whose story is it to tell

“to raise the question of ‘authenticity’ is to challenge not only the narrative but also the ‘truth’ behind salish ways of knowing“ (carlson 59). explain why this is so according to carlson, and explain why it is important to recognize this point.

– assignment given by erika paterson

carlson’s article, “orality about literacy” touches on the important concept of narratives made for and by oneself, and narratives that are made for oneself by others. he references brian dippie’s comparison between nazi germany’s normalization of the slaughter of millions of jews and “american policy makers’ justification of the physical, social, and economic marginalization of aboriginal people” (58). the first people of canada were written off as a “vanishing race” because the narrative that was being produced about them inferred that they were “inferior and incapable of advancement. once they had been classified as a historically vanishing people, policies were enacted that actually promoted their political, economic, and cultural disappearance” (58). a self-fulfilling prophecy was created to both justify the damage being done and to perpetuate it so that it became an even greater manifestation. where diverse methods of record keeping, such as oral histories, or histories including content that could be perceived as fantastical occurrences, have had their authenticity questioned, carlson makes the point that the oral histories of the salish have always had their own code of authenticity and verification in a tribal and social context, just the same as any written history. people were kept accountable by the others around them, even if the stories were not written down (59).

transformation stories hold an important place in the currently studied salish oral histories. they document important powerful beings and influencers of the salish history who change back and forth form animal and human form. carlson discusses how the transformation stories of the salish people are just “as much, if not more, about creating permanency or stability as they are about documenting the change from one state to another”. transformation means more than just changing forms. the salish root word of the name for the transformers means not just transform, but “‘marking’. – the transformers leave their mark on the world through transformations that in turn are then understood and known through the stories describing that act” (61). even language is a tool that can take or give power to others’ narratives. relying solely on one simple english translation of the salish roots of a word, one misses out on the complexity of meaning behind the salish created words that embody their culture. that a word could mean both “transformation” and “marking” seems paradoxical in our english language and limits the narrative of the salish people that is more complex and diverse then the ability of a different culture to perceive.

the danger of relying on methods and language of documentation that modern america has become accustomed to is that even in trying to study the first people and rectify the wrongs that have occurred over the years, white america still continues to try and maintain being the authority on the the american aboriginal narrative. thomas king writes in his article “godzilla vs. post-colonial” – “i cannot let post-colonial stand – particularly as a term- for, at its heart, it is an act of imagination and and act of imperialism that demands that i imagine myself as something i did not choose to be, as something i would not choose to become” (190).

how many ways do we daily define others according to our own understanding of what it means to be human? how many hundreds of thousands of experiences do we miss out on because we experience life in the way we have learned to understand it? more importantly, how do we challenge our own understanding and open ourselves up to greater depth in our comprehension of human experience?

works cited

Carlson, Keith Thor. “Orality and Literacy: The ‘Black and White’ of Salish History.” Orality & Literacy: Reflections Across Disciplines. Ed. Carlson, Kristina Fagna, & Natalia Khamemko-Frieson. Toronto: Uof Toronto P, 2011. Print. 43-72.

King, Thomas. “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial.” Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Mississauga, ON: Broadview, 2004. Print. 183- 190.

Paterson, Erika. “Lesson 2.3”. ENGL 4710 Canadian Literary Genres: Canadian Studies. University of British Columbia. Nov. 2013. blogs.ubc.ca/courseblogsis_ubc_engl_470a_99c_2014wc_44216-sis_ubc_engl_470a_99c_2014wc_44216_2517104_1/unit-2/lesson-2-3. Accessed 18 Oct. 2016.

“Vanishing American”. 1925. Paramount. Dr. Macro`s High Quality Movie Scans. www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/V/Vanishing%20American,%20The%20%281925%29.htm. Accessed 18 Oct. 2016.

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