The prompt that I picked for this week is:
“To raise the question of ‘authenticity’ is to challenge not only the narrative but also the ‘truth’ behind Salish ways of knowing “(Carlson 59). Explain why this is so according to Carlson, and explain why it is important to recognize this point.
Authenticity is being able to prove something without doubt. The stories of the Salish peoples do not usually have the distinction of being authentic, as there is no proof to their stories. This doesn’t mean that their stories are any less correct; there is just no physical proof that these things happened. This “inaccuracy” isn’t something that is unique to just the Salish peoples. These “inaccuracies” also happen in the history of Westerners as well. Most non-Natives have generally not been overly concerned with historical legitimacy of the Aboriginal legends and myths, but people are considered with their overall legitimacy that others believe they either have or do not have (56). Carlson’s biggest point from the above prompt is that he thinks those who raise too many questions try to challenge a certain way of life and the ways that they consider to be their ways of knowing their past. This isn’t to say people shouldn’t ask about their ways to be able to understand them. People don’t need to question someone’s authenticity when they are curious about his or her ways of life. Asking questions is a natural fact of life, everyone will ask something. The manner in which questions are asked, and the intentions behind those questions, are two of the most important aspects of asking a question.
It is important to recognize Carlson’s ideas, as they are valid ones. When someone tries to pry into another person’s life that is based primarily on beliefs instead of facts, only issues can arise. People understand certain aspects of life because they have faith that what they are told is correct, and they hold it dear. When people start interrogating them and trying to strip this away, they are left with a feeling of nothing and that everything they know is incorrect. This is true about any religion or way of life, though. There are not always concrete or authentic answers for everything in this world. Some things people just have to do on faith. Faith that no matter what they do in this world, there is always something that will catch them and make everything work out as it should.
Work cited
Carlson, Keith Thor. “Orality and Literacy: The ‘Black and White’ of Salish History.” Orality & Literacy: Reflectins Across Disciplines. Ed. Carlson, Kristina Fagna, & Natalia Khamemko-Frieson. Toronto: Uof Toronto P, 2011. 43-72.
Patterson, Erika. “Lesson 2:4.” Web log post. ENGL 470A Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres May 2015. UBC Blogs, n.d. Web. 9 May 2015.
Hey Kathryn,
I have to disagree with your post. Something that Carlson mentions is that Aboriginal stories are considered “inaccurate” because in Western culture any culture without literacy is “without history”. Carlson says this in an effort to convey the ignorance of Western culture. Basically, just because something isn’t written down doesn’t necessarily make it less true than that which is written down.
This isn’t to say that these histories are inaccurate at all. Carlson says himself that accuracy is of the utmost importance in Aboriginal culture. This is for a variety of reasons, one of the most interesting being that if a story leaves something out/is shortened, the lives of the speaker and/or the audience might also be shortened. While these beliefs might not have any proof themselves, that doesn’t mean that the stories they are telling aren’t accurate.
Hi Hailey,
I can agree to the top paragraph. It doesn’t say that because they don’t have it written down it isn’t inaccurate, they just don’t have any physical proof that everything happened the way they say it did. That is just like our own history though, who said what is written down is actually what happened.
Thank you for your feedback!!!
Kathryn
🙂
Hi Kathryn,
Although I agree with you that the questioning of authenticity of other people’s histories and stories is born from a protective fear for the the “aspects of life [that] they hold dear”, I don’t think the Salish people lack inaccuracy in their stories. As Hailey mentioned, Carlson emphasizes this “inaccuracy” in the eyes of Western culture as a misunderstood and ignorant depiction of Aboriginal culture that is born from our binarized understandings of orality and literacy.
Hey Freda,
I don’t think they lack authenticity either, it is just what you would consider this to be. If it is something that you can prove without a doubt than there is almost no authenticity in any history in this world. It is just the wording that I find funny.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Kathryn
🙂