Oh Canada ENGL 372

For this assignment I will be decoding pages 262 – 274 of Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water.

Pages 262 – 264: The Sun Dance is integral to the culture of the Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Sun Dance was suppressed and outlawed by the Canadian Government in the 1867 Indian Act which governed Indigenous affairs In Canada. The restrictions on ceremony and dance were not removed until the 1951 amendment . In these pages, Eli is remembering when he took his girlfriend Karen to the Sun Dance. Karen, her parents and their friends are all intrigued by the Sun Dance, asking questions and wanting to attend. King uses this passage to show Non Indigenous people’s treatment of Indigenous ceremony as similar to a carnival attraction. The Sun Dance, once banned by Canada, is now a mythological ceremonies which they want to participate in not a respected cultural tradition. This passage shows the injustice of the differeing attitudes towards Indigenous culture and rights. On one hand, the Sun Dance is incredibly alluring and mysterious while on the other hand Eli has little to no allies for his historical claim to his land.

Pages 265 – 268: Bill Barsum, Lionel’s boss, is a caricature used to show the bias that Indigenous people face. He is named after the Barsum Bill of 1921 which granted land in New Mexico to settlers. The Barsum Bill effectively removed the claim of the Native Pueblo people. Barsum’s character displays his ignorance and bias towards indigenous people in these pages with his misplaced anger towards Eli. Barsum purchased a piece of land on Parliament Lake where he intended to build a cabin. Barsum cannot build his cabin because Eli is fighting for the rights to his land. Naming the lake Parliament Lake is symbolic because Eli’s resistance against the dam stops the spread of Parliament Lake waters, i.e. government control, over the home hand built by his Indigenous mother. In effect Eli is limiting the control of Parliament. Parliament Lake is also symbolic of Parliament Hill where the Algonquin people have a historical story of an Algonquin girl being raped and murdered by British troops. The story is interpreted by an Algonquin artist in the photo below. The British troops were housed in barracks built during the construction of the Rideau Canal which is comparable to a dam. Barsum’s anger at Eli for asserting his rightful claim to his land, simply because Barsum wanted to build a cabin, is reflective of some modern attitudes towards Indigenous people and their land claims. Barsum’s comparison of treaties to his store’s electronic contracts and his insistence that Eli should move the cabin are used to demonstrate common biases, misunderstandings and injustices towards Indigenous people and the belittling of their claims.

Pages 269 – 272: In this passage, King tells the story of Thought Woman who has fallen from the sky, floated through the Ocean and has now come ashore. When Thought Woman makes land she is met by A.A. Gabriel who is representative of the archangel Gabriel. In the bible Gabriel is responsible for delivering and interpreting messages from God. Gabriel hands Though Woman a card which reads “Canadian Security and Intelligence Service” (King 269). Gabriel’s card indicates that he may be concerned with Thought Woman’s threat to the security of the land.  The Indigenous claim to land is viewed by some as a  threat to Canada’s traditionally christian settler’s claims. The card that Gabriel gives thought woman sings “Hosanna Da” presumably to the tune of Oh Canada indicating that Thought Woman is in Canada. Hosanna is a word used in the old testament as a cry for help to stop a land from being destroyed. The card singing hosanna is a further indication of Gabriels view of Thought Woman as a threat to Canada. When trying to remember the lyrics to Oh Canada Coyote sings “Hosanna Da, in the highest” (King 270) which is a reference to a christian hymn. Coyote also sings “Hosanna Da forever” (King 270) in reference to the song the Maple Leaf Forever which was written to commemorate Canada’s confederation. The Maple Leaf Forever contains lyrics that commemorate and glorify Britain’s colonization of Canada. Coyote signing these songs highlights colonization in the name of the christian God and A.A. Gabriel’s protection of the colonizers claim to the land. After questioning Thought Woman, Gabriel mistakenly asks her to sign a White Paper which he says is for later. The White Paper is the White Paper policy of 1969 which proposed to remove the status of Indian and have all Indigenous people legally became Canadians. This is problematic because it removed Indigenous agency as a separate governmental body by absorbing them into and under the Canadian government. Finally, Gabriel insists that Thought Woman procreate with him. He only insists on this  after he has named her Mary and has verified that she is a virgin just like Mary from the bible. These pages on Thought Woman serve to emphasis Canada’s christian ties specifically in the context of their impact on Indigenous people today.

Pages 273 – 274: In this passage Hawkeye, The Lone Ranger and Robinson Crusoe watch Ishmael dance in a way that they compare to the Kiowa and Cree dances. These dances are  evidently not the type of dance she is trying to perform. Coyote offers to perform the dance because he is familiar with it. Coyote’s dance summons rain clouds which, he claims, is not what he intended to do. Coyote was most likely performing a rain dance which is practiced by many cultures including Native Americans to call rain during drought and to promote the growth of crops.

Work Cited

“1876 – The Maple Leaf Forever” Marmora Historical Foundation, https://www.marmorahistory.ca/1867/2017/2/16/1867-the-maple-leaf-forever. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

“About the Pueblos.” Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre, https://www.indianpueblo.org/19-pueblos/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

Crawford, Blair. “Death on the Hill: An Algonquin Artist’s 30 Year Struggle to Preserve the Memory of a Parliament Hill Tragedy.” Ottawa Citizen, 6 June. 2019, https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/death-on-the-hill-an-algonquin-artists-30-year-struggle-to-preserve-the-memory-of-a-parliament-hill-tragedy. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

“History of a Warrior’s Dance: Gourd Dancing” Indian Country Today, 25 Feb. 2011, https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/history-of-a-warrior-s-dance-gourd-dancing-2t20-VV1tUOuRDCfgmY7JA. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

Hoefnagels, Anna. “Cree Round Dances,” Native Dance, http://native-dance.ca/en/renewal/cree-round-dances/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

Joseph, Bob. “21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act,” CBC News, 13 Apr. 2016, https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/21-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-indian-act-1.3533613. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

King, Thomas. “Green Grass Running Water” HarperColins Publishers, 1993.

Ligertwood, Brooke. “Hosanna in the Highest,” Divine Hymns, http://www.divinehymns.com/lyrics/hosanna-in-the-highest-song-lyrics/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

Martinez, Mathew. “All Indian Pueblo Council and the Bursum Bill.” New Mexico History, 17 Jan. 2014, http://newmexicohistory.org/2014/01/17/all-indian-pueblo-council-and-the-bursum-bill/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

Montpetit, Isabelle. “Background: The Indian Act” CBC News, 30 May 2011, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/background-the-indian-act-1.1056988. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

Noisecat, Julian Brave. “Canada Wants First Nation People to Sell Land for Cheap and Give up Their Rights.” The Guardian, 3 Aug. 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/03/canada-first-nation-land-rights. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

ReShel, Azriel. “The Ancient Indigenous Art of Rainmaking” Uplift, 8 Jan. 2020, https://upliftconnect.com/ancient-indigenous-rainmaking/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

Roat, Alyssa. “What Does the Bible Say About the Angel Gabriel?” Christianity, https://www.christianity.com/wiki/angels-and-demons/what-does-the-bible-say-about-the-angel-gabriel.html. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

“The White Paper 1969” Indigenous Foundations. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_white_paper_1969/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

Wilson, Dawn. “What Does the Word ‘Hosanna’ Mean? Should We Still Use it Today?” Crosswalk, 27 Aug. 2018, https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-does-the-word-hosanna-mean.html. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.

Wishart, David. “Sun Dance,” Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.rel.046. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

Thomas King’s novel Green Grass Running Water starts with “nothing, just the water”(1).

Green Grass Running Water has a multitude of narratives that are told simultaniously but occurre at different points in time. Stories like those of First Woman and Coyote occur at the beginning of the world long before the stories of characters such as Alberta and Charlie. Why is it that King felt the need to start at the commencement of the world in order to convey the stories of modern day characters?

One contributing reason may be “to make [the] audience wait, to keep everyone in suspense” (7). Thomas King believed that suspense was one of the tools needed to tell a great story. The addition of the creation stories adds suspense to the stories of the modern-day characters by prolonging and complicating their plots.

However, there are two far more significant reasons for King’s choice to include creation stories at the commencement and throughout his novel. The importance of creations stories in Indigenous culture and the context that they provide to the modern struggles of his characters.

Creation stories tell the story of the commencement of the world and how Indigenous people first settled/ created North America. Creation stories explain why the world is the way we find it in King’s novel i.e. we are living on the land that First Woman built on Grandmother Turtles back. This is significant both because it explains the creation of the world but also because First Woman was Indigenous. First Woman’s story shows the Indigenous people’s long standing connection with and claim to the land. Creation stories connect our present with the past and show the influence of the past on current events. Story tellers can change their stories to provide the right context for the narrative. In King’s case the creation story provides context to the events in his modern day characters life. By continuing to intertwine the creation story and its characters with the modern day plot, King emphasizes that the lessons and meaning in the creation story continue to be important and salient in modern times.

The importance of King providing context to Indigenous stories is particularly evident for two of his characters, Latisha and Eli.

One of Latish’s customers treats her the same way that Noah treats the Changing Woman. In King’s novel, Latisha’s customer “reached out to try to pat Latisha’s butt” (131) and Noah “chases Changing Woman around the canoe” (146) trying to procreate. Both Woman are treated poorly and disrespectfully. Changing Woman’s story is a reminder that Indigenous culture and the Christian religon viewed Woman very differently. Indigenous woman enjoyed more rights and respect before colonization and the imposition of European ideals. King’s inclusion of Changing Woman’s story provides context for Latisha’s situation and reminds the reader that she is subject to this treatment, in part, due to colonization. It is also a reminder of how long Indigenous woman have been mistreated.

When First Woman helps put together the earth and builds her garden it is unfairly taken from her by God. Eli is in a very similar situation when the government wants to take his mother’s cottage in order to utilize their dam. The cottage was hand build by his mother just as the world was hand built by First Woman and the animals. King’s inclusion of the story of the First Woman highlights the injustice of Eli’s situation by reenforcing his claim to the land.

Thomas King starts his book Green Grass Running Water at the beginning of creation because that is where the story of his Indigenous character truly starts. Both the Indigenous people’s connection with their history and claims to their lands and the context of their continual oppression, marginalization and unfair treatment start at the beginning of the world. In order to properly understand the plight of King’s characters we must understand not only their story but the history that lead up to and influences their story. King helps us understand the long history of disrespect that Latisha and other Indigenous woman have had to contend with. He also emphasizes the right that Eli has to live free from constant attempts to seize his land. Further, King shows the long history of Indigenous people being displaced when their land was stolen from them just like Eli is being displaced. Starting at the beginning provides a depth of understanding of his characters that is invaluable. As Jesse Went mentions in his article, knowing more stories and context of Indigenous culture will make it “harder to hate, easier to love. Maybe we would be equals”

Work Cited

King, Thomas. “Green Grass Running Water” HarperColins Publishers, 1993.

King, Thomas. “The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative”. House of Anansi, 2003.

“Oral Traditions” Indigenous Foundations, https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/oral_traditions/. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.

Wente, Jesse. “Canada Needs to Give Indigenous Stories the Platform They Deserve.” The Globe and Mail, 16 Feb. 2016, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/canada-needs-to-give-indigenous-stories-the-platform-they-deserve/article34046186/. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.

My blog for this assignment will focus on question 3 which asks for an explanation of Northrop Frye’s seemingly inappropriate choice of example of the contradictions in Duncan Campbell Scott’s work.

In The Bush Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination Frye comments on the juxtaposition of  “the sophisticated on the primitive” (221). This juxtaposition in literature, in Frye’s opinion, is demonstrative of the tension present in Canadian society and culture. Frye argues that Canada does not have a distinct literary tradition because it is lacking a distinct culture, in part, due to tensions like those between the primitive and sophisticated. The tension does not allow for one strong tradition to emerge. To give an example of cultural tension, Frye comments on Duncan Campbell Scottds ability to write on both classical music and Indigenous people in the wilderness of Canada. Frye sees these two topics as completely incongruous and the fact that Scott, a Canadian, can write about both in the Canadian context is demonstrative of the lack of a coherent Canadian culture.

The reason Frye’s examples of tension in Scott’s work is a perplexing choice is because there is an even more obvious and glaring example from Scott’s writing. Scott worked in the department of Indian affairs in Canada which was responsible for the policies that implemented residential schools in Canada among other injustices. Scott was very open about his views of Indigenous people in Canada and his goal was to leave “not a single Indian in Canada that [had] not been absorbed into the body politic“. The policies written by Scott are examples of a type of literature in Canada. Political policy is literary, it is written word constructed from experience with specific purpose, goals and meaning just as novels and poems are.

At the same time that Scott was responsible for writing unjust Indigenous policy in Canada he was also a poet. Scott’s poem “The Onondaga Madonna” is focused on an Indigenous woman. In his poem Scott says this woman’s “pagan passion burns and glows” and she has “wilderness in her veins”. Scott’s poem romanticizes the Indigenous woman describing her spirit as well as parts of her body. The poem also extends its romantic tone to the woman’s “weird and waning race”. In his poem Scott romanticizes the disappearance of the Indian race despite being part of the cause.  Scott’s poetry and his policy are a good example of the juxtaposition between the primitive and sophisticated described by Frye.

With the above in mind, why would Frye choose the lesser example present in Scott’s writing to make his point?

To explain this, Frye’s theory of literature and criticism needs to be taken into account. Frye felt that authors could not write literature that directly reflected Canadian cultural experiance. Instead it was his position that all literature was separate from but informed by experience. Frye believed that literary genres like romance, poems, and established traditions like British literature or common plots were the template from which all literature was created.  To clarify further, Frye felt an authors experience could not be directly translated into a literary work, it can only provide inspiration for a new interpretation of a preexisting genera and story line. This means that Scott’s political writing and Canadian writing in general did not need to take the Canadian experience, including the mistreatment of Indigenous people, into account. From Frye’s perspective, Scott’s policy and political writing did not impact the literary world, nor did it need to inform his writing.

Frye does not mention the difference between Scott’s literature regarding Indigenous people and the policies he is writing because, in his opinion, it is not relevant to the autonomous literary world. This says a lot about the Canadian Literature of the time. Frye did not see the need and or importance of literature reflecting the experience of Canadians nor did he criticize it for being out of touch with the unfair treatment of Indigenous people in Canada. Frye’s one condition, that it conform to literary forms, was met.  The literary forms transformed the actual experience of Indigenous people and the true feelings of policy writers like Scott into romantic poems and thrilling stories. This allowed for the popularity of poems that glorified and romanticized the vanishing Indigenous people while they were treated cruelly and unfairly by policy makers such as Scott.

Work Cited:

Frye, Northrop. “The Bush Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination” House of Anansi, 1971.

“The Onondaga Madonna” (1898) by Duncan Campbell Scott and Racialization” Canlit Guides, https://canlitguides.ca/canlit-guides-editorial-team/poetry-and-racialization/the-onondaga-madonna-1898-by-duncan-campbell-scott-and-racialization/. Accessed 25 Feb. 2020.

“Until There Is Not a Single Indian in Canada” Facing History and Ourselves, https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/until-there-not-single-indian-canada. Accessed 25 Feb 2020.

I would like the following posts to be reviewed for my evaluation please!

Assignment 1.5 – https://blogs.ubc.ca/ehomuth/2020/01/23/assignment-15-youll-never-believe-what-happened/

This blog post contains my story of how evil came into the world. I was especially proud of this one because storytelling is not my forte but I liked how it turned out.  I think the loss of hope that my main character suffers as a result of the Trickster’s story is a good example of an evil coming into the world.

Assignment 2.4 – https://blogs.ubc.ca/ehomuth/2020/02/07/assignment-24-q-3-lutz-and-our-bias/

In this blog I address John Lutz’s comments in his article Myth and Memory Rethinking Stories of Indigenous- European Contact. There are many ways to interpret Lutz’s comment that Europeans need to make sure to view first contact stories from an indigenous perspective. I believe my interpretation as outlined in this blog is very well supported and shows the import of Lutz’s comments to readers.

Assignment 2.6 – https://blogs.ubc.ca/ehomuth/2020/02/19/assignment-2-6-answer-to-question-6/

My blog for assignment 2.6 focuses on Carlson’s argument against scholars use of authenticity as a benchmark for considering Indigenous stories. I explain and expand on Carlson’s argument and the ramifications of the use of authenticity as an evaluatory tool.

Thank you!

First and foremost, I promise to work on my titles.

Secondly, thank you for reading my blog despite my horrible titles!

In his article, Carlson argues that scholars dismiss Indigenous stories that contain post-contact elements because the stories are no longer viewed as authentic. Authentic in this case does not mean lacking in historical accuracy, nor does it mean that historians cannot verify the source of the story. In this case, the stories are authentic if they aren’t “influenced or informed by post-contact European events” (Carlson 56). Historians use of authenticity as the measurement of legitimacy, as opposed to considering the source or the history, is harmful because Indigenous people do not view authenticity as a proper way to examine their stories and it arbitrarily dismisses certain stories.

Carlson argues that the use of authenticity as a measurement bias’s scholars to Indigenous stories that contain elements that are viewed as post-contact. In Harry Robinson’s story of the twins “part of the deal struck with the younger twin…was that his descendants would one day travel to the home of the elder twin’s dependents” (10). The story of the twins predicts the eventual colonization of Indigenous lands. The appearance that the story is based on the foreknowledge of this event makes it appear to be inauthentic. The argument for inauthenticity is based on the belief that the story was created or altered to fit real life events. The story appears inauthentic but in reality, Indigenous people had many experiences with visitors off the coast estimated as early as  1,000 a.d., who did not always make contact. These visitors may have inspired the stories.  Further, our modern society has the same stories of unknown people visiting and/or colonizing earth.

Carlson makes this point about his fellow scholars and their analysis of Indigenous stories to highlight the harmful bias that is present in the resultant opinions and scholarly theories. Modern scholar’s use of authenticity as a measurement of Indigenous stories is a colonial way to view Indigenous stories.  This bias has caused scholars to pick and choose Indigenous stories to label authentic, with the rest being tossed aside and labeled as tainted by contact. In reality, their method of analysis is tainted by colonial norms and bias.

Carlson does not argue against the study and analysis of Indigenous stories, he instead proposes that they be considered from the Indigenous perspective and with Indigenous criteria. The genera of the story of the twins is referred to “in Harry Robinson’s Okanagan Salish language as shame-ma-ee” (Carlson 56). Shame-ma-ee stories are not analyzed for authenticity they are considered within an Indigenous context and history. History and story telling are very important to Indigenous people as stories are a record of their past. Stories also have power to call spirits and hand down knowledge. The use of authenticity as a method of analyzing Indigenous stories is in direct conflict with Indigenous stories which are all considered special and deserving of respect. Carlson highlights this point in his article and warns of the danger and harm of Indigenous stories being haphazardly “discarded to the dustbin of scholarly interest” (56).

In summary, Carlson believes that scholars consideration of Indigenous stories from their colonial perspective causes them to unjustly, and to their detriment, dismiss Indigenous stories on the grounds of authenticity. This is damaging because it results in studies of Indigenous stories that are based on a colonial bias and from a colonial perspective. It is impossible for studies of this nature to result in meaningful interpretations of Indigenous stories because any conclusion drawn will be due to a problem in  the method of study not the result of the study.

Work Cited:

Carlson, Keith Thor. “Orality and Literacy: The Black and White of Salish History” ed. Carlson, Kristina Fagna, and Natalia Khamemko-Frieson. University of Toronto Press, 2011. 43-72

Datta, Ranjan. “Traditional Storytelling: an Effective Indigenous Research Methodology and its Implications for Environmental Research” Sage Journals, 9 Nov. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1177180117741351. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.

Klein, Christopher. “The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America” History, 24 Sept. 2018, https://www.history.com/news/the-viking-explorer-who-beat-columbus-to-america. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.

Robinson, Harry. “Living By Stories: A Journey of Landscape and Memory” ed. Wickwire, Wendy. Talonbooks, 2005.

In his book, John Lutz states that a difficulty of interpreting the first contacts between Native peoples and Europeans is “enter[ing] a world that is distant in time and alien in culture, attempting to perceive indigenous performance through their eyes as well as those of the Europeans” (32). Lutz starts his book with this request for many different reasons.

First, to make his reader examine their bias. Through the writing, editing and compilation of his book Lutz  came into contact with many different people with different backgrounds and biases. Everyone has implicit bias, an important step to recognizing your bias is admitting that you have one. The next step is to work towards overcoming your bias but also to remind other of their bias. Lutz pointing out the difficulty in interpretation is a tactful way to remind readers to recognize their potential biases. When considering first contact stories between Europeans it is important to recognize a European bias when considering the Native perspective. It is also important to remember to examine the indigenous perspective. Consideration of the Indigenous perspective is still a relatively new concept in academia, especially consideration that includes respect for indigenous beliefs and their validity.

Another reason Lutz begins his book with a reminder that these stories are “distant in time and alien in culture” (32) is to combat the difficulties inherent in examining Indigenous stories in general. Indigenous stories that have been written down in English are lacking many crucial elements that would allow readers to examine the stories from an indigenous perspective. The translation from Indigenous languages to English is imperfect. “Languages contain a wealth of cultural information” (Maclean) that is lost in translation.  The stories are intended to be told orally which allows for more interpretation by the storyteller including voice inflection, pauses and intimacy. “The cultural “rules” regulating the oral tradition” (Simpson) are also integral to the story and the story’s interpretation. They also regulate the conditions that the story can be told in i.e. who needs to be present which can limit the number of times the story is told and how many people can hear it.

Another problem with interpretation of Indigenous culture is the period of time when the residential school system was active. The residential schools, among many cruel effects, hindered or halted the continuation of the Indigenous oral tradition by outlawing their ceremonies and language. Children were taken from their families unlawfully, removing them from the influence of their elders who were responsible for passing on stories, beliefs and traditions. The Indigenous tradition of storytelling and recording history is oral. These oral stories, as mentioned above, are ceremonially told in the Indigenous language and sometimes to specific family members. The family members who would have been imparted with the stories may have been taken to residential schools and may never have returned because the mortality rate was so high. If they returned they may not have sufficient knowledge of the language to understand the story.

During the time that the Indigenous people’s language and practices were outlawed the oral historical tradition was effectively outlawed. Lutz requests that his readers ensure they observe first contact stories from the Indigenous perspective not just the European. This request does not assume that his readers are European nor does he assume that it is more difficult for Europeans to interpret Indigenous behaviour in first contact stories. Lutz is assuming that it is harder for everyone to interpret the Indigenous perspective in a first contact story. Lutz’s statement that his readers should try to view the first contact stories from the Indigenous perspective is resultant and reflective of the harm that has been done to Indigenous populations. It is an incredibly unfortunate truth that it is hard for anyone to understand the historical Indigenous perspective because we lost the context during the residential school period. Lutz assumes that even Indigenous people may have a hard time viewing the encounter from this perspective because of the irreversible harm that was done to their culture which disabled the ability of Indigenous people to freely pass down their culture and history.

Lutz rightly assumes that some readers may have an implicit bias that they need to confront in order to interpret the first contact stories from both perspectives. This assumption is fair because we all have implicit bias. Lutz further assumes that the Indigenous perspective of first contact is remote to all readers, not just Europeans, because Indigenous records of their history and traditions were immutably injured.

Work Cited

Kelly, Lewis. “How to check your unconscious biases” Folio, https://www.folio.ca/how-to-check-your-unconscious-biases/. Accessed 6 Feb 2020

Lutz, John. “Myth and Memory Rethinking Stories of Indigenous- European Contact”, UBC Press, 2007.

MacLean, Taylor. “Lost in Translation: How Language Can Contain a Worldview,” University of Toronto, https://indigenousstudies.utoronto.ca/news/lost-in-translation-language-and-worldview/. Accessed 6 Feb 2020

Simpson, Leanne. “Stories, Dreams, and Ceremonies: Anishinaabe ways of learning” Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, vol. 11, no. 4 – Summer 2000, https://tribalcollegejournal.org/stories-dreams-ceremonies-anishinaabe-ways-learning/. Accessed 7 Feb 2020

Home is an interesting topic. Everyone has an idea of what it means to them but we all have very different was of describing it. As I read through my classmates stories it was amazing to me how many stories I identified with wholeheartedly and how many were completely foreign feelings to me. Home is so particular to people, places, times, memories etc. but many of us are connected by the similarities in how these things compound into our sense of home.

Many stories were similar to mine in that we didn’t have any one particular place that we called home. For me, home has always been a very fluid concept. I moved a lot when I was a kid, spent a lot of time at my grandparents house, my aunts house, my uncles house and many more. I was completely at home in all of them but none of the houses were home to me. Like many of us, my sense that these places were home came from the ease and happiness, many people also mentioned the feeling of safety, that I knew I would find while I was there. These were also places where my family would gather. Gathering of friends and family was also a key similarity in stories of the feeling of home. It wasn’t unusual for Christmas to be at my Grandparents, Thanksgiving at my Uncles and Halloween at my parents. Regardless of whose house we were in I knew that my entire family being there would make it home.

Another similarity is the memories of peoples, places, smells and tastes that can make you feel at home. Many people spoke about foods that were prepared during holidays or food that was always prepared by their dad or mom. For me, maple syrup tastes like home because my Grandpa made it at his sugar shack and we ate maple candy whenever it snowed. The memories associated with the food fostered a feeling of home that became associated with that food. Food was spoken of particularly often because it is an easily (in most cases) transportable feeling of home. Many stories that I read where people moved away from home mentioned making a particular food when they were feeling home sick. This food and the memories of eating it with friends and family helped remind them of home. Many writers also had strong connections to natural elements or areas that made them feel at home. Some people feel more at home within the borders of their province while others feel at home with their feet in a stream or a lake. I personally feel a sense of home every time I’m submerged in a lake because I spent all my summers as a child until now at a lake in Ontario. Finally, the largest similarity was that it seems as though everyone who has a feeling of home rather then a place that they call home seems to agree that “home is where the heart is” is the best description of home.

The biggest difference that I noticed between stories like mine and other stories was the origin of the feeling of home. Many stories describe a search for home that I could not identify with. I have never know what it was like to not feel a sense of home because I have always felt it from a person, place, feeling, smell, food, etc. I also noticed that this search for home took a lot of writers on journeys whether that be across the world or to a new province. It was a new concept to me that individuals may choose to move in search of a feeling of home. I searched the www and found that many displaced Indigenous people are moving to cities to reunite with family and to try to find a sense of home in the same way that many of my classmates  had described.

Another difference. which I expected to encounter, was the feeling of home being connected to a specific house or location. I know that many people are very strongly connected to their childhood homes or the towns they grew up in. It was very interesting to hear the reasons why and to read descriptions of what that feeling is like. Many people also found their sense of home in one particular person. This person was evidently very important to them. The fluidity in my feeling of home means that any family member, friend, partner, etc. can provide a feeling of home. Sometimes I even seek out different people for the feeling of home depending on what I am struggling with. To hear stories of such a strong unwavering connection to one individual was very interesting.

In Summary:

Similarities includes:  home as a feeling, people (especially family) being home, the senses (tastes, smells, etc.) as connections to home, memories creating the feeling of home, places that you have never been before feeling like home and the feeling that “Home is where the Heart is”.

Differences: some people didn’t feel a sense of home inherently, searches for home, home being achievable, home as a destination, a particular location or house rather then a feeling, and home being a particular person.

Works Cited:

McIntyre, Jamie. “Sugar Shacks Northern Ontario” Northern Ontario Travel, 4 Apr. 2017,  https://www.northernontario.travel/northeastern-ontario/sugar-shacks-northern-ontario. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

Friesen, Joe. “Growing Indigenous Population Reshaping Cities Across the Country” The Globe and Mail, 26 Dec. 2016,  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/growing-indigenous-population-reshaping-cities-across-the-country/article33436120/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.

We were lost, sitting in the middle of an endless string of lakes in Southern Ontario. We started our canoe trip at the local marina that morning after packing everything we thought we might need for what should have been a relatively short trip. Emergency boat kits, water, snacks and two maps but at the moment, none of that preparation was helping.

I had mapped the route out that morning with my Grandpa. He showed me the location of the marina on the map.

“This is where I’m going to drop you off” he said pointing at the map. I would later find out that the map was over twenty years old. “From there, you only have one job” he said looking me in the eye “make it to this passage here”. The passage was clear across the lake from the marina, simple enough to find. “Once you make it through the portage here, just follow the lakes and you’ll make it back”. “But, if you take this passage here” he pointed to a passage. The passage was also across the lake from the marina but to the left of our route. “Tell me where you end up” he said expectantly. I studied the map. I was fourteen years old and desperate to be the responsible guide that led my family through the trip. I also wanted to be ready to argue with my mom and Aunt when they informed me I was wrong about the direction we should be going.

“If we take that route” I said hesitantly “it looks like we would canoe North, it never links back to our destination lake”.

“Exactly” he said “I don’t know that area very well so I won’t be able to find you there”.

“Don’t worry Grandpa” I said “I’m keeping the map in my canoe”.

Of course, you already know how well that went…

If we had counted how many times we portaged we would have realized that we should only have done it three times before seeing a familiar lake not six, and counting. If we asked anyone what lake we were on when we waved at passers by, they might have told us and we may have found it on the map. If we had stopped to think for even one second during our trip we might have realized that something wasn’t right about a two hour trip turning into a four hour trip. But we didn’t because this was home. We canoed and laughed and canoed and talked and canoed and explored and portaged and portaged and portaged. We were so focused on our surroundings, the pace of our paddling and the good company that we never realized how far we had strayed.

For those that haven’t guessed yet, we took the second passage just slightly to the left of our route. We were lost from the moment we started paddling but it never felt that way. Even while lost, I had never felt more at home.

At portage number seven we hit a wall, almost literally. Normally we portaged gravel roads, rapids, trails and occasionally a crudely paved road. There was one highway on our route and we knew it like the back of our hands, this was not that road. This road was freshly paved over a bridge with hand rails lining the sides. On the other side of the bridge was the equivalent of a subdivision of cottages lining the lake side by side. It was like nothing I had ever seen. A man was parked by the side of the road with a fishing pole in his hand. I would tell you that we asked him where we were and that he told us the name of the lake which wasn’t familiar at all. I would also explain how we tried calling my Grandpa to pick us up but he didn’t know where we were either. I can’t tell you any details because I don’t remember. I was mystified at the new lake, the discovery that we had been lost from the jump and the lingering sense that I still felt at home in this new area though I couldn’t tell you where it is and I haven’t been back since.

I feel at home anywhere my family is, anywhere with water, anywhere with nature and anywhere with slippers. Home, to me, is a feeling. I have never been attached to any one location, house, etc. I have places that I am fonder of then others but for me, above all else, home is the feeling I get from the people I love most.

Work Cited

“Algonquin Park Almaguin Highlands Muskoka and Parry Sound” Ontario Canada, https://www.ontariotravel.net/en/explore/map?types=|1|2|3|4|701001&region=12&lat=45.548125&lng=-78.862169&zoom=8. Accessed 27 Jan 2020.

Callan, Kevin. “The Pain of Portaging” Paddling.com, https://paddling.com/learn/the-pain-of-portaging/. Accessed 27 Jan 2020.

The world was at war. It had been ever since Abby was born and since long before anyone lucky enough to be alive could remember. Countries no longer existed, alliances had long since fallen and no one could remember words like armistice, let alone peace. No one could remember why the war started or what the current fighting was about but Abby knew. Abby was told a story long ago about the catalyst of the endless war. Her Grandmother told her before she died and Abby had remembered ever since. Abby had made sure to remember because her Grandmother was one of the few who had lived past 20 and had first hand knowledge of the past. In fact she had made it to 50 and was seen as the keeper of history as any written records had been burned or destroyed and everyone had given up trying to remember long ago.

Grandmother’s story went like this.

Once upon a time the world was different. People were happy, they could agree and arguments did not lead to violence. Then one sunny day, a Trickster descended and he was bored. Everyone was living harmoniously and it didn’t suit him, he wanted some entertainment. Sometimes if he was bored he would throw a stone at someone and blame someone else or trip someone as they walked down the street but this amusement only lasted so long. He decided to pull out his greatest trick yet. From every person he took something special, their Understanding. He traveled the world collecting Understanding and as he did so, he watched the world slowly unravel. Without their Understanding people lost their ability to reflect on the past and appreciate differences in opinion. People misunderstood each others languages, intentions and cultures. That is how the world came to be what it is today and no one alive remembers what it was like to have Understanding.

Except Grandma, Grandma remembered because she was told by her mother who was told by her mother before her. Abby too remembered because this story had been passed down to her.

One day Abby decided to leave her home to track down the Trickster and make him give Understanding back to the world. As she traveled she told her Grandmother’s story in the hopes that the story might cause people to rethink their constant fighting but without Understanding in the world, the story had no impact. 

Years and kilometers later Abby found him, the Trickster.

“Give it back” she demanded of him “can’t you see the damage you have done, how dare you let this continue?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about” he said, “get out of-“

“I do” she interrupted, “my Grandmother told me the story of how you took Understanding from us all those years ago.”

“She did, did she” he replied, “let me tell you the true story.”

The Trickster told her his story. How he had planned on playing his tricks on the humans but the world was already falling into chaos. What he found when he arrived is that Understanding was already gone. The humans had given up on its pursuit and so it gradually faded until their was no trace.

“In the end, I didn’t have to lift a finger to trick you, you did it yourselves.” 

“How do we get it back” she asked him desperately.

“You can only get it back if people want it back, from what I have seen, that will never happen.” “I watched you while you sought me out, you told them that Understanding is what they needed, what they were missing, didn’t you” he asked.

“Yes” she replied.

“And” he prodded “did it work?”

“No” she replied.

With the end of the Trickster’s story came the end of Abby’s hope.  

“Hope was all I had” she said. “Take it back, call that story back” (King 10).

“I would” he replied “but, of course, it [is] too late, for once a story is told it cannot be called back” (King 10).

When I told this story I was reminded of the different connections that people have with stories because of their own stories. The majority of people that I told this too couldn’t conceive of such a terrible world. They agreed that it was horrible and didn’t know what Abby would do or how she could go on but they couldn’t comprehend the horror of a world like that. Those that I told the story to who had seen and experienced war had a better understanding of Abby and her situation. Because their own stories provided them with a deeper understanding of her situation and the hopelessness and disbelief at the actions of other. Stories are even more powerful when they resonate with the listeners stories and experiences. This is why support groups are so effective. If there is no one to listen who has those stories or experiences, stories become less powerful.

Work Cited

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative, House of Anansi Press Inc., 2003, Toronto.

“Native American Tricksters of Myth and Legend.” Native Languages, http://www.native-languages.org/trickster.htm. Accessed 23 Jan 2020.

“Support Groups: Make Connections, Get Help.” Mayo Clinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/support-groups/art-20044655. Accessed 23 Jan 2020.

Linguistic relativity is described by J. Edward Chamberlin as the scientific term for the “different thoughts and feelings and even different forms of behavior” (18) created by different languages. This is the wonderful world of words, the world “that is both there and not there” (Chamberlin 132).

Words create reality by describing it, alter descriptions alter the interpretation of events creating the new reality. Settlers in North America used words to create a reality in which they felt entitled to the land that they claimed to have discovered. Chamberlin points out the absurdity of calling individuals moving to North America settlers while labeling the Indigenous people as Nomads (29-30). From the perspective of the colonizers not only were these labels correct but, in their world of words the title of Settler gave them a false sense that it was their right to take the land. They created a reality in which they believed that the Indigenous people had not claimed the land because they had not settled on it. In reality the Indigenous people had settled on the land but not the way that the colonizers defined it. Used in this way, words created a reality for the Settlers and the British Government which provided them with a feeling, not just of entitlement to the land, but a duty to use it.

The world of words can also be incredibly beautiful and beneficial. Stories are utilized to record Indigenous history i.e the world that is there. In Indigenous stories the world that is there, including where to hunt, where berries grow and when, etc., to carefully catalogue and pass on to future generations. Stories, including charms and riddles, are used to create the world that is not there. Chamberlin refers to riddles and charms as ways to understand otherwise incomprehensible elements of life, nature and the human condition. To manage the harsh questions that we are faced with, like how we all came to be on the earth, by imagining a reality where those questions are answered. Charms and riddles add otherworldly elements that provide an explanation that reality cannot. Charms in the form of songs are especially significant because they are words that are seen as having the power to alter the real world whereas most words can only interpret it, for example, a song can help cultivate water.

It also provides the Indigenous people with agency. Their oral traditions allow for their history as their ancestors witnessed it to be passed down from generation to generation. This history is recorded and interpreted with no colonial interference and without reliance on scientific techniques. This method of recording history provides more information then others because it includes elements from the world that isn’t, interpretive and spiritual elements. Rather then history that relies on physical circumstance, Indigenous history provides additional context and interpretation. Creation stories describe how the world came to be but they also describe why it came to be. The photo below is Jorden Stranger’s interpretation of the creation story of the moon. This story not only explains how the moon came to be but it also provides an explanation for why the moon and sun are rarely in the sky at the same time. In this way, words explain and provide meaning to natural occurrences that may otherwise be menacing, like the sun leaving the sky.

Being immersed in the same world of words connects generations across time and through hardship. The Indigenous people of modern time have been robbed of experiencing North America the way their elders did. However, through the world of words, the world that no longer is, is recreated and imposed on the world that is to provide solace.

Work Cited

Cave, Kate, McKay, Shianne. “Water Song: Indigenous Woman and Water.” The Solutions Journal, vol. 7, no. 6, 2016, https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/water-song-indigenous-women-water/. Accessed 16 January 2020.

Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Toronto, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

“Oral Tradition” Canadian Geographic Indigenous People Atlas of Canada, https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/oral-tradition/. Accessed 16 January 2020.

“Storytelling” The First Nations Pedagogy Online, https://firstnationspedagogy.ca/storytelling.html. Accessed 15 January 2020.

Stranger, Jordan. Wisakedjak and the Moon., Winnipeg., http://www.our-story.ca/winners/arts/5092:wisakedjak-and-the-moon. Accessed 15 January 2020.