For blog assignment 3.3, I have been assigned pages 174-186 of Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water. I found this task extremely challenging. Despite reading the novel and going over my designated passages multiple times, I found the allusions and meanings difficult to recognize and comprehend. Initially, in comparison to Harry Robinson’s “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King of England“, I found King much easier to read leisurely. As I am forced to analyze and decipher deeper meanings, I realized that outside research was necessary.

Option four.

In this context, “option four” (King 175) is referring to Alberta’s fourth option for having a child — artificial insemination. King, however, is making yet another reference to the Aboriginal sacred number four. Four is an allusion to the medicine wheel, which is an “interconnection of all life”. The circular wheel resembles the natural cycle that occurs within the world, in which each quadrant has a different representation. “The novel has four sections, with four headings that when translated, are the same as the names of the Four Old Indians” (Paterson). King uses the number four continuously throughout my selected passage. He says “damn” (King 182, 184) four times in two separate occasions, and there is mention of the “Four Corners” (185).

Bill Bursum.

Looking at Bill Bursum’s name, I wondered whether King had named this character after an actual Bill – and I was correct! The Bursum Bill “deprived the Pueblo of their land and their water and left several thousand Mexican and American claimants to fight each other legally for the possession of these lands and waters to the perennial enrichment of lawyers who were working to enact the bursum bill.” The Pueblo’s fought against the bill, and it was ultimately defeated. In King’s story, Bill is the Western character who shows agitation towards Indian culture.

Different women answering the phone. 

Alberta speaks to two different women over the phone regarding her artificial  insemination application progress. Her first call is to a “friendly” (King 178) and empathetic woman after receiving a letter from the clinic. The woman understands Alberta’s discomfort, and sympathizes with her anxiety caused by the process. The next woman calls her regarding a required interview. This woman is less personable, and shows no trace of empathy. She cuts Alberta off mid sentence, assumes a cultural familiarity, and doesn’t actually listen to what Alberta has to say.

The woman: “…you can see why.”
Alberta: “I’m not sure–”
The woman: “And when you get the interview….” (King 179)

This dialogue shows the contrast in characters between the two different woman answering the phone, and symbolically, two different ideologies regarding First Nations people. One addresses the problem with empathy, and is open-minded, while the other goes through the motions, says what is required to be said, and glosses over the bigger picture. The second woman is hearing — but not listening — to Alberta, something that is common in First Nation’s history.

Indian Act.

“Christ, Portland, things have changed. Not like the old days. Unions, rules, more asses to kiss. Who can predict it. It aint like the old days at all. Hell, you don’t even have to act anymore.” (King 184)

In this quote, C.B. Cologne is responding to Portland about potential job opportunities for the Westerns. However, his description makes me think that King is referring to the attitude many Aboriginals have towards the Indian Act. C.B says “hell, you don’t even have to act anymore”. Act, in this case, may work in the context of speaking about a working opportunity, but C.B.’s sentences before this shine a light on King’s perspective about the Indian Act. It is “not like the old days”; there are “more asses to kiss”; you can’t “predict it” (King 184); King is referencing the Indian Act and the mindset Indians have for this federal legislation.

Works Cited

“Aboriginal Medicine and Healing Practices.” Traditional Aboriginal Medicine. UOttawa. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://www.med.uottawa.ca/sim/data/Aboriginal_Medicine_e.htm>.

“The Bursum Bill.” Canton Asylum. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/the-canton-asylum-for-insane-indians/the-bursum-bill>.

“The Indian Act: Historical Overview | Mapleleafweb.com.” The Indian Act: Historical Overview. Mapleleafweb.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://mapleleafweb.com/features/the-indian-act-historical-overview>.

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

“Manitoba Education.” Aboriginal Education. Government of Manitoba. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/abedu/perspectives/concepts.html>.

Paterson, Erika. “Lesson 3.2.” ENGL 470A Canadian Studies Canadian Literary Genres. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Robinson, Harry. “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King Of England.” Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory. Ed. Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2005. 64-85.

“What Was the Bursum Bill?” WikiAnswers. Answers Corporation. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_Bursum_Bill#slide=1>.