Popular Culture Review Vol. 11, No. 1, February 2000 | Page 147

P.C. on the Frontier: Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

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pointing to letters on a slate. The children sit with politely blank faces. Dr. Quinn
arrives on the scene and explains that the Cheyenne have an oral tradition and no
written language, and that patience will be required. She does not, however, go so
far as to question the value of literacy for the children; literacy as a path to equality
is still too sacred a tenet o f our popular culture.
This being prime-time television, the Reverend need not wait long to see his
patience rewarded: As the scene ends, one of the youngest boys lingers over his
primer, his face lighting up as he discovers the connection between the letters on
the Reverend’s slate, the words in his book and the sounds of English. Teacher and
pupil are huddled together over the book as the camera pulls back, a familiar and
indelible Norman Rockwell-like tableau given a cross-cultural spin.
Though Cloud Dancing soon voices his concerns about literacy instruction
for a people who are “storytellers”, Dr. Quinn, ever the negotiator, argues that the
children should have both oral and literacy skills, and thus access to both cultures.
Cloud Dancing, however, sees literacy as a sure way of losing the oral tradition.
Can Michaela Quinn find a workable compromise? While Cloud Dancing becomes
the voice of minority and immigrant parents who see their children losing touch
with their roots, Dr. Quinn is the figure who arranges things so that the children
can acquire the keys to mainstream success without losing their cultural identity.
In a pivotal scene, Cloud Dancing comes to blows with the Reverend when he
comes upon the churchman baptizing the children whose imaginations have been
captivated by his Bible tales. The Reverend is genuinely dismayed at the uproar,
and explains to Dr. Quinn that he is saving the childrens’ souls, just as she saves
bodies. (Cloud Dancing says it is more like seeing them die.) Dr. Quinn, a model
of rationalism, explains that minds, not souls, are at issue, thus shifting the discourse
from the essentially irreconciliable realm of beliefs to the plane of cool logic. A
potentially devestating roadblock to intercultural harmony is deftly set aside in
favor of a very modem ecumenical humanism.
The final scene of this episode deliberately extols the value of cultural relativism
as an alternative to the vicious conflicts which in fact plagued frontier life, and
complicate our cultural landscape today. In this scene, we see Sully and Michaela
inviting the children, now restored to their native dress, to join the Reverend in a
circle on the ground. Each child is invited to recount the creation myth of his or her
own people. Cloud Dancing shows his approval by quietly joining the circle. When
all the children have spoken, he graciously turns to the Reverend for his version of
the story. Taken aback, Reverend Johnson somewhat pompously begins “We
believe...” but stops abruptly, shifts to a softer, more tentative tone, and begins
again with the decidedly more relativistic “My people believe....” The camera
begins to draw back, showing the faces of Cloud Dancing and Sully, finally serene.
Dr. Quinn has apparently found a way for the schooling to continue without
destroying the children’s cultural identity.