Assignment 1:5

When the world was still young it was a beautiful place. There was peace and harmony among all of its inhabitants. No creature wanted for anything because everything was plentiful. Humans lived in harmony with the land and no one took more than they needed.

This way of life continued for thousands of years, and everyone was happy except a small group of people.  There was no name for these people at this time but you and I would commonly label them as witches.  The group of witches were greedy. They always wanted more: more food than they needed more furs than they could wear. They disrupted the balance and harmony of Earth and upset it’s inhabitants, and as a result the other humans decided to banish them to the mountains in hopes that they would change their ways.

The mountains were harsh and cold. Food was scarce and living was hard.  The witches, instead of seeing the error in their ways, became angry for being sent to this desolate place and soon after their arrival began concocting a plot for revenge.  

One stormy night in one of the mountain’s dark caves all the witches converged to plot their revenge. They came up with a contest to see who could create the scariest thing to send to the rest of the world.  Each and every witch tried to create the scariest thing they could think of.  Some created hideous monsters with two heads, or a single eye while others creates poisonous potions or curses to send out onto the unsuspecting world.  

Finally there was only one witch left to perform. This witch didn’t preform a spell or create a hideous monster. No she did not.  Her idea was much scarier than that.  She told a story. It was a story that had never been told before in the history of the Earth.  It spoke of unimaginable horrors. It described horrible wars filled with death and destruction. It spoke of plagues and disease that lead to unthinkable pain and suffering of humans and animals alike.

The story brought silence to this rambunctious gathering and everyone knew this witch’s stories had won the contest.  She had brought evil into this world to wreak havoc upon its inhabitants forever.

As soon as the words left her mouth “it was too late. For once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world” (King 10)

For this assignment I wanted to keep as many original aspects of Thomas King’s story as possible.  I did this because I think it reflects how oral tradition and the art of storytelling affects stories over time.  Stories change and are adapted by each new teller of a tale. They can change every time they are told even if it’s only in small ways.  By keeping the ideas of the witches’ contest I was able to elaborate and expand of the original tale.  I think the story is quite different even though I kept the original plot and ending.  It developed into a completely different tale.

During the process of memorizing my story and retelling it to my friends and family I realized how uncomfortable I was telling a story orally.  I have absolutely no experience storytelling besides reading the occasional book out loud.  It was very uncomfortable for me especially because I had made most of  it up.  I was surprised at myself for being nervous about what they would think about my story.  I definitely prefer to write a story over speaking it, but this is probably because it is what I am accustomed to doing. I am interested to keep trying to share more stories with people and see if I become more comfortable with the process.

Works Cited:

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough: Anansi Press. 2003. Print.

Lesson 1:2  Question 5 

At the heart of the intersection between story and literature we will easily find the meeting of native and newcomer, and as Chamberlin says, “I keep returning to the experience of aboriginal peoples because it seems to me to provide a lesson for us all. And for all its [Canada] much-vaunted reputation as an international mediator and peacemaker, it is in this story of natives and newcomers that Canada really has something to offer the world” (228).  And, then he goes on to propose: “Why not change underlying title back to aboriginal title?” (229). Explain how Chamberlin justifies this proposal.

In the last chapter of If this is your Land Where are your stories? Finding Common Ground J. Edward Chamberlin brings the book to a close by suggesting that we should change Canada’s underlying title back to the aboriginal title.  He Justifies his proposal by explaining how this will allow Canada to reconcile with its Aboriginal people, and provide the world with an example of how to make peace with the original inhabitants of our country.

“Land means more than property” to aboriginal cultures (Armstrong). It is an essential part of their culture, history, and spirituality (Armstrong), and Chamberlin emphasises the importance of land in aboriginal culture throughout his book.  Changing the title of the land back to its aboriginal title “would finally provide a constitutional ceremony of belief in the humanity of aboriginal peoples in the Americas” (Chamberlin 231).  In other words changing the land title provides a ceremonial construct of recognizing whose land we are living on.  It is a big step in reconciling aboriginal relations in Canada because it acknowledges that: yes this land was originally yours and we did take it from you. Chamberlin also says that changing the land title also recognizes aboriginals’ humanity.  It allows them to be seen as people and the original occupants of Canada rather than the “others”.  This eliminates the delusion of “them” and “us” and brings aboriginal peoples into the forefront  of our shared history (Chamberlin 239).

In addition, Chamberlin justifies his proposal by revisiting the idea that stories are both true and untrue. He says “it is in the act of believing in these stories and ceremonies… that we come together, and this act of believing can provide common ground across cultures…” (224). We do not need to see each others beliefs as true but we do need to respect them and acknowledge their equal importance to our own, after all they are just stories but they are very important to our identities.

The Raven By Bill Reid as displayed in the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology

For example, there is one Haida myth that I remember learning about in elementary school.  It is the Haida creation story called the Raven and the First Men – or at least that is what it has become called in English. In contrast the Settlers of Canada brought their own creation story with them to the Americas: the Christian creation story.  To this day both groups believe in the truth of their stories, but a third story has also emerged commonly known as the Big Bang Theory.  All stories have their truth, and depending what your own belief system is you will find that one story is truer to you than some of the others but, as Chamberlin would say, this does not make the other stories less true.  By changing Canada’s title back to aboriginal title we recognize everyones’ stories as having truth.  

For those who think changing Canada’s title to aboriginal title would change day to day life in Canada, or is going backwards rather than forwards Chamberlin responds: “ Let’s get serious. The past is where we live with the settlers’ stories anyway… changing the title wouldn’t mean that the Indian chief could come and sit on my doorstep or walk into my house, any more than the Queen or president could right now” (Chamberlin 230-31). Nothing in day to day life would really change, but we would be recognizing Canada’s first inhabitants as the rightful owners of this land. Canada has the opportunity to set an example for the world by acknowledging both aboriginal and settlers’ stories through the ceremonial re-titling of Canada. This will allow all of our stories to be recognized “on common ground” (Chamberlin 240).

Works Cited:

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Land & Rights.” Land & Rights. UBC First Nations Study Program, 2009. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.

Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories?: Finding Common Ground. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2004. Print.

Howell, Elizabeth. “What Is the Big Bang Theory?” Space. Space, 22 June 2015. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

McWilliams, Barry. “Raven Finds the First Men.” Raven and The First Men. Eldrabarry, 1997. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Reid, Bill. The Raven and the First Men. Digital image. Virtual Museum. The Canadian Museum of History, 2000. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.

Hi Everyone!  My name is Nicole Galloway and I am fourth year Co-op student at UBC.  I am currently finishing up my double major in Political Science and English Literature, and I will hopefully be done in April 2017 (fingers crossed!).

Right now I am on my second co-op work term with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. I am working with this non profit organization as the Special Projects Assistant.  In this position I work in the Symphony’s development department on various fundraising campaigns such as the VSO fall lottery.  I am excited to be able to take this course online so I can complete a few required credits during my co-op work term!

I was born and raised in beautiful North Vancouver, and although I am Canadian I have a serious lack of knowledge about Canadian literature.  During my time at UBC I have mainly studied British literature, and I am looking forward to getting to know Canadian literature better. This course has a packed syllabus that addresses difficult topics about Canada’s colonization and Canada’s current relations with First Nations People.  I also notices we will be studying how stories and literature impact our history. We will be looking at looking at the relationship between literature and stories/storytelling to see where these closely related areas intersect and overlap.

Indigenous Protesters in Ottawa January 2013 (teleSUR)

I can already see from the syllabus that this course will be dealing with a lot of current political issues that we have in Canada, and as a Political Science student I am very interested in the political aspects of this course.  Analyzing whose stories we listen to and take as truth will provide insight on many of our current political conflicts between The Canadian Government and First Nations People.  How do we decide whose stories become truth – the truth that we used to build our nations history?  For example land disputes are often in the media and we use our conflicting histories to justify who it belongs too.  One story will be deemed by the courts as true but which one is?

Throughout this course I expect that many of my personal view points will be challenged while trying to gain a  new perspective on Canada’s literary canon, but even more so when learning to develop reading strategies that forget my Western biases.

Works Cited:

Kane, Laura. “First Nations in Peace River Region Win Battle over 65-year-old Error.” Global News. Global News, 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.

telSUR. “Canada Launches Inquiry on Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women.”Canada Launches Inquiry on Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women. Canadian Press-CBC- APTN, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.

Vancouver Symphony Society. “The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.”Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Vancouver Symphony Society, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.