Like a road map, Green Grass Running Water is full of allusion and word play connects the novel not only linearly, but also inter-connectively–it forces you to make connections at various points throughout the novel. Here is my “hyper-text” reading for pages 194 to 206.

Page 194 opens with Coyote and a story about Changing Woman. Coyote is known as “the trickster” in Native American mythology, and is considered one of the First People (Flick 142). Changing Woman is a Navajo deity who was born “in the fifth world” of the subterranean worlds in the Navajo myths (Flick 152). In the story, Changing Woman encounters Ahab, a “short little man with a wooden leg” and his ship the Pequod. Ahab is a character in Moby Dick, a novel by Herman Melville. She also encounters Ishmael and Queequeg, who are both characters in Moby Dick. Ishmael is a Biblical name from the Old Testament, meaning “God hears” and is Abraham (the Father of Israel)’s first son. According to Jane Flick, Queequeg is a “variation of the faithful ‘Indian’ companion” (142), and is a cannibal who joins the journey to kill Moby Dick.

Ahab takes Changing Woman with the rest of the crew to hunt Moby Dick. Ahab yells “Whaleswhaleswhaleswhalesbianswhalesbianswhaleswhales!” multiples times throughout this passage, which Flick states is King’s emphasis on the connection between Changing Woman and Moby Jane (152). When Changing Woman asks why they kill whales Ahab responds “Oil. Perfume, too. There’s a big market in dog food. This is a Christian world, you know. We only kill things that are useful or things we don’t like” (King 196). This statement is a not-so-subtle comment on the attitude of the Europeans during the colonization period.

Mid-page 196. Ahab’s men see a black whale, who Changing Woman calls Moby-Jane, “the Great Black Whale”. Moby-Jane is seen as a reversal/counterpart to Moby Dick, but could also be a comment on the gender fluidity of some Native American deities (such as the four old Indians who escape from Fort Marion. Their genders are often confused throughout the novel).

“I” confuses the name of Ahab’s ship, the Pequod with Pequots, a Native American nation who occupied much of Conneticut and New England in the seventeenth century. They are known for being a part of the Pequot War (1636-38), a conflict between the Pequots and the Puritan colonists in New England. Again, this word-play/confusion comments on the colonization of North American by the Europeans, and how a lot of conflict was instigated by religious ideals.

P 197. Ishmael quotes his own line: “Call me Ishmael”, which opens the story of Moby Dick.

P 198. Moby Jane offers to take Changing Woman somewhere, and Coyote guesses a multitude of places, including Italy, Hawaii, Tahiti, Australia, the south of France and Prince Edward Island. In this scene, Moby-Jane is representative of colonists. While I’m not sure how Italy ties in (aside from its colonization of Africa, Hawaii, Tahiti and Australia were all colonized by Britain. Hawaii was reached first by Captain James Cook, although there is some debate whether or not the Spanish arrived first; Tahiti was colonized by Captain Samuel Wallis; and Australia was colonized by both the Dutch and the British. Though less obvious, the “south of France” could be a mix-up on Coyote’s part for France’s colonization of South America. Prince Edward Island was colonized by both France and England.

P 199. Iron Eyes is one of the characters in Eli’s novel. It comments on the commodification and stereotyping of the Native Americans, and is also the name that Portland Looking Bear changes his name to while in Hollywood (Iron Eyes Screeching Eagle).

On page 195, King mentions the months of April, July and November. On page 200, Eli writes to his mother in April and says he might come out with Alberta in July. I can’t seem to find a meaning/reference for these months, but I’m guessing they have some significance.

Forgive me if I’ve missed references/points, I feel a bit out of my depth, even with all the help. 

Works Cited

Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature. 161/162 (Summer/Autumn 1999): 140-172.

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