Apple: Skin to the Core

This section starts with “a version of the Two Row Wampum, the original treaty / agreement the Haudenosaunee made with the first Europeans / they encountered in their traditional territories” (215). That agreement, to live side by side without interfering with each other’s lifestyles, was formalized in a wampum belt. This belt is a famous part of Haudenosaunee history. The agreement between the Haudenosaunee and early settlers was intended to promote peace and friendship between the two communities forever. Although the white settlers agreed to this treaty, however, they didn’t honor their promise. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy still considers the Two Row Wampum, also called Gaswéñdah, a living treaty that must be respected to ensure ongoing mutual respect between the white settlers and the Haudenosaunee people.

Gansworth describes in this section how going to college was a major turning point in his life, emphasizing the book’s Coming of Age theme. He realized that he couldn’t live the life he wanted if he stayed on the reservation and worked difficult, low-paid jobs. College was his first real opportunity to be fully independent after growing up in such a large family (and such a small house). He doesn’t say so in the book, but the medical field that he studied was electroencephalography, which is a way to measure electrical activity in the brain. He felt that he needed to study something that would be useful to his reservation and something likely to lead to employment. He later realized that although becoming a writer and artist was a riskier career choice, it was what he actually wanted. Part of coming of age means being prepared to defy expectations, even when doing so is challenging.

The end of “Sun King” includes a verse in Tuscarora. No English translation is given. Because each rhyming poem in this section is intended to parallel the Beatles song of the same name, this verse echoes the final lines of the original song, which are a combination of words and phrases in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, along with some Liverpool slang. Together, these phrases are essentially nonsense. Gansworth’s version takes roughly the same approach, but uses phrases in Tuscarora. In a 2023 email exchange between SuperSummary and Gansworth, Gansworth explained:

The Tuscarora passages in my version of ‘Sun King’ are a combination of insular phrases and strings of words that will only be accessible within the community, a sort of ‘inside joke,’ as it were, in keeping with the Beatles’ choices. I imagine anyone well versed in Abbey Road will recognize the parallel and it’s my hope that anyone from home will get a little laugh, providing they use the same conversational phrases I was raised with.

As with all the rhyming sections, this verse follows the same meter as the original Beatles verse. In addition, this poem’s use of Tuscarora is an essential part of Gansworth’s reclaiming his true identity, foregrounding Reclamation of Identity as a theme. The original Beatles song is famous, so by creating a Tuscarora version, Gansworth brings a small part of his language and culture into the mainstream. The use of Tuscarora highlights the sounds and rhythms of this North American Indigenous language. By electing not to provide a translation of the text in the book, Gansworth ensures that a small part of his book is accessible only to members of his culture. English is the most widely spoken language in North America but is far from the only one. By prioritizing Tuscarora speakers, Gansworth takes a small step toward destabilizing English’s hegemonic position. The revitalization and continued use of Indigenous languages is a crucial part of Indigenous resistance to cultural genocide across Turtle Island (North America).

As always, this part of Gansworth’s journey thematically reckons with The Impact of Colonialism as he describes moving toward his college career. He encountered many barriers to access, including the cost of postsecondary education. The SATs are required for most college applicants, but they aren’t free, which can prevent students from applying to college even if they might be able to afford their tuition via financial aid and scholarships. When Gansworth found accessible education that worked for him, his future changed. Many young people, particularly in the US, either can’t afford to attend college or take on massive debt to pay their tuition. In addition, Gansworth briefly mentions the history of using the bodies of Indigenous people in medicine. This is a real practice that began in the 1700s and still impacts the medical systems in the US and Canada today.