“If Europeans were not from the land of the dead, or the sky, alternative explanations which were consistent with indigenous cosmologies quickly developed” (“First Contact”43). Robinson gives us one of those alternative explanations in his stories about how Coyote’s twin brother stole the “written document” and when he denied stealing the paper, he was “banished to a distant land across a large body of water” (9). We are going to return to this story, but for now – what is your first response to this story? In context with our course theme of investigating intersections where story and literature meet, what do you make of this stolen piece of paper? This is an open-ended question and you should feel free to explore your first thoughts.

Hey guys, I’m posting a little early as I’m out of town on Friday. This blog might be a bit of a clutter as it will be my first thoughts on this story, as the question asks. So let’s begin.

I loved this story, I have always loved stories that personify animals, hearing what someone thinks  a Coyote or Fox would say is such a cool idea. I use to read creation stories and myths that personified animals in all of my free time as a child, I remember this one book that my mom had to have rebound probably eight times because I read it so many times.

This story was a little confusing at first as the timeline didn’t make sense at first but as the introduction explains, stories like these don’t usually follow a ‘western’ time line. Coyote was going back and forth between the beginning of time to talking with the king of England. I had trouble following who was where and when.

I was also confused by intrigued by the twins, I understand that the elder twin was Coyote and the ‘creator’ if you will of the Indians but was the other twin a coyote as well? Is the story not just about white settlers but also about the dual nature of coyotes? I really liked the idea of two beings, as you guys already know from Div and Des, so I really liked that part of the story I am just a little confused as to the specifics, maybe they weren’t included because that is not the point, I am not sure.

The other, I don’t want to use issue, but aspect of the story I paused at was the pure evil that seemed to emanate from the other twin, it was a lying and a thief and so were its creations. I realize that this story teller probably faced a lot of prejudice and genocide in his life, so that is to me makes the most sense for the second twin and the people that he created having no redeeming qualities mentioned.

Overall  I really enjoyed this story and the nonlinear timeline it had as well as the idea of twins or duality. I, like the author of the introduction was a little confused as to the character of the Coyote, he is a sexual deviant in the first stories told but seems to be a calm trusting honest figure in the contact story. Nevertheless it was a really interesting concept for a contact story an d the idea of  Coyote working with the king of England is a great one, I would love to see that.

Any time  I read nonlinear stories it always makes me think of Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory. 

Thanks for reading!

E

work cited

Robinson, Harry. Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory. Compiled and edited by Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talon Books2005

http://www.teachgenocide.org/files/UN%20Definition%20of%20Genocide.pdf

wikipedia commons

First off I just want to say I loved reading everyones stories. Each one was so interesting and authentic I really felt connected to others experiences on trying to define home. I noticed at least three things that seemed to be a common theme, that being a sense of home as a comfort not necessarily a grounded place, next being home as having the potential to existing in more than one place at once, and lastly that home its ever changing. These were not the only commonality I found, but these were the ones I related to most.

Starting with  home as an abstract concept, that doesn’t require a physical address is a concept very close to my heart. As said in my previous blog I came from a few different homes and have since moved around quite a lot. I grew up in Conifer Colorado, moved to Calgary when I was 16 and then onto Kelowna for university, I am current in Vancouver, and will be going to the University of East Angelia for my fall semester. So I really relate to not putting my values in a physical location by a feeling of comfort and safety, which I have been so lucky to find in all of those places.

Secondly the idea that home can be in more place than one is very related to my first point, but does stand on its own. I have found that my sense of home rests in my relationships with loved ones regardless of location. I have my parents in Colorado along with two of my childhood best friends, my sister in Kelowna, two ‘best friends’ that term doesn’t do it justice in Calgary, and my boyfriend out here in Vancouver with me. These relationships are so important to me and it is in them that I can find a sense of home in a new places so many times over.

Lastly is the fact that home is constantly changing, I don’t think this needs too much explanation. Other than the fact that our world is in a constant state of change and that at this point in my life, I can’t tell you what I’m doing five minutes from now or who will pop into my life for the better. Home as a sense of comfort is of course going to change, but it is important that it does. For me change inspires the best opportunities in life, if my environment hadn’t changed so much I wouldn’t of had so many great loving relationships that I value so much today.

I loved reading all the blogs and am happy and admittedly a little relieved that I was able to relate to so many of them, and that it seems everyone showed a little vulnerability with a subject that hits so close to home.

thanks for reading!

E

This weeks assignment was really intriguing for me, as it is a question  I think about often regardless of academics. For this blog I am just going to lay my life story on the table, it is the best way  I can explain my sense of home and my values.

My story starts about three years before I was even born, my mother and father, Kathy and Jim, had been trying for quite some time to get pregnant and start a little family. Sadly my mother was unable to conceive and so for about two years they wrangled with the idea of adoption.

One day while at work my mother was recounting her troubles and possible adoption with a friend, who just happened to have another friend, Kim, who was putting her baby up for adoption, it was a match no one could overlook.

So my parents flew from Colorado to Texas and met Kim and her boyfriend, but not the babies father, Sonny. All four hit it off right away, Kim loved my parents and they loved her. Fast-forward nine months and little baby Ralls, or as she is known today Elizabeth, went home to Colorado as my parents first child.

My parents were overjoyed with their little girl and Kim was happy she gave Elizabeth a better shot at life than she could provide. I’ll stop the narrative now to point out how incredibly brave Kim is, this goes without saying but her heart is one to be marvelled at.

Two years later, my parent’s telephone rang, it was Kim, she casually asked them if they wanted another baby. Again it seems the fates intervened as my parents had just began talking about adopting another child. So like with Elizabeth my parents flew down to Texas and met with Kim and Sonny, who was the father this time. Another family was hoping to adopt this baby so my parents really wanted to make a good impression, luckily for me they did.

Along came May 21 and I popped into the world premature and blue ( I had decided I wasn’t quite ready to begin breathing). My mom was in the delivery room and shared a truly blessed moment with Kim as the doctors whisked me away.

Everything seemed perfect, Kim and Sonny knew their daughter would have so many wonderful opportunities in life and my parents welcomed little baby me home. Sadly this bliss was not as smooth as Elizabeth’s had been and about three weeks after my birth, Kim and Sonny decided to try and raise me on their own. It was a part of the adoption agreement that birthparents had the right to take back the child for up to six months.

My parents were devastated, everyone was. My father met Kim in Colorado and sadly handed me over, my mother couldn’t be there, she was trying to comfort Elizabeth who couldn’t understand why her baby sister just disappeared.

I only learned of this story about seven years ago when I was thirteen, so every time I am writing here was once unknown to me.

Then as quickly as I had been taken back, Kim and Sonny realized I would have a much better life with Kathy and Jim and so again they  called my parents, who quickly came to Texas and finalized the adoption, this time leaving no room for change.

Nothing else happened except for being raised by incredible parents who allowed to know that I was adopted and to form a relationship with my birthparents, for me it has never been a question of who my parents are but a statement of how many people I am lucky for. I have my mom and my dad and Kim and Sonny.

I wrote about this story because for me it has shaped who I consider my family, all of them, and what values I learn from my own story.

I don’t really consider home a place but rather a feeling and for me it is when I am near my loved ones, I have moved a lot in my life and have had my parents living in two different countries, and my sister in another for almost five years. Yet I do not feel like I have no home, rather my home is where they are, where my heart is.

I learned to value bravery and love above all else, both my parents and birthparents are the strongest people I know and I will always look up to them, what they did  for Elizabeth and I is an act of love I can only dream of experiencing. They opened their hearts and put their vulnerabilities out there in order to provide for my sister and I. I am eternally grateful for all of them.

I strive in my everyday life to be as open and brave as they are and to keep what I consider my home close to my heart. I am so lucky to be where I am today and I have my family, which is every growing as I make my own special relationships, to thank for that.

Wherever they are that is where my home is.