Monday Oct 17;

Hello 470

We are coming to the end of Unit 2 and this means it is almost time to decide which of your three blogs you would like me to read for evaluation. You need to select your three favourite blog assignments and post the urls on our Face Book page please. You should have those links to me by Friday the 21st, which is when I will begin the evaluation process. Be sure to have all your comments completed by that time as well.

I have once again enjoyed a week of reading through your responses and dialogues and once again, here is a small selection of some intriguing, insightful and well expressed answers and thoughts for my questions. Thank you and enjoy.

Sparke and others, such as Don Monet through his artwork above, also provide an alternative analysis to this statement, as the concept of a roaring map also evokes ideas of resistance (Sparke 468) and potentially new stories being told loudly and clearly. To expand, by its “roaring refusal of the orientation systems, the trap lines, the property lines, the electricity lines, the pipelines, the logging roads, the clear-cuts, and all the other accoutrements of Canadian colonialism on native land” (Sparke 468), this map challenged assumptions of map objectivity and plotted another story of the land, one that had gone mostly unrecognized by mainstream colonial maps. In this way, the maps that the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en worked to create and brought to the courtroom, not only challenged the Canadian legal “game” (Sparke 471), but, like Thomas King’s contrast of creation stories, showed that another “story” could be used to narrate a place that had had another story imposed on it.

However, maps tell stories (Fotiadis 6) and mapping is now also being used to offer alternative perspectives, stories, and understandings of place, and different kinds of maps, such as story and oral maps, are also contributing to these re-imagined mappings. For example, while some may argue that the maps created by the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en for the 1987 court case did not result in the reaching the desired objective, these maps still helped to articulate their “claim to their territories in a way the judge might understand” (Sparke 472) and provided a powerful alternative to the barren seeming colonial maps, presenting “a landscape rich with the historical geographies of Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan names and meanings” (Sparke 474). Another example of this re-imaging of maps is the Mapping Indigenous LA project which is using storymaps to “uncover and highlight the multiple layers of indigenous Los Angeles” while making “the rich Indigenous identities and histories that are often hidden … yet deeply embedded in the history of Los Angeles” more visible (“About Our Project”). Among other things, these maps are helping to re-story the landscape and bring forward the layers and presences on the land that often remain hidden in Western cartography. Creating Connections

I’m particularly curious about how art serves as this outlet in expressing and paving a movement for certain paths, and how there may also be drawbacks when it comes to a mutual understanding, a reconciliation of sorts. While art can provoke questions and start movements, “when metaphor invades decolonization, it kills the very possibility of decolonization; it recenters whiteness, it resettles theory, it extends innocence to the settler, it entertains a settler future” (Tuck, 3). While Robinson’s metaphor does not entertain any certain future, are there dangers to character implications, and does this do more hurting than helping the situation at hand? Tuck claims that an “easy adoption of decolonization as a metaphor…is a premature attempt at reconciliation” (9). I wonder how much walking on eggshells needs to be properly done to establish similar goals and an equal perspective, without being misleading of details, assumptions, or biases. I think I can understand how metaphors themselves cannot serve as part of the bigger picture, but can only point to specific points. For instance, Robinson’s story overall, points to the establishment of the colonizers as unfair. Insights

I wanted to learn more about the symbolism of Coyote and I came across a short film called Meet Coyote, an Aboriginal “Legend.” Coyote is described as many things including: a base, a legend that governs a perception of the world, a trickster, a healer, a fixer, and a being that created a safe place for humans and animals to coexist. Listening to different stories of Coyote and learning about the tradition and spirituality behind him was an exceptional experience for me. Spoken Word to Written Word

This similarity is initially seen in the unifying aspect of Harry’s (the storyteller’s) two characters being twins, binding the two figures with the sacredness of kinship. A blood bond exists between twins, Here the storyteller highlights the common humanity that persists (but so often in silence) during first contact. It is also a moment of humility as both twin’s perceptions originate simultaneously with their tasks for creating the world. The younger twin, the thief, can be dismissed as evil or can be accepted as a part of all heritage as even the Aboriginals feuded and stole lands. This initial unity, I think, may be the most powerful moral message taken from the short, summarized version of the story. 2:4 Twins in This Canadian Land

During Wickwire’s introduction, we feel how much power Robinson assigned to his stories. As he alludes, ‘whites’ will always miss the true meaning behind First Stories, as we need to organise these accounts and describe them on paper. As Robinson says, ‘For Indians, power was located in their hearts and heads; for whites, it was located on paper” (16). Due to this difference, we are unable to comprehend the total meaning of First Stories. Assignment 2.4 – Question 2

Thomas King presents two creation stories in the either/or scenario, suggesting that one is more believable over the other. He sets up the dichotomy of the collaboration-focused ‘The Earth Diver’ and the hierarchical ‘Genesis’ tales, operating under the idea that one must choose which story to believe in to make his point.

King presents his readers with this choice to illustrate the fundamental difference between European and Native cultures:due to the nature of oral storytelling, Indigenous stories are generally more subjective and adaptable, with an emphasis on collaboration, while European stories are based almost entirely on this hierarchical structure, reflecting and justifying their societal values. He also uses the correspondingly anticipated voice to tell each of the creation myths, the storyteller voice for ‘The Earth Diver’ and the authoritative voice for ‘Genesis.’ These different voices accentuate the oral tradition and rationalistic values of the respective cultures. 2:4 CREATIONS AND HIERARCHIES

I think that King has created these dichotomies for us to examine the two creation stories because he wants to emphasize the importance of telling and the importance of the audience. He gives us this option of the more story-like creation story with Charm, or the story of Genesis which is told with authority. He is asking us to contrast the ways in which these particular stories are told, in an effort to help the reader understand how stories can vary depending on several factors. This analysis that he gives us pairs up these two opposing believes and asks the reader to think about ‘what makes them different?’ and ‘how are they similar?’ maybe even ‘whyare they different?’ Are they different because they are told differently or are we listening to them differently? Are we understanding these stories in a particular light because of our own upbringing and understanding? I believe that King is trying to show us the possibilities of change within a story – and in the telling of it. King’s Dichotomies | Assignment 2:4

Good Monday 470;

It has been a great week of reading for me; one of the pleasures of this course is coming to see the material we read and the ideas we share from different perspectives; all interesting and insightful.

Following are some responses to my question about Lutz’s and his “assumptions’ ; the following excerpts from your responses illuminate different perspectives and approaches to the question, and to Lutz; an interesting read indeed.

Through this chapter Lutz weaves interesting examples of first encounters, such as, the two Gitrhala fishermen who tried to protect themselves from ghosts as European explorers approached or an exchange of music that occurred between the Aboriginals and the Europeans while on a ship where the music was described as “a song that was by no means unpleasant to the ear.” A disease starts to develop as these stories are told with the realization that they are from the European point of view and as the European interpretation of these first experiences. These stories were written in journals and diaries and have since been published as fascinating histories and insights but are solely of a European point of view. As I read on, I was relieved to see an account of Squamish Andrew Paull’s account of when Captain Vancouver arrived and the Aboriginal belief that every seven years brought bad luck so they had to brace themselves from this visitor a story that must of been told and not written. But even this story is told to an audience that is assumed to be of European descent. This book, Myth and Memory: Rethinking Stories of Indigenous-European Contact, was published in 2007 by UBC Press and written by John Lutz a University of Victoria professor. Is it possible that style of writing within the discourse of university can create this limited scope and an assumption of audience? It should not be the case considering the culturally diverse student body but is a disturbing realization that this may be the case.   2:4 FIRST STORIES

Lutz’s assumption that Indigenous peoples understand performances of people of European descent better than vice versa is fair, but not completely thought out. The reason that Lutz gives is that the mythical identity of ‘the European’ in Indigenous cultures was force-ably shifted over a long period of time due to the implementation of European superiority over other cultures in Christian European spirituality. Meanwhile it is that same idea of superiority over other cultures that has kept those of European descent from understanding Indigenous spirituality and mythical performance such as contact zones fully.  The part of the his assumption that is not thought out is that he states that ALL people of European descent could not understand Indigenous performance fully. As people of European descent read his essay and understand it, they either begin or continue the process of decolonizing their outlooks. These outlooks make up part of their mythic identity as people whose ancestors were colonizers, and those mythic identities are shifted. Lutz undermines his own argument. Assumptions and Differences

Following is a great example of a most interesting ‘aside’ with excellent hyperlinks:

This brought to my mind a group of Canadian Indigenous artists who incorporate hiphop, electronic and traditional singing and drumming into their music, and who are becoming very popular: Tribe Called Red. One of their videos tells the story of how they collaborated with Black Bear (traditional drummer) to create the single “Stadium Pow Wow”. In the mini documentary, one of the members of TCR alludes to the Hopi prophecy that one day all of the tribes of Turtle Island (the americas) will be connected through a giant spider web (read: the internet!). This group encourages storytelling from the people who are the story, not from outsiders – they encourage pride in Indigenous roots, and they are catching on quickly. I see this music/video as a really powerful storytelling tool that combines old tradition with accessible modern day music through the internet – accessible for the youth, who need empowering role models they actually connect with. Zionism in Rastafarianism acknowledges connection between all displaced peoples

And, this is an insightful comment on how important the full range of stories are to understanding Robinson – and, of course, Coyote:

What fascinated me about the story of Coyote and the Paper was how it was introduced in different magnitudes of Robinson telling many versions and twists of other stories as well. Wickwire talked about how Robinson “wanted to show the cultural importance of maintaining a full range of stories” (29). And while there are storytellers, there are those who did not represent their stories well because they filtered a certain theme. Robinson included stories involving contemporary political issues as well, stories that showed that “Harry’s forebears were not strictly ‘mythtellers’ locked in their prehistorical past” (25). The story places the ancestor of the colonizers as the trickster who steals the paper, and of Coyote as the obedient twin. This paper would represent how the ‘evil’ twin’s descendants, “true to their original character” (10), would take advantage of their God-given blessing and law in colonizing and claiming the land as theirs.  A Stolen Piece of Paper

During Wickwire’s introduction, we feel how much power Robinson assigned to his stories. As he alludes, ‘whites’ will always miss the true meaning behind First Stories, as we need to organise these accounts and describe them on paper. As Robinson says, ‘For Indians, power was located in their hearts and heads; for whites, it was located on paper” (16). Due to this difference, we are unable to comprehend the total meaning of First Stories.  Assignment 2.4 – Question 2

Following is an insightful explanation of ways King tells the two creation stories:

King has spent this particular chapter of the book discussing the power and effect of stories, and this dichotomy between the authoritative Genesis and the more casual Earth Diver exemplifies the purchase that the mode of storytelling can have. As King says, “As for stories such as the Woman Who Fell from the Sky, well, we listen to them and then we forget them, for amidst the thunder of Christian monologues, they have neither purchase nor place” (21). The Christian creation story is almost invariably told with the same rigid tone that brooks no argument, while any Indigenous creation myth isn’t taken seriously outside of the tribe it is important to, as King quotes Basil Johnston (23). The way we tell a story almost always mirrors the values within the story itself. King contrasts and dichotomizes these two creation myths to show, rather than tell, the reader this lesson, while also subtly hinting at the subject of the next chapter, wherein he discusses the White Man’s Indian. The relationship here is in the absolute conviction in his beliefs, to the point of stupidity, of the white or European man. The Genesis tale and the Ideal Indian are both stories created and unwaveringly accepted by White Men, as both fictions uphold their sense of superiority and hierarchy, their place as close to the top as they can reach. 2:4 CREATIONS AND HIERARCHIES

Enjoy.

Hello 470;

I have passed a wonderful week reading our blogs and following links. You have provided some good links, great stories and some excellent answers to my questions. The growing dialogue via our comment boxes is excellent. Thank you all.

Good Monday Sept 26 470;

I am happy to see so much enthusiasm among you all- and some rather remarkable stories on ‘How Evil Came into the World.’

Please be sure to reply to all comments on your Blog within a timely fashion. If you are too busy to engage fully, that is O.K. – just pause long enough to read and say thank you for the comment and you will try to return.

The contradiction that Chamberlin identifies at the heart of ‘home’ aptly speaks to the feeling of unease held by many Canadians of European heritage. How am I, as a Canadian of European descent able to reconcile the fact that my narrative of home, in all the ways in which it has come to define me, is implicated in the erasure of the home narratives of others? Querying narratives

The time has come to tell your story. Lesson 2:1  asks you to explore and express your values and the stories you use to connect yourself to your sense of home.

• Remember what Thomas Kings says, “we are the stories we tell ourselves.”
• Remember what Edward Chamberlain says, “stories give meaning and value to the places we call home.”
• And, take some time to reflect on the stories your grew up with that shaped how you value your home, reflect on the how these stories have shaped your sense of belonging, or not – to your home and your homeland.

In the introduction to this lesson I speak about examining our common assumptions and our diverse backgrounds in an effort to create an environment for learning and exploring difficult topics — together. My hope is that you will enjoy this process and that as a class we will create a more comfortable space to explore difficult questions with the knowledge that we do not all have the same perspectives because we do not all have the same stories. At the same time, we will discover some commonalties that will surprise us; and that always delight me. Write your story for your peers. Include the usual two hyperlinks and feel free to use visuals as well.

Enjoy!

Good Monday 470;

I have just completed my first round of reading your blogs; we are an eclectic and enthusiastic group this semester and I am very much looking forward to our work together.

I have a few comments for you about your blogging in general.

Every semester I begin with a conversation about capital letters and grammar, more specifically about the power of grammar as a tool for both oppression and liberation.

In terms of grammar, can you see what is wrong with the following sentences:

• In Canada, there are many thriving cultural traditions of thought and art: European, African, Latin, Scandinavian and more; the earliest cultural traditions are of course those of the indigenous people.
• The Europeans encountered different indigenous tribes as they traversed the nation.
• The British Empire colonized all the peoples of ‘Canada’ – the Europeans and indigenous people.

There was a time in the late 1980’s when students, myself included, began to mis-use, or you could even say we ‘abused’ grammar quite purposefully in an effort to expose the oppressive power of grammar. We have one student who is following suit with her blogging.

I will leave this with this: always capitalize Indigenous and Aboriginal and First Nations – just like you do Canada, and Canadians, and Europeans, and so forth.

I’d like you to take a moment and jump ahead to lesson 4:2 and read the sections on Dialogue, please pay particular attention to the differences between dialogue, debate and criticism – we are aiming to create dialogues – not debates and not criticism:

A dialogue is an exchange of ideas, never a debate; there are no right and wrong perspectives in a dialogue – rather differences are explored with the motivation of finding common ground. Dialogue is not about judging, weighing or making decisions though – it is about listening and understanding – you are allowed and expected to be open to perspectives and positions that are different from your own. Understanding and connecting with a perspective different from your own does not require you to change your position. It is possible to understand an issue from a number of different perspectives, without agreeing with all those perspectives.

We are not challenging each other’s perspectives, we are building from different perspectives. We are not finding ‘the’ answer, nor discovering a truth; we are exploring narrative terrains and pausing to examine intersections — or, common ground.

My engaement with your dialogues will be minimum. I will sometimes posts some phrases that are particularly enlightening for me – and sometimes raise my own questions on this blog in reference to an ongoing dialogue. But, for the most part, I leave you free to dialogue without my interruptions. I will of course continue to share hyperlinks that I find exciting or worth stopping to pause and consider in context with our course.

Lastly for this week: Switch it up! Be sure to visit as many different sites as possible – widen your range of discussions and engage with new blogs each week.

Thank you and enjoy.

Hello 470 and welcome to our course of studies together.

Please begin with the welcome page where you will find a general overview of course expectations. You can also take a look at the Student Blog page, where you will find a random sample of student blogs and web conference sites to give you an initial impression of expectations. And, I have made a video for you that will talk your through the course syllabus – you can follow along.

Please also take the time to cruise through the course site and get a sense of how you will need to schedule yourselves  — this is an interactive online course and timeliness is essential in order to fully engage with the course. The Course schedule page is a quick reference to due dates.

This is a challenging course that asks you to explore literature in a different context than the average English literature course, and requires assignments that are likewise “different’ than what most of you will be acustomed  to expecting in a Literature course. I hope you will enjoy the challenges and make good use of our Group FaceBook page to ask your questions and assist each other with answers.

Thank you, we will talk soon.

Hello 470;

The contradiction that Chamberlin identifies at the heart of ‘home’ aptly speaks to the feeling of unease held by many Canadians of European heritage. How am I, as a Canadian of European descent able to reconcile the fact that my narrative of home, in all the ways in which it has come to define me, is implicated in the erasure of the home narratives of others? Querying narratives

The time has come to tell your story. Lesson 2:1  asks you to explore and express your values and the stories you use to connect yourself to your sense of home. Remember what Thomas Kings says, “we are the stories we tell ourselves.” Remember what Edward Chamberlain says, “stories give meaning and value to the places we call home.”  And, take some time to reflect on the stories your grew up with that shaped how you value your home, reflect on the how these stories have shaped your sense of belonging, or not – to your home and your homeland.

In the introduction to this lesson I speak about examining our common assumptions and our diverse backgrounds in an effort to create an environment for learning and exploring difficult topics — together. My hope is that you will enjoy this process and that as a class we will create a more comfortable space to explore difficult questions with the knowledge that we do not all have the same perspectives because we do not all have the same stories. At the same time, we will discover some commonalties that will surprise us; and that always delight me. Write your story for your peers. Include the usual two hyperlinks and feel free to use visuals as well.

********

Hello 470;

I have passed a wonderful week reading our blogs and following links. You have provided some good links and a good answers to my questions and the growing dialogue via our comment boxes is excellent. Thank you all.

Good Friday Morning 470

I have posted all your blogs onto our student blog page – and have passed a most interesting weekend reading your introductions, thank you all. We are most certainly an interesting and diverse group of people, and I am most pleased with the spirit of enthusiasm throughout your posts, as well as the many dialogues that you have begun to shape; excellent.

Many of you have already begun the process of commenting and creating dialogues on each other’s blogs – and that is excellent as well.

Monday you will be commenting on each other’s first blog responses. Following the guidelines, you should comment on on at least two different blogs – and, be sure to respond promptly to all the comments you receive — even if you only have time to read and say thank you. This is a good time to double check to make sure your comment settings allow for comments without moderation.

I hope you enjoy the challenge of my questions for this week, and I look forward to reading your comments and your responses. Enjoy, and please do not hesitate to ask your questions on our Facebook page – or share interesting links. It is a good idea to post on FaceBook each time you post a new blog – this will help stimulate dialogue as well. Thanks.

Hello 470 and welcome to our course of studies together.

Please begin with the welcome page where you will find a general overview of course expectations. You can also take a look at the Student Blog page, where you will find a random sample of student blogs and web conference sites to give you an initial impression of expectations. And, I have made a video for you that will talk your through the course syllabus – you can follow along.

Please also take the time to cruise through the course site and get a sense of how you will need to schedule yourselves  — this is an interactive online course and timeliness is essential in order to fully engage with the course. The Course schedule page is a quick reference to due dates.

This is a challenging course that asks you to explore literature in a different context than the average English literature course, and requires assignments that are likewise “different’ than what most of you will be acustomed  to expecting in a Literature course. I hope you will enjoy the challenges and make good use of our Group FaceBook page to ask your questions and assist each other with answers.

Thank you, we will talk soon.