![]() In an earlier North America as today, Euro-American settlers interpreted rattlesnakes as dangerous pests and "burn them alive in the name of Christianity" (Silko 110-111). Historically, white Americans might have reacted to the rattlesnakes depicted above with incredulity, violence, and disgust. Despite occasional fright, Silko also cares for her rattlesnake friend, Evo, as kin. In her memoir The Turquoise Ledge, Silko reflects upon seeing twin rattlesnakes that embody her grief, for she understands the snakes to be reincarnations of her late mother. The image recalls the "rattlesnake stories" of Cherokee and Laguna Pueblo writer Leslie Marmon Silko (94). 1 The illustrated figure artwork carries the rattlesnakes-which seem to represent the embodiment of pain-delicately and without apparent fear they may even serve as sources of power. Abareshi, a Persian-Jamaican artist, sees her work as rooted in her "existence as a body with sickle cell zero beta thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes debilitating pain and bodily deterioration" (para. Contemporary disabled artist Panteha Abareshi illustrates "Indigenous Chronic Pain" (above) by surrounding a multiplied human with rattlesnakes. ![]()
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