For assignment 3.3, I will explain connections and meanings of the characters with the general context of the entire novel.

To begin, “Green Grass, Running Water” was written by Thomas King in an effort to portray the struggle of Native Americans to understand their identity. An unknown narrator interacts with the reader takes them on a journey where mystical and realistic elements of both tradition and modernity, native American culture and white culture, overlap in harmony.

The characters that I have chosen below are ones that I personally feel that I connect to the most. Their connections and meanings to the entire novel are of particular interest to me. Some of these characters even make a brief appearance in my assigned section of the novel, page 18-23.

To begin, we have Dr.Joseph Hovaugh. His character appealed to me because of his strong opinions and stubborn authority, and in particular how his character might signify the stubborn authority of the Caucasian settlers. The doctor is the head of a mental hospital and believes that no one has the right to ever challenge his point of view. He always needs to be in control, and is often very stoic and bitter. When reading GGRW, Dr. Joseph has four natives escape from his mental hospital. In this case, the mental hospital refers to the strict oppressive techniques applied in order to civilize the native Americans, while the doctor himself is a reflection of the ‘Godlike’ superiority complex of the Caucasians. By holding the native Americans within their ‘mental hospital’, the colonists and Caucasian individuals had the power to control and cure the disease of the savages.

Next on the list, we have Bursum Bill. He is another character with a prejudiced and strong opinion regarding the native americans that live in his area, and believes that they are subordinate and less worthy than him. This character refers to the Bursum Bill that affected many Puablo Indians during the 1920’s. The Bursum Bill was an attempt to settle and land disputes between white settlers and the native americans inhabiting the area. The Bill was designed to let settlers purchase native land in order to resolve the land disagreements. Causing more tension between the two groups, the Pueblo Indians grouped together and fought against the bill. They triumphed and beat the expectations of many government officials, proving that they had their right to fight and they would not be held down. This story is an interest to me because of the connection to the Bursum Bill in King’s story. Owner of an electronic store, he decided to create an intricate and difficult promotional campaign. Consistently demonstrating his lack of respect, he denounces the natives and states that they aren’t ‘true’. In the end, his favorite TV show changes it’s ending to show the natives triumphing, therefore reflecting the triumph of the Pueblo Indians in their fight against the Bursum Bill.

Lastly, there is Alberta Frank. She is a single woman who desperately wants to experience motherhood, however she is unable to choose between her two loves. She wants to have kids, but is unable to commit to marriage. Her story is of interest to me due to her significance in north american history. Frank, Alberta is the location of one of the greatest landslides caused by negligible mining. Just like the mountainside could not handle the pressures from excessive mining, Alberta might not be able to handle the stress and the ticking of her biological clock. She might have a complete meltdown!  Her story particularly speaks to me because of the association to sustainability and conservation.

The significance and deeper meanings of the characters in context to the novel are great. Dr. Joseph and Bursum both conceptualize the idea of treating natives as subordinates. In the end, Dr. Josephs ‘mental’ (savage) patients escape, while Bursums TV shows a different triumphant outcome. Alberta displays a more ecological message that alludes to treating mother nature (as well as herself) more carefully.

Works Cited:

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1993. Print.

Frank Slide. Wikepedia: Frank Slide, Turtle Mountain. 2014. Web. 21. Mar. 2014.

“Bursum Bill” Liz Collins Classroom Website.  2014. Web. 22. Mar. 2014.

 

The Role of the Coyote.

“Green Grass Running Water” by Thomas King attempts to create a balance between depicting the real struggles of Aboriginals today and their cultural heritage and storytelling. Similar to a Sundance ceremony where various speakers and voices tell and pass along their stories, “Green Grass Running Water” uses many supporting characters that each have their own story and struggle as Blackfoot’s in Canada. An outside narrative manages all the different perspectives and stories, and brings them together in the end just like the main announcer in a traditional Sundance ceremony.  The theme of interconnectedness becomes more prominent throughout the book, as the stories of each of the individuals become more intertwined. In this way, I had the chance to understand each character and their issues separately before realizing they are all part of the bigger picture – a community and as a society.

In King’s story, the presence of the Coyote is quite prominent and important. The Coyote’s identity influences the narrative in a significant way. We are reminded that the Coyote in “Green Grass Running Water” is a trickster with a dual function:  as a healer, but also as a hero that resists colonial representations. In fact, the Coyote helps to bridge King’s story between two worlds, the mythological world and the reality world. King stresses the fact that if humans and different cultures continue to separate themselves based on beliefs and ethnic characteristics, then there will always be outside sources who will try to re-unite them, just like the Coyote does. The Coyote, who tries to ‘fix’ the gap, is seen misunderstanding many of the customs of the different cultures. In this way, the character of the Coyote is seen as a trickster because he challenges the view of western myths. By retelling the myths and making silly jokes around them, the myths are seen in a different point of view. By keeping this in mind, I’ve come to the realization that challenging the myths and making jokes around them is a way that the Coyote attempts to fix the world. For instance, when Bill Bursum was trying to play a movie in his TV shop, it didn’t work. Rather, a different version started to play. In this version, the Aboriginals are the winners. This new depiction changes the entire story, and represents how myths can in fact change. By changing the myth, we have a chance to fix the derogatory and destructive stereotypes that are affecting everyday society with racism, sexism, and violence towards each other.

References:

“The Context of Oral Tradition and Contemporary Native Storytelling” Powershow.  http://www.powershow.com/view1/2440b2-ZDc1Z/The_Context_Oral_Tradition_and_Contemporary_Native_powerpoint_ppt_presentation2014. Web. 20. Mar. 2014.

“Colonial Representation of Native Americans, Savages” Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42410/42410-h/images/illus-115.jpg. Web 20 March 2014.

 

 

For this blog assignment, I have chosen to collect my thoughts and opinions regarding the Indian Act of 1876, and whether or not my findings support Colemans argument about his project on white civility. To start the blog, I will state my current opinion – which is that based on my current knowledge on the Indian Act and what it stood for, I believe that this governing activity does absolutely support Coleman’s findings. Coleman argues that throughout time, Canadian policies and governing bodies have consistently created a white, Christian society that has mimicked a form of British civility. This can be seen throughout the various policies that have been implemented throughout Canada’s history, where many cultures and people of different beliefs and values were excluded or told to assimilate. In this sense, state legislation and policies have worked towards creating nationalism within the country that mimicked British colonial civility, leading to an accepted ‘English-Canadian’ whiteness.

The Indian Act in particular, was established in 1876 with the goal of assimilating the Aboriginal population of Canada into westernized culture. Different aboriginal groups were represented by the Minister of Indian Affairs, who would designate how much land each band could use. The land technically belonged to the Crown, who would create Reserves in order to call the land as being ‘set aside’ for the use of a Band of Indians. Furthermore, officials and government personnel under the Crown deemed many aboriginal customs and cultures as unsuitable and ‘uncivilized’. In order to bypass that, many traditions such as the Potlatch and the Sundance were deemed to be illegal. Legislations such as these, where bands are unable to practice their culture and heritage further shows evidence of Colemans theory, that clearly the different views of the natives did not fall into the settlers view of British civility. In general, the theme of the Indian Act was to promote civilization and assimilation within the Indians. The notion of each Native as being required to register for a Native status was viewed as a necessary, temporary stepping point in order to reach full assimilation into the already defined civil views of the nation. This nationalist movement aimed to remain as close to Britain as possible. Many techniques and strategies were used in order to promote integration, such as opening the Residential School System. This system became mandatory for all Native children to attend, where they would be taught the ways of civility by being forced to reject their own language, beliefs, and customs. The children were told that their culture was dirty and wrong, and that they needed to change into the westernized view of the world. A well-known slogan for the Residential Schools was to ‘Kill Indian, Save the Man“.

Besides the Indian Act, anything but the white English settler was seen as perverse and unsuitable for the land. Immigrants, Aboriginals, and anyone that was not from British civil origin were expected to assimilate into the white ideal of British civility. Anything but was seen as less worthy.

Citings:

“Residential Schooling”. Multimedia Resources. “http://www.swlauriersb.qc.ca/Schools/ltm/multimedia/2013_e-portfolios/ALANA%20website/My%20Web%20Sites/residentialschool1.jpg”. Web. March 21. 2014

“Residential Programs and Indian Act”. Umista. “http://www.umista.org/collections/Web. March 21. 2014

 

For this blog assignment, I will be discussion Question #1 regarding why King chose to emphasize the type of narrative using his voice when telling the Charm and Genesis creation stories.

The implied differences by King about the two creation stories can be seen as a way for readers to understand the subtle differences between cultures. In my opinion, Kings use of emphasis to dictate the two creation stories can be because of the various forms of communication and cultural understandings within Native American and European cultures. King and Chamberlin warn the readers not to limit themselves to a linear form of thinking. In my own interpretation, I see that as advice to the audience to broaden their thinking. This broadened point of view expands the readers awareness and states that you can get to the same conclusion through various means. You don’t need to point out and only stick to one road, or one creation story, because there are many roads and many creation stories that result in he same outcome.

The use of dichotomies that King uses to explain the two creation stories can tell the reader something about their own form of thinking and beliefs. Individuals from one culture will have a stronger connection to one creation story than the other, naturally. Also, individuals who hold a certain belief will also have more of a liking for one creation story than another. It can be assumed that the creation story, or any story in fact, that someone feels a connection to can be due to their current held beliefs and cultural influences. To bring out my point, due to my own spiritual beliefs which do not follow the ‘traditional’ European beliefs (since I am from Ukraine), I feel that I have a stronger connection to Charms story of creation rather than the Genesis story. In fact, both the stories are perfectly viable for me, because as I stated earlier, I try not to follow a linear form of thinking, but rather broaden my view to see the whole picture. Both the stories lead to the same outcome, simply the cultural understandings and beliefs within those stories are what makes them unique.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism

http://www.ukraine.com/religion/

Throughout my life, my beliefs as to what I understood to be my home have changed many times. As I grew up, expanded my knowledge, had fun with my creativity, and learned from my experiences, what I used to distinguish between what is my home and what is not transformed.

I was born in Ukraine. At the age of 6, my parents decided to leave everything and bring us to Canada at the hopes of a better life with more opportunities. We left my grandparents, cousins, friends, career, and house to come to Vancouver and start new. As I grew up, the values and stories that connected me to what I could call a home were centered around where my parents were. My stage of dependence at that age made me create re-assurance and safety around my parents.

As a child, I did not feel as much as a connection to my ‘first’ home in Ukraine as I do now, being much older. In my opinion, growing up is very influential to what you would say is your home. Instead of having just a home, you have many homes. To this day, my home has changed from being where my parents are, to a more expanded view that encompasses the area where all my loved ones, my friends, and my family are. Home is no longer just a single place, rather it is made up of many places that I feel that I have a connection to. The values that I place in an area that I would call my home are warmth, love, friendship, and support. I believe you can find those things in many places.

To broaden the definition of home, I feel that I have a home in places that I’ve never even been too. These are the places that I have an interest for or even some form of connected emotion. For instance, I feel some sort of pulling curiosity towards Japan, Pompeii, Newfoundland, and Ireland. Never been there, but I can still tell myself that if I were to venture out to those places I would find something good there. Comfort, excitement. That is my definition of home and the values that follow it.

I have a great story to tell you. This is a story of a people, a civilization. This is the story of the Danu Talis.

Thousands of years ago, existed the most beautiful, most technollogically, and most spiritually advanced civilization within the Milky Way galaxy. Cascading crystalline architecture, mesmerizing illuminescent surroundings, and never-ending resources were prominent in their society. The Crystal City, as many would call it, was full of light, life, and advanced knowledge surrounding crystal technology. Manipulating, changing, and expanding the crystal energy harvested within the city’s core allowed the citizens to flourish under it’s abundant uses. Unfathomable amounts of energy was available for everyone because it was given and shared by every member of Danu Talis through inner love and intention. Governed by the prevalents of feminine energy and instincts, the Danu Talis were masters of intution and emotion. They believed in equality between all sexes, and lived within the belief that nothing is more important than the community. Interdependance and collectivism was prominent within society, with problems and issues seen as ‘our issues’ rather than ‘your issues’. Marrige, love, and unionism was based on growth and experience. Divorce and seperation were seen as possible, and positive, outcomes to life. Mutual cooperation and understanding between both parties resulted in positive endings rather than harsh arguements. Anxiety, depression, anger, and fear were emotions not focused or even experienced within society. Every action was taken with the thought of communal evolution. No matter the situation or circumstance, an experience was simply an experience beneficial and positive for the entire spiritual collective consciousness of the community. There was no negativity, but simply caring, compassion, and love.

Past recollections and story-telling were a common source of entertainement for the parties, as well as a way to connect with family and friends. Stories of love, trust, abundance, excitement, and joy were passed on from one generation to the next. The stories and histories were accessible to anyone, and everything within the Crystal City. Technological advances allowed memory and data to be storied throughout the crystal foundations surrounding every household. The data was shared, transmuted, and inscripted simply through touch and intention. Everything was stored within the collective consciousness of the city, because everyone was equal, no one deserved more or less than anyone.

As the decades of abundance went by, and the people experienced and grew through the Golden Ages, the scientific advances and progressions began to misalign with the civilizations spiritual aptitudes. Technology was moved faster than the people’s spiritual selves and intuitions were able to keep up with. Previous scientific research and studies that aimed to improve civilization, began to take a careless turn. Once beneficial experiments to enhance the human race through the use of mutations, began to create new species that were half human half animal. These beings went by the names of centaur, satyr, harpy, mermaid, sphinx, and valkyrie. The new species, much to the scientists surprise, did not abide and follow the feminine energies as did the Danu Talis. These creatures were more aggressive, more selfish, and individually oriented. Their intentions were not to care for the growth of anyone else, but focus all their energy for their own personal benefit. The new species began telling the scientists of a new type of story, a new type of motivation for existance. Fascinated by the creatures point of views, the scientists egos grew as they listened to the control, power, and abundance they could gain by following more individual motivations.

A story has been heard. An idea has been told. Once the new creatures told their story of what could be, it could not be taken back. The idea was there, it lingered and grew within the scientists minds, haunting and taunting them at every turn. They could not unthink it, they could not unhear it. They wanted it.

As the new species began to preach their stories of dominance, self-sustainability, and independance from the collective consciousness, the people of Danu Talis became confused. The spiritual prophets of the Crystal City warned the scientists of the potential consequences of their creations and continuance. The divergence between the technological and spiritual aspects of society began to destroy the harmony between the two balances. The Crystal City began to break, collapsing due to the incongruenty and inequality – the Scientists wanted sovereignty, they wanted control.

Battles, war, anger and destruction. The future of Danu Talis was clear. Wars arose as the Scientists thirsted for power, raging against the Crystal Spiritualists. Their spliced creations against the they raged against the once peaceful power of the crystals. The once cascading crystalline architecture and mesmerizing illuminescent structures were destroyed. The memories of love, happiness, and history of abundance within the crystal’s collective consciousness was destroyed. The feeling of community and unity was eradicated, leaving the surviving citizens unbrearingly alone, with no memories or stories but their own.

Because once a story or idea is heard, it can’t be taken back. It lingers, grows, and changes.

 

Well, that’s my story! I was quite surprised about how fun it was to take a concept from King and completely create your own story around it. I’ve noticed that I had a simple idea of what I wanted to say when I was telling the story to my brother. It was nothing like what I actually said. My initial story was dry, and almost a replica of King’s version. However, as I began talking I started making connections, inputting my own interests, and making assumptions. Quite a thrill! Thanks.

References:

“Crystal City”. Deviant Art. Web. 24 Jan. 2014. “http://sejbyl.deviantart.com/art/Crystal-City-381791048”.

“Valkyries”. Norse Mythology. Web. 24 Jan. 2014. “http://www.viking-mythology.com/valkyries.php.”

“Centaurs”. Thessalioi. Web. 24 Jan. 2014. “http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentauroiThessalioi.html”

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my first blog assignment, I would like to answer question #7, which revolves around the topic of digital literature and technological advances. I found this topic very interesting because of the notion that anyone is able to become the story teller, the myth creator, the tradition maker, the person that helps pass on historical events and memories. Everyone has the ability to document and save any piece of information that they like. We no longer need to obtain a certain cultural or educational status in order to create stories and pass on information, because the technological advances today have provided the ability to story tell right at our fingertips.

Two aspects of digital literature, in particular, might be impacting our literature and story in today’s day and time. Firstly, with the invention of the internet, a large amount of various and unique websites have been developed. The idea that there are social media tools enabling publication by anyone without the need to go through systematic approvals set out by standard publishing companies is profound. The widespread sharing of stories, language, and improved communication has enabled unique perspectives to be heard from all walks of life. Since every story is a little ‘strange’, or even biased, storytelling and preservation of memories doesn’t rely on a single persons encounter. Various points of views of the same story or situation can be passed on and acknowledged by anyone and everyone. The previous notion that story telling and history were simply biased accounts by individuals who wanted their side to be heard more preferably is no longer an issue. Furthermore, cultures are no longer bound to re-create and re-tell their memories by oral methods, literate methods, or even a mixture of both elements. The wide variety of social media tools, such as facebook, blogging, graphic design, movies, and even vlogging give everyone equal opportunity to express their stories. In that case, the reader is also the interpreter as well as the listener. The reader can become the writer and creator as well.  Secondly, the use of hypertext within online articles, tumblr posts, blog posts, or even social networking services allows the reader to discover more than what is just written on the source they are reading. Hypertexts, or hyperlinks, are becoming a tool of independent research for the reader. They have the ability to go deeper into the text, and understand the contexts and intricate backgrounds behind the authors message or story. In this way, the story no longer stops when the author decides to terminate his/her writing. The story is then enabling its own further creation and continuation.

Citations:

“The Impact of Blogging”. The Student Review. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. “http://thestudentreview.co.uk/2011/04/what-is-the-impact-of-blogging/”.

 

 

Alright, so here it goes!

If you’re stumbled upon here, hello! This is my second time writing a UBC blog, so hopefully I will get back into the hang of it!  I go by the name of Anna. I am a 5th … (?) year student at UBC. I am a first generation immigrant. My parents decided to leave Ukraine and come to Vancouver, out of all wonderful places, to give me and my younger brother a better quality of life. (Thanks guys!)

My interest lie from all over the place. Somewhere starting at graphic design, psychology, french fries, history, glitter, reddit , and maybe finishing off at my obsession with Spider man. My hobbies include drawing, inking, playing sports, being active, comic books, x-men, dance, and spending lots of time on the computer, internet, and Photoshop.

This is not my first time taking an online course. In fact, I much rather prefer the hands on involvement and responsibility that comes with attending an online course. Sure you don’t have to attend class and you can do assignments in the comfort of your PJ’s. But the level of engagement and self-study that a student does is really a reflection of how the rest of the world works. What you put in is what you get out!

I am very excited to learn more about the impact that the aboriginals had on our Canadian culture, as well as the impact (both negative and positive) that Canadian society has had on them. I am eager to hear an unbiased opinion in the native perspective of our country. I’ve never taken what I have received for granted. Whether it was moving to Canada, or living in one of the top cities in the world. So in that light, I am eager to appreciate and be thankful for the struggles that the nations before us had to endure for us to be where we are today.

References:

Reddit Website. 07 Jan. 2014. Web.  ‹http://www.reddit.com/›.

Suzy Strutner.  Lviv, Ukraine the cutest city you’ve never heard of. Huffington Post, 7 Jan 2014. ‹http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/lviv_n_3906920.html/›.

Adam Hughes. Jean Grey Dark Phoenix. Superpower Wiki. 7 Jan 2014,< http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/File:Jean_Grey_Dark_Phoenix.jpg/>.