Professor Sonja Thomas’s lecture discussed the phenomena of Indian missionary priests coming to the United States- particularly to Native American reservations. As part of the lecture, Prof. Thomas incorporated components of her research process (e.g. positionality as a researcher and interest in the topic area). For this response paper, I will focus primarily on how the idea of storytelling and its significance as it relates to the theme of the presence of the past.
Professor Thomas explained that she views her research as an autoethnography because her research closely connects to her own life. Additionally, during her lecture, Professor Thomas mentioned one of her interviewees emphasizing the need to preserve her mother’s story of Catholic violence against indigenous people because she may be one of the last individuals with that story. I was struck by this idea because when I consider research projects in my academics I’m often most inclined to study things that are personally related to my own life or that I already have an existing connection to. Interestingly, Zaie Nursey, another student in the class, shared her mother’s similar experience with Catholicism in her own response paper. I mention this because I’m intrigued by how our upbringings, personal histories, and connections to topics and ideas uniquely position us to act as storytellers.
These stories may, in some cases, only be shared, discovered or even know by individuals close to the stories themselves. This connects to the theme of the presence of the past because it asks us to consider how the past gets shared across generations. How important are oral traditions in sharing and remembering the past? Written works? Cultural shifts and intonations? It also begs the question of who is the best person to tell these stories in the present? Given that those most knowledgable to these kinds of stories are often the closest to them, are they the best individuals to record this history? Will their personal connections, beliefs, and attitudes serve as more beneficial or detrimental?
In an effort to answer my own questions, I believe that all forms of sharing knowledge and tradition are likely important factors in remembering the past today. Every situation will be unique but, all recorded history helps us piece together the past as we view and utilize it today. In things like fundraising campaigns and politics, storytelling is often viewed as a powerful way to connect with others and share a message that they believe ought to be heard/supported. Secondly, I’d like to believe that the personal connections a researcher has to a topic ultimately allows for a more in-depth study. Especially, when the researcher, like Professor Thomas, makes a concerted effort to acknowledge their own positionality. Without these individual connections, the greater public might have little to no knowledge about somewhat obscure topics. On the flip side, it’s important to recognize that implicit biases and the desire to portray an image may be limiting factors in research processes.
In conclusion, Professor Sonja Thomas’s lecture forced me to consider the mechanisms through which we explore and integrate the past into our present. I think storytelling is a powerful way to share these stories over the course of time and may only be accessible (or of interest) to those closest to the origins themselves.