OOH CANADA!

Hello everyone! I am sorry this is so late, but nonetheless, I assure you it will be worth the read! For assignment 3:7 we were tasked with writing a blog that hyper-links our research on the characters in Green Grass Running Water, by Thomas King, while also incorporating Jane Flick’s GGRW reading notes from our reading list. The pages I chose to discuss with you all are 11-21 because many characters are initially introduced in this section and it is relatively close to the beginning of the novel. I will begin by focusing on the first four characters introduced, known as the four Indians; Ishmael, Hawkeye, Lone Ranger, and Robinson Crusoe. I will then discuss in more detail two other characters who are much more developed; Dr. Joseph Hovaugh and Alberta Frank.

The Four Indians: Ishmael, Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye

One important aspect to note, as Jane Flick mentioned, is that ‘King purposefully plays with expectations of naming and gender’ (Flick, 141). The first character, Ishmael, is a variation of the faithful ‘Indian’ companion and is one of the main protagonists in the novel Moby Dick. Ishmael’s character development is still in the exposition phase and we do not get to know him very well in the pages I saw. 

The next character, the Lone Ranger, is known to be a white hero of Western books. My immediate thought when I heard the name Lone Ranger was the white saviour trope. The Lone Ranger also extends to King’s work as a photographer, which captures well known Native Americans wearing the Lone Ranger mask. The Lone Ranger appears to be the trusted storyteller in the pages I chose, but the other three Indians did not fully understand him until he started to speak in their native language. 

The third character, Robinson Crusoe, is known as the ‘savage companion’ because his role is based on survival, even if it means he must alter the truth to stay alive. Crusoe is ‘aided by his Man Friday, the “savage” he rescues from cannibals, and then Christianizes (Flick, 142). As Flick mentions, King mocks Crusoe’s passion for making lists and weighing the pros and cons of various situations (142). 

The fourth character is Hawkeye, who refers to a fictional character of a “white woodsman and guide with knowledge of ‘Indian ways’” (141-42). Hawkeye is the most famous of the frontier heroes in American literature and is another adopted Indian name. Hawkeye has a cultural presence in America that is signaled by popular taste. 

As mentioned, the Four Indians have adopted Indian names that have previous cultural meaning and popularity which King used to add further development and background to their characters. Through King’s use of fictional characters, he is able to connect them to Native American oral traditions and highlight the gap in knowledge and accuracy when examining Western’s representation of their culture.

Dr. Joseph Hovaugh

Flick described Joe Hovaugh as a play on the name Jehovah, which is also the Hebrew name for god. Joe Hovaugh is more interested in contemplating his garden than most other things (Flick, 144). From the first introduction we can see that Dr. Hovaugh is focused on certain things that may seem peculiar, and an example would be his wooden desk. King references him in a Christian mythological framework by stating the desk he was seated at was ‘stripped, repaired, stained blond,’ (King, 16). This is symbolic of the Passion and Ascension of Christ, who was crucified on a wooden cross. There is a correlation I found between Dr. Hovaugh’s character and god through his authoritative figure – he is seen as the one in charge who others follow. Another parallel I found was that since he is a doctor, he is seen to be above others and may be there only hope – seen as the ‘almighty and powerful’. While neither Flick or King mentioned this, it is something I drew upon and found to be quite interesting. Dr. Hovaugh’s characterization is not fully developed, but as a reader you observe that he is a tool that King used to comment on the relationship between Indigenous people and the Christian majority surrounding them. 

Alberta Frank

Alberta Frank is the principal female character in the story, and her name is a play on demographic. Alberta suggests the province in Western Canada, and Frank refers to her tendency to be quite blunt. Flick mentions that King may be showing possible favouritism or fondness since he lived and taught in Lethbridge, Alberta (144). Flick also mentioned that her name may have also been drawn on the Frank Slide of 1903 on the Turtle River, which has been speculated to be a disaster date that Dr. Hovaugh tracks (144). While Alberta is known to be frank and blunt, while she is teaching her class about Fort Marion, most of her students pay little to no attention to her. The students lack interest in the topics she discusses, and this lack of interest can draw a parallel to the lack of attention and respect people pay to Indigenous peoples, their cultural history, oral traditions, and livelihood.

I really enjoyed this blog post because it made me think outside of the box and push myself with the hyperlinks. I found myself wanting to back up my thoughts with what others thought, and that is where the internet and all these links came into play! Please give my hyperlinks a read, I found them extremely useful. Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Maya 🙂

Works Cited

Admin. “The Fort Marion Prisoners.” Native American Netroots, 24 Feb. 2012, nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1269.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2015, June 7). Lone Ranger. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lone-Ranger

Sleeth, M. (2019, April 12). What Is the Significance of Trees in the Bible? Why Did Jesus Die on a Tree? Retrieved from https://www.christianity.com/wiki/jesus-christ/what-is-the-significance-of-trees-in-the-bible-why-did-jesus-die-on-a-tree.html

Dr. Joseph Hovaugh and Jehovah. (2010, July 19). Retrieved from https://litstudies.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/dr-joseph-hovaugh-and-jehovah/

Will, George F. “The Hawkeye Who Sleeps in All Americans.” Baltimoresun.com, 25 Oct. 2018, www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-10-08-1992282010-story.html.

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://biblehub.com/library/kinkead/baltimore_catechism_no_4/lesson_8_on_our_lords.htm

“The Real Robinson Crusoe.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 July 2005, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-robinson-crusoe-74877644/.

Fitzgerald, Michael. (2013). The White Savior and his Junior Partner: The Lone Ranger and Tonto on Cold War Television (1949–1957). The Journal of Popular Culture. 46. 10.1111/jpcu.12017. 

“Ishmael in Moby-Dick: Character Analysis & Symbolism.” Study.Com, study.com/academy/lesson/ishmael-in-moby-dick-character-analysis-symbolism.html. Accessed 17 Apr. 2020.

Flick Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161/162 (1999). Web. April 4th 2013. 

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

Hello again everyone! Very sorry for the late post, this has been a troubling past few weeks for all of us I am sure, but despite that, I still am very excited for this blog post!

The question I chose is something that really caught my eye when I was first looking at the list of questions for assignment 3:5: What are the major differences or similarities between the ethos of the creation story or stories you are familiar with and the story King tells in The Truth About Stories? 

To begin dissecting this question I will first point out that I was never taught of a specific story of the creation of ethos, but being around my peers had a large influence on different stories I was exposed to. One of my friends told me about a meteor hitting earth and killing the dinosaurs, and that meteor carried a human being! Crazy right? Well, she did not seem to think so. Another story I was exposed to a lot in my youth was the Big Bang Theory. The most common story I heard growing up in a Western world was the biblical story of genesis creation. Whether you have heard of this story of creation or not, I did find some comparisons between the story of Genesis, the Big Bang Theory, and the story King tells in The Truth About Stories.

A brief summarized story of Genesis is that it is founded on the principles that humans were created by God, and before God created the universe the earth was ‘formless and desolate’. The creation of the earth by God happened over seven days. The first daylight was created, the second day the sky and the third day consisted of land seas, plants, and trees being created. The fourth day was the creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars. The fifth day was the creation of creatures and the sixth day was animals. By the seventh day, God had completed the creation and this marked a ‘holy’ day.

Now I will provide you all with a brief explanation of the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory differs greatly from Genesis because it is based on principles of science, and in easy terms, it posits that our universe began with a singularity that has evolved and expanded over 13.7 billion years into what we see today. Scientists have found a thermal imprint of the ‘Big Bang’ which further proves that it happened. This inflation from the ‘Big Bang’ provided dark energy that made the universe smooth out and accelerate, then convert into ordinary matter and evolve. The Big Bang Theory argues that the universe is constantly expanding still to this day.
King’s Truth About Stories where he discusses the story of The Woman Who Fell From the Sky is much more similar to the biblical story of Genesis than it is to the Big Bang in many ways. The main similarity would be the idea of a ‘creator’ that created earth, land, people, animals, etc. in comparison to a scientific atom expanding. God created everything in seven days, and Charm and her Twins created the landmasses, mountains, forests, and human beings on Earth (18-20).

Another comparison is the role that gender plays in both the Genesis and King’s stories. In the story of Genesis, Eve is primarily the one to blame for Original Sin even though both Adam and Eve could have been equally to blame. This posits a misogynistic view and negation towards female roles placing the blame on the woman and taking it away from the man. In contrast, the story of Charm describes a woman who is the reason that Earth is what it is today, placing her in a superior role contrasting the inferior role Eve is placed in. 

Upon reflecting on the story of Charm, the Big Bang Theory, and the Biblical Story of Genesis, I found many similarities and differences, but the main characteristic of each of them is what they are based on. The Big Bang is based on factual science, Genesis is based on excerpts from the bible and Christianity, and the story of Charm has similarities but is told in a different era and emphasis is placed on the woman.

I really enjoyed this blog post and it allowed me to look back into my past experiences and my childhood! I felt like this was a great outlet amidst all of the chaos that has been happening recently. I hope everyone remains happy and healthy throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and I wish everyone peace.

Thank you,

Maya 🙂

Works Cited

Howell, Elizabeth. “What Is the Big Bang Theory?” Space.com, Space, 7 Nov. 2017, www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html.

“BibleGateway.” Genesis 1 GNT – – Bible Gateway, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=GNT.

King, Thomas, “The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative.” CBC Massey Lectures. CBC Ideas. Web. April 04/2013. . http://www.cbc.ca/ideas

For this week’s blog post, I chose to answer question 6 from Unit 3:1. The question is focused on Lee Maracle’s paragraph where she writes: “In order for criticism to arise naturally from within our culture, discourse must serve the same function it has always served. In Euro-society, literary criticism heightens the competition between writers and limits entry of new writers to preserve the original canon. What will its function be in our societies? (88)”. Maracle answers the question she poses in the excerpt in the following paragraphs in her essay, and she describes what she sees to be the function of literary criticism in Salish society. Today I will be summarizing her answer, and I will be drawing comparisons between Maracle and Frye’s analysis of the role of myth in nation building.

For Lee Maracle, developing a system for literary criticism in Salish society is essential and needed. Maracle writes that discourse must serve the same function that it has always served in order for criticism to arise naturally within our culture, and then goes on to ask ‘what will its function be in our societies?’. Maracle writes that in her society, ‘story creates discourse around health communal doubt, which inspires us to face ourselves and to grow and transform, also calling us to create myth from the new and transformed being’ (85). Maracle answers her question by first writing that the purpose of examining an old story is to understand it, see oneself in the story, and then to see our common humanity through the story. Maracle writes that from this past discourse we create new transformation myths designed to help us clear obstacles and point us in the direction of ‘the good life’ (85). The creation of these new stories help us gain awareness of the impact we have so we can learn from the consequences.

According to Maracle, criticism is done by individuals within the culture who understand the ‘original story base’ (84). Maracle writes that ‘the deployment of the historic and the continued use of original processes become part of the responsibility of the myth-maker’ (85). This means that the process of myth creation requires the myth-maker to be original and spark the interest of the nation because the nation is the one recognizing the story and interacting with the myth-maker. Maracle then goes on to discuss how transformation is at the centre of our oratorical story tradition and it is the objective of life itself. Maracle believes that the function of discourse in our societies is to primarily build upon it, learn from it, teach others about it, and build our common humanity toward a better life. Maracle puts a large focus on the role of myth and the myth-maker, and how the myth-maker can invoke the processes for story creation from within the culture. The myth-maker is responsible for respecting the knowledge of history and original processes in the interest of the nation within the culture.

Frye focuses in Canadian national identity, and the problems are different for Maracle and Frye. As mentioned in this unit by professor Paterson, both Maracle and Frye do share a connection, despite their different beliefs. Maracle is concerned with cultural growth, and writes “… with a broad and solid foundation in their society’s knowledge […] they do so through a careful and connected study of old and recent literary products that clearly arise out of the original story base (84).” Frye is also focused on growing culturally and believes in maintaining tradition like Maracle. 

Frye and Maracle take two very different approaches to tackling the topic of nation building and how oratory and literature affects it, but they share commonalities and recognize its importance. Both Frye and Maracle are concerned with addressing nation building, questions regarding nationalism, and focusing on literature and how oratory affects a nation’s ability to build and ‘grow culturally’. 

Thanks for reading! Maya 🙂

Works Cited

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.

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

Stugu, Ola Svein. “Myths, History and the Construction of National Identity.” Academia.edu – Share Research, www.academia.edu/6159236/Myths_History_and_the_Construction_of_National_Identity.
Thom, Brian. Coast Salish Transformation Stories, 15 Jan. 1998, www.web.uvic.ca/~bthom1/Media/pdfs/ethnography/transform.htm.

Hello everyone! Seeing that now is the time for midterm reflection, I will be listing below my three favourite blog posts from the first half of the term.

The first blog post I would like to submit for review is assignment 2:4, which is ‘the assumptions made on history’. The questions focused on Lutz’s assumption that “one of the most obvious difficulties is comprehending the performances of the Indigenous participants” (Lutz, “First Contact” 32).  The reason I enjoyed writing this blog post so much and felt like it was one of my stronger posts is because I felt like not only could I explore this quote, but I could analyze it and relate it to the general world and the rest of his article. I enjoyed writing this piece a lot and really felt engaged.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/mayasumel/2020/02/08/24-the-assumptions-made-on-history/

The second blog post I enjoyed the most is assignment 2:2, which is ‘what home means to me’. Personally, I felt like his blog post allowed me to introduce myself, my family, and my struggles, while also focusing on how I get by day to day and what makes me ‘me’. Writing this blog post felt very easy yet also challenging for me, and I felt like I channeled into the inner parts of my thoughts and myself. I was eager not only to share more about myself, but learn about the rest of the students in the class too!

https://blogs.ubc.ca/mayasumel/2020/01/29/assignment-22/

The third, but most definitely not the last assignment I enjoyed the most was assignment 1:5, which was the story we got to tell. I loved this blog post because we were given free reign with what we wanted to keep the same or change about the story, and it really allowed me to be creative and challenge myself and my thoughts. I found myself wanting to use less dialogue and more narrative, so I had to find creative ways to keep the reader engaged. This blog post was the first one where I felt I was finding my voice as a writer throughout this course and it felt amazing!

https://blogs.ubc.ca/mayasumel/2020/01/22/assignment-15/

Thank you for reading my blurbs regarding my submissions for the midterm review 🙂

Maya

The question I chose to answer for assignment 2:6 is question five, which poses “To raise the question of ‘authenticity’ is to challenge not only the narrative but also the ‘truth’ behind Salish ways of knowing” (Carlson, 59). This question is asking me to explain why this is the case according to Carlson, and why it is important to recognize this point.

The truth behind the narrative of ‘Salish ways of knowing’ is described by Carlson as extremely sacred to the extent that it is better not to tell a story if someone is unsure or parts are missing because ‘shortening myths would shorten the lives of all listeners’ (Carlson, 59). When Carlson says “to raise the question of ‘authenticity’ is to challenge not only the narrative but also the ‘truth’ behind Salish ways of knowing”, he is drawing upon the facts and importance of oral storytelling and accuracy. I will go more into detail below, but for Salish people, telling and sharing their myths is sacred, and as Carlson mentions, it is better to not say anything than to say something untrue. Their ways of knowing comes from traditions and beliefs passed down through generations and their culture, so when asking about authenticity, it simultaneously questions the truth behind the story and ‘Salish ways of knowing’. 

Carlson discusses how in each society it is understood that inaccurate historical narratives pose dangers to the reputation of the speaker and to the audience (Carlson, 58). Carlson also draws on how Western societies and Nazi history can depict dangerous stories as they are not told with the same authenticity or truth as Salish stories are, so that may also be a reason why people are so skeptical. These inaccurate stories may have severe consequences as well. Personally speaking, I always question what I am being told because each time a story is told it tends to change, which is also what we have learnt throughout class. That being said, it is not always the case.

The importance of the spirit world in retelling stories is one key reason to recognize this point. In this article Carlson discusses that retelling stories consists of deceased people, which are ancestors in the spirit world. He points to the importance of retelling a story, and how it is known to convene the spirits of the historical actors described (Carlson, 58). Carlson then goes on to mention that ancestral spirits are believed to be concerned with honour, integrity, and accuracy, and if their story is not told accurately they can cause ‘bad things’ to happen (Carlson, 59). It is also believed that the spirits may carry away one’s soul if their name is mentioned at night, and that is why some Salish people today do not mention the names of the deceased at night. This point also goes hand in hand with the obligation that Salish historians have to maintain the integrity of their sacred historical narratives and why people are ‘compulsively concerned about telling stories “right”’ (Carlson, 59).

This was very interesting for me to read about and discuss because I was able to see the importance of the Salish ways of knowing and of Aboriginal peoples history and their oral and written traditions. It is very different from what I have always been taught, which is to exercise caution, but Carlson explained it very well.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog post this week!

Thank you,

Maya 🙂

Works Cited:

Carlson, Keith Thor. “Orality and Literacy: The ‘Black and White’ of Salish History.” Orality & Literacy: Reflectins Across Disciplines. 43-72. Print.

White, Sophia. “A Very Short History of the Coast Salish People.” Culture Trip, The Culture Trip, 3 Dec. 2014, theculturetrip.com/north-america/canada/articles/a-very-short-history-of-the-coast-salish-people/.

“Oral Traditions.” Indigenousfoundations, indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/oral_traditions/.

For Assignment 2:4, I chose to answer question 3 at the end of unit 2, which is based on a section on John Lutz’s book ‘Myth and Memory’. The section I read and analyzed for this question was “First Contact as a Spiritual Performance: Encounters on the North American West Coast”.

Lutz makes an assumption in this section of his book about his audience. Lutz assumes that “one of the most obvious difficulties is comprehending the performances of the Indigenous participants” (Lutz, “First Contact” 32). By Lutz making this assumption, he encompasses his entire audience, including me, into it. Question three asks what I make of this reading, and if Erika (our instructor) is being fair when she points to this assumption, and in turn, if Lutz is being fair when he makes this assumption. As our professor Erika mentions, it is because “one must of necessity enter a world that is distant in time and alien in culture, attempting to perceive indigenous performance through their eyes as well as those of the Europeans”. 

 I found that Lutz has a very general, yet in depth outlook on first encounters, and what I found particularly interesting is how he mentions that both parties aim to minimize danger and maximize opportunities. He has an extremely interesting outlook on the European colonisation of Indigenous peoples which I enjoyed reading. I do agree with Erika’s assumption that Lutz believes his readers belong to European descent, which is not always the truth. His assumption also suggests that it is more difficult for a European to understand Indigenous performances, rather than Indigenous peoples understanding European performances. Even though Lutz is making generalizes assumptions, they hold a majority of the truth. While I am not from European descent, I am sure that most people reading his work are, which adds truth to what he is saying.

In terms of fairness on Lutz’s end, I do believe that he is being fair. Most people, writers in particular, have to take a stance and provide reasons as to why they believe this. Lutz took the assumption that warrants more truth, and I do believe it is fair. That being said, I do believe that upon first encounters, the Indigenous peoples would have found the European mannerisms just as strange and foreign. Lutz explains that for Indigenous peoples, first contact exchanges involved integrating the appearance of the white European men with their previous long-held knowledge of the animal and spiritual world visitors they had encountered (“First Contact” 36). Lutz then went on to note that the Indigenous peoples also associated the arrival of the Europeans with the spirit world (“First Contact” 36). 

I am not too familiar with the beliefs, culture, and spirituality of Indigenous peoples here in Canada myself, but upon reading I have learnt a lot of the importance. Upon familiarizing myself, I found myself understanding Lutz’s referencing and meaning, and I do hope that other students in this class and readers do the same.

Thank you very much! Maya 🙂

Works Cited

Lutz, J. S., Binney, J., Dauenhauer, N. M., Dauenhauer, R., & Maclaren, I. S. (2014). Myth and Memory: Stories of Indigenous-European Contact. Vancouver: UBC Press.

“Religion and Spirituality of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/religion-of-aboriginal-people.Joseph, Bob. “Why Continuity of Indigenous Cultural Identity Is Critical.” Why Continuity of  Indigenous Cultural Identity Is Critical, www.ictinc.ca/blog/why-is-indigenous-cultural-continuity-critical.

Hi everyone! For this week’s blog post I will be identifying similarities in my classmates’ and my definition of ‘home’. I’ll be discussing Alexandra’s, Chino’s, Jade’s, Gaby’s, Megan’s, and Georgia’s blogs about the values of home. 

Alex says that she had a solid concept of home. She emphasized the trust her and her family members had, and how they valued honesty.

Georgia mentions that the feeling of home is having safety and warmth around you, and an overwhelming feeling of comfort.

Chino says that home is largely where you live and grew up, and where your house is.

Gaby discusses that home is where you feel loved and appreciated.

Megan discusses how the idea of home is largely based on the people you are surrounded by and spend time with.

Jade says that home is known as the place you lived from birth to present, the place you fell in love, and where you had your first heartbreak.

Upon reading everyone’s blog posts, I found a common theme that most people found the meaning of home either based on where they were born and grew up, or where their family was. I thought that each blog related largely to my conception of home but in very different ways. 

While family does not mean ‘home’ to me, it largely shaped my perception and meaning of home, which can relate mostly to Alex’s meaning of home. Alex says she feels safe with her family, and has a feeling of safety, love, and security. She also says that when her family moved to Vancouver last year, she no longer referred to the island as her home. Alex went on to attribute this to the fact that since her parents now live in Vancouver, she associates the feeling of ‘home’ to Vancouver, which is where her family is. 

Chino went on to state that home is the people that surround you, which I support. The people around you don’t have to be your family, but they can become like family. Home is also attributed to where your roots are. I found Chino and I to be quite similar when she says  ‘home is where the heart is’. I attribute this common saying to a feeling of safety and warmth, which is what I emphasized in my blog post about the feeling of home. Chino also says that home is everything and everyone we hold in our hearts, which I believe to be true.

Gaby believes that home is based on safety, acceptance, freedom and warmth. The feeling of safety was the grand notion in my blog post. I ended the post by saying that home is where you feel safe, which I feel Gaby also captures when describing her meaning and feeling of home for her. She also associated home to a feeling of fulfillment, pleasant experiences, and the things we love and appreciate. She believes that home is created by us and shaped by our own experiences.

Jade’s feeling of home resonated with me because she emphasizes where you grew up and experienced most things, and for me that is Vancouver. She also says that home is not just physical, but it is also emotional, and it is possible to have many homes because the home is what you make of it.

Megan was similar to me in the sense that she emphasizes familial ties, but she has a more positive outlook on it. She says family plays a large role in feeling and being at home, which I do agree with as well.

What I realized after completing this assignment was not to focus on how my peers and I viewed home as different concepts, but rather acknowledge that despite our extreme differences, we still have some of the same values. I found this extremely comforting and also interesting, and I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog post this week!

Thank you,

Maya Sumel 🙂

Works Cited:

MeganCameron. (2020, January 28). Megan Cameron’s Blog. Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/megancameronengl372/2020/01/28/assignment-22/?fbclid=IwAR3E2RzujtfO7OU72_Z8ktgkV-51Jv1jaAsPaq8Wdr_MA_GgQZ6USxlmk8A

Greer, J. (2020, January 29). Menu. Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/jadegreer/2020/01/29/assignment-2-2/?fbclid=IwAR2uvTDGBlj9uWNexvBmHyhbWffHqHOpteB9y4Ni5V2ecG4f5K5t2s-C6FE

Explorer Gaby’s Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/gabyliteratureexplorer/2020/01/28/the-story-of-home/?fbclid=IwAR0cn6_GtccTYjtuKPZ7ZzhW3jf6obFea-m0_8DayHJ6KKScVtBd9x2Wb9g

Masaki, G. (2020, January 27). Assignment 2.1: Home. Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/georgiamasaki/2020/01/27/assignment-2-1-home/?fbclid=IwAR0t0awBGXwCE9zSdd2sxsAnNpEj7K96ZayKftf4OxsuHdWXnE75f039lZ4

Sinclair, A. (020, January 29) Assignment 1:5. Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/english372/2020/01/29/assignment-15-2/

Rodriguez, A. C. (2020, January 28) Assignment 2.2: Home. Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/crodriguezengl372/2020/01/28/assignment-2-2-home/?fbclid=IwAR0abiRkHbznyc-CFNSnY-kUOIL7vqfcYBRDD1n3qd-cf0xEy4uDkOn7C-4

Nelson, Zanteria. “Home Is Where The Heart Is.” The Odyssey Online, The Odyssey Online, 16 Oct. 2019, www.theodysseyonline.com/the-heart-is-home.

Home – a four lettered word with a bigger meaning than describable. It means safety, security, a sense of belonging, having someone to turn to, somewhere to go when you need to take shelter. 

So what does home mean to me? That is a difficult question to answer. From a young age the concept of a home was very abstract for me. My mom struggled with substance abuse, and still does to this day. This made the ideology of home a concept that I found difficult to grasp. All of my friends’ home life seemed relatively normal compared to mine, and I never felt like I could relate to them. When I was in grade three my parents ended up getting a divorce, which was very hard for my family. Today, I feel at home when I go home, but I can confidently say I did not always feel like that. I now live at home with my dad, stepmom, and siblings, and being surrounded by family makes me feel loved and supported every single day. But home does not have to mean you are with your family. Home can be with your loved ones too, or even on your own.

2019 was a year of change – I decided to apply for exchange to study abroad in Paris. I asked myself, “is this the best choice for you? Will you feel at home?”. I can confidently say it was the best option, but at the time, it was a difficult decision to make. Thinking of leaving the place I have called home for my entire life to go to a continent I had never been to was an extremely scary thought that I didn’t know was possible. A lot of time and thought goes into a decision to move out to another place, and learn to call a new place home. It takes a lot of courage, but I made the leap. I now consider France a second home, which was not an outcome I expected but am pleasantly surprised by it.

Having somewhere to call home is a privilege, but is often overlooked. Indigenous peoples have suffered from having their land stolen and most do not have a place to call their genuine home. This puts a lot into perspective for me, and makes me strongly believe that most of us take for granted the chances we have been given. 

What I have learned over the years of moving around, living on my own, with my mother, my father, and even living in Europe for 4 months, is that home is where I feel safe. While I may consider this my home, I must remember it is not my land, and the unfortunate truth is that most people may not ever feel safe on their own land.

Works Cited:

The Young Girl’s Story of Evil

I have a great story to tell you.

It is about a young girl from a small village near the woods, and I am sure you have yet to hear about her.

Whether you enjoy this story or not is up to you, but it is a story that I will tell you on how evil came into this young girl’s world. 

Before we continue, let’s give this girl a name. Something simple – not too hard to remember. We can call the young girl Jessica if you’d like. We can even call her Mary. I think we should go with Mary, something easy to remember. If you want we can change it later.

So let the story continue. Mary did not usually traverse near the woods alone, and if she did, there was never a reason to be skeptical. It was Sunday morning, and Mary had grown tiresome of her schedule. Mary made the decision to wander into the woods and try something different – have a different experience than usual. She was not looking for danger, she was simply looking for a change.

As Mary left her village and the people grew seldom as she traversed into the forest, she found the noises became more amplified, and it seemed to just be her. Mary was not scared because she had never been given a reason to be, so she continued down the unknown path in search of a new experience to tell her village when she returned. 

It was when Mary had reached this tree – but not any normal tree, a tree with something seeming like a hole at the bottom of the trunk – that she decided to stop. Mary sat down next to this hole and realized it could possibly lead somewhere. At this newfound knowledge, she began to slightly dig and make the hole deeper. Mary did not know where the hole led, but she knew that it would be the new experience she hoped for.

Mary kept digging and digging, and that is when she felt it – a slight graze on her hand that made her pull back in fear.

Mary was scared, but not too scared. curiosity took over and she decided to inch her hand back in, and that is when she felt the arm grasp her own, and heard soft chanting. The chanting got louder and louder, and she realized that it was a story that was being told. The grip on Mary’s wrist and hand grew stronger and tighter, and her hand began to ache. She yelped in discomfort, but the voice and story did not seize.

Mary was disconnected from reality and was not sure what was going on. She felt this pain for what felt like forever, but it had only been about 5 minutes. The voice stopped, and as Mary stood up, she no longer felt fear. She felt fearless, undefeatable, with a sense of evil inside of her. 

The way she viewed the world was different, and she ran back to the village to tell the rest of the people of her new experience. She told this story to everyone in the village, the story of how evil came into the world. The once calm, peaceful, and happy village had now become full of sorrows, fear, and evil. Once Mary told this story, it could not be taken back.

Commentary

This was a very unique and interesting assignment for me. I am not a storyteller and I have never been tasked with doing something like this, but I really enjoyed this task. I found myself reading a TED talk on how to tell a story. I felt like I was given a lot of freedom and could use my imagination. I did like the fact that we were telling a story about how important stories were, and that we incorporated a world of evil into it. I noticed that each time I tried to recall this story, it continued to change. I then related that directly to the story I was telling, and decided to alter it. I kept reflecting on how King said that it is important to draw your reader’s attention by not giving too much away in the beginning. I definitely learned that it is not an easy task to draw the attention of your audience, and that became very apparent when I was reading my story to my dad. This experience helped me modify the story a bit. The more I told the story, the more comfortable I was, but I also noticed the more it changed. 

I am really happy with this assignment, and it is making me excited for the rest of the term. I can’t wait to read all of your stories and see how they relate in similarity – I think it is very fun that we all based it off of the same chapter and were able to change it completely or only a little, so I am sure many of our stories will be similar.

Thank you!

Maya 🙂

Works Cited:

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

2003 CBC Massey Lectures, Thomas King, The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative: http://www.cbc.ca/ideas.

Interview with Thomas King (October 2009) by Jordan Wilson. This webpage includes a video file and a transcript of the interview: http://canlit.ca/interviews/21

Crutweets. “A World of Evil and Suffering: Cru.” Cru.org, www.cru.org/us/en/blog/life-and-relationships/hardships/a-world-of-evil-and-suffering.html.

“How to Tell a Great Story.” Harvard Business Review, 12 Aug. 2015, hbr.org/2014/07/how-to-tell-a-great-story.

Hey everyone! Welcome back to my blog. For this blog post, I will be focusing on story and literature and addressing a question that I found to be very interesting in my opinion. I will be writing a summary of three significant points that I found most interesting in the final chapter of If this is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? The final chapter of this book by Chamberlin is chapter eleven, which focuses on ceremonies. First, I will provide you all with a link to the writers cafe website where you can learn more about Chamberlin and this book I am discussing by listening to one of his interviews. I hope you all enjoy this! I listened to it in Unit 1 before making this blog post and I really liked it.

The first most significant point I found interesting was the story about the Gitksan and the destruction of their valley seven thousand years ago. In this story, they discuss the power of storytelling. The Gitksans took the valley for granted many years ago, and it was destroyed by grizzly bears. Chamberlin described their storytelling as having the ritual it required to the court to assert their claims to the land. Their story required belief, which is why they told it with ritual and ceremony. I found this one example to be interesting and understood the power of storytelling and having others believe what you are saying. Without belief, it would have been very difficult for the Gitksan peoples to assert their claim to the land and valley. We can relate this to a lot of the stolen land from Indigenous peoples across Canada as well, and how unfortunate it is that they have to fight for land that was stolen from them – this is an example of why storytelling is so powerful.

A second point I found to be interesting was that each story has two truths. The first truth would be the allegiance to the facts of experience, which are part of us. The second truth is the formalities of expression, which are separate from us. I found this to be interesting since this applies to most aspects of life. There are always multiple ways to interpret something, tell a story, or view a situation. It ultimately lies upon the way the story is told, which will then largely determine how we will interpret it.

The last point that I found fascinating is that stories have the power to take us to a place where things happen, but in reality, they do not. Stories offer us a choice between believed spoken words, or a visual world. A real-world example that I thought of when reading this was the way we describe ‘Canadian Land’, and what it means to be Canadian. I thought of the Molson Beer commercial I am Canadian. When thinking of this, I thought of the colonization of land and how the story of what it means to be Canadian is told, and whether the audience chooses to believe the words they see or the world they live in. The choice between the reality that we live on stolen land, or the story that being Canadian is exactly what this commercial says it is.

I hope you enjoyed reading my perspective and I look forward to reading the comments! 

Thanks,

Maya 🙂

Works Cited:

Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. AA. Knopf. Toronto. 2003. Print.

Chamberlin, Edward. “Interview with J. Edward Chamberlin”. Writer’s Café.  Web April 04 2013.

Courtney MacNeil, “Orality.” The Chicago School of Media Theory. Uchicagoedublogs. 2007. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/orality/

1. Am. Canadian! By Molson – CBC Archives. https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/i-am-canadian-by-molson