Monthly Archives: March 2015

Write a blog that hyper-links your research on the characters in GGRW according to the pages assigned to you (Pages 146-161). Be sure to make use of Jane Flick’s reference guide on your reading list.

I just wanted to write you all a precursor before I go into my blog. There were so many stories, so many connections, so many allusions. I decided to, within my pages assigned, talk about two stories within King’s text I found most interesting, both for the purposes of this blog as well as personally. Also, apologies for the page numbers that do not coincide with the 1993 edition of the text, I have the newer ebook edition. Here’s hoping that doesn’t throw you off too much, and that the long post is worth your time to read! Cheers!

Noah & the Changing Woman

Noah, stop chasing that poor Changing woman around the canoe! Noah and his big canoe, is a direct connection to the Noah and the Ark story. Jane Flick notes that Noah’s big canoe is “likely a swipe at missionary adaptations of biblical stories for Indians” (Flick 152). This act of transforming a traditionally perhaps non-native story into one for the ‘Indians’ is continued when “Christian ship…Christian journey…Christian rules” has the animals silent, while Indian narratives quite the contrary (King 229). Why is this? I see it as King’s way of placing importance on Indian story-telling histories, with animals playing a much more active role. Instead of silencing them in predominantly White narratives, animals speak, have a life of their own, and play a part. I relate this to my familiarly with ancient tales of my Chinese heritage, such as the Monkey King. “Monkey King never did that in the original story!” my grandpa would yell at the TV. Stories can evolve, change and adapt, and it isn’t always for the worst. I think it’s been valuable to see this different twist on Noah, the animals, and his ship/ark. Once a story changes, different things can happen, different issues can come to light, and different intersections of culture can be examined.

So why the poor Changing woman? Jane Flick notes the Changing Woman as “a holy person of miraculous birth” (Flick 152). No surprise that Noah would chase the Changing Woman for procreating; “Time for procreating, shouts Noah” (King 226).  There’s a sense that Noah is a playful and even blundering character, constantly falling in poop.  “Thou shalt have big breasts” certainly doesn’t sound like the traditional language that we associate with Noah (King 228). The Changing Woman, both holy and miraculous, is being chased by this blundering sexualized Noah. Is there something about Noah’s bestiality towards the Changing Woman that King is trying to comment on?  I saw it as King’s take on the westernized notion of Noah and his Ark. Noah is often seen as a hero of his time or even a saintly savior. But is it always pretty flowers and rainbows? I think we see, or often led to see, these westernized tales of history as perfect, while King brings it into a different light. Perhaps they are human, just like all of us. By bringing Noah down to Earth with poop and breasts (pardon my language), I think King brings stories of Noah and others, down from the heavenly pedestal that they are often on. Perhaps for us to begin to look at other stories also worth looking at, perhaps native narratives, that are deemed inferior when in fact not?

Charlie and his mother, and the story of C.B Cologne

Charlie asked his mother, “Did he ever play the lead? You know, the hero” (King 233). Maybe, Charlie’s mother answered him, “But that was back before they had any Indian heroes” (King 233). Jane Flick makes sure to point out that this is an “allusion to the shift in the presentations of Indians in some Hollywood films” (Flick 152). I also find it fascinating the roles that King prescribes these Indian heroes, “quick fox…Chief Jumping Otter…Chief Lazy Dog” (King 234). Flick makes it known this is King’s allusion to the alphabet learning process for children (Flick 153). By pairing these roles and “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog”, is this King’s way of commenting on how Indians only got elementary and undeveloped roles in mainstream culture? The traditional story line of cowboy versus Indian was once everywhere in mainstream culture, and I argue that this mentality is still evident today. From the Lone Ranger and a white stylized cowboy, to Indians becoming more pronounced as actual forces in culture and film. I walk into a dollar store today, and I still see cowboy toy sets with guns and a sheriff badge, with a cartoon drawing of a classic cowboy versus Indian fight on the packaging. I don’t see that in all the other places I’ve traveled globally, and I think this issue has become so engraved in our culture; it would be hard to erase. Instead, all we can do is educate ourselves.

“Charlie, your father made a very good Indian” (King 233). So what was a good Indian on screen?  Of course, you had to start with a great Indian name? Perhaps “Iron Eyes Screeching Eagle” (King 234)? C.B. Cologne in the text is noted as a “red-headed Italian who played some of the Indian leads” (King 233). Cristobal Colon, or Cristofor Colombo, or as we know it, Christopher Columbus, was sent by Spain to find a route to the Indies (Flick 153). Can we comment on King’s allusion to Christopher Columbus in connection to his commentary on Indian prevalence in the entertainment industry? I see it as King commenting on how an Italian could portray an Indian lead, alluding to Columbus’ quest to conquer the native, or the Indian. The Italian, or ‘white’, is going so far as to invade and assume the identity of the ‘Indian’. Again, much like the cowboy versus the Indian, we see that history tells us a story of colonization and westernization by the ‘whites’. Perhaps not negatively, but King certainly brings to light these issues using the characters of his texts as prompts in our journey to not only look critically at the allusions he’s making, but also why.

There were so many stories. But I’ll leave it at that, it is already a hefty read and I apologize! What do you think?!

PS: I found it so fascinating finding and digging for these allusions, anyone else get a sense that you were reading TS Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ 2.0 in a native form and telling? Can we think of both authors’ canonical work in the same light: bringing and connecting history before our eyes? What is the value of doing so?

Thanks, and cheers!

Works Cited

Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161-162. (1999). Web. March 12/2015.

King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water: A Novel. Toronto: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2010. IBooks.

Stokes, Dashanne. “Time to Stop Playing Cowboys and Indians.” Indian Country Today Media Network, 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/03/16/time-stop-playing-cowboys-and-indians>.

Webb, Franki. Under-representation of Native Americans in the Mainstream Media. Under-representation of Native Americans in the Mainstream Media. N.p., 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nativeweb.org/papers/essays/franki_webb.html>.

“Animals – Native American Mythology.” Native American Mythology. Myths Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Mi-Ni/Native-American-Mythology.html>.

“Christopher Columbus.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/christopher-columbus>.

“Noah’s Ark.” Noah’s Ark. Christian Bible Reference Site, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://www.christianbiblereference.org/story_NoahsArk.htm>.

“T.S. Eliot – The Waste Land.” Genius, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://genius.com/Ts-eliot-the-waste-land-annotated>.

3:2 Q7 – Describe how King uses the cyclical paradigm of the Medicine Wheel (and a little help from Coyote) to teach us to understand, or at least to try to understand the power behind the stories we tell ourselves.

We all like to start and end our stories in a similar fashion. We are taught these patterns at a young age; nursery rhymes and childhood bedtime stories. There’s a certain way stories start, progress and end. This primal understanding of how stories work and function is taken steps further by Thomas King’s explanation of the Medicine Wheel. In understanding the cyclical paradigm of the Medicine Wheel, we can begin to understand how and why we tell the stories that we tell, and what it is exactly that makes it powerful.

When we repeat, we start over. When we finish a lap on a track, we begin again. There is a sense that repetition and circularity is inherent in our lives, and evidently storytelling. Our minds like connections and relations. In reading Thomas King’s text, there is a sense that we pulled deliberately into making these connections. We return once and once again to certain images that King wishes for us to see and pick out. The cycles of the Four Women who fall from the sky is a prime example of this, “being Indian” (King 72), “being unruly Indian” (King 225), “being another Indian” (King 396) and impersonating a white man (Paterson). This kind of circulation of repetitive language is a deliberate move by King to stand beside the Medicine Wheel in depicting the power and importance of circularity in stories that we tell. What I also find fascinating is also how language in stories, can be catalysts for other stories that stem from the original. What it means to be an ‘Indian’ is a story in itself. What it means to be an ‘unruly Indian’ is a story in itself. What it means to be just ‘another Indian’ is again, a story in itself. Stories grow stories, with language as its soil and life as its water. The power of stories is in its language, and it’s continual life through repetition and circularity, whether oral or written.

I think the value of understanding the Medicine Wheel for me is in its applicability to understanding how stories work, thrive and depict our lives. The circularity of the Medicine Wheel is essential. For me, stories exist in a four dimensional World. Beyond the 3.D movies we watch in theaters now, there’s a sense of being in the story, one with the story. That’s where the Medicine Wheel begins to do its wonders on me. The quadrants of the wheel, as Professor Paterson rightfully points out, represent aspects of the World beyond its color, but also life cycles, seasons and states of being (Paterson). The power of stories is in its ability to paint a reality, whether of the past present or the future that inherently encapsulates all elements of the wheel. Stories often depict life, and have the cyclical nature of life embedded within the form itself. People, and their lives, in our stories, go through seasons in their life, and often endure dynamic states of being. And when that stories or struggle is over, it begins again, again and again. Just like life and it’s tribulations, the wheel continues to spin, stories continue to be made. The Medicine Wheel, in this sense, mirrors life and it’s ever cycling re-birthing of stories to be told.

Isn’t ‘life’ merely a continuous collection of stories we learn and tell?

Works Cited

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

Svoboda, Elizabeth. “How Stories Change Hearts and Brains – Elizabeth Svoboda – Aeon.” Aeon Magazine. N.p., 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 09 Mar. 2015. <http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/once-upon-a-time-how-stories-change-hearts-and-brains/>.

“The Medicine Wheel and the Four Directions – Medicine Ways: Traditional Healers and Healing – Healing Ways – Exhibition – Native Voices.” U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/exhibition/healing-ways/medicine-ways/medicine-wheel.html>.