For this weeks blog post regarding “Green Grass Running Water” we were prompted to “discover as many allusions as you can to historical references (people and events), literary references (characters and authors), mythical references (symbols and metaphors)” (Paterson).

The section I was assigned is pages 406-418 in my version of the novel.

Summary: My section primarily focuses on Latisha who explains her past marital problems and resulting single motherhood to empathize with Alberta who is in strong denial of her  pregnancy; “there’s no way I can be pregnant” (King 407). Alberta begins to better understand their tense relationship, when George unexpectedly arrives  for the Sun Dance and greets Latisha. The section also contains Eli and Harley remarking about the changes that the Sun Dance has undergone over the years, and also the damage that the dam is doing to the river.

Ann Hubert:

 “Ann Hubert, a white girl who wore a new dress to school each week, asked if the Sun Dance was like going to church” (King 409)

Latisha’s arrival for the Sun Dance illustrates how her cultural identity is strongly connected through the generations:”Norma’s lodge was always in the same place (…) And before that Norma’s mother. And before that” (King 409). With seeing the lodge, she is reminded that in the past her cultural identity was challenged by a girl called Ann Hubert. Flick notes that Ann is an  allusion to the Canadian novelist, Anne Cameron  who also writes as Cam Hubert (161).  She famously published “Daughters of Copper Women” in 1961, which retold the oral stories of Nootka women on Vancouver Island. Anne was criticized for her misuse of cultural property that was not hers (Flick 161).  Ann Hubert  similarly appropriates Latisha’s culture by forcing her own beliefs onto what the Sun Dance is about:  “Ann said that it was probably a mystery (…) like God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost” (King 409). Her appropriation is connected to power dynamics and the essentialization of “the other”. Latisha is unable to challenge her, because her voice has been stolen by Ann’s chatter; “in the end she said nothing” (King 410).   Jeanette Armstrong, a First Nation author and activist has notably criticized the work of Anne Cameron:  “there are a lot of non-Indian people out there speaking on our behalf or pretending to speak on our behalf and I resent that very much; I don’t feel that any non-Indian person could represent our view adequately” (Hoy).

George Morningstar:

George Custer

“Hello, Country.Even before she turned, Latisha’s arms instinctively came up and she stepped back, setting a distance between herself and the man behind her. “Hello, George,” she said.” (King 412).

George Morningstar (Latisha’s ex-husband) like Ann Hubert presents another example in Latisha’s life where her identity has been appropriated by a white individual. George is an allusion to George Armstrong Custer, a famous United States Army Officer.  He was notable for   Custer’s last stand, which was a plan to defeat the Lakota. He faced problems when he advanced too quickly which allowed the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors to surround and kill him (“George Armstrong Custer”). Custer’s false expectations of the warriors are reflected in George’s essentialization of Latisha, when he greets her with “hello, country”.Much like Custer he feels a sense of ownership over her, which was evident in how he attempts to claim native identity through  his buckskin jacket and exploiting her by remarking how he likes her, because she “is a real Indian” (King 112).  Similar to the warriors who defied Custer’s lowly expectations Latisha illustrates resistance by realizing the true nature of George as seen through Alberta’s eyes; “Latisha’s body tensed up, could feel her hands clench” (King 418).

Alberta Now:

“Charlie lay on the bed and thumbed through a copy of Alberta Now” ( 413)

Flick notes that the magazine “Alberta Now” is a play on Ted Byfield’s  ultraconservative news magazine “Alberta Report” (151). Byfield’s “Alberta Now” discusses the sentiment of Western discontent and alienation from political affairs.He coined the phrase “the west wants in” which symbolically ties to how Charlie reads about “how old movie Westerns were finding a new life in the home video market” (King 413). This obviously refers to his dad, Portland who starred in Hollywood Westerns.  There seems to be the  suggestion that Portland is resisting, and fighting back, possibly against societal standards stemming from the stereotypical Indian in the films.

“Maybe we should give the Cree in Quebec a call” (King 416)

Flick notes that this refers to the Cree who  managed to delay the Great Whale Project and received millions of dollars after signing the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975 (102).  They also gained control over parts of their land.  In this section concerns over the dam are juxtaposed with images of families unpacking “chairs and blankets and dragging them toward the circle” (King 416). It is evident that both Eli and Harley want to achieve the same results as the Cree, because they want the Sun Dance to be “just like the old days” (King 416).

Reflection:

My section follows closely after the incident in Bursum’s store where the Indians in the Western film fight back against their traditional deaths. The same sense of resistance is carried forward with Latisha refusing to let George “colonize” her once again. Similarly,Portland who is Charlie’s father is symbolically reflected in the “Alberta Now” magazine illustrating a resistance against Hollywood tropes. This sections resistance is further solidified with Eli and Harley remarking on how to stop the dam from damaging the river in order to restore the sanctity of the Sun Dance.

Works Cited:

“Alberta Report.” Archives Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2015. <http://www.archivescanada.ca/>.

Cameron, Anne (1938-).” ABC book world. N.p., 2010. Web. 10 July 2015. <http://www.abcbookworld.com/>.

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

“George Armstrong Custer .” New Perspectives on the West. PBS, 2001. Web. 11 July 2015.

Hoy, Helen. “How should I read these?.” Insight. N.p., 6 Jan. 2006. Web. 9 July 2015. <http://www.uoguelph.ca/>.

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2007. Print.

Paterson, Erika. “Lesson 3:3.” ENGL 470A Canadian Studies Canadian Literary Genres May 2015. University of British Columbia Department of English, n.d. Web. 10 July 2015.

Question 8: Everyone is on the move in this novel, road trips abound and in order to hit the road what do we need? — a road map. At the same time, Lionel, Charlie and Alberta are each seeking direction in life. As Goldman says, “mapping is a central metaphor” (24) of this novel. Maps chart territory and provide directions, they also create borders and boundaries and they help us to find our way. There is more than one way to map, and just as this novel plays with conflicting story traditions, I think King is also playing with conflicting ways to chart territory. What do you think lies at the centre of King’s mapping metaphor? Marline Goldman, “Mapping and Dreaming; Native Resistance in Green Grass Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161-162 (1999). Web. April 04/2013.

In our previous lessons we learned about the importance that maps play in the national narrative of Canada.  Mapping is a method in which colonial power is achieved through the erasure of “the other”.  In “Green Grass Running Water” King subverts this colonial cartography by challenging the power of Bill Bursum’s prized map during the screening of the Western film “The Mysterious Warrior”.  The four Indians reverse the racial and power dynamics in the film by forcing the white men (such as John Wayne) off “The Map”. The allusions present in Bill Bursum’s name give a historical context for his imagined power  and suggests a reason why resistance has been vital in regaining cartography and ensuring First Nation survival amidst numerous challenges.

Bill Bursum’s entertainment store contains television screens that he placed in the shape of a map of Canada and the United States. He is an aficionado of western films  which alludes to his connection to  Buffalo Bill who was the creator of “Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show”, a theatrical show that recreated frontier events. Buffalo Bill notoriously exploited Native Americans by recruiting performers from different tribes.  The performances glorified Bill while vilifying the Indians as “bad guys” (“Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show”). Bursum, similarly re-creates this one-sided power through his map which he thinks as “being able to see everything, being in control” (King 140). Florence Stratton suggests that “The Map” is a Panopticon in which “the individual becomes an object of knowledge over whom power is excised” (94).The maps power is further solidified through the films that Bursum shows. The films seem to repeat Buffalo Bill’s script of the glorification of white individuals through the massacre of Indians, which Bursum knows by heart; “quiet (…) the good part is coming up” (King 351).

Chief Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill (1885)

The eventual disruption of the script during Lionel’s birthday can be traced back to the historical events surrounding Holm Bursum a New Mexican senator that introduced the Bursum bill in 1921. The bill was intended to settle land disputes over ancestral Pueblo territory, by allowing European American settlers to buy the land (“History: Statehood”). If the bill had passed, the Pueblo Indians would have lost ownership over their fertile land. The Pueblo Indians resisted against the colonial measures and in 1924, the Pubelo Lands Act was passed which recognized their land rights, and provided compensation for property (History: Statehood”).  The four Indians similarly resisted colonial scripts by reversing the ending of the film through their humming. They caused the death of John Wayne and Richard Widmark as well as making “hundreds of soldiers in bright blue uniforms” disappear (King 357). Forcing the white men off the map destabilized the permanence that Bursum  felt, because he was no longer included within it. Trying to regain power he kept pushing the rewind button, but nothing changed; “Well, something sure as hell got screwed up” (King 359). The shift  from black and white  to color during the film suggests that the readers perspective must also change. Similar to Bursum we all have scripts that we follow in our lives,  but King challenges us to create new perceptions and to question old beliefs. So, like Bursum we have lost the ability to rewind.

Works Cited:

“Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show opens.” History. History Channel, 9 May. Web. 6 July 2015. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history>.

“History:Statehood .” New Mexico Museum of Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 July 2015. Path: http://online.nmartmuseum.org/.

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

Notman, David. Sitting Bill and Buffalo Bill. 1885. Montreal. Web. 5 July 2015. <https://commons.wikimedia.org>.

Stratton, Florence. “Cartographic Lessons Susanna Moodie’s Roughing It in the Bush and Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature (1999): 82-102. Canlit.ca. Web. 5 July 2015.

I will be discussing question 2, by examining the Indian Act 1876. 

The Confederation which took place in the late 19^th century required loyalty on the part of Canadians. A unified cultural identity was seen as necessary to ensure national unity at a time of great change. The Indian Act of 1876 was a way to eradicate these cultural differences that were seen as a hindrance to nation building.  The act has been described as a type of assimilationist legislation enacted by the Canadian government. They exerted authority over the Indigenous peoples and their lands by attempting to erase cultural, social, economic and political  differences ( “Nationalism, late 1800’s-1950’s”, canlitguides.ca). The act consolidated and expanded upon existing legislation by codifying  prevailing Euro-Canadian cultural attitudes. Which included the belief  that the settlers were superior to the “backward” Indians and felt that it  was “the white man’s burden” to civilize them” (Smith 2). The act impacted on the day-to-day lives of Aboriginal people. They interfered with traditions by banning potlaches, and placing children into residential schools ( “Nationalism, late 1800’s-1950’s”, canlitguides.ca).

Racial classification and Euro-centric paternal ideas played a fundamental part in this act. Racial identity was understood to be based on the patrilineal principle of descent in which “the definition of Indian was decided largely through a person’s relationship with a Native man” (Razack 55). The construction of  “Indian-ness” was seen as an economic necessity  to protect privilege and property. The fixed nature of these constructed identities meant that half-mixed women were excluded from property and legal rights. Their presence marked a threat to the creation of a racial hierarchy as they could cross “racial and sexual boundaries” (Razack 178).  Their absence of legal and spatial rights meant that they existed in “zones of violence”  (Razack 178). These spaces ensured the “naturalness of white innocence and aboriginal degeneracy”  (Razack 178).  Thus, they were falsely seen as sexually transgressive and in need of policing.

Urban spaces such as East Vancouver, re-map these zones of violence through the subordination of Indigenous women.  In East Vancouver, they are separated from society by their blocked social and economic mobility. They face  “social deficits such as inadequate access to counselling services, life skills training, child care,recreation and health care services” (Wallis et al 237).  They also face inequality in terms of gaining employment which results in a large number of individuals living below the poverty line. These socio-economic factors ensure that they remain within the zone, and do not cross the colonial line.  Their invisibility is marked by the normalization of violence against Aboriginal women. The large number of unsolved cases regarding missing and murdered women sadly characterizes this area.

The policies of the Indian Act which placed individuals into distinct racial  categorizations reflects Coleman’s conception of civility.  These categorizations meant that individuals were denied legal rights and socio-economic mobility. They existed in zones which were constructed outside of Canadian citizenship which made violence acceptable (space becomes place through the presence of law). This hidden violence allows white civility to thrive through the forgetting of colonial violence while also quarantining “the uncivil past from the civil present” (Coleman 34). All of these factors allow the white fictive ethnicity of normalcy and privilege to be constructed in opposition to Aboriginal degeneracy.

Works Cited:

CanLit Guides. “Reading and Writing in Canada, A Classroom Guide to Nationalism.” Canadian Literature. Web. June 27^th 2015.

Coleman, Daniel. White Civility: The Literary Project of English Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2008. Print.

Hanson, Eric. “The Indian Act”. UBC Indigenous Foundations. 2009. Web. <http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca>

Hundreds March In Vancouver For Missing & Murdered Women.” Popular Resistance . The Canadian Press , 16 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 June 2015. <https://www.popularresistance.org>.

Razack, Sherene H. Race, Space and the Law. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2002.

Smith, Keith D. Strange Visitors: Documents in Indigenous-Settler Relations in Canada from 1876. North York, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 2014.

Wallis, Maria, Lina Sunseri and Grace-Edward Galabuzi (2010). Colonialism and Racism in        Canada: Historical Traces and Contemporary Issues. Nelson.

Question 3: In order to address this question you will need to refer to Sparke’s article, “A Map that Roared and an Original Atlas: Canada, Cartography, and the Narration of Nation.” Write a blog that explains Sparke’s analysis of what Judge McEachern might have meant by this statement: “We’ll call this the map that roared.”

Before the settlers arrived in Canada, it was assumed that the land was unoccupied, because of the myth that the natives existed in a “state of nature” (Asch 7). Jurisdiction of the land was considered to belong to the settlers. Accordingly, maps were used to legitimize their colonial world through the naming and division of places according to their own beliefs. The maps helped to perpetuate the notion of a “singular national origin” in which Europeans were chapter 1 of the story of Canada (Sparke 468). This version of idealized Canada, was resisted when a cartographic struggle occurred during the  Delgamuukw case in May, 1987. The Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan  people attempted to gain their national sovereignty by re-mapping themselves into the Canadian story. Their efforts were mocked by Judge McEachern who proclaimed: “we’ll call this the map that roared”. It suggests something that seems threatening, but in reality is very ineffectual.

Sparkes analysis of McEachern’s statement illustrates the irony of the situation. The judge was given something that he should have been able to understand,  but instead it  unconsciously betrayed his illiteracy. The map resisted against colonial cartography through its “roaring refusal of the orientation systems, the trap lines, the property lines, the electricity lines, the pipelines, the logging roads, (…) and all other accouterments of Canadian colonialism” (Sparke 468). He could not locate himself within this un-traditional map, and thus refused to understand this performance. His illiteracy can be traced back to the settlers such as Susan Moodies husband  who “daily consulted (the map) in reference to the names and situations of localities in the neighborhood” (np). Both men’s inability to comprehend First Nation cartography reinforces Asch’s notion that we are chapter 15 in this story of the land. It points to the idea that the land was already occupied with people who had their own distinct and developed cultures. For instance, Susan Moodie describes how when the Indians saw the map “they rapidly repeated the Indian names for every lake and river on this wonderful piece of paper” (Np).  It appears that our stories can never be substituted for theirs, and improvements were made when the  Supreme Court of Canada overturned his decision. and ruled that oral history could be used in trials.

The introduction of the map during the trial can be seen as a form of protest that is described by Nancy Peluso as “counter-mapping”. It refers to the appropriation by local groups of mapping  ” to counterbalance the previous monopoly of authoritative resources by the state or capital” (385-386). Peluso, describes how Indigenous groups in Indonesia mapped forest resources in order to  “control representations of themselves and their claims to resources” (387). In all  cases of counter-mapping, the main goal is to destabilize dominant representations.

The project includes a story for each place.

Closer to home, we have started to see counter-mapping take place in the digital world to aid local communities. In Ladysmith, British Columbia, there have been efforts  to map Indigenous ancestral lands on google earth.  For example, the  Stz’uminus Storied Places Project plots names and places of importance in the Hul’q’umi’num’ language. The project aims to aid in the preservation of names and stories  and to assert territorial claims to help solve  an unresolved land claim. The involvement of individuals such as   Stz’uminus First Nation elder Ray Harris ensures that the choices made regarding the maps, is under their control rather than the provinces. Importantly, the accessible nature of these maps through cellphones and computers ensures that the youth will be able to both learn their history and aid in the preservation of their culture.

Works Cited:

Asch, Michael. “Canadian Sovereignty and Universal History.” Storied Communities: Narratives of Contact and Arrival in Constituting Politcal Community. Ed. Rebecca Johnson, and Jeremy Webber Hester Lessard. Vancouver: U of British Columbia P, 2011. 29 – 39. Print.

Hunter, Justine. “Oral history goes digital as Google helps map ancestral lands.” The Globe and Mail. N.p., 11 July 2014. Web. 20 June 2015. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com>.

Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush.. Project Gutenburg, 18 January 2004. Web. 18 June 2015.

Peluso, Nancy. “Whose Woods are These? Counter-Mapping Forest Territories in Kalimantan, Indonesia.” Antipode 27.4 (1995): 383-406. Web. 19 June 2015. <https://gisci.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/peluso_whose_woods.pdf>.

Sparke, Mathew. “A Map that Roared and an Original Atlas: Canada, Cartography, and the Narration of Nation.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88.3 (1998): 463- 495. Web. 18 June 2015.

Question 3: We began this unit by discussing assumptions and differences that we carry into our class. In “First Contact as Spiritual Performance,” Lutz makes an assumption about his readers (Lutz, “First Contact” 32). He asks us to begin with the assumption that comprehending the performances of the Indigenous participants is “one of the most obvious difficulties.” He explains that this is so 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.” Here, Lutz is assuming either that his readers belong to the European tradition, or he is assuming that it is more difficult for a European to understand Indigenous performances – than the other way around. What do you make of this reading? Am I being fair when I point to this assumption? If so, is Lutz being fair when he makes this assumption?

In “First Contact as a Spiritual Performance” Lutz describes how both groups (Native and European) relied on their spirituality to make some sort of  sense out each other.  His description of their differing belief systems illustrate that his assumptions regarding how the Indigenous have a better understanding of European performance are evidenced in the contact stories.

The natives believed that there was no barrier between the natural and spiritual world. The arrival of the explorers did not destabilize their beliefs, as they symbolized “the ongoing proof of these beliefs” (Lutz, “First Contact” 38). The inclusion is evident in Nuu-chah-nulth stories that recorded that Captain James Cooks vessels were seen to have come from the sky ;“these were the moon men. They wore yellow, had a brass band in their caps, brass buttons” (Lutz, “First Contact” 36).  Their broad understanding of the world is evident in various accounts told about the same events by different groups. In all of these accounts Europeans were included whether they  were “returned from the land of the dead or peoples from the sky” (Lutz, “First Contact” 38).

Great Chain of Being.

The descriptions of European spirituality differ greatly from those described above. The European belief system contained more rigid categorizations such as the distinction between “sacred and profane” (Lutz, “First Contact” 31). Their individual standing in the world was governed by hierarchies of god, man, animals, plants (Paterson). This is  similar to what we know as the “Great Chain of Being”. The presence of the natives symbolized a challenge to their hierarchical beliefs.  Initially, they tried to make them recognizable by thinking that the Haidi were “forming themselves in a cross as they approached the ship” (Lutz, “First Contact” 39). However, their total reliance on their belief systems meant that the natives were eventually marked as inferior. Their un-Christianity associated with transformer myths meant that they could not be contained within the same imagined category of “man”. They were unfairly seen as “not fully human” and seemingly took the position at the bottom of the great chain of being (Lutz, “First Contact” 40).  The false assumption that natives were irrational dangerously materialized into myths that have been perpetuated today. Furthermore, these assumptions contributed to the idea of  Terra nullius (nobodys land) which was the justification for missionaries and the colonization of Canada.  The supposed empty land, gave them a clean slate to color their ideas with. This very nation is built on their performances of sanitization.

Oka Crisis (1990)

It is evident based on Lutz’s descriptions of European belief systems, that it would be difficult for those of that tradition to understand Indigenous performances. There is too much reliance on ” non-rational spiritual beliefs” to truly see performances with fresh eyes that wouldn’t be subject to categorization  (Lutz, “First Contact” 32). Furthermore,  another problem noted by Lutz is that “we are still in that contact zone”. The “contact zone” which contains a struggle to understand another groups culture will always require translation.  The problem with translators is that they transform ideas “into something that makes sense to us” (Lutz, “Contact” 11). In Canada, the translation of performances is seen as essential in maintaining the story of the “other”.   Paterson succinctly notes, that “we know ourselves through misrepresentations of the other”. News portrayals in Canada of “Indians” illustrate the danger of these translations. For example, the WD4 rule illustrates how Indigenous individuals only make the news if they are a warrior or are drumming, dancing, drunk, or dead.​Shaney Komulainen’s iconic picture during the Oka Crisis (see above) illustrates the warrior complex.  Protests which usually involve conflict and drama are used by the media to misrepresent the Indigenous as the  “uncivilized Indian”. The translation of their performance describes them as a threat to progress in Canada.

Are there any other mistaken representations of Indigenous individuals in the news that are not part of the WD4 rule?

Works Cited:

Great Chain of Being 2 (lighter). 2008. wikimedia . Web. 12 June 2015. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/>.

Prompt: Read at least 3 students blog short stories about ‘home’ and make a list of the common shared assumptions, values and stories that you find. Post this list on your blog with some commentary about what you discovered.

Based on my own experience with immigration, I was drawn to blogs that discussed the concept of multiple homes.  I found that reading these posts has made me more reflective and nostalgic about my move this past year from Vancouver to California.  I definitely feel more of an awareness and a deeper connection to my new home, because of these inspiring stories.

Here are the three blogs that I looked at:

Saarah: “Home is not just a single place or a single person. Home is an ever evolving organism, shifting and changing as you grow older and fall in love with people, places, and moments.”

Saarah’s story of home is very similar to mine. We both had to move to a new country which we initially disliked. We also felt the loss of our previous homes, which symbolized comfort and familiarity, as she misses “the cozy apartment I had left ”. Adjusting, and feeling a sense of belonging takes time, but eventually Saarah began to see Karachi as her new home.I like how  Saarah discusses the bad and good things that occur in Karachi. It seems that the contradictions that occur in a place, make it seem more like a home. The idea of a “home” as  a fluid imperfect entity, reminds us that it is not a tangible object that remains dormant in perfection (eg: houses with white picket fences)

Erica:“I don’t really consider home a place but rather a feeling and for me it is when I am near my loved ones”

I really enjoyed reading Erica’s story of adoption and how this has influenced her understanding of home. She described how her parents and sister are scattered between different countries.  Thus, home to her  is a feeling rather than a concrete place. Like others have mentioned, home can be found within our hearts. Home is where we find happiness and this is usually associated with the memories we create with our loved ones. For me, this is typically fooling around with my sisters in the garden trying to see who can do the best handstands.

Debra: Home is “our own sense of belonging and attributing it not to a single place, but simply places wherein familiarity can be established. “

Debra has had multiple homes as she has moved from Singapore to Vancouver. She discusses the gentrification that  Singapore has undergone: “the park I used to play at is now the home of one of the largest luxury shopping malls in the world”. This concept of gentrification reminds us that home can be constantly changing. Thus, she states that forging home to her is not a problem, as familiarity helps to reconstruct it.  Traditions help in this process as she hosts  gatherings for her Singaporean friends.  For me, an important South African tradition that my family has kept is  “tea time”. Tea time is typically at 10 am, where we would have tea, a cookie, and some sort of fruit. We continued this tradition to Vancouver, and now to California. It helps bind my family and my homes together, and even my friends always ask about “tea time”.

Works Cited:

Cook, Erica. “Home .” Oh Canada! 5 June 2015. Web. 8 June 2015. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/ericacook>.

Ghazi, Saarah. “2.2.” Engl 470: A study in Oh Canada. 4 June 2015. Web. 8 June 2015. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/saarahgeng470/>.

Goei, Debra. “So This is Where I Know is Home.” Oh Canada! An interpretation .  5 June 2015. Web. 8 June 2015. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/debragoei470>.

“Home is often a a place of  refuge, and safety where worldly cares fade and the things and people that one loves becomes the focus” (Korvela 1999)

The pool at the pink house

Before the age of nine, “home” was a static concept to me that was bound to a large pink house in Durban, South Africa.  The bougainvillea bushes in the garden and the sparkling blue pool symbolized the vibrancy of the house. I have fond memories of swimming in that pool while watching a brigade of monkeys run along the top of the fence with babies clinging to their backs. On a sticky hot day in March, my little sister was born at the house, joining the ranks of the baby monkeys who symbolized the youthful spirit of the house. With her birth and my own firsts such as learning to read, to swim, and to play the piano, my attachment to the house continually became solidified.  I felt an unquestionable sense of belonging supported by generations and generations of my family members that were born and raised in South Africa.  I never doubted my identity and felt like a thread permanently  woven into the nations fabric.

Elephants in Zimbabwe. I am wearing the blue dress.

At the age of nine, my conception of home quickly unraveled when I immigrated to Canada with my family. With six suitcases, we arrived in Vancouver leaving behind a high crime rate and poor job market. My parents enthusiastically promised to create a new “home”, but the process of migration created a feeling of in-betweenness, stuck between “there” and “here”. Mentally, I was stuck back at the pink house, still vividly seeing the monkeys dart across my eyes. I remember my first day of school in West Vancouver,  I arrived with a strange accent and a dress not suitable for the weather. I was marked as different and immediately felt like an alien. The new home we moved into was even more alien to me. The grey house was a blank slate, empty of the memories that we weaved in South Africa. The backyard contained large fir trees that housed a mass of black squirrels that continually patrolled the yard.   To cope with my homesickness my dreams quickly became my home and acted as a temporary salvation. I dreamed about the pink house and my grandmother’s farm in Zimbabwe. I would wake up thinking I was back on the farm visiting the elephants, and in the canoe that we would take down the crocodile infested river. Over time with making new friends, the memories in my dreams slowly started to become part of the present. By recreating experiences I felt a greater sense of belonging. The same sense of adventurousness I felt canoeing down the river in Zimbabwe was replicated in the forests of Bowen Island were I would participate in thrilling games of hide and seek.   With new memories, the house slowly came to life. A calendar of South African sunsets in the kitchen  was now intermixed with a hand drawn totem pole that I drew at school.  I think that during this time I began to realize that I could have more than one home. After all, it is a  fluid concept that can be recreated through nostalgia and collective memory. Places are always connected , because “there” is what creates “here”.  

Eagle Harbor, West Vancouver

I think that homes live within us, and like a turtle “wherever I go I carry “home” on my back” ( Anzaldúa). My two homes became three this year when I moved to Laguna Niguel, California. I felt a tremendous sense of ease moving here compared to the momentous move from South Africa to Canada. I think that I realized that identity can always be re-constructed, because it doesn’t remain buried in one place. I felt a sense of belonging immediately, because I continued to do what I enjoyed.  I think that tradition plays a large part in connecting places of importance. In Vancouver I loved to run on the trails that overlooked the Eagle Harbor Yacht  Club. Similarly, in Laguna Niguel I also run on trails. And whenever I am running on the dry terrain and catch a whiff of sea air I am instantly transported back to the  trail in West Van. 

On my favorite trail in Laguna Niguel, California

Works Cited:

Anzaldúa, Gloria. “Excerpts from Borderlands/La Frontera.” WarScapes. N.p., 1997. Web. 5 June 2015.

“Robert Mugabe’s Violent Seizure of White Farms Liberated Zimbabwe’s Agriculture Sector .” International Business Times . Ed. Scoone Ian. N.p., 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 4 June 2015. <http://www.ibtimes.co.uk>.

Waite, LJ, and J Cook. “Belonging among diasporic African communities in the UK: Plurilocal homes and simultaneity of place attachments.” White Rose (2011). Web. 5 June 2015. <http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk>.

Prompt: For this week our task was to take the story about how evil comes into the world, written by Leslie Silko and retold by King in his book “The Truth About Stories” and to make the story our own.

Ben Okri- “We live by stories, we also live in them. We are living the stories planted in us early or along the way, we are also living the stories we planted-knowingly or unknowingly- in ourselves (…) If we change the stories we live by, quiet possibly we change our lives.” (King 153)

My version: Once upon a time, a little boy went to his first day of school. He arrived in the brightly colored kindergarten classroom, holding his mom’s milky-white hand. He excitedly glanced around the room and realized that the other children were staring at him with questioning looks. He thought maybe it was because he was so tall for his age. After calendar time, recess rolled around. With his Minecraft lunchbox in his hand, he ventured out into the sun. Usually he would want to go play basketball, but eager to make new friends he spotted a group of kids sitting in a circle on the field near the blacktop. Their eyes sparkled with laughter, as they joked around. He walked up, anticipation filling him with every step. His voice faltered as he asked what they were doing. In unison they whispered, “truth or dare” scared that a teacher might hear. Asking if he could join, they agreed, and he sat down in the huddle of small children.

From a boy eating an ant to a girl revealing her crush, there was constant entertainment and glee. Finally, it was his turn to go. His voice faltered as he picked truth. All eyes were on him as he awaited the question.   The ant eating boy was given the task at hand and thought it over for a second, whispering to his friends for confirmation. He hesitated and finally asked, “why are you different than your mom? Are you adopted?” The question crashed against him like a glass breaking. He clamped his hand against his ears and shouted, “It doesn’t sound so good, take the story back, take the story back”.

With tears in his eyes, he ran towards the bathroom trying to escape his past, present, and future, somehow hoping to seek shelter in isolation against the  story. He walked into the cold bleak bathroom, facing the stained mirror. He wiped away his tears too afraid to look at himself for what he really was. Eventually curiosity took over, and he was forced to look up. Chocolate brown skin filled his view, and he felt denial slowly chipping away. For confirmation he tapped on the mirror to check that the image was authentic, not just a picture in a frame. He gazed for a second, and with new found clarity, he knew a new chapter had been turned. For once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world. He started to walk back to his classroom finding comfort in his own skin.

Commentary: I work in a middle school  and my story is based on  stories that I have heard about students experiences with adoption. They reminded me that not all stories are evil or harmful, rather they guarantee that one is living a authentic life as stories hint at human imperfections. I told the story to both of my sisters, as one works in an elementary school and the other attends a middle school. I found that I adapted the story to make it more relevant by using familiar settings and popular fads.

The common thread of denial plays a part in the stories we tell ourselves. My story touches on personal denial, but I find it interesting to look at how groups of people can participate in perpetuating a specific story.  The documentary film “Little White Lie” depicts filmmaker Lacey Schwartz who grew up in a white Jewish family in New York, but had darker skin than her parents and siblings. Her family said that she inherited her dark skin from her Sicilian grandfather. The secret was described as a  “600 pound gorilla in the room” and at age 18 her mom told her that she was a result of an affair with an African American man. The film illustrates that stories  can create a duality of identity in what we tell ourselves and how others see us. The danger of course, is that it can affect the past, present, and future. Luckily, Lacey embraced her identity. However, it begs the question of what role keeping family secrets play in our lives, for the better or the worse?

Lacey Schwartz

Works Cited:

Belton, Danielle. “3 Black Adoptees on Racial Identity After Growing Up in White Homes.” The Root . N.p., 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 29 May 2015.

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories:A Native Narrative. Toronto: House of Anasi, 2003. Print.

Lacey Schwart. Flickr. Web. 29 May 2015. <www.flickr.com>.

Little White Lie Official Trailer. Narr. Lacey Schwartz. Film Fesitvals and Indie Films, 2014. Web. 28 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxHLpgYwcVY>.

Mystical Mirror. 2014. Web. 29 May 2015. <www.pixabay.com>.

Question 1:

The distinction between oral and written culture has been described by Foley as the “Great Divide”, symbolizing a competition between the eye and the ear. (MacNeil).  It is a mistaken ethnocentric  notion that has been dangerously passed down through generations. In MacNeil’s article on “orality” she explores how this binary model is perpetuated by academics such as Walter J. Ong who see that writing is the “key to the evolutionary process,” because it assists in the development of science, history and philosophy. Comparatively, orality is seen as being  “imprisoned in the present” and is the mark of a “tribal man” . (MacNeil).

The categorization of people into barbaric and civilized referred to by Chamberlin as “them” and “us” is a social construct that has played a major role in Canada’s colonizing history. Differences in culture were commonly equated with opposition, and the solution that was used was assimilation. Residential schools which Chamberlin describes as a form of “social engineering” removed children from their cultural environment (family) and assimilated them into European culture. They were taught to read/write in English and were prohibited from practicing their language and culture. The loss of orality meant that the children had no agency in the stories of their culture, as MacNeil states that the oral tradition is a useful method “of  accessing collective memory”.They instead learnt the stories of the settlers. Thus, as a result, significant cultural loss occurred.

Students of the Fort Albany Residential School

Both MacNeil and Chamberlin (“If this is you land where are you stories?”) agree that such a sharp distinction between oral and written cultures does not exist. Rather, the two traditions interweave and inform each other with a shared common purpose of conveying cultural knowledge through communication. Chamberlin reinforces the similarities by stating that “so called oral culture are rich in forms of writing ( blankets, masks, hats)” and that written cultures have institutions such as schools that have “strictly defined and highly formalized oral traditions” (20). Furthermore, MacNeil explains that with the development of technology the barriers between the two traditions becomes blurred. The fusion of the eye and the ear is apparent in social media apps such as Periscope (twitters live streaming app).  This new app challenges Ong’s conceptions of literacy being “durable and permanent” as users can elect to delete their videos and the chat messages immediately after the stream has ended. (MacNeil). Periscope also conveys the centrality of orality in communicating stories. The dialogue between the user and the listener continually shifts and gives the listener a greater power in being able to change the story (Paterson).

Periscope App

Shuswap Elder Mary Thomas has stated that “children are the future”. It certainly appears that way when we look at the role teens and kids play in social media. The power of listeners to change and create stories  allows for greater agency in contributing to culture.  It appears that Chamberlin’s sentiment about how we need re-imagine “them” and “us” is currently happening online. The awful assimilation that occurred in residential schools due to perceived differences of tradition, is now shifting. The global nature of the web encourages communication through the crossing of cultural boundaries. The mutual sharing  of the same platforms (whether it be periscope, twitter, Facebook)  allows young people to understand that different cultures view the world in unique ways, which doesn’t make them any less authentic or important. This understanding speaks to how Chamberlin emphasizes the need to cultivate culture as it is what makes us human.  He describes that the refusal to do this is like “ a foolish choice between false alternatives. It is a choice between being isolated or being overwhelmed, between being marooned on an island or drowning in the sea” (24) .

Works Cited:

Chamberlin, J. Edward. If this is your land, where are your stories?:Finding Common Ground. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2003. Print.

Fontaine, Lorena S. “Canadian Residential Schools: The Legacy of Cultural Harm.” Indigenous Law Bulletin 17.4 (2002). Web. 21 May 2015.

MacNeil, Courtney. “Orality.” The Chicago School of Media Theory . U.Chicago, 2007. Web. 20 May 2015.

Paterson, Erika. English 470A: Canadian Studies. University of British Columbia, 2015. Web. 21 May 2015

Periscope, Twitter’s live-streaming app,. Narr. Sam Sheffer. The Verge , 2015. Web. 21 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_0MynsbpOo>.

Periscope. Web. 21 May 2015. <www.softandapps.info>.

Students of Fort Albany Residential School. Wikipedia . Web. 21 May 2015.http://upload.wikimedia/commons/StudentsofFortAlbanyResidentialSchoolinclass.JPG

My name is Sarah, and  I am entering my fifth year as  a Sociology Major. For the last year I have been lucky enough to escape from the Vancouver rain by living in sunny Orange County, California. I take full advantage of the beautiful weather by running, hiking, and exploring local beaches where I frequently see dolphins! When I am not outside I work at elementary and middle  schools, where I am constantly teased for  being Canadian and saying “washroom” and “pencil crayons”.

Laguna Beach. February 2015.

My dad and I on a hike overlooking the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 470A Canadian Studies also referred to by Dr. Erika Paterson as Oh Canada….Our Home and Native Land? is a Canadian literature course in which we will examine the relationship between Indigenous and European traditions of literature and orature.  More specifically, we will be analyzing these stories through a historical lens that challenges colonial narratives and representations. Through this process we will have a better understanding of the connection between nation building, and the development of a Canadian literary canon. Importantly, this course will also work to question whose stories we choose to listen to and whose do we choose not to hear or ignore. The power of stories and national identity has a strong connection to my country of birth, South Africa.

South African Flag

I was born in the busy port city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa and lived there until  I moved to West Vancouver at the age of 9. (KwaZulu-Natal means “Place of the Zulu”).  Many people are unaware that South Africa is a culturally and linguistically diverse nation with 11 official languages, due to the singleness of its literary system where Afrikaaner and English authors are most celebrated.  During apartheid ( meaning “seperateness” or “segregation” in Afrikaans) racial discrimination was evident with a ban or exile on black writers.  The writers who received international recognition during apartheid were all white. South African nationalism in the 90’s worked to promote one voice, thus  with the end of apartheid and the emergence of previous unheard voices  it raised questions of what it meant to be South African. Currently, South Africa’s literary identity is shifting thanks to authors such as Niq Mhlongo Mhlongo, who writes about the culture of Soweto states  that  “there are more black novelists today than there ever were in the history of South Africa”.

Seeing the transition that the South African literature community has undergone in these past years, has made me interested to learn more about the current state of Canadian literature. I also hope to read contemporary Indigenous pieces of work, and to learn different storytelling techniques that are unique to my knowledge. Lastly, I am looking forward to reading the blogs of other students to gain new perspectives of what Canadian identity means. Hope everyone has a great summer!

Works Cited:

Brownell, Frederick. Flag of South Africa. 1994. Wikipedia . Web. 13 May 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Africa>.

Donadio, Rachel. “Post-Apartheid Fiction .” The New York Times . N.p., 3 Dec. 2006. Web. 13 May 2015. Path: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/magazine/03novelists.html.

“History of Durban .” Mother Earth Travel . N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015. <http://motherearthtravel.com/south_africa/durban/history.html>.

Paterson, Erika. English 470A: Canadian Studies. University of British Columbia, 2015. Web. 13 May 2015

SA’s story in 12 languages . LeadSouthAfrica, 2014. Web. 13 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thB63W7igMU>.