{"id":267,"date":"2016-07-27T22:15:15","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T05:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/?p=267"},"modified":"2016-08-07T22:44:06","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T05:44:06","slug":"interconnections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/2016\/07\/27\/interconnections\/","title":{"rendered":"Interconnections"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Through<\/a>
Through the Eye of the Raven<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lesson 3.3 Assignment 3.7<\/strong><\/p>\n

I chose to examine a critical moment in the lives of Lionel Red Dog and Eli Stands Alone, in Thomas King\u2019s Green Grass Running Water. For this reason, I examined these pages (within the 2007 version of the novel): Lionel Red Dog – Pages: 60 \u2013 69 and Eli Stands Alone – Pages: 378 \u2013 382.<\/p>\n

In these two sections, only Lionel\u2019s pages are referenced by Jane Flick. However, in both parts, I found additional connections and interconnections between the characters that are not in Flick. In this blog post, I focus not on Flick\u2019s notes, but instead on the additional observations that I have made.\u00a0that\u00a0uncover king\u2019s de-colonization and his implied message about colonization.<\/p>\n

Lionel Red Dog – Pages: 60 \u2013 69<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lionel goes to Wounded Knee, where there is an on-going occupation by Native Americans protesting their poor living conditions and treatment (Flick 148-9). Lionel\u2019s purpose, \u00a0in going to Wounded Knee, was to read his boss\u2019 paper, but instead of accomplishing this, he inadvertently gets drawn into the protest. Some observations I had about this section:<\/p>\n

Lionel\u2019s name, \u201cLionel Red Dog\u201d, (King 64) also points to King\u2019s use of reversals, or backwardness throughout the novel. The reference to Dog reminds us of \u201c[t]hat Dog Dream [that] has everything backward\u201d from the beginning of the book (King 2).<\/p>\n

Commentary on the Residential School System:<\/em>
\nLionel \u201cstood there, feeling vulnerable\u201d (King 60). I believe this is a reference to the vulnerability of children who were placed in Residential Schools (\u201cReclaiming<\/a>“). \u00a0Betraying Lionel as vulnerable,\u00a0King once again uses reversal as a method of making his point. He shows Lionel standing with the protesting Indians, feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable. He is \u201cshifting from one leg to the other, putting his hands behind his back, putting his hands in front of him, pushing his lips out, sucking his lips in\u201d (King 60). Lionel, a First Nations person, is feeling uncomfortable and detached in this situation. When he first arrived, he had no reaction to the fact that the people there were protesting against the poor treatment of Native American Peoples. It did not occur to him, that the issues of the protesters, were also his own issues. Through Lionel’s reactions, King shows just how effective the Residential School systems was in destroying Native People\u2019s connection to their culture.<\/p>\n

King further drives home his point, that Native People\u2019s connections to their roots have been severed, through his reference to the confiscation of numerous Reservations: Lionel tries to make an excuse so he can leave when he said, \u201cI\u2019ve got a reservation.\u201d To which the protester \u201ctook Lionel by the shoulders, looked at him hard, and said, \u201cSome of us don\u2019t\u201d (King 61). These few words emphasize not only actual theft of Native lands, but also the theft of Native communities through the deliberate destruction of families and bands. Aboriginal peoples believe that all life is interconnected. \u201cFirst Nations relationships fully embrace the notion that people and their families are strongly connected to the communities they live in, their ancestors and future descendants, the land they live on, and all of the plant, animal and other creatures that live upon it\u201d (\u201cInterconnectedness<\/a>\u201d). \u00a0However, with colonization, Native beliefs were outlawed and children were forcibly torn away from their parents and placed in residential schools. This process caused generations of Aboriginal children to be separated from their communities and from their beliefs. Moving Aboriginal peoples into residential schools ripped away their source of spirit and because they no longer felt a connection to their people, land, or ancestors, many were left feeling isolated and bereft.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s use of cartoon character to portray official \u201cgovernment-type\u201d individuals.<\/em>
\nI believe King uses cartoon character names for the official “government-type” characters, first to portray how credible, yet ridiculous the situation is that Lionel finds himself. In addition to this, I believe it is a statement about the historical relationship between the government and Native Peoples. \u201cTom and Gerry\u201d are the two Hotel security men who escort Lionel to the police (King 67). \u201cTom the cat and Jerry the mouse, are the stars of a Long-Running series of short theatrical cartoons produced by MGM\u201d (\u201cYMMV<\/a>\u201d). The use of the names, Tom and Gerry,\u00a0reinforces the position that the Invading Europeans, erroneously felt they did nothing wrong in their actions towards the Native Peoples. This is shown through the trope: \u201cTom never ever did anything wrong! Tom was only following his instincts, how dare Jerry object to being eaten!\u201d (\u201cYMMV<\/a>\u201d).<\/p>\n

Tom and Gerry hand Lionel over to two police officers, \u201cChip\u201d and Dale\u201d (King 68). \u201cChip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers was one of several Animated Series on the syndicated “Disney Afternoon” block of the late 1980s into the 1990s\u201d. The Rescue Rangers started \u201cafter a police dog they befriended is put behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit\u201d (\u201cChip<\/a>\u201d). \u00a0The first point I want to make is, Chip and Dale are goofy characters and they are Rangers. In this way Chip and Dale are a metonomy for police as stupid and unintelligent. As a result, King is using them to send a message about the police. Secondly, Lionel\u2019s situation is a reflection of Chip and Dale\u2019s friend, who was put in jail for a crime he didn\u2019t commit.<\/p>\n

Commentary on Stereotypes:<\/em>
\nKing engages in yet another reversal, when Lionel spends a month in prison, for a crime he didn\u2019t commit, and returns to \u201cBlossom, an unemployed ex-con\u201d (King 68). \u00a0Lionel moves from being detached from his cultural situation, to being placed in the centre of the negative reality\u00a0of his culture, resulting in part, from the Residential School System. \u00a0Lionel becoming unemployed\u00a0speaks directly to stereotypes attributed to Native Peoples. \u00a0\u201cOver the course of history, since Christopher Columbus \u2018discovered\u2019 North America, First Nations have been depicted as blood thirsty savages (the earliest stereotype), drunken, poor, wooden, lazy, and \u201ccasino rich\u201d (the latest stereotype), to name a few (Joseph<\/a>). \u00a0Lionel is tagged as an Indian Activist, loses his position, but finds a new job. \u00a0However, three weeks later, \u201cthe police arrived to question him about a rally that the American Indian Movement had planned for the following weekend\u201d (King 69). \u00a0Lionel knows nothing about it, but just the suspicion that he might causes him to become\u00a0“unemployed again” (King 69). Stereotypes are an important issue, because \u201c[f]or First Nations, it diminishes self-esteem and cultural pride, and for non-First Nations it dehumanizes and enhances negative perceptions of First Nations people and their culture\u201d (Joseph<\/a>). The last few pages of Lionel\u2019s section that I analyzed tie directly back to the residential school system, and reflect the \u201cresponse to RCAP\u2019s five-volume report that revealed an overwhelming link between the social crisis in Aboriginal communities and the Residential School System\u201d (\u201cReclaiming<\/a>\u201d). \u00a0Lionel\u2019s situation goes beyond stereotypes, and speaks to a failed system. \u00a0A system that has resulted from long-term historic trauma resulting from the residential school experience.<\/p>\n

Eli Stands Alone – Pages: 381 – 382<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Eli is driving Lionel to the Sun Dance when he recalls the death of his wife, Karen. There is a lot going on within these few pages, but I am going to focus on these main points: The role that death plays in Native Culture, the Sun Dance, and the notion of home.\u00a0These are my\u00a0observations:<\/p>\n

Death in Native Culture:<\/em>
\n\u201cThe Blackfoot believe spirits to be an active and vital part of everyday life. Therefore, they viewed illness as the visible presence of an evil spirit in a person’s body. Consequently, such illness required the expertise of a professional medicine man or woman who had acquired, through a vision, the ability to heal the sick by removing evil spirits\u201d (Hanes<\/a>). Taking this belief into consideration puts a different view on\u00a0both Karen\u2019s sickness and her recovery. It raises the question of what evil spirit caused her illness, and what caused the evil spirit to leave. \u00a0Add into this mixture the fact that she still dies, because she is hit by a car as they prepare to return to the Sun Dance after being absent for \u201cover twenty years\u201d (King 381). This raises the question, of what evil spirit brought forth her death. \u00a0I believe King is making a statement about the Sun Dance and evil spirits.<\/p>\n

Sun Dance:<\/em>
\n\u201cOnce the Sun Dance lodge was erected around the central cottonwood pole, the dance began and lasted four days. During this time, the dancers, who had taken their own sacred vows, fasted from both food and water. They called to the sun, through sacred songs and chants, to grant them power, luck, or success\u201d (Hanes<\/a>). In addition, the European Invaders tried to ban the Sun Dance. I think it is interesting to note that Eli never wanted to go to the Sun Dance, and when he finally decided to return, because Karen requested it, and she had just defeated death, he reluctantly agreed to go. However, Karen\u2019s life was taken from her before he (or they) could return.<\/p>\n

Add to this, as \u201cquoted by Lawrence House, the Sundance Chief, and the caretaker of the ceremony: \u2018If there were a hierarchy of ceremonies, the Sundance would be at the pinnacle,\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s the ceremony of ceremonies. That\u2019s because the Sundance involves a sacrifice of self to give something to the Creator in order to have prayers answered\u2019\u201d (Ashawasegai)<\/a>. Karen\u2019s death is a sacrifice of life, but for what answered prayer?<\/p>\n

Notion of Home:<\/em>
\nKaren asks Eli if he is afraid of going home, and he answers, \u201cI am home\u201d (King 382). \u00a0Throughout the novel Eli has separated himself from his cultural ties, and has turned his back on his family and people. In many ways this signifies the isolation created within Native communities resulting from the Residential School System (\u201cReclaiming<\/a>\u201d). \u00a0Eli was conflicted on who he was, and as his sister Norma tells Lionel, \u201cYour uncle wanted to be a white man\u201d (King 36). \u00a0He married a white woman, he turned his back on his home and culture, but in the end he returns. \u00a0The death of Karen \u2013 his place of home, caused him to return to his roots. To return to the home he grew up, a home that he decides to save from the dam.<\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ashawasegai, Jennifer . \u201cSundance is the Ceremony of Ceremonies<\/a>.\u201d Windspeaker<\/em> Volume: 30 Issue: 6. The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (2012). Web. 7 July 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cChip\u2019n\u2019Dale Rescue Rangers.<\/a>\u201d TV Tropes<\/em>. Tvtropes.org. n.d. Web. 26 July 2016.<\/p>\n

Collins, Haisla, et el. Through the Eye of the Raven<\/a><\/em>. 2010. Mural. Raven\u2019s Eye Studio, Vancouver. Web. 26 July 2016.<\/p>\n

Flick, Jane. \u201cReading Notes for Thomas King\u2019s Green Grass, Running Water.\u201d Canadian Literature<\/em> 161\/162 (1999). Web. 18 July 2016.<\/p>\n

Hanes, Richard C. and Pifer, Matthew T. \u201cBlackfoot<\/a>.\u201d Countries and Their Cultures.<\/em> EveryCulture.com. n.d.Web. 27 July 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cInterconnectedness<\/a>\u201d First Nations Pedagogy.<\/em> FirstNationsPedagogy.com. n.d. Web. 27 July 2016.<\/p>\n

Joseph, Bob. \u201cThe Enduring Nature of First Nation Stereotypes.<\/a>\u201d Working Effectively with Indigenous People<\/em>\u00a0 ictinc.ca. n.d. Web. 14 April 2015.<\/p>\n

King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water<\/em>. New York: Bantam Books, 1994. Print<\/p>\n

\u201cReclaiming History: The Residential School System in Canada<\/a>.\u201d Where are the Children.<\/em> WhereAreTheChildren.ca. n.d. Web. 26 July 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cYMMV\/Tom and Jerry<\/a>\u201d. TV Tropes<\/em>. Tvtropes.org n.d. Web. 26 July 2016<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lesson 3.3 Assignment 3.7 I chose to examine a critical moment in the lives of Lionel Red Dog and Eli Stands Alone, in Thomas King\u2019s Green Grass Running Water. For this reason, I examined these pages (within the 2007 version of the novel): Lionel Red Dog – Pages: 60 \u2013 69 and Eli Stands Alone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26220,"featured_media":268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2007],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lesson-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions\/281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}