THIS IS A STORY

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THIS IS A STORY

• Maria Eugenia Franco
• Jorge Silla

CANADIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
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Authors LifeJeannette C. Armstrong (born 1948)

• Okanagan Canadian author, educator, artist and
  activist.
• Enowkin Centre, writing, creativity, education, e
  cology, and Indigenous rights.
• Born on the Penticton Indian reserve in British
  Columbias Okanagan Valley.
• Armstrong received a formal education at a
  one-room school on the reserve as well as a
  traditional Okanagan education from her family
  and Elders (Okanagan language).
• Armstrong first discovered her talent for and
  attraction to writing at age fifteen when a poem
  she wrote on John F. Kennedy was published in a
  local newspaper (Voices). Her inspirations

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Armstrong is the grand-niece of Mourning Dove,
who is regarded as one of the earliest Native
American woman novelists for her 1927
work Cogewea, the Half-Blood. Pauline Johnson
Notable for her poems and performances that
celebrated her aboriginal heritage The Song
My Paddle Sings. Canadian national literature.
Chief Dan George Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nati
on, a Coast Salish band located on Burrard
Inlet in North Vancouver, British Columbia. He
was also an Academy Award-nominated actor and an
author.
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• In 1978 employment with the Penticton Band in a
  number of cultural and political capacities.
  Researcher, consultant, and writer at the
  Enowkin Centre (Lutz 13 and Petrone 140).
• Armstrongs 1985 work Slash is considered the
  first novel by a Native woman in Canada.
• Published in 1985 by Theytus, originates from
  the Okanagan Indian Curriculum Project.
  Anticipate work of more famous non-Aboriginal
  authors who were dripping at the mouth to
  document Native history (Williamson qtd in Jones
  60).
• Slash relates a history of the North American
  Indian protest movement through the critical
  perspective of central character Tommy Kelasket,
  who is eventually renamed Slash. Pride of his
  Okanagan heritage and he eventually becomes an
  activist for Aboriginal rights. Armstrong clearly
  states that Slash is not a chronicle of AIM
  (American Indian Movement) but personalized
  account of the origins and growth of Native
  activism since the 1960s (Lutz 22 and Jones 51).
• Executive Director of the Enowkin Centre in
  1986 and carries on in this role to present day.
• In 1989 Armstrong helped to establish
  the Enowkin School of International Writing and
  became its director as well as an instructor.
  (Petrone 140 and Voices).
• Consultant Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, Ce
  ntre for Creative Change, Esalen Institute, Omega
  Institute, and the World Institute for Humanities
  at Salado ("Awardee").
• Campaigner for Aboriginal rights, Armstrong
  serves as an international observer to
  the Continental Coordinating Commission of
  Indigenous Peoples and Organizations. Indigenous
  Judges to the First Nations Court of
  Justice called by the Chiefs of Ontario and to
  the Council of Listeners in the International
  Testimonials on Violations of Indigenous
  Sovereignty for the United Nations ("Awardee").

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Works

• Novels
• Slash. Rev. ed. Penticton, BC Theytus, 1990.
• Whispering in Shadows. Penticton, BC Theytus,
  2000.
•  
• Short Stories
• This is a Story in All My Relations An
  Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Native
  Fiction. Thomas King, ed. Toronto McClelland
  Stewart, 1990. 129-135.
•  
• Poetry
• Breath Tracks. Stratford, ON Williams-Wallace/Pen
  ticton, BC Theytus, 1991.
• Trickster Time in Voices Being Native in
  Canada. Linda Jaine and Drew Hayden Taylor, eds.
  Saskatoon Extension Division, U of Saskatchewan,
  1992. 1-5.
•  
• Anthologies edited
• Looking at the Words of Our People First Nations
  Analysis of Literature. Penticton, BC Theytus,
  1993.
• We Get Our Living Like Milk from the Land.
  Researched and Compiled by the Okanagan Rights
  Committee and the Okanagan Indian Education
  Resource Society. Penticton Theytus, 1993. (with
  Lee Maracle et al.)
• Native Poetry in Canada A Contemporary
  Anthology. Peterborough, ON Broadview, 2001.
  (with Lally Grauer)
•  

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Children's books      Enwisteetkwa (Walk in
Water). Penticton, BC Okanagan Indian Curriculum
Project/ Okanagan Tribal Council, 1982.     
Neekna and Chemai. Penticton, BC Theytus, 1984.
(illustrated by Kenneth Lee Edwards)      Neekna
and Chemai. 2nd ed.Penticton, BC Theytus, 1991.
(illustrated by Barbara Marchand)   Criticism    
  Traditional Indigenous Education A Natural
Process. in Tradition Change Survival The
Answers Are within Us. Vancouver UBC First
Nations House, 1988.      Bridging
Cultures. Columbiana Journal of the
Intermountain Northwest 30 (1989) 28-30.     
Cultural Robbery Imperialism - Voices of Native
Women. Trivia 14 (1989) 21-23.      The Native
Creative Process A Collaborative Discourse.
Penticton, BC Theytus, 1991. (with Douglas
Cardinal. Photographs by Greg Young-Ing)     
Racism Racial Exclusivity and Cultural
Supremacy in Give Back First Nations
Perspectives on Cultural Practice. Maria Campbell
et al, eds. Vancouver Gallerie, 1992.
74-82.      Land Speaking in Speaking for the
Generations Native Writers on Writing. Simon J.
Ortiz, ed.. Tucson U of Arizona P, 1998.
174-194.  
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•  Recordings
• Mary Old Owl on Poetry is Not a Luxury A
  Collection of Black and Native Poetry Set to
  Classical Guitar, Reggae, Dub, and African Drums.
  Maya CAPAC, 1987. Produced by The Fire This
  Time.
• world renewal song on cassette Theft Of
  Paradise A collection of black and indigenous
  poets produced by The Fire This Time
• various tracks including i am indian woman
  keepers words on cd till the bars break black
  and indigenous dub poets, reggae and hip hop
  artists produced by The Fire This Time. nominated
  for a Juno award best world beat recording
• Grandmothers. Word Up. Virgin/EMI Music Canada,
  1995.
• Awards and honours
• Mungo Martin Award (1974), First Nations
  ancestry.
• Helen Pitt Memorial Award (1978), which continues
  Pitts support of emerging artists.
• Honorary Doctorate in Letters, St. Thomas
  University (2000).
• Buffett Award for Aboriginal Leadership (2003),
  in recognition of her work as an educator,
  community leader and Indigenous rights activist.

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CANADIAN POPULATION

• Canada's 2006 census 31,612,897, an increase of
  5.4 since 2001. Population growth is from
  immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural
  growth. About three-quarters of Canada's
  population live within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of
  the US border.
• According to the 2006 census, there are 43 ethnic
  origins that at least one hundred thousand people
  in Canada claim in their background.
• Ethnicity English (21), followed by French
  (15.8), Scottish (15.2), Irish (13.9), German
  (10.2), Italian (5), Chinese (4), Ukrainian
  (3.6), and First Nations (3.5) Approximately,
  one third of respondents identified their
  ethnicity as "Canadian".
• Canada has the highest per capita immigration
  rate in the world,
• Aging of the population.
• Religious pluralism.
• Education Canadian provinces and territories are
  responsible for it. Each system is similar, while
  reflecting regional history, culture and
  geography.

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FIRST NATIONS
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FIRST NATIONS- INTRODUCTION

• First Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers
  to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are
  neither Inuit nor Métis people.
• Controversial terminology
• 600 recognized First Nations governments or
  bands.
• Half of them both in Ontario and B.C.
• Administration of the Indian Act and Indian
  Register is carried out by the federal
  government's Department of Indian and Northern
  Affairs
• CANADA (AS WELL AS US, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZELAND)
  VOTED IN 2007 AGAINST THE DECLARATION ON THE
  RIGHTS OF INDEGENOUS PEOPLES "unworkable in a
  Western democracy under a constitutional
  government. (Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian
  Affairs and Nothern Development)

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INDIAN ACT (1876)

• INDIANS REGISTERED
• LEGAL SITUATION (GRADUAL CIVILIZATION ACT,
  CANADIAN BILL OF RIGHTS, SECTION 88)
• PROBLEMS AND AMENDMENTS (REMARK POTLACH- DUCAN
  CAMPBELL SCOTT)
• WOMEN INDIANS DISCRIMINATED

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FIRST NATIONS- HISTORY

• THEY WERE BEFORE!, BUT THEIR WRITTEN HISTORY
  BEGINS WITH EUROPEANS (CODEX CANADIENSIS)
• 30 000-10 000 BC ARRIVED FROM ASIA
• ADAPTED TO SURVIVAL
• EARLIER CONTACTS WITH EUROPEANS

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• Vikings abandoned their quest in the XI century
• Europeans XV-XVI centuries Cabot, Cartier, de
  Champlain
• Iroquois Confederation vs. Huron Confederacy
• In literature The Lonely Settler (The Rising
  Village, O. Goldsmith The Corn Husker, Pauline
  Johnson)

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• Assimilation CANADIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM,
  INDIAN ACTS
• XIX CENTURY GRAVE SITUATION (NORTH AMERICAN
  BISON, CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY, WHITE SETTLERS,
  EPIDEMICS- 3000 PEOPLE STARVED IN NORTHWEST
  TERRITORIES- CONTROVERSY WITH TREATY 6. FROG
  LAKE. THOMAS QUINN KILLED)
• XX CENTURY RESERVE LANDS EXPROPRIATED, POTLACH
  AND SUN DANCES PROHIBITED
• 1930 CONSTITUTION ACT RIGHTS TO LAND
• 1951 POTLACH AND SUN DANCES PERMITTED
• 1956, JUNE section 9 of the Citizenship Act was
  amended to grant formal citizenship to Status
  Indians and Inuit, retroactively as of January
  1947.
• 1960 RIGHT TO VOTE (1920S FOR NATIVE AMERICANS)
• RESTORATION WHITE PAPER (1969)

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• 1970 Mercure poisoning
• Elijah Harper the Meech Lake accord
• Womens status and bill C-31
• The Erasmus-Dussault commission
• Land claims, resulting in riots Oka Crisis
  (Ontario), Ipperwash Crisis (Quebec), Burnt
  Church Crisis (New Brunswick), Gustafsen Lake
  Standoff (British Columbia)

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First NationCurrent Situation

• Introductory documentary on RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
  OFFICIAL APOLOGY
• REACTIONS TO IT
• THE ERA OF CHANGE? COMPARE WITH AUSTRALIA
• INADEQUATE FUNDING WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
  (COMPARE WITH POLIEVRES WORDS)- ABORIGINAL DAY
  OF ACTION (JUNE 29, 2007 INUITS JOINED)

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• Social problems poverty, HIGH SUICIDE RATES
• DEMOGRAPHICS BABY BOOM, REDUCTION OF INFANT
  MORTALITY- 161 - 50 OF THE POPULATION UNDER 25
  (GREAT PRESENCE OF NATIVE AMERICANS)
• DIVERSITY- STUDIED BY EDWARD SAPIR
• RESERVES 600 (NOT Reservations)
• CULTURAL DISTRIBUTION AND SUBDIVISION
• LANGUAGE DIVERSITY
• POLITICAL ORGANISATION

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Okanagan People

• First Nations and Native American people whose
  traditional territory spans the
  US-Canada boundary in Washington
  state and British Columbia.
• Language Syilx.
• Closely related to Spokan, Sinixt, Nez
  Perce, Pend Oreille, Shuswap and Nlaka'pamux.
• Oregon Treaty partitioned the Pacific
  Northwest in 1846 under Chief Tonasket. Majority
  of the Okanagans remain in Canada.

Sample of Okanagan Languages http//en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Salishan_languages
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• The Okanagan Tribal Alliance American branch of
  the Okanagans (Confederated Tribes of the
  Colvill).
• Okanagan territory Okanagan Lake and
  the Okanagan River, plus the basin of
  the Similkameen River to the west.
• Okanagan people in the Nicola Valley Spaxomin,
  named after the 19th Century chief who founded
  the alliance, Nicola. Today is the Nicola Tribal
  Association.

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Okanagan River

• Tributary of the Columbia River, approximately
  115 mi (185 km) long.
• Southern British Columbia in Canada-Nnorth
  central Washington in the United States.
• It drains Okanagan Country east of the Cascade
  Range and north and west of the Columbia.

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Course

• The Okanogan River rises in southern British
  Columbia southern end of Okanagan Lake.
• Flows south past Penticton, through Skaha Lake,
  past Okanagan Falls, through Vaseux Lake, and
  past Oliver to Osoyoos and Osoyoos Lake.
• At the border the river's name changes spelling
  from Okanagan to Okanogan.
• From Oroville the Okanogan River flows south
  through the Okanogan County, past Okanogan and Oma
  k.
• Fforms the western boundary of the Colville
  Indian Reservation.
• Columbia River from the north, 5 miles (8 km)
  east of Brewster, between the Wells
  Dam (downstream) and the Chief Joseph Dam
  (upstream).
•  Lake Pateros.

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Salmon

• Salmonidae.
• The fish is pink and silver (trout).
• Live in Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Great
  Lakes and land locked lakes.
• Life Cycle
• Alaska female salmon uses her dorsal fin to
  excavate a redd.
• One or more males will approach the female in her
  redd, depositing his sperm, or milt, over the
  roe.
• The female then covers the eggs by disturbing the
  gravel at the upstream edge of the depression
  before moving on to make another redd.

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• The eggs will hatch into alevin or sac fry.
• The parr stay for one to three years in their
  natal stream before becoming smolts.
• Only 10 of all salmon eggs survive long enough
  to reach this stage.
• The smolt body chemistry changes, allowing them
  to live in salt water.
• Sexually mature.
• The adult salmon returns primarily to its natal
  stream to spawn.
• They may grow a hump, develop canine teeth,
  develop a kype from the silvery blue of a fresh
  run fish from the sea to a darker colour.
• Salmon are central to Native American mythology.

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THIS IS A STORY

• Plot
• Characters Kyoti, Swallows, Old Woman, Young
  Child, Tommy (silenced)
• Symbols Dam, Salmon, Oil Slicks, Money, Monster.
• Themes Allienation, Migration, Dream-Sleep vs.
  reality, tradition vs. Change.
• Techniques
• Structure Mise en abyme, 1st person narrator,
  legend, oral tradition.
• Language English, Okanagan names (Okanagan /
  Swallow).
• Intentionality

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THIS IS A STORY Questions

• What type of womens gathering it is?
• What are they waiting for?
• What does it in the first paragraph refer to?
• Why is there such an enfasis that the story is
  real?
• Is it Kyotis attitude a form of potlach?
• What does this frase mean, referring to Tommy
  SOME of us call him OUR chief now?
• Is Kyoti really a dream of Old People?- Compare
  with the childs sppech (4). Where has Kyoti
  been?- Connection with the Salmon
• What does the ending imply in relation to the
  story?
• IN RELATION TO THE POLITICAL CONTEXT, SHOULD
  FIRST NATIONS BE ELLIGIBLE TO THEIR LANDS?

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SOURCES

• Ana Maria Frailes notes
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Act_(Canada)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_enfranchisemen
  t_in_Canada
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageEdward_Curtis_I
  mage_005.jpg
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoplesIn
  digenous_rights.2C_issues_and_concerns
• http//en.wikisource.org/wiki/Draft_United_Nations
  _Declaration_on_the_Rights_of_Indigenous_Peoples
• http//www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/codex/index-e.h
  tml?PHPSESSIDcf4ao1q63ovpsdqqh99bpum9r7
• http//encyclopedia.farlex.com/IroquoisConfederat
  ion
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asubpeeschoseewagong_
  First_Nation
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlottetown_Accord
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashechewan_First_Nat
  ion
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_First_Nations
  _peoples
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reserve

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MUSIC, IMAGES AND DOCUMENTARIES- LINKS

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v4wzRVYypqOI
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vV7zkstKsN94
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vWuXS3VU791U
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vP-a9dNwoCFE (IN
  MADRID)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vIDpZtgXXInI
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vIOwJAp-wM9kfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vLQrW-3BZtyQ (IN
  US)

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RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS AND OFFICIAL APOLOGIES- LINKS

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v_4-TYwFS-P0
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vqAmUe17nUdY
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vwyxJ-zpYDkEfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v56eXFyo6oI0feature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vVNLx56ibs60feature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vws2Jc5692TYfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vC9mJpL67QUw
  (AUSTRALIA- WHAT A COINCIDENCE!)