I found the book like a mix between Rigoberta Menchú, Subcomandante Marcos, and the Popol Vuh. It had the myth telling aspect like the Popol Vuh did, explaining how things are the way they are and are done, as well as instructions to how to do things. Like with Rigoberta Menchu’s book Kopenawa’s book is also written in an oral story telling way. Reading it can feeling hearing someone speaking to you and telling story instead of actually reading printed words on a page. Also like Menchu Kopenawa describes the personal pain and suffering that has impacted his life as a direct result of land invaders and abusive authorities. His mother died, his people’s ancestral territory has been invaded and stolen, and his culture is under attack. Like with Subcomandante Marcos’s book Falling Sky is a book trying to make the world away of the injustices going on in their countries. I did find it a bit confusing sometimes though so I had some trouble keeping track of the thread of the story at times. I found that things bounced around a bit.

When Kopenawa was describing the disease epidemics, the missionaries pushing christianity on the native population, and the taking of children reminded me so much about what happened in Canada when Europeans came. Just reading parts of this could be Canadian history if I did not know better. It just makes me think about how different things would be today if when the europeans had shown respect for the indigenous populations and their cultures that they encountered. The diseases could not have been prevented but they definitely could have been minimized. When Europeans first came to new lands and started mistreating the local peoples they were sowing the seeds for a racist, violent, and pain filled future. Their disregard for indigenous peoples, culture, and lands have been passed down to future generations and led to so many of the problems today

The end section where Bruce talked about how ethnographers “are generally not typical outsiders” I found interesting. The way he described them made them seem more worthy of being allowed access to communities than others. To me he seemed to be setting up people like him to been portrayed not just tacky tourists but respectful visitors who are there to learn and observe. Also like creating a separation of himself and other white people, the good and the bad, the givers and the takers.