Fieldwork & The Yellowman Tapes, 1966-1997

Fieldwork by Bruce Jackson

In this article about interviewing for the purpose of gathering information regarding folklore. Jackson differentiates between this type of interviewing and the interviewing needed for journalistic purposes. Jackson explains lessons he has learned throughout his interviewing experience, which appears to be extensive. The article acts as a primer for the new interviewer about things to expect, and how to put the person you're interviewing at ease.

Main Advice, in list form:
-Codeswitching (changing behaviors based on environment when deemed appropriate by the individual) is okay and to be expected, but remember to be yourself when interviewing. Putting up a phony personal will likely turn the interviewee off.
-Don't create unnecessary fear of the recorder you're using. The interviewee will likely censor themselves, don't do this for them.
-Be sure not to show the interviewee what you find to be most important. This might influence them to change their answers in a way that they assume will be helpful to you, and therefore prevent further free exchange from happening.
-Don't guide the person you're interviewing too much. Let them take it in the direction they want to go. You never know where this might take you (in the case of Jackson, the idea for a book). This should be followed unless the person has gone completely and unhelpfully off-topic.
-Be careful with the questions you ask and their wording. According to Jackson, "there aren't many neutral questions."
-Ask open-ended questions. Ask follow-up questions.

Ideas/Thoughts/Questions/Reflections:
-I'm really used to interviews which will eventually lead to some sort of journalistic piece, so this was helpful in reinforcing the objectives of interviewing, though these things often intertwine.
-This advice seems catered to thoughtful, planned-for interviews, and less for the man-on-the-street interviews that we're about to conduct. How do these relate? How does one use this advice while approaching people who are not anticipating an interview?
-How much does one need to prepare someone for an interview when they expect to get heartfelt answers? The case of the man who wanted to get family stories from his mother comes to mind. Would this have been avoided had the son planned in advance and showed interest earlier? This didn't totally make sense to me. Why wouldn't the mother be thrilled to repeat her personal stories for a captive audience?


The Yellowman Tapes, 1966-1997 By Barre Toelken

In this article, Toelken describes his fieldwork in recording the stories of a certain member of the Navajo Native American tribe (Hugh Yellowman) for several years. The article focuses on issues of ethics- specifically when dealing with a culture with strict and certain beliefs. The nature of Toelken's recordings were rather sacred to the Navajos- the stories that he collected were to be played only during the winter, and would cause harm if this rule were broken. Toelken continued blissfully along until the subject of his recordings passed away. Toelken was faced with a dilemma- what to do with the recordings? It's clear that under their care, the recordings would be kept safe and played only when deemed appropriate. But what about when Toelken died? When Toelken's kids died? Toelken mentioned issues of ownership when dealing with these recordings, which act as artifacts after the death of their subject. Ultimately, Toelken decided that the tapes would not receive proper care, and left it up to Yellowman's widow to choose their fate; she decided to destroy them. Toelken believed that this decision protected the sacred material contained on the tapes and that it maintained the traditions and beliefs of a culture that Toelken, ultimately, profited from.

Ideas/Thoughts/Questions/Reflections:
-The issue of ownership that the author mentioned stuck with me. From the text: "On one level, the modern-day Kathlamets may indeed be the 'owners' of this story, even though they cannot speak in its language, but it is in the same way that the Greeks may be said to 'own' the Iliad and the Odyssey: the story has gone beyond tribal ownership and into world literature (Hymes 1975)." I believe that this is a different case then the one that the author of this article is dealing with. There could have been serious repercussions had the general public misused the Navajo story recordings. This is unfortunate, because these could be used as important learning tools, but I'll get to that later. Why does anyone have to own these stories? And why is it implied that if the general public is exposed to it, that ownership is less concrete and obvious? Does exposure to something make it partly yours? Of course some will use money as an indicator of "ownership" of the recordings, but does having a CD reproduction of a story mean that I own it? I own the compact disc, but do I own the story?
-The author is also quick to dismiss the importance of preservation and fossils. Just because they believe that this recording does nothing to preserve a culture, then it's unimportant. I believe the opposite. This "sound fossil" as Toelken refers to it, could be extremely valuable. Who knows what could happen in the future of the Navajo tribe? How could having a recording of an aspect of their culture be a bad thing? Also, Toelken implies that since these stories are meant to be told in front of an audience, this tape is unimportant. What about the people who wish to learn about the culture but do not have to opportunity to witness this aspect of it? I see a lot of value in the tapes that Toelken collected. I'm sure what I've said would not be new territory for Toelken, but these are my opinions on the issue.
-From the text: "He saw no indication that non-Navajos had learned anything significant about Navajo culture." This is in reference to a Road Runner cartoon. But before this quote was presented, Toelken said that many of the Navajos he spoke with had no interest in spreading understanding of their culture to the Anglo world through their stories. This appears to be contradictory. I don't believe that they need to crusade for better understanding of their culture, but it really makes sense why there might be misconceptions. It would seem that they would want for others to take an interest in their culture and avoid misunderstandings and misrepresentations.

I'm sure what I've said would not be new territory for Toelken, but these are my opinions on the issue.

Richard Lerman is pretty cool

Here are the links that I used in my presentation:

http://www.sonicjourneys.com/
(Personal site, lots to explore here. You can listen to and see samples of his work)

http://www.west.asu.edu/rlerman/PDF%20Files/Audio%20Schematics2.pdf
(High tech diagrams of the way Lerman uses his piezo disks)

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2006-03-29/arts/richard-lerman-q-amp-a.php
(article about his Fences-Borders project)

http://www.aureobel.com/lerman.html
(Some information on Lerman and one of his albums)

http://www.artifact.com/release.php?id=1009
(More info and a break-down of one of his albums)

http://eamusic.dartmouth.edu/~kov/soundArt/lerman.html
(all about Lerman and his piezo disks)

http://www.sonicjourneys.com/PDF%20Files/RL2007.pdf
(abbreviated resume)

http://www.sonicjourneys.com/PDF%20Files/Reviews_Lerman.pdf
(some press Lerman compiled on his website)

Photo from: http://www.aureobel.com/images/pic_rlerman_L.jpg

First Blog Entry

Questions about Onondaga Creek:

- How does the removal of waste work with and within the creek? I don't understand why a sewage treatment center would be located next to a natural body of water.
- The Ms. Magazine article states that Onondaga Creek is "equally polluted" as Onondaga Lake. Is this true? Has this changed?
- How is it that the city is able to build a smaller, underground facility in the more affluent area, and can get away with building a larger, above ground facility in the poorer areas?
- The article says that the new facility will be built in the "south side." Is this the same location as Armory Square, which we discussed in class?
- If the health effects of having this above ground plant have been proven, then how is it allowed to be built?
- I wonder what reasoning the EPA gave for dismissing the racism case. It seems that the EPA would want to pursue this cause.


People to Interview:

- a representative from the EPA. They could talk about the Onondaga Lake in general but also about the Creek and the issue of environmental racism. Obviously since the case was dismissed, they might not be too good of a source, but it would be interesting to hear what they have to say about the issue as well as the environment of Syracuse and the Lake and Creek in general.
- Linda Carty. The interview might include much of what the article we read was about, but could also give much more insight. I'd also want Linda Carty to talk about the people she used as sources in her Ms. Magazine article, so that I would have even more people to talk to.
- A representative from the Department of Transportation. With all the controversy surrounding the creation of a new treatment facility, what purpose will their planned creek walk serve? Why do they want to make a creek walk if there's going to be a treatment facility right there? How will these two things interact? What does the Department of Transportation want to do with the Creek Walk? Is it actually intended for people to use, since there can't even be benches? What other things did they have in mind?
- People who live close to where the facility is going to be built. Not only focus the questions for them about the new facility but about what the creek means to them. What do they think of the creek walk? What do they think about the project I'm currently participating in? What ideas do they have for solutions to this major problem?

First

Hello world, there's a song that we're singing.