5.“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.

Robinson’s story of the twin brothers , despite what one might have predicted , did not evoke a feeling of defensiveness in me as a “European descendant” but rather left me  hopeful and positive about facing the truth of our past and moving forward towards reconciliation  through real action. The idea that the violent , destructive, and shameful history of Colonial history in the Americas could be understood through the story  of a disordered and morally corrupt younger brother , in my mind, opened up the possibility of compassion for the mistakes of our past rather less useful emotions such as  anger or bitterness (or worst, guilt).  It also had the effect of distancing the horrors from individual people (who, in any case, died a long time ago) and rather framed it as a dangerous tendency that needs to be redressed and cleansed within the world today. As a white Canadian, I felt that any part of my personality that could have or did or even ,unconsciously, takes part in the colonial legacy was given a name and a face that needed to be confronted but that  it was not to be identified with the whole of  who I am.

Maybe I can illustrate what I mean a little better with a personal anecdote. When my father was young he had a grandfather who was severely addicted to alcohol and would often barely make it home at night. Many mornings, it would be my father’s duty to bring him inside, clean his dirty body and put him to bed. Beyond the inconvenience and trauma (of seeing your elders in this way)  to my young father, it also had an utterly destructive effect on the family structure as a whole. Without going into details, my great grandfather’s lifestyle had far-reaching effects on the finances, relationships, and dynamics of his family. Many people suffered as a result of his actions and the effects were felt even in future generations.

Now, one way to look at my great-grand father would be to shame his name, and discuss how disgusting a person he was for being so selfish and unconscious to the effects he was having on others. This approach would  encourage a bitter reflection on the man in hopes of erasing his memory. However, in a way it would also serve to reinforce the negative dimensions of his legacy by increasing the bitter energies in the family. Another approach might be to tell a story about how a part of him became a slave to the forces of alcohol in an epic battle where a corrupted aspect of himself took control over the rest. By seeing the essence of the man as a victim of forces he could , at that time, not overcome, we can develop sympathy for his failures and also clearly reinforce for his offspring the importance of being aware of the dangerous trap of succumbing to the selfish and addicted aspects of himself . In effect, the corrupted man can then serve as an example of where we might end up should we allow dangerous elements of our personality to reign.

In Robinson’s story I felt a strange empathy for the compulsive lying , confused, and (possibly) jealous younger brother who wrecks so much damage and , in turn,  lays the groundwork for his white descendants who manifest the disastrous colonial legacy that we all know. This character didn’t represent the European people but , in my reading,  a fallen aspect of their personalities that had lead them down a terrible path. In turn,  I was allowed to see the architects of the horrors of paternalist colonialism , not as wholly evil but as addicts who had succumb to the lowest aspects of themselves (ego- driven, power hungry, dangerously selfish children) and mindlessly played out a pattern implanted by this “younger brother” ancestor. The next step is that  I can begin to look at those aspects in myself that need to be addressed , rectified, and (ultimately) healed so that I can be a true agent of positivity and change. Story has the amazing ability to allow us to look directly at the which, otherwise, might be too painful approach.

As a side note, I don’t want to suggest that my metaphorical reading of the stories in any way diminishes its claim to historical accuracy but , rather, that a story’s ambiguous relationship to both fact and fiction position it to uniquely offer the listener/reader many windows of meaning.

With regards to the second aspect of the question, the stolen piece of paper, it suggests an enormous overlap with the themes discussed in class so far. In particular, it brought up ,for me, the questions of orality, written word and power. In my reading of Robinson’s story, the fact that the younger brother steals a written document is important because we see how a neutral entity, like a written document (or the written word, in general), can be transformed into a weapon. By deceptively withholding the contents of the document, the younger brother asserts control and power over his older brother by creating a dis-balance in knowledge. Since the spoken work is an innate ability endowed to all humans raised in a social setting and written language seems to be developed by certain groups and literacy needs to be taught, it is important to recognize that the written word would thus have more potential to be used as a weapon. I would like to spend more time thinking and exploring the complex relationship between language and power.

Links

Author Unknown. “What reconciliation is and what it is not” , www.ictinc.ca. Accessed on February 4, 2019.

Bedard, Jean-Paul. “The Power of Story and Metaphor” www.huffpost.com. Accessed on February 4, 2019.

Image

“Evie Looking in the Mirror”. www.flickr.com. Taken on April 11, 2012 (Open Source)