For this assignment, I am going to be closely investigating the allusions found in Thomas King’s novel, Green Grass, Running Water (GGRW), between pages 391 and 401.

“Young Man Walking on Water” (King 391): This is an allusion to Jesus of Nazareth, widely believed to be the incarnation of the Christian God who can perform miracles on Earth. One of these miracles, and among the most famous, is His feat of walking on water. This is often interpreted as Christ establishing His dominance over the natural world; He has the ability to bend and shape the natural world to His will, something that only God is supposed to be able to do. His ability to exert this influence on nature suggests, more generally, a relationship of domination between humankind and the natural world. This stands in opposition to the Indigenous worldview that is being maintained in GGRW, as evinced by the personification of the lake, Glimmerglass, and the powerful position of Coyote. Thus, King’s choice to specifically refer to Jesus as “Young Man Walking on Water,” even though it is only in passing on this particular page, seems to be purposely evoking and questioning the Christian concept of the ‘great chain of being,’ which asserts that humans take precedence over (and thus dominate) the natural world. Flick also points out that Christ’s name is, here, deliberately made to sound more ‘Indian’ (Flick 161).

“Glimmerglass” (King 391): Glimmerglass is the nickname given to Lake Ostego in New York by novelist James Fenimore Cooper in his work, The Deerslayer (Flick 162). (Cooper is also, notably, the author of The Last of the Mohicans, which is famous for perpetuating the ‘vanishing Indian’ myth that I have addressed elsewhere on my blog). This novel is actually going to be referenced multiple times throughout the remainder of these ten pages, so I think this is an appropriate moment to give a brief overview. Written in 1841, the events of The Deerslayer take place in the 1740s, in the years leading up to the Seven Years’ War (also called the French and Indian War). The novel essentially tells the story of a frontiersman who, along with the help of his trusty ‘Indian’ sidekick, help a trapper defend his settlement from the Iroquois (or the Haudenosaunee). By calling the lake ‘Glimmerglass,’ King is overtly situating the following events within the context of Cooper’s colonial novel.

“Chingachgook” (King 392): Chingachgook is the name of the Mohican chief in The Deerslayer who accompanies the frontiersman, Nathaniel Bumppo, on his journey. In Cooper’s novel (and, indeed, in King’s iteration), he often fights alongside Bumppo against other Indigenous tribes. In this scene, Chingachgook is shown searching loyally for his white companion; ironic, since Bumppo has just mistaken Old Woman for Chingachgook only because “Chingachgook is an Indian. You’re an Indian. Case closed” (King 392). This demonstrates quite clearly that Bumppo does not value Chingachgook for his individuality, but simply for his ‘Indian-ness,’ perhaps more specifically for his Indian ‘gifts’. This makes the Indigenous people in the novel interchangeable, at least in the view of Bumppo and, by extension, Cooper.

“Nathaniel Bumppo, Post-Colonial Wilderness Guide and Outfitter” (King 392): Finally, we are introduced to the hero of Cooper’s novel, Nathaniel “Natty” Bumppo – though King will soon bastardize his name as ‘Nasty Bumppo,’ both a homophone and apt descriptor for Natty. During the events of The Deerslayer, Bumppo is given the name ‘Hawkeye’ by ‘Mingos’ (attacking Indians) that recognize his war prowess after Bumppo shoots a ‘Mingo’ that tries to steal his canoe. King utilizes this ‘Indian’ name multiple times in GGRW; for example, one of the four elder Indians is called ‘Hawkeye.’ Moreover, immediately after Bumppo christens Old Woman ‘Hawkeye,’ because it sounds like a good “killer name,” Coyote wonders if this is a good Indian name. The storyteller responds that “It sounds like the a name for a white person who wants to be an Indian” (King 395). Thus, the name Hawkeye becomes a symbol for cultural appropriation and the romanticizing of the colonial idea of the ‘Indian’ way of life.  As Flick points out, the addition of ‘post-colonial’ to Bumppo’s self-imposed title is a “Joke on the ‘colonial hero’ […] and the ‘post-colonial’ treatment he gets in King’s book” (Flick 162). She also points out that he is wearing the “fringed, buckskin jacket” that the Indians ‘borrow’ from George and give to Lionel (Flick 162).

“Indians have Indian gifts […] and Whites have white gifts” (King 392): Flick calls this moment a “send-up of Cooper’s construction of whites and Indians in his stories” (Flick 163). Cooper seems to have very specific ideas about what an Indian is capable of, and contrasts this with his ideas of what a white is capable of. The ‘Indian’ gifts are all related to ‘primitive’ animal instincts, such as running, enduring pain, and having “agile bodies” (King 393). These ‘gifts,’ or aptitudes, are designed to primitivize Indigeneity. Meanwhile, the ‘whites’ have the gifts of patience, spirituality, cognition, philosophy, and other things generally associated with sophisticated civilization (King 393). Thus, King is pointing out these black and white binaries constructed by colonial novelists like Cooper, who seek to posit ‘Indians’ and ‘Whites’ at two opposite sides of a spectrum: civilized vs. uncivilized, mentality vs. physicality, human vs. non-human, superior vs. inferior. Although this is not directly alluded to in GGRW, I wanted to include a link to a powerful TEDx Talk featuring Gregg Deal speaking about how these stereotypes that people like Cooper put forth – the same stereotypes that King is contending with – have lasting, damaging effects.

“Daniel Boone” (King 395):  A real-life frontiersman (as opposed to the fictional Bumppo) who fought in several colonial wars, including the French Indian War and the American Indian Wars. He is often seen as an American hero.

“Harry Truman” (King 395): As the 33^rd American president, Truman was in office during World War II. He is the one responsible for ordering the devastating bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final moments of the war, resulting in the death of approximately 214,000 people upon initial impact, as well as lasting environmental effects that continue to plague Japan today, over seventy-five years later.

“Arthur Watkins” (King 395):  A Republican senator in Utah who repealed treaty rights and encouraged Indigenous peoples to assimilate (Flick 163). He also lobbied to terminate federal recognition of tribes.

I would note here the context that the three preceding historical personages are mentioned: they are the names that Bumppo pitches to be Old Woman’s ‘killer name’ after she is accused of shooting him. All of these names are eventually discarded. Even though it is Old Woman who rejects these names, the implication is that they are not ‘killer’ enough, even though these men are indubitably guilty. Perhaps this is because their names sound white; the name Bumppo settles on is Hawkeye, which ‘sounds’ Indian. This is ironic since not only is Hawkeye actually white, but Bumppo is Hawkeye; thus, there is a roundabout admission of guilt here.

“’Maybe,’ says Coyote, ‘it was a conspiracy’” (King 395): A reference to the assassination of beloved U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the ensuing conspiracy theories regarding his death. Although Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder, many Americans believe that he was not acting alone, a fact exacerbated by Oswald’s death before a trial could be held. One of these conspiracies that King specifically mentions is the idea that there was a second shooter, aside from Oswald, who shot at JFK from a ‘grassy knoll’. The fact that King brings these conspiracies in with connection to Bumppo suggests that there was a ‘second shooter’ in Bumppo’s death (with Bumppo being the first potential shooter). This may suggest that it is Chingachgook who shoots Bumppo, as he materializes immediately after the shooting. This would subvert the idea that Bumppo is Chingachgook’s protector and friend, contrary to his  portrayal in Cooper’s novel, and suggests that their relationship was not as genial as Cooper makes it seem.

 “They all take out a book from their packs” (King 396): As Flick suggests, the book is the Cooper novel, The Deerslayer, which has formed the basis for many of the events of this sequence (Flick 163).

 “West Wind Tours” (King 400): Flick says that this is a reference to “myths about winds as a procreator” (Flick 163). I would also add that it is the west wind that brings locusts to Egypt in Exodus 10:19; thus, there seems to be a nod to apocalyptic events immediately preceding the earthquake at the climax at the novel. Perhaps there is also a reference to capitalism as being a cataclysmic force (like locusts), especially when it is relying on the exploitation of Indigenous lands.

“Clifford Sifton” (King 401): Sifton was a former Minister of the Interior that had a very liberal immigration policy at the cost of the displacement of Indigneous peoples. In GGRW, Sifton is an employee of the company that built the dam who implores Eli Stands Alone to stop standing in opposition to the dam. Thus, the attitude of white progress at the cost of Indigenous livelihood that characterizes the real Sifton carries over to his fictional counterpart.

“Lewis Pick” (King 401): Pick was an American engineer who’s Garrison Dam, built as part of the Pick-Sloan contract, completely destroyed the livelihood of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. King casts Pick as the builder of the dam that will eventually break and flood as the result of Coyote’s earthquake. In GGRW, it is Pick who spots the cars that will definitively crack the dam open; in their last appearance in the novel, it is suggested that both Pick and Sifton are killed by the dam in a case of poetic justice.

Works Cited 

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