Monday, December 5, 2022

Spirit Woman: The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nunez

 


Puritanic resistance has prevented many of our greater minds in their work of discovery. And that is why freedom of thought must by all means be the cause to fight for.”

Wa Wa Chaw

 Before turning twelve years old, Wa Wa Chaw was already making professional medical illustrations. She was a self-taught artist with various talents. Her poems and paintings are an expression of her exquisite sensitivity, intelligence and deep understanding of the challenges faced by the Indigenous people.

 Today I have the honor to dig out a unique gem from the ashes of indifference. The content of this book could have ended in the garbage bin had it not been for a friend of Wa Wa Chaw who cared to rescue it. His name was Stan Steiner. He edited her diaries and was able to publish them with many of her impressive artworks in the year 1980.

 


  Wa Wa Chaw died when she was 84 years old. Strangely enough, she somehow anticipated her own death; she contacted her friend Stan Steiner, and made various arrangements before going to the hospital. The hospital workers found nothing wrong with her. They even scolded her for seeking medical care, but before she was discharged from the hospital she passed away peacefully, on May 12 1972, leaving behind an enigma without answers and a legacy that has the potential to illuminate the hearts of the oppressed people everywhere.

I first learned about Wa Wa Chaw when I read the book Unstoppable Native American Women, which I reviewed recently in My Writing Life blog. 

 Wa Wa Chaw was an avid learner and an original thinker who tried her best to support marginalized communities at a time when Indigenous people were considered inferior. Even though they had been born in America, they were not even considered American citizens. They were forced to live on reservations, and if they left those reservations they were labeled as “delinquent”. When somebody got sick, they were unable to get medical care due to the isolated nature of these places.

  Native Americans were denied jobs and accused of being lazy. Native American children were forced to attend segregated boarding schools, where they were emotionally and physically abused. Many of these children lost their lives there. Others survived, carrying the trauma of those harrowing experiences inside themselves.

 Wa Wa Chaw was born on the Rincon Reservation in Valley Center, California, on December 25 in the year 1888. She was adopted by a very intelligent woman: Mary Duggan, an Irish American. Mary Duggan raised Wa Wa Chaw in New York with the help of her brother, a physician who also instilled in Wa Wa Chaw the desire and freedom to learn as much as she could throughout her life.

 The candid introduction of the book by Stan Steiner adds various interesting facts about her life:

 Her anatomical drawings, when she was still in puberty, made an important contribution to Dr. Duggan’s research, not merely in medicine but also in studies of the properties of radium and radioactivity—experiments he conducted at the time that Pierre and Marie Curie were at work on radium in Paris.”

 Wa Wa Chaw was educated at home with the aid of private tutors. It is inspiring to learn about the way her teachers guided her to become an independent thinker and a lifelong learner. However, Wa Wa Chaw was denied a college education because of her Native American background. Mary Duggan was devastated by this rejection, but Wa Wa Chaw refused to get discouraged. She reassured her mother and continued to be active in a world that treated her with disrespect and hostility. She wrote articles for magazines, gave lectures on women’s rights, painted, danced and advocated for those who were oppressed by discrimination and injustice.

 The first part of her book shares engaging details about Wa Wa’s childhood and youth. Her irresistible narrative is a reflection on her life experiences and observations. The second part focuses mainly on the stories and experiences of Native Americans that she met, but there are also personal insights, thought-provoking statements and personal experiences.

 Wa Wa Chaw and her adoptive mother travelled and witnessed the plight of various Native American communities. The readers of this book can learn history from the point of view of those who were oppressed and condemned to live in poverty. In her writing  Wa Wa Chaw refers to them as the “Indians.”  

 Wa Wa Chaw and her mother also travelled to England, where the artist was shocked by the poverty she encountered in the English territory. 

There is no doubt in my mind that if she had been a man, her works would be celebrated today. I encourage educators in North America and beyond to include this book in their school libraries. It is an invaluable historical record that deserves attention. It will contribute to the understanding of history in North America.  



Wa Wa Chaw expressed her dismay at any kind of religious and political fanaticism. Her words continue to be relevant in today's world. 

I will share the fragment of a powerful poem she wrote called Wisdom, You are Sweet.

“Beware you will be denounced

Walk lightly little feet--

Speak softly little Voice--

Be careful with your smile--

Wisdom will condemn you

Before the eyes of the people.

Lo, Indian-you are pronounced

Guilty for thinking.

Thinking, says Wisdom, is my friend.

Ay, sometimes Wisdom tells me to be silent.

Time says when to act. Obey or fall.

Wisdom asks questions,

Wisdom can recreate Mind and body.

It honors the word- humble. It holds the secret of understanding.

Lo, the Truth is friendly only in terms

Wisdom leads one into many ways to fight for a Great Cause.

We must have the Wisdom and Courage will follow.

Wisdom is the master Mind that gives and takes.

It often gives more than it takes.

There is often a golden moment and a minute for Wisdom.

I can play hide and seek, says Wisdom.

Hidden in the pit of Man’s ego I live--

Ay, the Eye may not see-

The tongue unable to speak-

Limbs may be dead--

I am the master in Man’s head…

Ay the vulturish Nature of civilization

Awaits Man. Even in Greater

Force than ever. I often wonder if this

Would be a good World if tolerance was a law. There is Land and Water everywhere. Thinking and thoughts, Questions and Answers, Everywhere.

Tolerance is needed-with Wisdom and understanding.”


This thought-provoking poem could have been written today. It is timeless, touching, profound.

This past weekend I learned that Afghan women  are banned from visiting parks in the city of Kabul. This article from the BBC recounts details of the indignities and the oppression they suffer in the hands of the ruling Talibans, but the world is busy watching the World Cup games in Qatar, a monarchy that treats women and LGBTQs as second-class citizens, a country where migrants’ lives are exploited.

  Why is the world forcing us to normalize the abuse of women, LGBTQs and migrants? This is not normal and I refuse to accept it as normal.

 Human rights matter.

Today I read that three high school students were executed in North Korea for watching and sharing South Korea’s TV shows with their peers. The evils of censorship have no limits. Totalitarian regimes and dictators don’t have limits, either. Beware of those who admire and support these dictators. 

 It is  necessary to stop empowering these toxic men (“dictators”), and the world should stop turning a blind eye to human rights violations.

 Human rights matter; women’s rights are human rights. Democracy matters. Freedom of thought and speech are essential. Let’s stop pretending otherwise.

 

To learn more about the struggles of Native Americans to become American citizens and to be allowed to vote, you can check this post:

https://www.history.com/news/native-american-voting-rights-citizenship

Here's another relevant article about teaching Native American history in schools. This one is from The Smithsonian Magazine:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/inside-new-effort-change-what-schools-teach-about-native-american-history-180973166/