Fears found in the Indigenous community following the effects of Colonization can be difficult to overcome, especially when trying to create new traditions after losing your familiar ones, but with the helping hands of community, Russel Wallace helps the reader realize that the Indigenous peoples can always find their way back to the heart of their culture. In Russel Wallace's metaphorical village, fear of a massive rockslide has been anticipated for years. A metaphorical rock slide creates bumps in the paths of their familiar tradition, telling us that this familiarity and comfort has been lost for the users of this path after their first landslide in years occurs. Russell Wallace builds on the metaphors in which rock slides are metaphors …show more content…
It can originally seem as though when the paths of tradition are stolen, the cultures are lost, but on the contrary, other paths can be made, and old paths can be re-discovered. The community works together to remove these rocks from the paths; “It takes some time and a lot of bruised knees and twisted ankles, but some new paths are carved in the fallen rocks.”(Wallace). This serves as a solution to their problems regardless of the consistency of the rock falls. From these metaphors, we can infer that community is the healing property when being faced with fear. The sudden stealing of traditions can seem large but Indigenous communities are larger, and all connected. With the Elders by their side as their teachers, and the able-bodied to clear the rocks, the community thrives, even after the large landslide and stolen pathway. As Russel says, “Colonialism has obscured and covered up so many things from our past and yet we have languages and cultures that still thrive.”(Wallace). When new paths are created by the community to heal from tragedy, skepticism arises about leaving the old path behind, but "yet the deviated path reaches the same river" (Wallace). Access to culture will always be possible regardless of those who try to take that
(Rice 100)This powerful quote illustrates the damaging effects of forced assimilation on Indigenous peoples, who have been forced to abandon their own culture and adopt the culture of the colonizers. This process has led to a deep sense of alienation and cultural disconnection among Indigenous peoples. Moreover, on page 114, Justin notes that many members of his community have become "disconnected from their traditional ways" (Rice 114) as a result of the forced relocations, residential schools, and other government policies designed to assimilate Indigenous
The power of stories manifests itself in literature, film, and more generally life. Stories inspire, provide hope, and bring understanding. Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel Ceremony permeates the strength of stories. Ceremony follows the story of Tayo, a half white Native American plagued by the invasion of European culture, as well as his own past of war and loss. However, through the folk stories of his Laguna culture, as well as the advice he has been given to embrace his past, Tayo is able to see the world more clearly.
The acclaimed Canadian author Joseph Boyden is often praised for providing an insightful look into Indigenous culture and history through his debut, Three Day Road. While the novel does explore the haunting memories of an Indigenous soldier, it also tackles concepts about storytelling and the power of words. Consequently, this essay investigates the question; How does Joseph Boyden use literary devices and narrative structure in Three Day Road to illustrate the power of stories and language? The novel serves as an examination of the power of words and the different roles they play in communication,
The land shook in anger, causing cracks in the ground and collapsed the Navajo’s empire. It made a deep divide between the land itself up to a mile deep and 18 miles wide. With nowhere else to go, Navajo Man walked reluctantly back to help the land with his problem. “It was I who took your dirt. I was jealous of the river’s special treatment.
To start off, Alicia Elliot illustrates in this particular section of her book how everything was taken away from the indigenous peoples, as well as the children that took no part in the disagreements happening between the two parties. In this chapter, we notice how the children in this story are being used, treated terribly, overworked as well as “[stolen]”... from their “families, language, and culture” (146). The story described in the text demonstrates how the children of the Indigenous people face dispossession as their childhood was being ripped from their hands as well as being taken away from their families leading to
Days of Theft, Days of Restoration Attempts to assimilate Native Americans and destroy their culture are a recurrence throughout the history of the United States. Chris Hedges' main argument in the first chapter of his book Days of Destruction Days of Revolt is that, for Native Americans, reconnecting with the culture that was forcibly stolen from them, in this case Lakota culture, could be immensely healing and restorative. He proves his argument with the specific examples of Verlyn Long Wolf, Michael Red Cloud, Leonard Crow Dog, and Duane Brewer. Hedges uses the stories of these people to show how restorative it is to reconnect with the culture that was stolen from them.
Monkey Beach is an adaptation of “Queen of the North,” both written by Eden Robinson. The texts both touch on the theme of intergenerational trauma within Indigenous communities. Through the lens of different main characters, however, Monkey Beach approaches the topic differently through its portrayal of the transmission of trauma. In “Queen of the North,” the transmission of intergenerational trauma is most clearly seen through Josh reenacting trauma onto Adelaine. In contrast, as a novel, Monkey Beach offers a more nuanced depiction of the methods of intergenerational trauma transmission, such as the loss of Lisamarie's cultural identity.
The poem My Mother The Land by Phill Moncrieff poetically describes the struggles the aboriginal people faced at the hands of the European people and colonisation throughout history. The fact that the author based the poem on accurate historical events adds to the authenticity of representations and engages the reader in an emotional journey with the struggles the aboriginal people faced with the somewhat loss of their country, culture, identity, people and place. The author uses a variety of language features and text structures to create this view point, for instance the author uses several language features and text structures throughout verse one to demonstrate the loss of culture and people. The poet uses effective language features throughout the poem to describe the loss that the narrator feels in their country, culture, identity, people
The indigenous people are literally crashing into the buildings produced by the colonizing culture, “Look out! Bob shouts. There are Indians flying into the skyscrapers and falling on the sidewalk.” (King 63) and it adequately represents the lack of adaptability of the Native Canadians. Thomas King taps again into the effects of colonialism and notions the indigenous people as uneducated and an untamed species.
Cultural Crossroads: An Exploration of Identity and Tradition in Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road In Joseph Boyden's novel Three Day Road, the story follows the emotional and thought provoking journey of mainly Niska and Xavier Bird. Niska is a Cree Indigenous person who has strayed from her community in order to keep her roots by staying true to their culture. Xavier, her nephew, was rescued from the residential schools and dragged into war through his friend (also Cree) Elijah. Looking at this story we see that identity is a big theme even relating to the author, there are also other reflections of Indigenous culture in this story like the 7 grandfather teachings and assimilation.
This parallel timeline demonstrates the connections between past and present disasters as well as the long-lasting effects they have on individuals and communities. The masterful use of literary elements such as vivid imagery, symbolism, and narrative structure demonstrates the devastating effects that trauma has had on the protagonist's identity and the greater Indigenous community. In order to help the reader better understand the terrible repercussions of generational trauma on Saul Indian Horse's identity and the greater Indigenous community, Richard Wagamese skillfully employs the evocative power of images to clearly convey the painful experiences the protagonist, Saul Indian Horse, endures. Saul's terrifying voyage is brought to life for the reader by Wagamese through the expert use of imagery, which also reveals the severe psychological effects of trauma on Saul.
In this novel, she writes about the members of the Chippewa Tribe and how they have had to live and adapt to this new environment caused by colonialism. Lousie integrates this idea of colonialism and change by turning it into trauma for many of the characters in the book and each character she writes about has a different response
Conflict is an expressed struggle and it is ubiquitous by nature. Indigenous communities experience significant suffering and hardship due to conflicts planted by colonial oppression. Keeper’n Me, by Richard Wagamese, presents the epitome of internal conflict experienced by Indigenous people and communities. Wagamese illustrates this through Garnet Raven’s character, as well as his journey to overcome the lasting repercussions of colonial oppression. Garnet faces inner conflict due to cultural displacement experienced during his childhood.
This connects to the recurring theme in the story, the Theme of Survival in a crisis. The book repeatedly presents the adaptability of indigenous people in crisis throughout history using examples of the residential schools in Canada and the challenges the characters in the book are currently
Louise Erdrich’s novel Tracks, serves as a tool to awaken the past of the people that have been forgotten, and their culture that is no longer thought about or misconstrued. This novel offers insight and powerful knowledge into the rich lives of Native Americans. Erdrich uses specific characters in her novel to show the culture and religion of one specific group of Native Americans. Tracks connects the reader to the lives and struggles of Ojibwa people by telling the story of three main characters, Nanapush, Fleur, and Pauline, as they fight against modern colonialism. Nanapush and Fleur demonstrate their adherence to traditional Ojibwa religion and culture by doing traditional forms of medicine and connecting as one with the land, while Pauline demonstrates her rejection to Ojibwa religion and culture by denying her Native American religion and