cicely Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As a kid, seeing old photos in history books and
> elsewhere, I came to the conclusion that, in most
> "dignified" pictures, the "white men" mostly came
> off looking constipated or as if they were
> smelling something unpleasant, whereas the Native
> Americans tended to look grim and/or pissed off.
> Sorta gave me my visual definition for the word
> "stoic".

Very old pictures tend to have very severe looking people. My grandmother told me that it was because how long the taking of the picture actually took. We have tin types of little children (sometimes it's hard to tell who was a girl and who was a boy in these ones lol) and I can't imagine what their parents and the children themselves went through to have these photos taken. For me, stoic is more of a stony countenance as opposed to looking mad.

>
> This is just my opinion, mind you, but I think
> it's partly a feature of facial structure.
> Imagine my surprise when I found out, in my late
> teens, that apparently my own face, at rest and
> not feeling anything in particular, is usually
> interpretted as grim and/or pissed off. Then I
> noticed the same in the faces of my own family (I
> guess familiarity had made it so "normal" to me as
> to pass notice). All of whom show the evidence of
> our own N.A. heritage to a greater or lesser
> degree. And we all have had a problem with being
> perceived as stand-offish and glum (rather than
> warm and fuzzy).

Bone structure between the Navajo is really pretty varied. Some Navajo have very fine, delicate boning while others seem to be made of more robust stuff. In contrast to the adults, the children are downright lively. I've seen some of the best kid grins emanating from Navajo children--full teeth, cheesy grins that they know charms the receiver instantly. This stoic appearance is definitely something acquired as they get older, irregardless of bone structure. What is interesting is that sometimes I will see more "citified" younger Navajo in the area. Their facial expressions in public are no different from any other American at all. If they are tired/exasperated/happy, they show it publicly. It's a stark contrast.

Stephanie





In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson