As stated in my previous blog post, the definition of activist that I have derived over the course of this class is one of empowerment. An activist is someone who sees something wrong with their society and seeks to change it not through one individual act but rather through inspiring others to continue to further this change. This is exactly what Ama did. Throughout Linda Hogan’s novel Power, we constantly see this fight to understand why Ama, a devoted Taiga leader and one so knowledgeable in their ways, has decided to stalk and kill a sacred panther. Through the perspective of Omishto, who clearly witnessed this act and understood the consequences, this act seemed irrational and even crazy, but not horrendous, as a result through the whole endeavor, Omishto continued to stand by Ama both during her trial and even after her banishment.
In fact, because of Ama’s actions, Omishto in a way grew to replace Ama as the gatekeeper between the tribal world and the white world. She bridged the gap between the two different cultures in order to rejuvenate the dwindling Taiga tribe.
The banishment of Ama mirrors the journey of both Hayduke and Tim (Bidder 7) in that the progress tha their actions inspired came at a personal cost. Ama was banished from the very community that she was trying to save while both Hayduke and Tim met with similar fates with Hayduke nearly killed and Tim imprisoned. Each of them have in a way become a sacrifice for the cause, a sort of martyr and as a result, they have earned the title of activist.
