On my initial read of the story about Coyote, his twin brother, and the written document I was immediately reminded of the concept of a MacGuffin, a trope found commonly in film. A MacGuffin is an object that seems important at the beginning of a story, but by the end serves virtually no purpose. Like a MacGuffin, this piece of paper puts the story in motion and sets up the main conflict. As I was reading Wendy Wickwire’s compressed version of the story in Living By Stories, I (like assumably most readers) was curious as to what was written on the document. When the contents of this paper are not revealed by the end of the story it feels as if the paper was meaningless, just a representation of power rather than the definition of it. I feel as if this can be taken as an allegory for the weakness of the written word, how it acts as something that (white) people are willing to covet and manipulate to garner dominance. The influence of this document took me back to Chamberlin discussing the power stories hold as long as people believe in them: “Stories are like currency or lines of credit… Currency, like a story or a song, is worthless unless we believe in it – give it a line of credit, as it were” (Chamberlin 198, emphasis added). Like the paper in this Coyote creation story, it is worthless – it’s just paper. But the whites believe in its power, and through this belief lies their vindication for occupation and violence.
By withholding the paper from the Indigenous people, the colonizers are intentionally withholding power to create an imbalance between the two groups of people. To me, the story is expressing how oral storytelling is more authentic and inviting, while written storytelling is coveted and exclusive; there seems to be a vein of resentment towards the written word for most of the story. It isn’t until Coyote and the king of the other land work together that the written word is used for the good of Coyote’s descendants. The king shares the knowledge of the written word with Coyote, and a chance at unity between the two peoples is founded (I think it’s important to note that it was a “speech to the king” (Wickwire 10, emphasis added), not a written letter, that led to common ground). The story further highlights the hope to make peace between the two groups of people. It’s honouring the differences with a set of “Black and White” laws (Wickwire 10) while delivering a cohesive message to both groups; their cultures are different, opposite even, while simultaneously complimentary. By sharing this literature, the stories of both peoples can be honoured, and both groups can be unified as their forefathers were at the beginning of Time.
Works Cited
Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. AA. Knopf. Toronto. 2003. Print.
de Ryk, Carolina. “Press freedom challenges, more arrests expected in day two of RCMP enforcement of court injunction against Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs,” CBC: Daybreak North, 6 February 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/programs/daybreaknorth/press-freedom-challenges-more-arrests-expected-in-day-two-of-rcmp-enforcement-of-court-injunction-against-wet-suwet-en-hereditary-chiefs-1.5456047. Accessed 7 February 2020.
“Hitchcock Presents: The MacGuffin.” YouTube, uploaded by The Take, 22 September 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4h1Gpq_wWk. Accessed 7 February 2020.
Robinson, Harry. Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory. Compiled and edited by Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talon Books, 2005. Print.