independence Indonesia: a historical analysis
in the context of REDD+. International Forestry Review, 17(3), 282-297.
McCoy, M. L. (2018). We Are Here: Powwow and Higher Education in North
Carolina. Southern Cultures, 24(4), 105-120.
Rable, G. C. (2018). Index to A Seneca Indian in the Union Army: The Civil War Letters of
Sergeant Isaac Newton Parker, 1861-1865.
Steinman, E. (2018). Why was Standing Rock and the# NoDAPL campaign so historic? Factors
affecting American Indian participation in social movement collaborations and
coalitions. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1-21.
Utzinger, L. M., Haukebo, J. E., Simonich, H., Wonderlich, S. A., Cao, L., Lavender, J. M., ... &
Crosby, R. D. (2016). A latent profile analysis of childhood trauma in women with
bulimia nervosa: associations with borderline personality disorder
psychopathology. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 49(7), 689-694.
Wisecup, K. (2017). Imprints: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the City of
Chicago by John N. Low. Native American and Indigenous Studies, 4(2), 103-104.