Hi there! 

Welcome back to another one of my blogs! I am quite enjoying going on this journey through ENGL 372 with you as we discover the importance, forms and methods of storytelling in Indigenous literature. In today’s blog, we will be discussing my first impressions and questions that I have about the Four Old Indians in Thomas King’s novel Green Grass Running Water (GGRW) and what I think their role is throughout the book. Three key points that I would like to focus on about my 1st impressions are how they seem to represent the medicine wheel, interconnectedness and intergenerational knowledge keepers. Within these impressions, I will also discuss how I believe them to be important to the book as a whole. 

I would first of all like to say that when I first read the dialogue between the Four Old Indian’s they reminded me of my family and how my Aunties argue about what the right way to do something is! So reading their “chapters” came easily to me. Besides this connection, I also recognized that King chose to have four of them, which I thought was interesting, but not surprising considering it is a book about finding the balance between the traditional and westernized worlds. Four is a very important number to Indigenous people because it represents the 4 directions, 4 sacred medicine and the 4 stages of life. Encompassing these cycles that I listed is the medicine wheel, the medicine wheel is a traditional way of knowing that Indigenous people use to help them live in good relation to the earth and each other. 

Furthermore going off of these four points I believe that they represent interconnectedness. The reason why I believe this is that they bridge all the other characters together. Without the Four Old Indians, I would have a hard time connecting all the other characters together at this point in the book. For one example, when Alberta’s student asks what happened to the Indian’s at Fort Marion the next chapter begins with Hawkeye asking what happened to the trees (pg 21). However, my favourite was when the Lone Ranger ends with the quote “what else would you like to know” (pg 49) and Babo begins the next chapter with the exact same line. 

Through this interconnectedness, I can see the importance that the Four Old Indians have to the book as they seem to be the knowledge keepers and each of them could represent each of the other main characters (Babo, Lionel, Alberta and Dr. Hovaungh).  This representation also sharing the knowledge that they each have with the humans on earth. This also supports the idea that Indigenous elders are the ones who hold the knowledge to share with the younger generations so they have guidance and don’t make the same mistakes as they did in the past.  

In conclusion, these are just some of the observations that I have made and are how I am understanding the flow of GGRW. I love reading this book the second time around as I am beginning to see more subtleties that I did not catch the first time. It also helps to have the knowledge base this course provides to analyze this novel!

Talk soon, 

Lenaya Sampson

Works cited- 

Interconnectedness. First Nations Pedagogy. https://firstnationspedagogy.ca/interconnect.html. Accessed March 19, 2021 

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

The Medicine Wheel. Windspeaker. https://windspeaker.com/teachings/the-medicine-wheel. Accessed March 19, 2021. 

Hello Readers! 

Welcome back to today’s blog! Today I will be sharing my understanding of Lee Maracle’s work about myth-building in “Toward a National Literature: A Body of Writing” and then comparing it to parts of “The Bush Garden; Essays on the Canadian Imagination” by Fraye. I found that both of these pieces had important points to make surrounding what makes Canada, Canada. 

With this being said, I believe the point that Maracle was trying to make in her answer is that we (Canadians and Indigenous peoples) are trying to decolonize our learning and reclaim our traditions. We now have many Indigenous authors helping with this endeavour in their many forms such as novels, memoirs, poems, plays and songs just to name a few. However, then comes the question about myths. Myths come in very different forms but through a Sto:lo perspective they are created to alter the path so they don’t make the same mistakes again. It is used as a teaching tool for those in future generations to make better decisions (Maracle 85). She also makes the point that this is very different from European culture as their myths are generally more focused on how to make it further in life and be more successful as an individual rather than a group. 

With this brief summary, we then can compare it to Fraye’s introduction. In this introduction, they are talking about the creation of ecocriticism, its definition, and how it presents itself. With this being said they described ecocriticism as the interaction between culture and the environment, the realm that both includes and does not include the human (Frye xv). To which, I believe, is a very interesting description. 

This brings me to my first comparison. In Marcles’s chapter, she mentions that Indigenous people think of their relationship with the land as a reciprocal one and that is what they are trying to reclaim. However, in Frye’s work, they are trying to discuss where nature begins and where it ends. This makes me believe that Europeans think of the land as theirs and they can take whatever they like without giving thanks. A second comparison is that in Frye’s book they discuss how ecocriticism came to be through settlers rather than Indigenous people. But in Maracle’s chapter, they discuss how Indigenous people viewed and worked the environment in a more holistic way.

I believe that both of them have very interesting ways in which myth-building was created in Canada. One was based on ways to not only better yourself but to help ensure that future generations will live a healthy life, whereas the other just enforces a glamourized myth of the Canadian wilderness and how “all Canadian” interact with nature in their backyard. 

In conclusion, what I learned from this lesson is that Myths are created based on a true story and are adapted to what the people in that certain community believe in at that time. But, that does not mean that all the myths are good for the general public or maintaining a cohesive nation.  

Works Cited- 

Frye, Northrop. The Bush Garden; Essays on the Canadian Imagination. 2011 Toronto: Anansi. Print.

Maracle, Lee. “Toward a National Literature: A Body of Writing.” Across Cultures, Across Borders Canadian Aboriginal and Native American Literatures by Paul Warren Depasquale, Renate Eigenbrod, Emma Larocque (z-lib.org), Broadview, 2010. Print.

Hi there!

Here is a short snippet of my blogs that I am most proud of this term. The first one being assignment 1.3 “Thoughts on Chamberlin’s Final Chapter. The reason why I chose this blog is that it shows the base knowledge that I had going into the course and how this final chapter shifted my perspective to fit this course. Through this post, I also had the opportunity to discuss the connection Indigenous people have to the living and non-living worlds in addition to learning how to walk in both the western and non-western worlds.

The second blog that I am particularly proud of is 2.2 “Home Sweet Home“. This blog was probably the easiest yet the hardest at the same time as it really pushed my ability to express myself in written form. I was proud of the way it turned out as I believe it captures my voice.

The third and final blog that I like is 2.6 “What’s the difference”. This blog I think was important to me because it was the one that opened my eyes to how the author’s writing style makes us read the book in different ways, depending on if it is out loud and or silently.

Overall I think that each of these blogs allowed me to think about what I find the most interesting from each of the lessons! I can’t wait for the second half of the course!

Lenaya

2.6 March 05, 2021 

Hi there! 

Welcome back! Within this blog, we will be exploring how the oral syntax works to shape meaning for the story and shaping my understanding of the story Coyote makes a Deal with King of England by Harry Robinson in relation to King’s paper Gozilla vs. The Post-Colonial. Through this assignment, I began to think more critically about how the way we learn about a  story affects our understanding of a story. I have touched briefly on this topic in the assignment where we talked about home. As I was going through my peer’s assignments I would read it aloud after I read it in my head. By doing so I realized that I used a different tone and pace for each student. It was also different from the way I would read my assignments.  Therefore, I am hoping to understand more of why this happens and the benefits it has to readers. 

Beginning with Thomas King’s Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial he raises a good point that oftentimes some literature only exists within one community (186). The reason being language barriers and the relevance of the literature outside the community. People are drawn to things that they know and that they can trust. So when they hear something that isn’t relatable they tend not to listen. However, King argues that Robinson does a good job of bridging this gap and in order to do this, writes in a way that the story would have been told. Bringing the oral to the written. It also gives the reader an inside look at “Ingenity” and what it means to be Indigenous without glamorizing it. 

 However, with this being said reading  Coyote makes a Deal with King of England from Harry Robinson’s collection of stories, both aloud and in my head two different experiences. While reading the book aloud I was focusing more on the actual words and punctuation in order to find a rhythm. But, to my dismay, I had a hard time finding a rhythm, kept tripping over my words and when I did finally find a rhythm it was easily lost, as I got inside my head that I “cracked the code”. I was also surprised as often I am able to find a rhythm and it is easier for me to read but not in this case.  I think one of the biggest challenges for me was how colloquial it was. Additionally, when I read it in my head I found it a bit easier, but I still found myself stumbling over words and having to re-read sentences.  With this being said I think if I heard Robinson read the story, I would have a much better understanding as I do better when I hear something verbally and pick up on their style of writing. 

So, with King’s argument in mind I believe that the reason why I had such a difficult time understanding Robinson’s story even if I read it aloud and silently, is because I wasn’t connected to it and it didn’t seem relevant. But this is not to say that these stories aren’t valid, I was not ready to hear them.  

Works Cited.

Charleyboy, Lisa. “The Glamorization of Colonization”. Urban Native Girl.  http://urbannativegirl.tv/the-glamorization-of-colonization. Accessed March 5, 2021

“Oral Traditions”. Indigenous Foundations UBC. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/oral_traditions/. Accessed March 5, 2021. 

King, Thomas. “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial.” Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterbough, ON: Broadview, 2004. 183- 190. Web. 04 april 2013.

Robinson, Harry. Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory. Ed. Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2005. Print.

Assignment 2.4 

Feb. 22, 2021

Hello reader! 

Welcome back to my blog! For today’s entry, I will be analyzing why King creates dichotomies between the two creation stories. The two stories being “The Earth Diver” and the “Genesis” story. When I first read these stories I naturally gravitated to the one which represented a more collaborative and holistic approach to the creation of the world. The reason for this is not only because of my upbringing but also because I believe that the creation of the world is more fluid and not as authoritative as you see in “Genesis”. “Genesis” for me represents rigidity and the difference between right and wrong. In this story, there is no room for originality and does not allow room for interpretation. So then this begs the question of why does King put two drastically different stories together and what does he want us to get from it?  

I believe one reason why he emphasizes the believability of one story over the other is that throughout Canadian history people were taught to believe the westernized one over the traditional. This happened through assimilation processes such as the Indian Residential School System (IRSS), reserve system, the potlatch ban and the churches. While these processes were developing colonizers were more inclined to follow what they knew, which created a very distinct us versus them dichotomy. One of these processes, the IRSS in particular, was in place until the last one closed in 1996. A whopping 100 years or so after the first one opened. Seeing that the IRSS system has such a legacy, it will take my generations until Indigenous people and Canada heal from the wounds that the Canadian government inflicted. While Canada is healing there is the loss of culture and traditions happening in Indigenous communities. The loss is not only detrimental on a personal level but also dictates their own autonomy and their credibility as determined by the Canadian government. Therefore, King’s emphasis on “Genesis” being more believable is most likely based on the predetermined assumption that western creation stories are more historically correct. Not because it is fact, but what was learned to be the most believable.

So with this being said, I believe the reason why King made emphasis on the believability between the two creation stories and had them as oppositions running parallel to one another is that at the bottom of this argument, one is not more credible than the other, it is based off whose story stuck at the very beginning with the first stories. 

Works Cited 

“Children of God”.UrbanInk.ca. https://urbanink.ca/children-of-god/#:~:text=Children%20of%20God%20is%20a,she%20came%2C%20pushes%20toward%20redemption. Accessed 22, 2021. 

Monkman, Lenard. “Historical ban on Potlatch ceremony has lingering effects for Indigenous women, author says”. CBC. Accessed 22 February 2021. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/historical-ban-spirituality-felt-indigenous-women-today-1.4036528

Feb 15, 2021-  Reflections of home 

Hello reader! 

Welcome back! For this week’s blog post I will be going over similarities and differences that were amongst our posts about home. In addition to this reflection, I will also add my own thoughts on why I believe these patterns are important. Many of the similarities that we talked about when thinking about home are childhood, feeling, parents and safety. And many of the differences were around the different stages of life and experiences each of us was going through. Despite these differences, I believe that these similarities and differences make us who we are and are a testament to how we were raised.   

 For the similarities, I found that many of us referred back to our childhood homes and what it looked like for us. For example,  it was the ability to navigate the streets of Delta than it is for him to navigate Vancouver. But yet home could be the ability to know particular parts of one’s neighbourhood. Another key similarity that home had for a lot of us, was the feeling you have when you’re there. For one of us, home was where you made cookies, filled with laugher and love. And again, home can be where love is and it could manifest itself in many different ways, could be two different places. In each of these examples, they focus a great deal on their childhood home that their parents owned and their separation from this feeling that home had for them. 

Then come the differences. One of the biggest differences that I noticed how each person had different kinship ties and which ones were more important to them than others. This is different than my own family seeing that my parents never got divorced and I have 7 aunts and 3 uncles on my mom’s side. So it is sort of hard for me to think of home with not many people running around. The second difference that I noticed was that some of us talked about how home could be limiting. But, not in limiting in the way a small home town is, but more rather limiting due to the pandemic. I never thought of the home this way as it is a safe spot and nurturing but now it is brought to my attention that the pandemic blurs the line of home vs workspaces. Which in return can blur our relationships within the home. 

 With this all being said and after much enjoyment of reading our blog posts about home. I believe that we all fundamentally have the same idea of what home looks like at the core. But, depending on what experiences we have been through also determines what we think of home and what is not. I also realized that there are so many ways to express ourselves which made it an enjoyable way to get to know one another.

 2.2

Feb. 10, 2021 Home Sweet Home

Home for me is something that is more a feeling rather than a physical place. This is not to say I don’t love my childhood home, I just believe that it adapts as you get older. 

I was born and raised in Vernon BC a small, sleepy town in the winter and a vacation getaway in the summer. I only moved once from ages 0-18 and never moved schools unless it was from elementary to high school. So with my lack of moving, I was able to get to know the areas in which I lived. Playing in the golden fields behind my house, splashing in the sparkling waters of Okanagan Lake and the brisk morning walks to the bus stop in the winter. These are some of my fondest memories. With this being said I was also able to build relationships around me. As these relationships grew the more attached I became to the place around me. Getting this comfortable also made me crave other adventures outside of what I knew. But my anxiety about different things and different people held me back. It held me back so much that at one point I was probably in a depression and didn’t know it. 

Then came one summer’s day when my Aunt, who was an elementary school principal at the time called me. She told me that I had 24 hours to decide if I wanted to go on a 21 day trip around Vancouver Island and the lower mainland guided by a company called Fireside Adventures. To which I initially thought she was crazy and no way that I would be able to do such a feat. Needless to say, I said yes and I loved every moment of it. Ever since then, I have returned for the past 10 years not only as a participant, intern, staff but now I am a lead guide and coordinator for their Indigenous programs.  

Now you’re probably wondering how this camping trip is related to my sense of home. I believe that even though I was born in a predominantly white community, off-reserve and nowhere near the land my ancestors called home. I have some unsaid connection to the land around me. Being on the land is my medicine. I always joke that I go on at least one to two  21day trips a summer as my “therapy”. I believe I am most at home when I am in nature, on the water, in the mountains with the community. When I first started these trips I was scared of the elements and was unsure of myself. As the years went on, I became more confident in my skills outside, my gear got better and my relationship with the natural world became stronger. With this relationship to the natural world, I found out that wherever I was, on whoever’s traditional territory I was on as long as I live in good relation, the land would take care of me.  Okay, so now you’re thinking you have a crazy woman who went on this camping trip and believes that the natural world can take care of her.

And for the most part, you’re right but here me out. Through Traditional ways of knowing there is a teaching that one must live in good relation with all things. Good relation, in the way I understand it, is when people respect all living and non-living things around them. So when I am out leading groups of youth down the Yukon River. We offer tobacco if we need to take anything from the land as a sign of respect. We work with the river, not against it (the river has its own language too). 

This understanding and respect for the land taught me to think of the land as part of us and just like being home in Vernon. The stronger the relationship, the stronger the sense of home is for me. 

 Work Cited 

“About Fireside Adventures.” Fireside Adventures, 2020, www.firesideadventures.ca/about-fireside-adventures. Accessed 10 February 2021.

Fireside’s Sparrow Indigenous Youth Leadership Programs. Youtube. Uploaded by Jeff Willis. 12 October 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TnnDXbN_R0. Accessed 10 February 2021.

Tennant, Zoe. “’Our Stories Give Us a Lot of Guidance’: Daniel Heath Justice on Why Indigenous Literatures Matter | CBC Radio.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 9 Apr. 2020, www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/why-stories-matter-now-more-than-ever-1.5526331/our-stories-give-us-a-lot-of-guidance-daniel-heath-justice-on-why-indigenous-literatures-matter-1.5527999. Accessed 10 February 2021.

Feb 01, 2021

1.5 

Hello Reader! 

Welcome back to another blog post! For today’s blog, I have a great story to tell you a story that is important to me and this is how it goes. This story takes place not too far into the future and is about the gathering of the sky people. The sky people are those people who were fortunate enough to be sent into space while the world underwent a nuclear apocalypse. However, there came a time when the sky people had to come back to earth. Once, they came back to earth they held yearly conferences. These conferences were to decide on what they would do to help contribute to the community. Most people had ideas of creating more housing, better farming, using renewable energy and making peace with the other inhabitants of the area. This was because they wanted to do better than last time and didn’t want the world to end in a nuclear disaster again. Once everyone was through with their ideas there was one person who hadn’t gone and everyone’s attention was on them as they were the community member who always had unique ideas. This community member’s idea was to do nothing. To do nothing and see where the society would take them. Take them into an era of war, bloodshed, broken trust and ultimately the destruction of the earth. This was the most frightening thing to happen as everyone else was looking for redemption and a second chance and one person was willing to throw this chance away. They wanted the member to take the story back but as we all know Once you have told a story, you can never take it back. So, be careful of the stories you tell, AND the stories you listen to.”

This was my story that I came up with. It was a fun yet challenging assignment as it was hard to think outside of the box when I read a story that resonated with me. However, once I got over the initial mental block, it flowed easily as I knew I could take the story wherever I wanted, as long as I ended up with the same ending. This also shown me how stories can change from who tells them but doesn’t make the story any less valid. I make this point, seeing that as I told my stories I found myself changing the story to better suit the listener. But is that the proper way to tell the story? Why did I find myself changing it to suit my listener’s fancy? One elder from Fort Selkirk First in the Yukon once began his teachings by mentioning that if we weren’t ready to use the teaching he was about to share with us, let the story go so someone else can use it. As it is not good to hold on to a story that you won’t respect and isn’t important to you. But then how do we make sure that these stories are being shared in a good way. One person that I know who is trying to bridge this gap is Kevin Loring who is the artistic director of the National Art Centres Indigenous Theatre and The Savage Society. Loring comes from the Nlaka’pamux nation is trying to carry on the traditions of storytelling through contemporary mediums of expression in order to reach a broader audience but staying close to his roots. I find that in this day in age it is crucial to be able to find this balance as Indigenous people. The balance of walking with one foot in our traditional ways and the other in the modern world, the world that our future generations are in. It is an interesting concept and I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment! 

Kukstemc for reading and write you all soon, 

Lenaya Sampson 

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough: Anansi Press. 2003. Print.

NAC Indigenous Theatre. How We Got Here. NAC. 2020. https://nac-cna.ca/en/indigenoustheatre/about. Accessed 2 February. 2021.

The Savage Society. Team Members. The Savage Society. 2018-2020. https://www.savagesociety.ca/team-members. Accessed 2 February 2021

Jan 25, 2021 

Hello reader! 

Welcome back! While we were gone I immersed myself in Edward Chamberlain’s If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories.  I found this book to be very engaging and was a space that allowed me to shift my mindset into critically engaging with literary texts again! However, with this being said I would like to share my perspectives on 3 key points that Chamberlain highlighted in the final chapter of his book. The first one being the invalidation of Indigenous stories as historically incorrect (231). Second, is that through ceremony we believe, but through believing can provide common ground across cultures (234). Then the last point is the effects that a  new title would have on our current understanding of the world (). For me, all these points are interconnected and you can’t have one without the other. 

Then let us start with the first point.  Throughout this book, Chamberlain makes it very clear that there is an “us and them” dichotomy and he solidifies in the final chapter. He begins by telling the Gitksan story about the grizzly and how it was part of their creation story. However, when the Gitksan went to the courts to assert their claims the judge denied them (232). This is not something new to me, I hear countless stories of people going to court to settle land claims, tell their stories about residential schools and so on. But, the courts do not accept it unless there is significant evidence. So, when the Gitksan needed to also have geological proof that was also aligned with their traditional story it made me wonder what needs to change in order for these stories to be accepted as historically correct? Jo-ann Archibald also talks in-depth about Indigenous storytelling from an educator’s point of view and the importance it has to people of all ages in a Youtube video called Dr. Jo-ann Archibald on Indigenous Storytelling

This then easily brings us to the second point which is: Through ceremony, we believe, but through believing can provide common ground between cultures (234). I find that this is interesting because earlier on in Chamberlain’s book he reminded us that stories “give meaning and value to the places we call home” (7) and they also “they also give us things to believe” (8). This slightly confused me because each place has its own culture that has its own complex set of ceremonies which is what they need to believe in. So, how can ceremony be the common ground between cultures when they are all very diverse? Or, Chamberlain is saying that we are all really the same on the inside because we all have that inherent will to believe before we can understand. 

These two points then lead to the last point I would like to touch on. Which is, what would be the effects a new aboriginal title would have on our current understanding of North America?  Chamberlain says that it would completely change the way we view aboriginal people, our understanding of the colonial world and change the purpose of our nations (242). This then made me think how much (re)learning people would have to do as a Nation to come to accept the new ways. This then reminded me of how Matika Wilbur and Adrienne Keene discuss issues of land sovereignty and if Indigenous peoples elders can hear them on their podcast called All my Relations. This podcast begins to uncover what it would be like if Indigenous people have more autonomy of their being.  

In conclusion, reading If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories has taught me that indigenous stories are not just part of their culture, but it also connects them to where they are from and helps them believe in something. But, they also use it as a tool to connect their living and non-living worlds. 

Works Cited 

Chamberlin, Edward J. If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories. ebook. Vintage Canada, 28 May 2010. 

“Dr. Jo-ann Archibald on Indigenous Storytelling”. Youtube, uploaded by National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education, 3 October 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rSHifM35i4

Keene, Adrienne and Wilbur, Matika. “Who We Are.” All My Relations, www.allmyrelationspodcast.com/who-we-are. Accessed 25 January 2021.

Hi there! 

My name is Lenaya Sampson and I will be your guide through the happenings of English 372: Canadian Literary Genres: Canadian Studies or also known as “Oh Canada” by our instructor Erika Paterson. I am from the Nlaka’pamux Nation from a small town located where the Thompson and Fraser Rivers meet and have already completed one degree in English Literature and Human Geography. As an indigenous student attending UBC, I am excited to continue studying colonial narratives and representations that are placed upon Indigenous people in Canada. Through this course, I would also like to further develop my research and writing skills to better express myself around issues that are very important to me such as the ones presented here. In this course, I am looking forward to expressing myself in different methods such as blogs, response posts, a term paper, dialogue and the conference presentation. 

Some things that excite me about this course, in particular, is studying stories in literature and the stories about literature and whose stories we listen to and the stories we do not listen too like Paterson stated in her introductory Vimeo video. These statements are important to me because being students at UBC we often hear the colonial side of the story. I believe to be a well-rounded citizen you need to know both sides and the implications that these stories have on society even in today’s times. 

Overall, I am very excited to be a participant in this course (even though it is my last English requirement) as I believe it will help develop my analytical skills, creative side of writing and my digital literacy. I also wanted to add one where I am from and another that will connect people to a podcast I like listening to that discusses issues from and Indigenous POV.  I am looking forward to taking you along on this journey with me! 

All the best, 

Lenaya Sampson

Works Cited

Media Indigena. Who we are. Patron. https://mediaindigena.com/about/.  Accessed 13 January. 2021.

British Columbia. Lytton. http://britishcolumbia.com/plan-your-trip/regions-and-towns/vancouver-coast-mountains/lytton/. Accessed 13 January. 2021.

This is a photo a took during one of my adventures through Skwxwú7mesh territory. It is somewhere that I know has many stories that were told and written in ways that disregarded the Skwxwú7mesh people.