3.2 – 5

All my life I’ve been a huge fan of comic books and the games and movies that accompany them. While all of the explosions and super powers and majorly cool outfits are all things I enjoy, one of my absolute favourite things is finding references hidden between the lines. Some of the most obvious of these hidden gems are in the names of well-known characters.

For example, in the Batman comics, the villain Joker’s trusted villainess companion is named Harley Quinn. When read aloud, it is clear that the name is a reference to a harlequin – something which is also terribly obvious with her checkered getup.

Another great example also lies within the Batman comics. Edward Nygma, also known as the Riddler. When his first initial (E) and his last name (Nygma) are said aloud, it sounds like the word enigma. Obviously, as the Riddler very much is an enigma, this is an excellent name.

In Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, there are also several names in the story which have hidden meanings. The first of these (and my favourite), Dr. Joseph “Joe” Hovaugh, when read aloud sounds like Jehovah. This is my favourite of King’s name references as I felt it was not super obvious. Not often in the story is Dr. Hovaugh referred to as “Joe Hovaugh”. Many times he is just Joe, or Joseph Hovaugh, or Dr. Hovaugh. Another great reference is Ahdamn, who is clearly supposed to sound like Adam, the male counterpart in the story of Genesis. Finally, three of the patrons at the Dead Dog Café are name Joseph, Ray, and Al, which, when read together, sound like Louis Riel, leader of the Metis at the Red River settlement in Manitoba. Much of the time when I read I like to mumble the words to myself, and these references were only picked up in doing so. Had I not been reading aloud, I think I may have missed them entirely.

I think that, in forcing us to read aloud in order to discover these hidden meanings, King is ultimately trying to promote the continuation of oral culture. Already Green Grass, Running Water is an incredible mixture between oral and written traditions. By encouraging the reader to read the story aloud to himself or others, King is not only giving a nod to his culture’s oral roots, but also perpetuating the need for an oral culture, even in a world of printed literature.

Works Cited

Batman DC Comics. Web.

Louis Riel. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Web.

King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. 1993. Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2007. Print.

3.1-1

Canada’s history with its Indigenous peoples, particularly the Métis, is far from pretty.

With Louis Riel, a youthful, educated Métis man at the helm of the Métis National Committee, the Métis people resisted simply having their land taken over by Canada. Instead, they proposed a treaty between themselves and the government of Canada in order to reach an agreement that satisfied both sides. However, Canada refused to have the Métis (along with the French and the English) as a third founding nation.

The reason for Canada’s refusal to negotiate is very much tied to a term Daniel Coleman has called White Civility. As explained in the CanLit Guide, White Civility is very much tied to the idea of loyalism to Britain. At this time, many of the settlers arriving in Canada are so-called civilized white people with English (or French) backgrounds; in fact, the Canadian government is almost certainly made up of just this type of persons. It was important for these British loyalists to make certain Canada was viewed as white and civil – something the Métis were not considered to be. Because of this, Canada was unwilling to partner with the Métis. As stated in the CanLit Guide, the Indigenous people “were seen primarily as obstacles to settlement who needed to be civilized before they could be assimilated into the population and become citizens.”

Ultimately, it is obvious that the Canadian Government was wrong in their failure to recognize the Métis as their own nation. The Métis Committee were being perfectly reasonable when the negotiations began. Working with the Canadians, they created the Provisional Government of Assiniboia and wrote up several reasonable terms that Canada would have to meet in order for them to join Confederation.

When a small group of armed Canadians aiming at disintegrating the provisional government were caught and put to trial by the provisional government, one of its men was sentenced to death. This action thoroughly upset much of the white population of Ontario and, while the government of Canada did fulfill enough terms for Manitoba to join Confederation, there was a call for restitution from Riel for the armed Canadian’s death – whether it had been justified or not. In order to satisfy these calls, Canada sent a force to the Red River that was ultimately aimed at killing Riel.

While Riel fled to the safety of the United States, it is still incredible to think that so much of the struggle between the Métis National Committee and Canada could have been avoided if the Métis were treated with respect rather than marginalized because they failed to fulfill an image of White Civility.

Works Cited

Louis Riel. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Web.

Introduction. CanLit Guides. Web.

Sugars, Cynthia. Civility at the Gates. Canadian Literature. Web.

2.2 – Question 3

Lutz’s “First Contact as Spiritual Performance” contains this quote:

“One of the most obvious difficulties is comprehending the performances of the indigenous participants. 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.” (32)

These sentences imply that Lutz believes his readers to be most familiar with European tradition or that it is most difficult for someone with a European background to understand Indigenous performances.

I think that Lutz’s assumptions that those with a European background will have a harder time understanding Indigenous performance is not untrue nor unfair. People are most familiar with their own traditions – in this case European. Europeans especially have a history of forcing their own culture onto others, almost certainly because instead of taking the time to try to understand others, they find it easier to force others to understand them. This exact mindset is what has caused the mistreatment of so many Indigenous people in the past (as well as current times) – something an apology can do little to fix.

For all cultures around the world, proper communication and understanding has historically been very difficult. It is so much easier to believe one’s own culture to be the only one worth understanding rather than putting in the effort to learn about other cultures and their equally important traditions. We are all too busy believing our own traditions are the most important rather than exploring other cultures’ traditions and discovering that they are equally worthy.

Lucky for us, in current times the internet makes it much easier to learn about others’ way of life. Even by watching a short video we can make ourselves less ignorant of others. However, we must first make the decision to broaden our horizons by seeking out more information on others.

Lutz was not all unfair in assuming that his audience would have a harder time understanding Indigenous performance simply because of the lack of overall communication between different cultures. In the future, I would hope that readers will be able to look back and believe that his words are unfair – that we are all educated on each other. But I fear that this may just be wishful thinking.

References:

Lutz, John. “First Contact as a Spiritual Performance: Aboriginal — Non-Aboriginal Encounters on the North American West Coast.” Myth and Memory: Rethinking Stories of Indigenous-European Contact. Ed. Lutz. Vancouver: U of British Columbia P, 2007. 30-45. Print

2.1

A chill wind sweeps across the flat landscape, tossing the snow through the stubble of the harvested wheat field like scattering dust. A little girl with dirty blonde hair chases a boy through the field, giggling as he tosses a handful of dry snow in the air, raining it down on her bright pink jacket. They’ve rarely gone this far out into the field, but the flat ground of Regina, Saskatchewan means that their house is always within sight. The boy is about to step further when a moulting rabbit darts out from under the path of his foot and takes off across the open field. The two children are amazed they got so close without even noticing the skittish creature. Smiling with excitement for their encounter they decide to head home to tell their mother about their adventure.

—

The children take turns jumping across the narrow stream at the base of the steep ravine. One of the boys reaches his hand out, helping his sister across. They are almost to the tree house. The handmade structure, built across two trees almost a storey up, is hidden deep within the forest. When the group arrives, one shimmies up the smaller of the two trees then reaches down to help the others up. As the boys set to work, the girl sits on the edge of the platform, inspecting the beautiful green plants and trees. She calls out as she sees two raccoons following along the stream – a mother with a small baby raccoon following behind. The boys all gather to watch the raccoons as they pass before returning to improving the structure of their fort.

—

A girl is roused from her sleep early on a summer morning by her mother. Their brand new puppy has chewed through the rope keeping her in the backyard and has run away. She frantically pulls on some clothes so that she can venture out into the neighbourhood to find the little blonde puppy. Before she makes it downstairs, her mother calls up that the dog has been found. From the kitchen window, all that had been visible was the chewed rope on the peg. But the puppy had been sitting at the back door all along, just wanting to be let in.

—

Commentary:
I decided to do this blog post in the style of a Ottawa, ON. In a completely new town with two long months until school and swimming started and a neighbourhood full of kids much younger than my brother and I, we had little but each other to pass the time with. Unfortunately, many of my friends have come and gone purely because of physical distance. But my family has never been far away. They have been with me all across the country, from Vancouver, to Regina, to Ottawa. As much as my brother and I argue and annoy each other, I know that whenever I am with him I will always be home. I think when I start my own family, my home will be with them as well. No matter how far I wander, I will always have a home with my family.

References:

Snowshoe Hare. Wikipedia. Wiki.

Nepean, Ontario. Wikipedia. Wiki.

Lesson 1.3

Let me tell you the story of how evil came into the world.

Long ago, there was a warren of rabbits who were held below ground by a pack of wolves at the entrance to their tunnels for many weeks. The wolves were very hungry, and the rabbits were very weary. The wolves growled down the tunnels, telling the rabbits it was better to emerge than to starve in the tunnels.

Instead of giving up, one of the younger rabbits thought up a grand idea. He gathered all the rabbits from all the dens and asked them to think up the scariest thing they could in order to frighten the wolves away.

One of the rabbits began stomping on the ground, shaking the tunnels and creating a great noise. But the wolves were brave and were not scared away. One of the rabbits kicked rocks out of the tunnels at the canines using his great hind legs. But the wolves were swift and were not scared away. One of the rabbits scraped his claws along a rock creating a sharp noise. But the wolves tucked in their ears and were not scared away.

Finally, the young rabbit who had suggested scaring the wolves called through the tunnels. He began telling a story to the wolves. The story contained such fury and fear and bloodshed that the wolves fled immediately. Finally, the rabbits were able to emerge. But when they did they found the world was much darker than before. Realizing what had happened, the warren begged the young rabbit to take back his words. But it was too late, as what had been spoken could not be taken back. The rabbits had been freed, but at a grave price.

—

This assignment is so very different from anything I have ever done before. In our academic lives, it is constantly stressed that we should not copy someone else’s work in any manner. But for this assignment, we had to copy the moral of King‘s story, and so a few elements of the story ended up the same as well. I think it’s cool because, even though my story is very different from King’s, you can still see his telling at the roots of what I have created. I wanted to have some parallels between my story and King’s, but at the same time I wanted the words to be mine. I think I achieved this.

I think it will be especially interesting to see the influence individual experiences have on the stories we tell. My story in particular is heavily influenced by my favourite book, Watership Down. Throughout the novel, one of the rabbits, Dandelion, tells stories about the clever rabbit prince, El-Ahrairah. These are my favourite parts of the novel. The story that I’m most partial to is that of the sun God Frith blessing all of the animals with special gifts. Rabbits were given their strong back legs because El-hrairah was half-way into a hole so that he would not be recognized and Frith was forced to bless the only thing sticking out of the hole – his behind. I love stories like this and King’s which tell how something came to be in a clever way. I imagined my story to be in the same vein as those stories, except that it paints rabbits in a more negative light as, though they were clever enough to make the wolves flee, they were not wise enough to see the effects of their actions until it was too late.

References:

Adams, Richard. The Story of the Blessing of El-ahrairah 8m.

Watership Down. Google Books. Google.

Thomas King. Wikipedia. Wikimedia.