Question # 5: Narratives assume, in Blanca Chester’s words, “a common matrix of cultural knowledge.” The Four Old Indians are perhaps the best examples of characters that belong to a matrix of cultural knowledge, which excludes many non-First Nations. What were your first questions about and impressions of these characters? How have you come to understand their place in the novel?

In the beginning of my reading of “Green Grass, Running Water”, by Thomas King, the sections in the novel which narrate The Four Old Indians, created a confusing plot line for me to comprehend. Like most novels I read, I always find it important to start reading the story with an open mind, while getting a sense of how each character plays a role in the plot. Characters in the novel, such as Alberta, Lionel, and Eli, were easier to piece together in terms of getting to know exactly what they were about, as there was a thorough understanding of their personalities. However, The Four Old Indians’ narration followed a somewhat choppy dialogue through the four sections of the novel. This made it difficult for myself to understand because it was uncertain to know whom was talking at times. The Four Old Indians (Elders) were presented throughout segments of the novel, with little to no detail of their characteristics. I found that upon finishing the novel is where I finally understood their roles in the storyline, and pieced together their purpose in storytelling.

My first impression of the LoneRanger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael were that they were quite humorous. They added a lot of satire to the plot line, a goofiness that enrichened their creation stories. Additionally, they added a childish and non-structured way of telling stories. I quite enjoyed their method of telling stories because it painted a simple picture in my mind of how these creation stories occurred. Identifying their genders was another one of my questions; however as the novel unravelled, I slowly discovered more details about whom they were, and why they were.

As mentioned in the former, it was close to the end of the novel when I noticed a trend of The Four Old Indians’ narration stories. While each elder had recited a story in the four sections of the novel, each elder was also connected to the mythical being in their stories. There is an evident intersection of Judeo-Christian figures that are presented in every story, which contrasts with the protagonists of the creation stories, whom are characters from Native oral traditions. The genre of narration that The Four Old Indians used to express their stories merged Aboriginal oral tradition and European-American cultured stories. Whilst reading the first creation story involving The First Woman, it reminded me of The Miller’s tale, being a parody of The Knight’s tale, in “Canterburry Tales”, by Geoffrey Chaucer. For instance, Lone Ranger’s story about The First Woman alludes to the creation story of Adam and Eve, with a humorous twist. Details such as the “forbidden fruit” not only being the apple (like in Adam and Eve), but also included pizza and fry bread, which were humorous additions the Lone Ranger’s creation story.

I quite enjoyed how each elder had a different type of creation story, which responded to Coyote’s question of why there was so much water everywhere. The plot is even more humorous when discovering that The Four Old Indians are actually mental institution escapees. Knowing this while reading the stories, really explains as to why the stories are told in such unstructured manners, although still very capturing and easy to follow. Another interesting aspect of The Four Old Indians is that they seem genderless for the majority of the plot. They are eventually revealed as being men, but they also possess a strong feminine side because of their associations to the female characters in their stories. I find it contrasts other creation stories, for example, the Christian creation story of man where the “Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man” (Genesis 2:22-24), making “man” the alpha creation, because in all the Elders’ stories, the women were the creators, and the bearers of life.

Works Cited

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto:  Harper Collins, 1993. Print.

Chaucer,Geoffrey. The Canterbury tales. ChaosCafe. The Electric Literature Foundation. 1991-2012. Web. 26 June 2015. <http://www.canterburytales.org/>

Genesis 2:22-24. The Bible. Bible Study Tools. 2014. Web. 26 June 2015.
<http://www.biblestudytools.com/genesis/passage/?q=genesis+2:22-24>