The first thing that came to mind after watching The 6th World was the idea of
the spiritual, of Navajo beliefs and traditions prevailing over science and
being the reason Smith and Redhouse reach Mars. The motif of the chant that
appears in both of Tazbah’s dreams, I feel symbolizes the idea of holding on to tradition being the key to survivance.
In Redhouse’s first dream, when all the other stalks of corn die, it is a
spiritual force and that chant that keep the one stalk alive. The message that I
took from the film was that the maintaining of traditions is really the only
way to keep you and your people alive. Smith and Tazbah try the scientific
route, which Smith assures will work, but when it fails, Tazbah does not blame
Smith but instead blames herself for not learning the ways of her ancestors who
were experienced in healing and medicine. It is traditional ways that
she realizes would be able to save them.
Tazbah keeps trying to shake of these old Navajo beliefs and
dreams. She starts telling Smith by saying “Some Navajo’s (not her) believe” but quickly disclaims
the legend by saying “I’m no hero.” In the same way, she alludes to her
dream, but disclaims that too when Smith advises her not to let dreams get to
her. I thought of the idea of thinkers and feelers and how people of colour are
very often seen as the ones who feel. In this particular film, Smith is
discouraging her from using her feelings or believing in myths, because
science is concrete and has been tried, tested ...but it fails. It is almost
like Smith and Bahe are working against one another. Bahe is in favour of them
going to Mars because of his belief in Redhouse being the one chosen to lead her people into the new world. He works
from tradition and beliefs, and is not in favour of genetically modifying corn.
His logic is very traditional: If corn stalks can be used on Earth then they
can be used on Mars. He is skeptical of the whole scientific process and seems
to expect the corn to fail, which is why he gives Redhouse the hidden
parcel of corn. This shows how he firmly believes in legends over any
science. Tradition and beliefs prevail when they end up using Navajo corn to
make more oxygen and start a colony to provide food on Mars. When Redhouse
places it, she has another dream, this time she sees herself singing the chant
again, holding corn and looking on Mars. The way she is dressed confirms that
she is the chosen one, that it is indeed her destiny to lead the Navajo to Mars,
and above all, that it is by Navajo ways, through Navajo beliefs and methods
that she is able to do this. Without her people’s corn, they would have died.
The corn and her chant managed to save them and pave way for other Navajo’s to
come to Mars. The entire story for me, is
an analogy of how important it is to keep stories and traditions alive within a
culture because they are essential to, not just the survival, but also the
continuation of a culture and heritage within a certain people.
Your point about holding onto tradition as the key to survivance is really interesting (and on point, I think). Something that really stood out to me from the film was at the end, when the text appeared on screen that read, "The sixth world. An origin story." The entire time watching the short film, I had imagined it as the future. As perhaps the gradual apocalypse of this world, and humans trying to find another one to colonize. Then all of the sudden it was an origin story. It was a beginning, not an ending. I realized I had been thinking of the story from my perspective, as an ending, but an ending to who? If it's an origin story, it's a beginning, but a beginning to who? It made me think about how there are beginnings and endings occurring all the time. An ending for one, is a beginning for another. There is constant movement and change, a lack of stagnancy. When there was the landscape image of the land on Mars, where supposedly humans were living, it looked futuristic from my perspective. It was a world different from mine, and yet there was corn. Corn stalks waving in the wind, an image that we see in history books at school, and images that exist today. In this world on Mars, a world that I don't recognize, there are corn stalks: a constant. Within this constantly moving world and time stream, there is corn, remaining constant and stable. This tradition, this cultural ancestry, remains stagnant through time. A marker and a support. It is the key to survivance.
ReplyDeletei really like how you touched on the balance between Tazbah and Bahe's perspective on the expedition to Mars. I feel like they represent two sides of the same coin in terms of their valuing of traditions and science. One side isn't necessarily better or more right than the other, but rather both support each other.
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