{"id":43,"date":"2016-03-02T23:11:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T06:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/?p=43"},"modified":"2016-03-07T22:51:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T05:51:35","slug":"assignment-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/2016\/03\/02\/assignment-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Assignment 2:6 – Authenticity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is it, according to Carlson or\/and Wickwire, that Aboriginal stories that are influenced or informed by post-contact European events and issues are \u201cdiscarded to the dustbin of scholarly interest\u201d? (56).<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to Carlson, these allegedly post-contact stories are not of scholarly interest because they are viewed as inauthentic. The dictionary definition of authentic<\/a> is “not<\/span>\u00a0false<\/span>\u00a0or<\/span>\u00a0copied;<\/span>\u00a0genuine;<\/span>\u00a0real.” Assuming we believe prophecies are not real, post-contact myths are inauthentic because they claim to be pre-contact when they\u00a0must\u00a0in fact be post-contact, being informed by the events of the Europeans’\u00a0arrival. The Salish prophecy about white men bringing literacy is a perfect example of this type of inauthenticity. What’s interesting is that the typical pre-contact\u00a0Aboriginal myths should also be considered inauthentic by this definition.\u00a0They are fictional stories pretending to be non-fiction, so they would be considered false.\u00a0It’s easy to prove that myths are at least part fiction because we see so many variations of the same stories. Logically, they cannot all be 100% accurate. So what is the difference between these two scenarios?<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe\u00a0that it\u00a0comes down to the idea of cultural authenticity, rather than story authenticity. Culture is a set of traditions, behaviours, and beliefs shared\u00a0by a group of people. To mix one’s culture with another often comes with a sense of impurity; that it has been contaminated by another culture. So these post-contact myths\u00a0are not seen as authentic because they are “less Native” than pre-contact myths. This is essentially a racist<\/a> way of thinking and\u00a0promotes the divide between “us” and “them”. Furthermore, it exacerbates the situation of mixed-race children who often don’t feel accepted by members of either race, rather than being accepted by both. The reality is that Europeans have spent enough time on the same continent as Aboriginals to become a part (although certainly not the whole) of their identity. Often Aboriginals define themselves in opposition to Europeans, as in the myth of\u00a0Coyote and his paper-stealing twin, yet that still marks Europeans as a reference point. It is not realistic to think that two cultures could have so much contact, and not be influenced by each other. We certainly have been influenced<\/a> by their culture. Moreover, outsiders do not get to determine what parts of Aboriginal culture are “more Native” or “less Native”. If they accept post-contact myths as an authentic part of their identity, then that is their right. That is their truth.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/p>\n

“Authenticity.<\/a>”\u00a0Dictionary.com.\u00a0<\/em>2 Mar. 2016. Web.<\/p>\n

Carlson, Keith Thor. \u201cOrality and Literacy: The \u2018Black and White\u2019 of Salish History.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0Orality & Literacy: Reflectins Across Disciplines.\u00a0<\/i>Ed. Carlson, Kristina Fagna, & Natalia Khamemko-Frieson. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2011. 43-72. Print.<\/p>\n

Connolly, Colleen. “Examining the Aboriginal influence on Western Canada.<\/a>”\u00a0The Cord.\u00a0<\/em>WLU Student Publications, 30 May 2012. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.<\/p>\n

Heath, Joseph. “How to beat racism.<\/a>”\u00a0National Post.\u00a0<\/em>Postmedia,\u00a019 Apr. 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is it, according to Carlson or\/and Wickwire, that Aboriginal stories that are influenced or informed by post-contact European events and issues are \u201cdiscarded to the dustbin of scholarly interest\u201d? (56).   According to Carlson, these allegedly post-contact stories are … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/caitlinbennett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}