Nikyra Capson
Wampum as Hypertext: An American Indian
Intellectual Tradition of Multimedia Theory and Practice
The wampum as hypertext is an interesting observation made by the author, and at first, I didn’t believe that it could completely meet the requirements. The definition of hypertext; is text which contains links to other text.
I was confused on how belts could be considered fit into the definition, especially since they didn’t have any words and are mostly made up of patterns. However, I only viewed wampum as traditional jewelry and belts, that were culturally significant to the Native American people. Wampum is more than that though, it has a story behind it. It serves as a reminder, or memory of tribes’ past and was important to their culture. The belts were traded and give as presents between tribes to commemorate events, so they won’t be forgotten. It’s a great example of hypertext in a very simple form.
The visual rhetoric section examined the subtle symbolism of that the wampum represents. The color choices and pattern are all precisely picked and thought about before the belts were made. Such as a white and black belt representing welcoming the white people to the land for the first time. The number of columns are also representative of event in the Native American history, like two rows being …show more content…
The receiver would accept and agree to the meaning behind which the wampum was created, such as a peace treaty. I liked this passage and how it shows that words are not the only thing that can “speak” to the viewer, but symbol also holds meaning. “that wampum was connected to the spoken word. Wampum testified to the truth and importance of the message “read into” the object itself. Thus the act of speaking into the wampum both presents meaning to the material object itself and impresses the experience into the individual’s mind, not to mention for any onlookers as
Wampum as Hypertext: An American Indian
Intellectual Tradition of Multimedia Theory and Practice
The wampum as hypertext is an interesting observation made by the author, and at first, I didn’t believe that it could completely meet the requirements. The definition of hypertext; is text which contains links to other text.
I was confused on how belts could be considered fit into the definition, especially since they didn’t have any words and are mostly made up of patterns. However, I only viewed wampum as traditional jewelry and belts, that were culturally significant to the Native American people. Wampum is more than that though, it has a story behind it. It serves as a reminder, or memory of tribes’ past and was important to their culture. The belts were traded and give as presents between tribes to commemorate events, so they won’t be forgotten. It’s a great example of hypertext in a very simple form.
The visual rhetoric section examined the subtle symbolism of that the wampum represents. The color choices and pattern are all precisely picked and thought about before the belts were made. Such as a white and black belt representing welcoming the white people to the land for the first time. The number of columns are also representative of event in the Native American history, like two rows being …show more content…
The receiver would accept and agree to the meaning behind which the wampum was created, such as a peace treaty. I liked this passage and how it shows that words are not the only thing that can “speak” to the viewer, but symbol also holds meaning. “that wampum was connected to the spoken word. Wampum testified to the truth and importance of the message “read into” the object itself. Thus the act of speaking into the wampum both presents meaning to the material object itself and impresses the experience into the individual’s mind, not to mention for any onlookers as