“To raise the question of ‘authenticity’ is to challenge not only the narrative but also the ‘truth’ behind Salish ways of knowing” (Carlson 59). Explain why this is so according to Carlson, and explain why it is important to recognize this point.
As explained by Carlson in Orality about Literacy: The ‘Black and White’ of Salish History, authenticity is considered differently than in the academic world where an individual who fabricates evidence, or is careless, loses their credibility and therefore, their academic standing (Carlson 57). It is significantly different for the Salish people as ‘authenticity’ refers to being “reliable sources of historical information” as well as what may happen if the information is conveyed less reliably. Unlike the white man who can easily deceive, if the story is altered, fabricated or inaccurate, for a Salish storyteller, this is not only going to ruin his reputation and his future as a storyteller but it may potentially hurt those who are listening.
As discussed previously by Lutz, the ‘contact zone’ involved attempting to communicate through song, dance, and symbolism which was connected to spiritual performance on the part of both parties, just different narratives. For the Salish people, they view the world through spirits, specifically, the spirits of their ancestors. If one were to deceive, it is not just a risk to themselves, but those around them, including ancestral spirits. The spirits will punish as it is their belief that the spirits are able to “cause ‘bad things’ to happen” (Carlson 59). If one is telling a story about the distant past, or “any story that involves deceased people, it is regarded as of interest to ancestors in the spirit world” (Carlson 58). The ancestral spirits are very cognizant of “honour, integrity, and accuracy” (Carlson 59).
It is therefore important to consider when addressing Aboriginal people that the significance and implications of questions related to “authenticity” may “challenge not only the narrative but also the ‘truth’ behind Salish ways of knowing” (Carlson 59). If one is to consider how one feels when they are lying, if they are caught or not, most would admit that their is some level of guilt and I hope that this applies cross-culturally but that I can’t confirm. However, this article appears to indicate that there are similar words used depending on if one is being deceptive or not. Granted this study is comprised of a relatively small cultural sample.
As explained by Carlson, the story becomes “sacrosanct” (59). I was watching the news recently and the story about Dorothy’s Shoes in which $300,000 is being provided by the Smithsonian to preserve the shoes which are degrading due to humidity and light. They are attempting to raise more money to build a special containment unit that will protect the shoes from degrading further. Are these shoes really so valuable as to spend over $300,000 to maintain them? I find it rather unfathomable that someone believes it is, yet the European culture is now dominated by capitalism rather than spirituality and alternate realms. This capitalism leads to identifying with movies, celebrities and the shoes they wore rather than the land North Americans, aka European decedents stole to produce, distribute and consume the products of consumerism.
Work Cited
Carlson, Keith Thor. “Orality and Literacy: The ‘Black and White’ of Salish History.” Orality & Literacy: Reflections Across Disciplines, edited by Carlson, Kristina Fagna, & Natalia Khamemko-Frieson, U of Toronto Publishing, 2011, 43-72.
“Coast Salish.” First Nations: Land Rights and Environmentalism in British Columbia, www.firstnations.de/development/coast_salish.htm. Accessed 18 October 2016.
Nuckols, Ben. “No-brainer: $300K Campaign to Rescue Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers.” ctv.com, www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/no-brainer-300k-campaign-to-rescue-dorothy-s-ruby-slippers-1.3119647. Accessed 19 October 2016.
Perez-Rosas, Veronica and Rada Mihalcea. “Cross-Cultural Deception Detection.” Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 2014, pp. 440-445, aclweb.org/anthology/P14-2072. Accessed 19 October 2016.
Hi Colleen,
It’s interesting that you mention the act of preserving the ruby red slippers from the Wizard Of Oz as a capitalist act, and that movies and movie stars are made from capitalism. I’d like to say that I disagree with you because despite the money that flows around the movie industry, the people who act in films, and the artifacts that come from famous movies such as the ruby red slippers, the movie industry is just a different way of story telling. Movie stars make money, but that is because they take the role of those idolized in society, at least to some people. Both Indigenous and Non-indigenous peoples have those idols, from c’səmlenəxw who was Musqueam and has been carved facing off with a bear, to Non-indigenous movie idols such as Charlie Chaplin, who did not fight a bear, but spent countless hours acting in movies. Both the carvings and the movies take time, effort, and resources to make, and serve a similar purpose: to portray culture, time, and to tell a story.
Hi Colleen,
I find it ironic that while they utilize the Kickstarter campaign to conserve Dorothy’s shoes as this American icon, they also advertise the rewards as “Six-Time Tony award-winning Broadway costume designer William Ivey Long’s creations grace our decals, tote bags, t-shirts and posters. You can also… We also… And there’s more!” It reads just like an infomercial.
I have always been fascinated with this ‘dying’ notion of spirituality in our current society. I think what ultimately disconnects us from this concept has a lot to do with early social media exposure and technology (even though there are definitely positive aspects to having such an accessible and broad platform)? In contrast, what Carlson points out about the Salish way of knowing as “sacrosanct” can in general feel more authentic when they have a deep regard for nature and those around them. And not to mention with Halloween coming up, the overall meandering behaviors of cultural appropriation that happens each year brings a lot to perspective on what is ‘valued’ nowadays.
I think the European culture as you call it, tends to overcomplicate issues, so generally in this capitalistic society we feel we are 1) not enough or 2) we need more. On the topic of lying, I feel like a lot of articles talk about how to tell if someone is lying, rather than giving advice on authenticity. While I think it’s important to be aware of red flags when meeting people overall, I don’t know if it’s necessary considering how much the self-help book industry is thriving in profit despite the recurring themes involved http://brainblogger.com/2014/05/23/the-self-help-industry-helps-itself-to-billions-of-dollars/ Even relationship advice on “being yourself” involves some ‘covering up’ because of mind games, and the many projections and ideas of people we have. Maybe we just care too much about how others think of us? I think there is this intersection on what it means to be authentic and live in this culture, as seen in this online concept of anti-capitalistic love notes (ex: “You are worth more than your productivity.”)
Hello Sarah,
I apologize for making it sound like I believed movies exist only as a product of capitalism. That wasn’t my intention. What I was attempting to argue was that it is fascinating to myself that people are willing to invest $300,000 to maintain the “authenticity” of a pair of shoes while North America continues to deny that the land these movies were created on was influenced by colonization of the Americas. I find it unfortunate in relation to where the mainstream American priorities are focused especially with the ongoing conflict regarding the Keystone Pipeline. As the discussion was about “authenticity,” and “sacrosanct,” we put so much focus onto the consumerist society we live in that we forget there was an attempt to dismantle an entire culture. We don’t work at maintaining that culture, only the European one, no matter what the cost.
I certainly agree with you that they are stories and I love movies. I recently have become a big watcher of TV series due to the incredibly complex and developed story lines such as with Game of Thrones or 12 Monkeys. However, to invest such an amount of money in maintaining a pair of shoes seems to me a bit overboard. If they were to remain “authentic” wouldn’t that mean they should continue to degrade to remain as they should as time passes. Why do they have to be maintained while another culture is dismantled? My apologies if it seemed like I was critiquing the entire industry.
Hi Jenny,
I had replied but must have forgot to post it as it doesn’t appear on my feed. My mistake. I think you made some very good points about discussing how we feel disconnected from spirituality. However, this weekend I recently went to a conference at UBC called the Spirit Plant Medicine Conference (SPMC). I have attended this for the last six years and have always found it incredibly spiritually connecting. It is a new version of self-help that is certainly gaining strength as this years conference was the best attended so far. Next year, they may have to move to a bigger venue. I have certainly seen the effects of the capitalistic culture on people in terms of exactly what you said, not good enough, and need more. This can be easily seen in the advertisements for clothing and beauty products. Even perfume would fall into this category, in my humble opinion.
For a while, as I used to be very sick, I bought tons of self-help books but none of it ever worked and I often blamed myself but luckily I was eventually able to access a treatment that worked for me (although it was very expensive, $10,000 a year over 8 years). Unfortunately, most people do not have access to this amount of money and therefore, they continue to attempt cheaper solutions, even if it is multiple times, such as self-help books. In addition, this treatment was outside of the mainstream and I only accessed it after travelling to the US to get a brain scan in order to find out what was going on.
I do think it is difficult to not care about what others think of us as we are social beings and we do need to be part of a social network. It isn’t always that easy though especially if the social network we are wanting to be connected to have expectations of how one is to act and look. This I believe is fueled by advertising. If you don’t look like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, you aren’t good enough. It is a very sad part of the European culture, IMHO.
cheers,
Colleen