Piercy's Retrofuture In The Wampanoag Culture

Some nextopian retrofutures are based on specific past cultures, and some are amalgams of idealized histories. Piercy’s retrofuture in Mattapoisett intentionally adheres to the cultural practices of the Wamponaug [sic] Nation (Piercy 103). The politics of the Wampanoag include ecological and feminist ideals that would seem alien to Connie even though she is closer in time (pre-1990’s) to the original Wampanoag culture that Luciente’s culture is based on (97). A secondary character, Bee, explains the Grand Council’s decision to encourage “separate cultural identities” when reproduction was relegated to the mother-machine (103). The mechanical mixing of genes eliminated race-based associations, and the lack of genetic parentage nullified familial
On their “three mile walk home” Robert and Loren are aware of the world they inhabit, noticing that “the landscape came alive” as the sun set (4). However, the lack of modern amenities does not always produce pastoral longing in characters. Now that the power is out the people of Union Grove “don’t get much news of the outside anymore” and therefore are unaware of national and world events (8). They rely on travelers for news of the outside world. Besides missing the news, members of town miss mass entertainment too. Robert plays stringed instruments with a band, but even that can be difficult when commercially produced strings break and instrument necks warp over time (155). In relation to specific cultural influences, Robert makes a passing reference to the Iroquois when discussing Wayne Karp and the people who live and work with him near the dump (267). The people of Karptown build their artistic homes with any scavenged material they can find, and arrange them in narrow streets and blocks around “Wayne’s place” which serves as “tribal headquarters” and “was renowned for its wild levees and holiday bashes” (267-8). The populous grows corn and marijuana in a field they cleared by cutting firewood over the past years. For entertainment the Karp clan spends their spare time carving totem poles, and acting out their favorite television, movie, and pornography scenes on stage for the enjoyment of the entire clan (267-8). When examined, nextopian retrofutures present multiple layers of utopian and dystopian complexity. A mix of genuine historical culture and invented history co-exists in each of these three books, weaving together and unravelling only to be joined again as a new creation that defies catagorization. The complex comings and goings of characters, the recognition of their new lives, their changed interactions, the creation of new pocket-cultures, as well as the births