3.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 ?

Funny I should stumble upon this topic again. At the beginning of The Truth about Stories King points out a story close to him (about his mother) but also a creation story concerning a woman falling from the sky.

As I have said in previous blog posts, I am a Metis person who was raised under the Christian faith.   Therefor I was prominently exposed to the story of Adam and Eve and for some reason I have always found it extraordinarily fascinating even as a small child. Upon further reflection (which this course has made me ponder) I have become more and more interested in other creation stories.

I was able to find several similarities between the Eden story as well as the creation story of the woman falling from the sky. Foremost and most prominent would have to be the emphasis on women, which may be due to the idea of reproduction and the ancient beauty ideal of fertility. The idea of a women in nature is beautiful but also hopeful and offers a sense of paternity and fertility. In both stories the women were “curious”. In King’s telling of Charm’s creation story “She was more nosy. Curious. The kind of curious that doesn’t give up”(King,10). Both stories occur due to the women’s curiosity. I find it interesting that Eve’s curiosity causes the downfall of all of mankind yet Charm thrives due to her curiosity. Charm’s curiosity is what led her to find earth in the first place and then try new things once she reaches earth, which led to her fall to earth and the establishing of earth.

A prominent difference which is notable is the differences in interaction with nature in both stories. Charm is in cohesion with nature, she communicates with animals which is how she discovers new things. In the garden of Eden Eve is restricted upon the nature she may interact with and the idea of “forbidden” ness is introduced. The only animal she talks to is the serpent who we find out later is a representation of Satan. A representation of the different interactions with nature, which may reflect both cultures.

As there are many differences and similarities I think the stories show more similarities than they do differences, although the differences included are quite significant.  I think one of the most notable concerns is the different approaches to nature.  Within the Eve story it almost feels as though the earth has been gifted Adam and Eve, where as within Charm’s story it seems as though charm believes the nature is the gift and that she must learn to live in cohesion and with respect to the nature.  It is interesting that both cultures place high value upon women at the initial state of the world which they are creating.

Bibliography

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. Print.

2] In this lesson I say that it should be clear that the discourse on nationalism is also about ethnicity and ideologies of “race.” If you trace the historical overview of nationalism in Canada in the CanLit guide, you will find many examples of state legislation and policies that excluded and discriminated against certain peoples based on ideas about racial inferiority and capacities to assimilate. – and in turn, state legislation and policies that worked to try to rectify early policies of exclusion and racial discrimination. As the guide points out, the nation is an imagined community, whereas the state is a “governed group of people.” For this blog assignment, I would like you to research and summarize one of the state or governing activities, such as The Royal Proclamation 1763, the Indian Act 1876, Immigration Act 1910, or the Multiculturalism Act 1989 – you choose the legislation or policy or commission you find most interesting. Write a blog about your findings and in your conclusion comment on whether or not your findings support Coleman’s argument about the project of white civility.

In my reading of the Indian Act 1876, I was able to find many discriminatory notions of what an “indian” was within the Canadian law. What interests me is the strong constraints at the very beginning of the document. The state is very clear as to the whom the act applies to. For this blog I would like to raise awareness to the “terms” section at the very beginning of the Indian Act.

This specific quote raised many flags of discrimination and race superiority through my point of view. It is stated under the title “Indians”.

First. Any male person of Indian blood reputed to belong to a particular band; Secondly. Any child of such person;
Thirdly. Any woman who is or was lawfully married to such person

In this section the act begins to eliminates the number of First Nations people affected by this law within the third sentence.   A lawful marriage to the state would be a Christian or catholic marriage within the church of Christ. Therefor it is implied that any woman who did not have a marriage certificate with a First Nations man was not an Indian and would not be included in the Indian Act. Here we see superiority due to the implication that an official marriage is required and that a First Nations woman would not be considered First Nations if she were not accompanied by a man. My observation is also addressed once again under the title “Marrying non-treaty Indians”.

(d) Provided that any Indian woman marrying an Indian of any other band, or a non-treaty Indian shall cease to be a member of the band to which she formerly belonged. and become a member of the band or irregular band of which her husband is a member:

This presents more constraints in regards to Firs Nations women.

Under the sub title “Half Breeds” the document is once again limiting the amout of people who are covered under the Indian Act.

(e) Provided also that no half-breed in Manitoba who has shared in the distribution of half-breed lands shall be accounted an Indian; and that no half-breed of a family (except the widow of an Indian, or a half-breed who has already been admitted into a treaty), shall, unless under very special circumstances, to be determined by the Superintendent-General or his agent, be accounted an Indian, or entitled to be admitted into any Indian treaty.

The state is taking control over whom is able to claim themselves as being part of an “Indian Band”. This section becomes relevant to the Metis people of Canada and the ownership of their heritage which they continue to fight for. This stuck me because it seems as though if a person was not covered by the Indian Act, they were not considered First Nations and were immediately considered part of the immigration masses. This law once again revokes a person’s heritage and identity to assimilate them into the civil European masses.

The final law in the terms section which I thought was relevant to the term white civility is,

12. The term “person” means an individual other than an Indian, unless the context clearly requires another construction.

I clear division between the Nations and the state.  This support’s Coleman’s concepts of white Civility because within the terms of the document the state is beginning to separate and segregate people even before they list the rules and constraints they are placing upon First Nations people. The favorable culture within the document is the British European worldview and the document is stating that their world view is one which the First Nations people must live by.

Bibiliography

Crey, Karrmen, and Erin Hanson. ‘Indian Status’. Indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 July 2015.

‘Chapter 18: An Act To Amend And Consolidate The Laws Respecting Indians’. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 July 2015.

Montpetit, Isabelle. ‘Background: The Indian Act’. Cbc.ca. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 July 2015.

2] Read Susanna Moodie’s introduction to the third edition of Roughing it in the Bush, 1854. I use the Project Gutenburg website which has a ‘command F’ function that allows you to search the entire document by words or phrases. Moodie’s introduction is often read as a warning to would be emigrants as well as an explanation of why her family emigrated from Britain. See if you can find echoes of the stories discussed above: a gift from god, a second Garden of Eden, an empty/wasted land, the noble but vanishing Indian, and the magical map. By echoes I mean reading between the lines or explicitly within Moodie’s introduction. Discussing what you discover, use your examples as evidence to write a blog that explores what you think might have been Moodie’s level of awareness of the stories she carried with her. And accordingly, the stories that she “resurrects’ by her appearance in the Dead Dog CafŽ in Green Grass Running Water.

When I use the command F function and look for phrases used in the question for this prompt, all searches find the exact words later in the text Susanna Moodie has written. I felt like I was already introduced to these ideals in the introduction even if it had not been stated directly.

Something that really struck me about this piece was Moodie’s deliberate stating of the roughness and hardship of the decision to migrate to Canada. She emphasizes that it was not the wealthy men of high society who decided to leave the their land.   It was “the emigrant’s hope of bettering his condition, escaping vulgar sarcasms too often hurled at the less wealthy by the purse- proud common place people of the world” (Moodie). Moodie comments on how migration to Canada was encouraged by “the snares of their artful seducers” (Moodie) in other words was highly exaggerated and encouraged by diplomats and persons of power. This gives us the impression that Canada was in fact labeled as a gift from god, also known as a second Eden. The term “second eden” is interesting.   Within the Garden of Eden, man was supposed to stay pure yet Eve ate the apple. Now I could relate this to the emphasis of men in Moodie’s story though I doubt that is the prevalent comparison.   The Garden of Eden was meant to be a divine place in which the devil could not touch man. By saying that the early Canada was meant for “those rich in hope and poor in purse” (Moodie), Canada was only for those of strong resilience who wished to work for their fortune. “Men of all grades rushed to hear your hired orators declaim upon the blessings to be obtained by the clearers of the wilderness”(Moodie), this quote is bringing us closer to the spiritual aspect of Canada and the divine wish of using this “wasteland”, somewhat like the Garden of Eden once was.

At this time although wealthiness also correlated with the amount of usable farmland one owned, monetary wealth was also in high value. Monetary wealth at this time could compare to the amount of food which was in the garden of Eden. I stumbled upon this ad, which was published in 1903. It was used to advertise Canada to the United States (even though it is not European I believe I can still use it as evidence).

Here we have an apple tree, which at this point had become an iconic view of prosperity and wellness due to the biblical story, and the tree is made into a dollar sign. Signifying that this material prosperity would bring monetary wealth which was currently the goal of a poor man’s migration to the praries.

I particularily emphasize the “Second Garden of Eden” because it is one of the major reasons for colonization.

Here I found another advertisement published by Canada West in 1923. It has a woman opening the curtains to a endless farmland. This also brings the meaning of fertility into play, the idea of raising a family in this new found land. Somewhat similar to what Adam and Eve were supposed to do

Tc2.ca,. ‘TC2 Source Docs – Prairie Immigration And The “Last Best West”‘. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 July 2015.

Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush.. Project Gutenburg, 18 January 2004. Web. 8 July 2014.

Collectionscanada.gc.ca,. ‘ARCHIVED – Immigration – Contact – The Canadian West – Exhibitions – Library And Archives Canada’. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 July 2015.

Of the 3 blogs posts I read I noticed many similarities.  The major themes I accumulated were…

-Childhood

-Adolescence

-Stories/ storytelling

-memory/ memories

– Sense of belonging

-Summer

-fences

– imagination

Hope I did this part of the assignment right!

I have only lived in Vancouver for 9 months. Before that I lived in a very small town in Alberta, I had lived there my whole life. I grew up with the same people, went to kindergarten with the people I graduated with. None of them have left our town.   It was shocking to the people I grew up with, that I was actually going to pursue theater as a career. It was something I always talked about but I don’t think they ever actually believed I would do it.

Leaving my home was the best thing that ever happened to me. So now this bring me back to the question, where is home? I don’t think it’s my studio apartment in Vancouver nor my big house back home. Both places feel disposable to me, I feel like a passerby. I have no problem leaving to go on an adventure, or stay with a friend in a remote town for a week. I would rather be in rehersal then in bed or in my kitchen. I just spent the last week in Jasper with my bestfriend, she is a performer with the Farimont hotel and when she was singing in that hotel or talking about her craft, it felt like home. When I am working on a play in the Freddy Wood theater or the Dorothy Somerset theater that feels like home.

Home is a happy word. For me it is not stagnant, it moves and morphes over time. It is forgiving and hands out love and rest unconditionally. Home is whoever you want it to be, wherever you want it to be.

For me personally I think home is my work. Home is my bestfriend and my favorite play. Home is my comfiest rehersal sweater.   Home is the song I danced to at my parents wedding. Home is my family’s farm. Home is my dog and my dad. Home is horseback riding with my Mom. Home is memorizing lines the night before dress rehersal. Home is the curtin call I deserve. Home is clapping for other actors. Home is writing a play. Home is dancing for hours. Home is singing Taylor Swift’s 22 with my bestfriend. Home is the play I have been writing for 3 years. Home is learning about my Iroquois heritage.

I don’t think my home will ever be a house. I feel like I could travel for years and never find it because I genuinely believe my home is my caft.

Bibliography

Johnson, Pauline. ‘The Iroquois Women Of Canada’. Victoria.tc.ca. N.p., 2015. Web. 6 June 2015.

Uber, Mikayla. ‘Confronting Eating Disorders In Her Name Was Mary’. The Ubyssey. N.p., 2015. Web. 6 June 2015.

Once the earth had finished becoming a place with one continent and a lot of water, there was a ball of leftovers. All the deities had sectioned off the sky so they all had their own kingdoms. They had begun their people in a different way. They had all created the earth together, and fabricated what a human was exactly. They all agreed in certain particles which they left to roam free on the earth; such as love, happiness, passion, kindness, courage and bravery.

In that ball were tiny particle people. They were all different colors purple, blue, red, black, grey, yellow, orange, pink and white. The red was the most vocal, it yelled, it screamed, it demanded to be heard. It insisted on pinching the earth through the surface of the bubble, it demanded to be felt. It was the most flamboyant and exuted its energy outside of the ball of tiny people. It became a full bright red ball , its density was able to mask the reality of what the red ball contained. It looked like something which would grow off of a tree, it ressembled a big, juicy, red apple.

The particles fought together in the red ball, they pushed, they shoved. There was one particle who didn’t participate. The red particle felt overwhelmed and hid by leaning against a wall. Different particles fought differently, some yelled, some hit, some tripped. They infected each other of things that needed to be felt, things that needed to be heard. These particles tortured each other in this ball, they made each other hurt; they found weaknesses in each other. They infiltrated each other with pain and resentment.

All the while outside of the ball the contient was growing.   Humans began to arrive and thrive. Love, happiness, passion, kindness, courage and bravery infected the humans and reproduced. They spread the wealth and encouraged greatness. They were beautiful, pure and vibrant. Their innocence was shocking but also excited the humans to exist on what would later be called earth.

A shadow matted the bright red for just a second, it was a shadow of a woman. Then all of a sudden the particles silenced, they heard something coming towards the ball. The ball was then moving and cracked open by big white rocks. The red ball broke, a piece taken which opened a gate for all the particles to escape.  The particles saw skin and a massive person, who ressembled a particle person yet was clearly not.

The first to walk out, was one called Self doubt; he was yellow. He was mad and he wanted revenge. Then there was depression, he was blue, he was silent and wanted to share his thoughts with others. Racism followed, he was orange; one of the most unloved colors in the rainbow. The eating disorder was pink, and she was the most beautiful of all the particles. Addiction was purple, he stumbled out of the crack, hardly standing. It was easy to tell that he was on the hunt; he needed to be fed. Anxiety was white and shaky, she wasn’t sure whether to walk out of the apple or not, her trying to decide looked painful, even to the other particles. Nightmare and insomnia were black, they ran away very quickly.

Soon the only one left was the red man, he walked out slowly and calmly because he knew that he was invincible. The red ball was grief for a loved one. The red particle had his hand on all the other particles. The red ball was grief for anything and all things on this earth.

The reason the deities had kept these particles away from the world was because they were able to infiltrate people’s mind. These particles had more power and control than the other particles the deities allowed to walk on earth. These particles were dangerous to the well being of the continent.   Now they are loose and thriving.

I believe that all stories are accurate and that every culture’s reasoning for how the earth came about is realistic and beautiful.  I wanted to put my own twist on the concept of Eve specifically because the story has never quite made sense to me. My concept of Eve even got more intertwined when I studied Eve’s apology in defines of a woman written by Amelia Lanyer.   When I told my friends about my version of how evil came into the world, I got many “Oh” s.  A couple of them really liked it and actually thought “it made sense”.  One of my best friends very specifically said “nifty” and suggested making it a play.  I’m proud of the story I made up and I would like to re explore it later on and explore some of the feminist elements which Amelia Lanyer brought up in her poem.

Let me know what you think!

Tai Amy

Bibliography: King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. Print.

Daunt, Tina. ‘Book Review: ‘Unbearable Lightness’ By Portia De Rossi’. latimes. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 May 2015.

Headlinestheatre.com,. ‘2015 Maladjusted Tour :: Project Home’. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 May 2015.

Sussman, S., N. Lisha, and M. Griffiths. ‘Prevalence Of The Addictions: A Problem Of The Majority Or The Minority?’. Evaluation & the Health Professions 34.1 (2010): 3-56. Web. 30 May 2015.

Charlesyoungs.com,. ‘Eve’s Apology In Defense Of Women’. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 May 2015.

Words. Chamberlin talks a lot about language, in particular the strangeness and wonder of how language works. Stories, he says, “bring us close to the world we live in by taking us into the world of words” (italics mine,1).  He describes learning to read and write as learning “to be comfortable with a cat that is both there and not there”  (132). Based on Chamberlin’s understanding of how riddles and charms work, explain this “world of words.” Reflect on why “words make us feel closer to the world we live in” (1).

Well first of all, what a novel Chamberlin wrote. Wow.

In regards to that cat quote in this question, at the very beginning of the novel, Chamberlain introduces the word “faith” (3). Our concept of faith is believing in something that we cannot see but we know is there. This is demonstrated in cultural stories. Nobody is sure of the actual precise elements of myths, but we continue to be sure they are true and we exist with them if not sometimes by them (may I be so bold to use the bible as an example). I believe that words make us feel closer to the world we live in partially because of the “common ground” of  the stories.  They are usually are about things we are familiar to as humans within a given culture. I also find that these stories usually represent an ideal, something we hope to achieve.

Something that really stuck out to me in the interview in which Chamberlain discussed his book was his use of the phrase “once upon a time”(Chamberlin and Knopf). If I think of my own childhood, I was always consciously aware that neither Snow White nor Cinderella actually existed but to this day I still feel as thought they are personified people in my life. Growing up my friends and I have always compared princesses, and watched their movies, they have become a topic of discussion for years. It seems that even before Disney, the majority of little girls knew these tales, which began with “once upon a time in a far off kingdom”. Even though these fairytales were written by the Grimm’s brothers in Germany, I think they are a perfect example of “common ground” all us little girls had. Cinderella (even though the original version is somewhat gruesome) is always written as being beautiful and kind. She was an example of what all us little girls wished to become, she was a hero and an ideal we were searching for, someone we idolized. If I may be so bold, I think that the general princess story was an important aspect of play time for all of us little girls. Even though this gave us many warped unrealistic ideals for once we hit puberty and we actually grew a waist, we still love these princesses. I fell in love with those princesses through storybooks and words on a page read to me before I went to bed at night. My point being, those words stuck with me, the faith in their existence stuck with me and I am not sure if I ever want to view them differently.

Are either Native American or European cultures willing to fall out of love with the words they grew up with as children to reach common ground? Maybe they don’t have to, this is just the question currently pondering my mind.

Another great example of how powerful words are in our culture is, newspapers. Even though newspapers are less frequent and more and more people are veering towards online newspapers. Newspapers tell stories daily, and occasionally they are stories which the readers will never forget. There is one writer behind each article, so when we think about it, one writer can make us feel a certain way about the subject even before we finish the article. Even though journalism is meant to be neutral I find headlines give us a direct insight into the writer’s opinion. I would like to use a recent headline regarding funding for First Nations homes. The headline is a contradiction “Harper government defends First Nations housing fund, despite poor results” as listeners (as Chamberlain would put it) this make us feel close to the story and as if these people have an advocate. The article is short, but I would argue that it takes Harper’s side, yet had we had another writer’s article I am sure that we would view the situation in a different way. The power of words once again, demonstrating the faith we have in this journalist’s words. We believe the words that are given to us.

Please tell me what you think,

T

Brothers, Grimm’s. ‘Grimm 021: Cinderella’. Pitt.edu. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015.

Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories?. Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press, 2004. Print.

Beeby, Deab. ‘Harper Government Defends First Nations Housing Fund, Despite Poor Results’. CBC 2015. Web. 28 May 2015.

Chamberlin, J Edward, and Alfred A Knopf. If this is your land, where are your stories?. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015.

Hi Fellow students!

My name is Tai Grauman and I am a late joiner (and even later because this site baffles me).  I am going into my intermediate year of my BFA acting program but I am also beginning a double major in First Nations Studies.  Many have advised me against a double major but I am bound and determined to complete it.  I am of Metis descent and my heritage informs my art and passion for theatre daily.  I have a particular interest in First Nations Canadian literature and art.  I am looking forward to gaining a widened knowledge of First Nations writers and works from present and past which give insights into the Native American identity post colonization.  I am also excited to research “the power of stories” (Paterson), as my daily life as an actor is fuelled by stories, the power of words written on a page are of the utmost importance to my life.  I am also keen on the bullet point in the overview which says “gain some expertise in storytelling” (Paterson), that sounds like fun.  This course consists of analytical insight into Canadian literature, and the understanding of the difference between oral stories and written literature.  It is centred around the art of storytelling.

This is a picture from my favourite play Rez Sisters written by Tomson Highway.  It is a play about a group of women who live on a Reserve.  One of the reasons why I fell in love with this play was because it isn’t solely about one aspect of these women’s lives.  As a reader or audience member, their honesty makes us laugh, their love for one another makes us smile and their tragic stories make us cry.  I have also attached a Review of the play, it is a review of a more recent production.  I chose this review because it emphasizes that the play is both heart wrenching yet hilarious.  It is a beautiful piece and I believe it is a very important play within Canadian theatre history which is not often given enough credit.  In her review Amy Smart quotes actress Tantoo Cardinal who was in the original production as well as this recent production, Cardinal states when referring to the act of change through the arts, “It’s like water.  Water can get through places where maybe a textbook or lecture or something like that might not get through.” (Smart).  I agree with Tantoo, I think theatre is a fantastic way to give a group of people a voice, all we have to do is get society to listen to them.

For my second hyperlink I have attached a recent CBC article about a clothing line released by two Canadian designers.  The fashion line was labeled with a discriminatory title.  Along with positive art forms (like Rez sisters), there is harmful discrimination made through art forms.  It is also interesting to note that on the article social media addressing the issue is attached, but below the article is an accumulation of insensitive comments regarding the issue.  An interesting observation to make on how discriminatory art can be circulated and perceived.  I feel as though these comments demonstrate a strong example of the power of words.

I look forward to reading all your blogs!

Tai

Baccari, Ava. ‘The Rez Sisters | Theatromania’. Archive.theatromania.ca. N.p., 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Cbc.ca,. ‘Dsquared2 Under Fire For #Dsquaw Women’s Fashion Collection’. N.p., 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Smart, Amy. ‘At Belfry Theatre, Rez Sisters Tale Rings True After 28 Years – See More At: Http://Www.Timescolonist.Com/At-Belfry-Theatre-Rez-Sisters-Tale-Rings-True-After-28-Years-1.1378437#Sthash.Aggl58zd.Dpuf’. Times Colonist 2014. Web. 20 May 2015.