Dr. Paterson writes that our ability to make meaning of the first stories is limited. She indicates two reasons for this challenge. The first is that the re-telling is disconnected from the original story and wrapped in complexities of translation, editing and publishing. The second is that from 1880 to 1951 the telling of stories at the potlatch and other Indigenous gatherings and ceremonies were outlawed by The Indian Act. The third reason comes from Harry Robinson who describes storytelling and storylistening as a long and ongoing process. I believe that the third reason for this limited ability to make meaning of first stories is that we do not know how to listen. 

John Lutz discusses the concept of ambiguity as a key factor in our understanding of stories of first contact. Not only were the first contact encounters themselves ripe with misunderstanding and assumption, with each side making “what they pleased of the messages coming from the other” (Lutz 10), but the tellings and retellings of these stories are a breeding ground for ambiguity to this day. Translation is a catalyst for ambiguity and all first stories must be translated, if not from different languages, then through time. Lutz explains that even English language accounts from Europeans must be translated to fit our current understandings of language and the world. “We perform the role of translators when we enter the contact zone,” writes Lutz (11). Wendy Wickwire’s example captures another aspect of ambiguity in the editing and publishing of first stories. Wickwire explains her search for first stories that were similar to those of Harry Robinson – stories that offered unique variations on creation stories, references to white people, varied roles and personalities of Coyote, and a mix of prehistoric and specifically historic settings. When Wickwire finally found such a collection she noted that it likely had not been published along with the more popular collections because it did not fit within the desired narrative of indigenous myths “rooted in the deep past” (Robinson 29). First stories are a complicated game of telephone, filled with misunderstanding and ambiguity from their origin and passed down through translations, through time, and through personal intentions and bias involved in collecting, editing and publishing. 

The Indian Act is the second reason offered by Dr. Paterson as to why it can be challenging to make meaning of the first stories. She explains that this time between 1880 and 1951 created a major gap in the passing down of stories. The Indian Act’s purpose was assimilation of Indigenous people and it attempted to strip Indigenous communities of everything that held meaning for them. The potlach ban came into effect in the late 1800’s, along with the banning of numerous other gatherings and ceremonies in the following years. Potlatch were a foundational ceremony along the west coast. Not only did this ceremony involve the giving of gifts and the redistribution of wealth, which colonizers deemed excessive, it was a place to pass on family rights and inheritance, honour important people, celebrate marriages, births and deaths, and ultimately sustain First Nation culture through story. And the instigators of the Indian Act understood this significance. At a gathering of Kwakwaka‘wakw First Nations Chiefs after the ban of Potlach, one member declared, ‘We have come to say goodbye to our life.’

Dr. Paterson indicates this 71 year timeframe of the banning of ceremonies under The Indian Act because storytelling was specifically and intentionally targeted. However, in a broader sense the oppression and delegitimization of Indigenous people and Indigenous culture has continued long past 1951. Although storytelling is no longer outlawed, the ongoing effects of centuries of colonial violence are evident today in fights for land rights, lower life expectancy, widespread poverty, insufficient community resources, and shockingly high rates of Indigenous youth in foster care and Indigenous people incarcerated in Canada. These efforts to kill and quell Indigenous people and Indigenous culture created a chasm between first stories and present day. Surely many stories and storytellers have been lost along the way. The stories that remain have travelled through trauma to get here. It’s no wonder our ability to make meaning of these stories is challenged. 

Finally, I offer a third reason for our limited understanding of first stories. 

But first, a note: For the purpose of this explanation I will refer to a collective ‘we.’ When I say ‘we’ I mean contemporary white settlers in Canada. I recognize this does not necessarily represent the ‘we’ of this class. I more so mean ‘we’ as a colonial culture. I more so mean the current systems of government and power. And I more so mean me and my experience that I know is shared by some.

In Wickwire’s introduction to Living By Stories she quotes Harry Robinson explaining that they need to meet for longer periods of time if she really wants to hear his stories. “It takes a long time,” he says. “I can’t tell stories in a little while” (12). Here is the heart of the third reason: stories take time and listening. Wickwire’s experience collecting Robinson’s stories in person took place over 12 years from 1977 to the year of his death in 1990. It was not a lecture that she could simply attend. It required lots of time and it fostered a deep connection. I believe that we have not been taught to take time like this. 

Beyond simply the committed hours of time one must dedicate to listening to stories, Robinson also stresses the importance of exploration and processing. Robinson encourages Wickwire to continue to re-listen through the recorded tapes of his stories “and think and look and try and look ahead and look around in the stories” (18). This reminds me of a poem I love by Billy Collins. Although Collins is talking about poetry and not first stories, he paints a beautiful picture of deeply exploring a text. I think Robinson would have liked the description of walking inside the poem’s room and feeling the walls for a light switch. Collins, like Robinson, points to our desire for quick and unequivocal understanding. 

As always, I am drawn to discussing education. And I believe that much of our inability to listen and our search of fast answers can be traced back to our schooling. The First People’s Principles of Learning were created by The BC Ministry of Education and The First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC). Originally created for the course English 12 First Peoples, The First People’s Principles of Learning are now widely shared across schools in BC and intended for use across curriculum. One of the principles states ‘Learning involves patience and time.’ Although schools and teachers are working to use these principles to guide them and change their teaching and learning structures, our education system traditionally does not adhere to these principles. It is tough, as a teacher, to use these principles as a guide within a system that is built on contradictory values. For a great demonstration of these contradictions, check out the chart on page 29 of this article. 

 This year the school I work at moved to a quarter system where each course lasts only 10 weeks. Although there are some benefits to this schedule, I found it so difficult with regards to the First People’s Principles of Learning. You cannot take time when you only have 10 weeks. You cannot tell and retell and compare with only 10 weeks. You cannot, as Robinson says, “look around at the stories” (18) with only 10 weeks. I offer this personal experience as an example of how our current education system (and colonial culture beyond school) devalues the time it takes to process and explore new knowledge. 

So, it is not easy to make meaning of the first stories. So much ambiguity and misunderstanding has occurred. Time and translation have warped and morphed stories. Oppression and genocide have attempted to sever the lines of stories passed through generations. And colonial culture has not learned how to take time and listen deeply enough to actually take in the first stories and find meaning.

———————————————————————————————–

 

 

Works Cited

Cecco, Leyland. “‘National travesty’: report shows one third of Canada’s prisoners are Indigenous.” The Guardian. January 22, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/22/one-third-canada-prisoners-indigenous-report#:~:text=’National%20travesty’%3A%20report%20shows,of%20Canada’s%20prisoners%20are%20Indigenous&text=More%20than%2030%25%20of%20inmates,released%20by%20a%20federal%20watchdog. Accessed February 22, 2021.

Chrona, Jo-Anne L. “Learning involves patience and time.” First Peoples Principles of Learning. WordPress, April 2016, https://firstpeoplesprinciplesoflearning.wordpress.com/learning-involves-patience-and-time/. Accessed February 22., 2021

Collins, Billy. “Introduction to Poetry.” Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46712/introduction-to-poetry. Accessed February 22, 2021.

“First Peoples Principles of Learning.” First Nations Education Steering Committee. http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/FNESC-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11×17-hi-res-v2.pdf. Accessed February 22, 2021.

Hanson, Erin. “The Indian Act” Indigenous Foundations. University of British Columbia, 2009, https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_indian_act/. Accessed February 22, 2021.

Hanson, Kelly. “The First Peoples Principles of Learning: An Opportunity for Settler Teacher Self-Inquiry.” LEARNing Landscapes, Vol. 12, Spring 2019, https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/983/995. Accessed February 22, 2021.

Lutz, John. “Myth Understandings: First Contact Over and Over Again.” Myth and Memory: Rethinking Stories of Indigenous- European Contact. Ed. Lutz. Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press, 2007. 1-15. http://www.law.uvic.ca/demcon/documents/Lutzpaper.pdf. Accessed February 22, 2021.

Paterson, Erika. “Lesson 2.2.” English 372 99C Canadian Studies. UBC Blogs. https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl372-99c-2020wc/unit-2/lesson-2-2/. Accessed February 22, 2021.

Robinson, Harry. Living by Stories: A Journey of Landscape and Memory. Compiled and edited by Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver,  Talon Books, 2005.

Rosner, Frances. “Canada’s Response to the Overrepresentation of Indigenous Children in Care.” BarTalk. The Canadian Bar Association, February 2020, https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2020/February/Columns/Canada%E2%80%99s-Response-to-the-Overrepresentation-of-Ind. Accessed February 22, 2021.

“Virtual Tour” Living Tradition. U’mista Cultural Society, https://umistapotlatch.ca/visite-tour-eng.php?nojs=true&pano=4. Accessed February 22, 2021.