Assignment 3.7 – Hyperlinking Green Grass, Running Water
(Pages 11-21 of Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water (the 2007 edition).)
This section of the novel introduces many characters and themes of the novel, as it transitions from the four old “Indians” beginning to tell their tales, to an introduction to the hospital and Dr. Joe Hovaugh, and finally to the academic setting of Alberta Frank’s classroom. It introduces some central themes of the novel: the importance of stories for creating a sense of belonging and self-identification, the centralization of Indigenous stories in the place of patriarchal Christian narratives, and the satirizing of white cultural narratives, myths, and institutions that misunderstand and misrepresent Indigenous people.
The Four Old “Indians”
Hawkeye: The white adopted son of the Mohican Indigenous tribe in the novel The Last of the Mohicans written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1757. Ultimately, the Mohicans are encapsulated by the myth of the “vanishing Indian” in that their noble race is seen to succumb to inevitable progress and civilization of the more powerful settler forces.
Robinson Crusoe: The narrator of the eponymous novel by Daniel Defoe, written in 1719. Robinson Crusoe is stranded on an island, and while there he rescues a captive of the “savages” of the island. This man he saves becomes his trusted servant, Friday. Crusoe exclaims: “Never Man had a more faithful, loving, sincere Servant, than Friday was to me” (Lohnes & Cregan-Reid). The phrase “Man Friday” was used for hundreds of years after the novel to describe a particularly good servant or personal assistant. This relationship plays a critical role in the colonial psyche and underlying conceptions of settler/native relations.
Ishmael: The narrator of Moby Dick who finds a “bosom friend” to the Polynesian “savage” and “cannibal,” Queequeg. While Ishmael is at first afraid of the harpooner, covered with tattoos, the two quickly bond and Queequeg even declares Ishmael “his wife.” Throughout the story, Queequeg is a noble character that embodies power and prowess. While Queequeg is ultimately more powerful, it is Ishmael who has the ability to narrate the novel and lead the story.
The Lone Ranger: A popular character in American radio and television shows, books, comics, and films. The Lone Ranger became a hero of the Wild West, where he fought for justice against villains and aided those in need. However, he was enabled to become this hero because he was first saved from a gang of outlaws and nursed to health by an Indigenous man, Tonto. Tonto supported the Lone Ranger throughout his adventures and is known as virtuous, principled, and fiercely loyal.
Of course, Hawkeye, Robinson Crusoe, Ishmael, and the Lone Ranger are all prominent white characters in pop culture. But, by attributing the “Indians” with these culturally significant names, King invites readers to explore the Indigenous counterparts to these prominent white pop culture figures. He comically mocks the dominant narratives that only recognized the power and intelligence of the white part of a powerful pair. It’s a satirical reminder that Indigenous people are not only side-kicks, but complex, multifaceted, and powerful.
Dr. Joseph Hovaugh
King includes a clever play on words in the name, Dr. Joseph Hovaugh. When read out loud, “Joe Hovaugh” sounds exactly like Jehovah, the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible.
This allusion is made clear when Dr. Hovaugh’s love of his garden mirrors that of the Christian God upon creating the garden of Eden:
“Dr. Hovaugh sat in his chair behind his desk and looked out at the wall and the trees and the flowers and the swans on the blue-green pond in the garden, and he was pleased.” (King, 16)
“God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased.” (Genesis 1:31)
By introducing the Christian God, Jehovah, into the narrative, King acknowledges dominant Christian belief systems and the creation story of the Garden of Eden. But, again, he unsettles the story with the escape of the four “Indians” from the mental hospital to which they were confined. In this section, King seems to be emphasizing the power of white settlers in the nation, as presented by the power of their God, Jehovah, and how Christian/non-Indigenous settlers have and continue to, even without malice or malintent, dominate Indigenous peoples by limiting their freedom and imposing their will upon Indigenous land. Adding a level of satire onto this allusion, King present Jehovah as a rather confused and disconnected old man, who would much rather spend his time thinking about his gardens than about the missing “Indians.”
Alberta Frank’s Classroom
Jane Flick highlight’s Alberta’s name as a reference to the Canadian province of Alberta, where King had once lived. In “A Conversation with Thomas King,” the author speaks of the powerful landscape of the plains of Alberta as a catalyst for his writing (162). The province was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, who was appointed Governor General of Canada in 1878. This connects to themes of white settlers ascribing borders, names, and lines on lines they mistakenly see as vacant. However, a second layer of meaning is added to the character of Alberta when we ascribe the motto of the province to her: “Strong and Free.”
Another important connection to Alberta’s name is the Frank Slide, a devastating rock slide that took place on the Turtle River in April 29, 1903. The slide was caused primarily by the unstable geological rock structure of Turtle Mountain and by coal mining throughout the mountain. Turtle Mountain carries a strong symbolic significance in King’s text, with the turtle being a significant creature in many Indigenous creation stories. Alberta’s name draws attention to the land being colonized by white settlers, in parallel to how Alberta’s life was appropriated by her white husband.
The names of the students in Frank’s classroom each carry significance as they harken back to influential and controversial figures in Indigenous-Settler historical relations:
Mary Rowlandson: During King Philip’s War, Rowlandson was captured by an Indigenous party and kept hostage for three months. She authored a very gory description of her captivity, The Soveraignty and Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, which set the tone for many anti-Indigenous captivity narratives. Exerts of this narratives have been used in many anthologies of American literature and shared in many American textbooks
Henry Dawes: Authored the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 which lead to the privatization of previously communally held Indigenous land. Dawes believed that ownership of private property would persuade Indigenous individuals and communities to accept the laws of the government. The Act leads to the weakening of tribal communities, forced previously nomadic individuals to completely alter their way of life in a manner that resulted in an inability to adjust to the Anglo-Saxon method of agricultural life, and lack of government support resulted in very poor living conditions on reserves. Further, much of the land granted to Indigenous families (138 000 000 acres) was swindled away by white settlers.
Hannah Duston: Remember as a patriotic hero, Duston was the first American women ever granted a statue—depicting her holding the scalps of ten Indigenous individuals (including six children) whom she, and a fourteen-year-old boy, had killed. During King William’s War, Duston and her newborn baby were captured by Iroquois during an attack on her town, fuelled by English and French conflict. The captors left Duston with an Indigenous family, whom she, and a young white boy that had been living with them, attacked the family during the night, scalped them, and then travelled in a stolen canoe to Massachusetts. Duston was rewarded for the scalps, and was remembered for generations thereafter as a colonial hero and symbol of the feminized and virtuous America.
John Collier: Thomas King represents John Collier the student as respectful and attentive to Frank’s lecture. This aligns with his historical namesake, the US Commissioner of Indian Affairs under Roosevelt’s government. Said to have advocated for an “Indian New Deal,” Collier reversed many of Dawes’ policies. He is responsible for the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which was created on the basis of Indigenous opinion and advice. Throughout his career, Collier endeavoured to remove government policies that sought to destroy Indigenous culture and re-awaken interest in Indigenous art, music, and customs.
Elaine Goodale: At 20 years old, Goodale became a teacher at a school for Indigenous and Black children in Virginia. She became an advocate for industrial schools in Dakota Territory for Sioux children which would teach cooking, gardening, and sewing alongside academic subjects. While travelling between Sioux schools to establish teachers’ institutes, she met and married a Sioux physician. Goodale emerged as a voice for the Sioux Indigenous communities and was staunchly against separating children from their families to send to distant boarding schools. However, she did view reservation schools as a powerful means of assimilating whole communities. For, “she was convinced that if Native people failed to assimilate, they would be annihilated” (“PBS Online: Only A Teacher: Schoolhouse Pioneers.”).
Helen Mooney: Born Helen Letitia Mooney, this famous Canadian woman is better known as Nellie McClung. McClung is most known for her contributions to the Canadian suffragist movement where she was a passionate advocate for the women’s vote. However, she did not only advocate for the rights of the white woman, but was a pioneer in the fight for human rights and social reform for Indigenous and Asian women as well. Beyond this, she actively called on the Canadian government to accept European immigrants during World War II. Until the end of her life, McClung devoted herself to improving the lives of all Canadians through political endeavours and activism. Note how King presents her as a keen student, the only one truly interested in the welfare of the Indigenous prisoners.
Throughout Green Grass, Running Water, King intertwines and calls attention to Indigenous and white settler narratives when they come into contact with one another to create a sort of polyphony. He blurs the line between white cultural narratives and Indigenous histories and highlights how numerous stories may exist simultaneously that tell the same story in different, even opposing, ways.
Works Cited
“Indian Reorganization Act (1934).” Living New Deal, livingnewdeal.org/glossary/indian-reorganization-act-1934/.
“John Collier (1884-1968).” Living New Deal, livingnewdeal.org/glossary/john-collier-1884-1968/.
“PBS Online: Only A Teacher: Schoolhouse Pioneers.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/elaine.html.
Andrews, Jennifer. “Border Trickery and Dog Bones: A Conversation with Thomas King.” Studies in Canadian Literature / Études en littérature canadienne, 161-185, June 1999.
Cutter, Barbara. “The Gruesome Story of Hannah Duston, Whose Slaying of Indians Made Her an American Folk ‘Hero.’” Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institution, 9 Apr. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gruesome-story-hannah-duston-american-colonist-whose-slaying-indians-made-her-folk-hero-180968721/.
Flick Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature , 140-162. (1999).
Harris, Carolyn. “John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, Marquess of Lorne.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 14 Jan. 2008, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-douglas-sutherland-campbell-marquess-of-lorne/.
History.com Editors. “King Philips War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/king-philips-war.
Hughes, Rowland. “The Last of the Mohicans.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 Mar. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/The-Last-of-the-Mohicans-novel.
King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. HarperPerennial, 2007.
Lohnes, Kate, and Vybarr Cregan-Reid. “Moby Dick.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 13 Dec. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Moby-Dick-novel.
Mathes, Valerie Sherer and Richard Lowitt, eds. “’I Plead for Them’: An 1882 Letter from Alice Cunningham Fletcher to Senator Henry Dawes.” Nebraska History, 36-41, 2003.
Neilson Bonikowsky, Laura. “Frank Slide: Canada’s Deadliest Rockslide.” Frank Slide: Canada’s Deadliest Rockslide | The Canadian Encyclopedia, 28 Apr. 2013, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/frank-slide-feature.
Stampp, Robert M. “Alberta.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 29 Mar. 2009, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/alberta.
Swann, Michelle, and Veronica Strong-Boag. “Biography – MOONEY, HELEN LETITIA (McCLUNG) – Volume XVIII (1951-1960).”Dictionary of Canadian Biography, www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mooney_helen_letitia_18E.html.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Lone Ranger.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 June 2015, www.britannica.com/topic/Lone-Ranger.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Mary Rowlandson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 June 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Rowlandson.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Tonto.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 Jan. 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/Tonto#ref1068997.
Hi Georgia!
Wow! I love the part you wrote on Robinson Crusoe, the Lone Ranger, Hawkeye and Ishmael, that although they were all white characters, King wrote their experience as indigenous, to show the indigenous counterparts that weren’t just sidekicks but made these characters and were complex, multifaceted and powerful. Your post illuminated so many gaps and confusion I had about different characters. I hadn’t noticed the allusion Jehovah either. I’m still trying to finish Green Grass, Running Water and haven’t written this assignment yet, but as I was reading through your post, some of your points brought up interesting thoughts. In the stories that were told, it seemed like everyone had a story, and many of them, especially the white male characters, imposed their stories onto others, expecting others to see and live through the same story. But they didn’t interpret these stories so much as stories, but as reality. It especially bothers me that many of these stories normalized injustice by framing it as something else, oftentimes, framing it as deservingness. For example, When Eli camped out at his mother’s house to prevent a company from destroying it in order to build a dam. Sifton, who was in charge of the process, always smiled at Eli, never listening to him.
Eli said, “This is my mother’s house.”
Sifton: “Your sister said you might want some things out of it before we tore it down.”
Eli: She built it herself, log by log.”
Sifton: If there are any big pices, sing out, and I’ll send some boys to give you a hand.
In many of King’s interactions between characters, whether it was Alberta and Charlie, or Eli and Sifton, they tended not to listen to each other. More often, the white man didn’t hear their conversational counterpart and tended to see reality completely based on what they wanted or already thought. Sifton didn’t recognize Eli’s pain and the house’s sentimentality. He just said he’d send some boys to help left the big pieces, and that it was nothing personal. The messages conveyed by these white male characters was feelings of superiority, valuing what they wanted more than what their conversational counterparts wanted, not recognizing any injustice or fault, and that this injustice was rather, not injustice, but something they deserved.
Gaby
Hi Gaby,
Thank you so much for your insightful response to my post.
Yes, I’m glad you pointed out how much emphasis King is putting on the lack of listening and understand that occurs between characters of differing backgrounds and values. It shines a light on how our perspectives are largely shaped by our belief systems, cultural norms, and personal biases and prejudices. Your quote between Eli and Sifton perfectly exemplifies this.
I read this as a call to action: open your minds and open your ears. Change cannot occur unless we are perceptive of our own complicity with harmful ways of living. Everyone needs to open their hearts to those they see as “other” and seek mutual understands or common ground. True change will come with greater understanding, and that begins with open ears.
I hope you agree!
Hi Georgia,
Thank you for an impressive post and interesting links! I was also researching allusions with some of the characters included in your post, but many of the connections pointed out by you had not occurred to me. I especially enjoyed your interpretation of the role of the prominent white Western characters and their Indigenous counterparts, which had alluded from the names of the four First Nation elders.
In Assignment 3.5, I also worked on the allusion for the name of Dr. Joseph Hovaugh. I noticed at the time, that King did not put anywhere in the text the combination “Joe Hovaugh” or “J. Hovaugh”, which would explicitly lead to “Jehovah”, if to read aloud. Instead, he refers to this character either as Dr. Hovaugh, or Joseph Hovaugh. Dr. Elliot called Dr. Hovaugh as “Joe” couple of times, but not “Joe Hovaugh”. For some reason, I can’t stop thinking of this kind of “complication” on King’s side in order to figure out the allusion between Dr. Joseph Hovaugh and Jehovah, and have a feeling that there is something meaningful behind it. I wonder if you have an idea what it could be, if anything?
Thank you,
Joanne
Hi Joanne,
Thanks for your thoughtful response to my post! I’m glad that my ideas could contribute to your understanding of the text. Doing this research was really interesting!
Personally, I had read King’s complication of the allusion to Jehovah as him avoiding seeming too heavy-handed. I thought that spelling it out clearly would make the allusion to seem too obvious and diminish the perception of King’s cleverness. However, it could have a deeper meaning, as you suggest.
King, in “A Conversation with Thomas King” refers to the doctor’s name as a “Jehovah joke” that is secondary to the characterization of Dr. Hovaugh as embodying the American attitude of disbelief when something doesn’t go the way they expect (162). In that way, he is a play on the dog God that Coyote dreams, albeit a less aggressive and more confounded. For, they both always expect things to go as they plan and are utterly confused and upset when they do not. For this reason, I think the Jehovah joke is a kind of easter egg that readers should discover through connecting the Doctor to the dog, then to God and so on.
I’d love to hear some of your ideas on the deeper meaning of complicating the allusion! Perhaps it has something to do with the complications of names and titles, or perhaps the complications that come with translations or language? I’m struggling to put my finger on a definite idea but I would enjoy continuing dialogue with you.
Hi Georgia,
Your response made me think of the name “Joseph Hovaugh” as a dissected or be-headed version of the name “Jehovah”, where “Joe” is separated from “Hovaugh” by “seph”. Perhaps, this is another way of “connecting the Doctor to the dog, then to God” (your wording 🙂 ), and everything is not only “backward”, but also incomplete or half-done. Dr. Hovaugh’s behavior suggests of his God-like self-vision, but his half-dissected perceptions do not match with the reality.
Also, complicated allusions are present throughout the GGRW, by that or the other representation. For example, the colonial names of the four Indigenous elders would be too obvious allusions, just floating on the surface. In-depth, as you pointed out in your blog, “King invites readers to explore the Indigenous counterparts to these prominent white pop culture figures.” Overall, I believe King shows that our world is not what’s visible on the surface; it’s too complicated to be just black or white. There are variety of other colors in-between, and sometimes what seems to be white on the surface, may well be black in depth.
Joanne
Joanne,
Wow! You explained this so nicely. I definitely agree with you. King seems to be urging all of his readers to dig deeper when reading his novel, infusing every page with connections and allusions just below the surface.
Hi Georgia!
I really enjoyed reading your hyperlinking analysis on the characters in Green Grass Running Waters! I found your notes on Alberta Frank interesting, as I had never bothered to connect her all the way to Queen Victoria! The themes of dominate white influence is indeed prevalent within King’s novel, as I had seen it from Dr. Hovaugh, and Eli’s stories. I like how you mentioned that Alberta’s life was appropriated by her white husband, an event that can easily be said about white settlers with First Nations people. In your opinion, do you see any connection between how Alberta was physically bound by borders, and how this reflects on the province historically? Additionally, are these instances of borders reflective of the stories themes as a whole?
Hope to hear back soon!
Cheers,
Aran