Green Grass, Running Water
Encyclopedia
Green Grass, Running Water is a 1993
novel by Native-Canadian and Greek writer
Thomas King. Set in a contemporary First Nations Blackfoot
community in Alberta
, Canada
, the novel gained attention due to its unique use of structure, narrative, and the fusion of oral and written literary traditions. The novel is rife with humor and satire, particularly regarding Judeo-Christian
beliefs as well as western government and society. Green Grass, Running Water was a finalist for 1993 Governor General's Award in Fiction
.
is present as well as the unknown narrator. Coyote has a dream which takes form and wakes Coyote up from his sleep. The dream thinks that it is very smart; indeed the dream thinks that it is god, but Coyote is only amused, labeling the dream as Dog, who gets everything backwards. Dog asks why there is water everywhere, surrounding the unknown narrator, Coyote, and him. At this, the unknown narrator begins to explain the escape of four Native American elders from a mental institution who are named Lone Ranger, Ishmael
, Robinson Crusoe
, and Hawkeye
. The elders are each connected with a female character from native tradition: First Woman and the Lone Ranger, Changing Woman and Ishmael, Thought Woman and Robinson Crusoe, and Old Woman and Hawkeye. The book then divides into four main sections: each of these sections is the narration by one of the four elders.
In addition to these four explaining the "ordinary" events, they also tell a creation story that accounts for why there is so much water; in each creation story, the four encounter a figure from the Bible
, as well as the western literary figure from whom each derive his name.
There are four major plot lines in the book. One of these follows the escape and travels of the elders and coyote who are out to fix the world. Dr Joseph Hovaugh and Babo, his assistant, try to track down the elders. Dr. Hovaugh keeps track of every time the elders have gone missing and he attributes major events like the eruption of Mount St Helens to their disappearances. The second plot line follows Lionel Red Dog, Charlie Looking Bear and Alberta. The third plot line follows Eli Stands Alone, Lionel's uncle, who lives in his mother's house in the spillway of the Balene Dam. The fourth plot line involves characters from Christian and Native American creation myths and traditions as well as literary and historical figures including Ahdamn, First Woman, the Young Man Who Walks on Water, Robinson Crusoe, Nasty Bumpo and so on.
As the climax of the novel approaches, so does the traditional Blackfoot ceremony of the Sun Dance
. Ultimately, the dam breaks due to an earthquake caused by Coyote's singing and dancing. The flooding of water destroys Eli's house, but also returning the waterway to its natural course.
The novel concludes much as it began. The trickster-god Coyote and the unknown narrator are in an argument about what existed in the beginning. Coyote says nothing, but the unknown narrator says that there was water. Once again Coyote asks why there is water everywhere, and the unknown narrator says he will explain how it happened.
Charlie Looking Bear - A lover of the character Alberta Frank, he is Lionel's cousin and a slick lawyer who represents the company that is building the dam that Eli opposes. Charlie was hired because the company thought an Aboriginal lawyer might ease resentment from the populace. He used to have the same job as Lionel, a TV salesman, and in many ways represents what Lionel could become.
Alberta Frank - A professor and the lover of both Lionel and Charlie. She wants to have a child, but does not want a husband or marriage.
Eli Stands Alone - Lionel's uncle. A former professor, who opposes the building of a dam that upsets the natural course of a waterway. This natural course is important to Blackfoot tradition. Eli lives in a cabin near the dam, which would be ruined (and his life threatened) if the dam were to continue to be expanded and form a lake. Eli has filed lawsuits, and the company that Charlie represents has been stymied for 10 years.
Latisha - Lionel's sister. She is the owner of the Dead Dog Café which pretends to sell dog meat, because tourists incorrectly believe dog meat is the authentic ethnic food of the Blackfoot Native Americans. In the novel, she acts mainly as someone who offers good counsel to Lionel.
Dog, aka GOD - While Coyote was sleeping at the beginning of his novel, one of his dreams takes form and runs amok, waking Coyote up. The dream thinks it is very smart, and calls itself GOD. Coyote agrees that his dream is smart, but that it is only a facsimile of Coyote and that this dream has everything backwards; thereby he names it Dog.
Coyote - A trickster god who falls asleep and gives form to his dream, "Dog." He is on speaking terms with the four escaped American Indians, as well as the unknown narrator of the novel. He does not directly speak to the "ordinary" denizens of Blossom, although he does appear as an odd-looking dog which Lionel sees dancing.
The Old Indians - These four escaped Aboriginal men break out from a mental institution in Florida
and make their way to Blossom. Each is responsible for telling a segment of the novel to the unknown narrator of the novel. They each tell a creation story as well, in which they are originally identified as First Woman, Changing Woman, Thought Woman, and Old Woman. They encounter both a Biblical character as well as a western literary figure, and they change their names to these literary figures: First Woman to Lone Ranger, Changing Woman to Ishmael
, Thought Woman to Robinson Crusoe
, and Old Woman to Hawkeye
.
Dr. Joe Hovaugh - the doctor in charge of the mental hospital from which the four Aboriginal men escape. King portrays him as a confused, harmless, uninterested old man who is concerned mostly with his dying garden. When pronounced phonetically, his name sounds similar to "Jehovah."
Interspersed in the four sections of the novel are four different stories of the creation, as told by four timeless Aboriginal women/gods: First Woman, Changing Woman, Thought Woman, and Old Woman. In each of these retellings, each woman meets both a figure from the Bible as well as a western literary figure, from whom she takes on a new name: Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye, respectively. These timeless women become the four "Indian Men" who escape the asylum, thus echoing the Trickster's ability to change genders.
Each of the four escaped Aboriginal men originally starts as a mythical figure from Aboriginal oral tradition. They then encounter Dog posing as "GOD," and a Biblical character and situation. They also each come across a western literary figure and take new names after them. First Woman becomes Lone Ranger, Changing Woman becomes Ishmael
, Thought Woman becomes Robinson Crusoe
, and Old Woman becomes Hawkeye
. This constant merger between oral and literary traditions indicates "Green Grass, Running Water"'s constant intervention in western narrative tradition. By using satire and humor, King is comparing and contrasting the two traditions, highlighting faults as well as strengths.
. The book was championed as a novel for all Canadians by Glen Murray, former Mayor of Winnipeg, in the Canada Reads 2004
contest.
Some elements of the book were incorporated into King's later CBC Radio
comedy series The Dead Dog Café.
1993 in literature
The year 1993 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Professor Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, becomes the longest running book on the bestseller list of The Sunday Times....
novel by Native-Canadian and Greek writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Thomas King. Set in a contemporary First Nations Blackfoot
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
community in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the novel gained attention due to its unique use of structure, narrative, and the fusion of oral and written literary traditions. The novel is rife with humor and satire, particularly regarding Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...
beliefs as well as western government and society. Green Grass, Running Water was a finalist for 1993 Governor General's Award in Fiction
1993 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1993 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $10,000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-Fiction:Winner:...
.
Plot summary
Green Grass, Running Water opens with an unknown narrator explaining "the beginning," in which the trickster-god CoyoteCoyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
is present as well as the unknown narrator. Coyote has a dream which takes form and wakes Coyote up from his sleep. The dream thinks that it is very smart; indeed the dream thinks that it is god, but Coyote is only amused, labeling the dream as Dog, who gets everything backwards. Dog asks why there is water everywhere, surrounding the unknown narrator, Coyote, and him. At this, the unknown narrator begins to explain the escape of four Native American elders from a mental institution who are named Lone Ranger, Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
, Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
, and Hawkeye
Natty Bumppo
Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.- Fictional biography :...
. The elders are each connected with a female character from native tradition: First Woman and the Lone Ranger, Changing Woman and Ishmael, Thought Woman and Robinson Crusoe, and Old Woman and Hawkeye. The book then divides into four main sections: each of these sections is the narration by one of the four elders.
In addition to these four explaining the "ordinary" events, they also tell a creation story that accounts for why there is so much water; in each creation story, the four encounter a figure from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, as well as the western literary figure from whom each derive his name.
There are four major plot lines in the book. One of these follows the escape and travels of the elders and coyote who are out to fix the world. Dr Joseph Hovaugh and Babo, his assistant, try to track down the elders. Dr. Hovaugh keeps track of every time the elders have gone missing and he attributes major events like the eruption of Mount St Helens to their disappearances. The second plot line follows Lionel Red Dog, Charlie Looking Bear and Alberta. The third plot line follows Eli Stands Alone, Lionel's uncle, who lives in his mother's house in the spillway of the Balene Dam. The fourth plot line involves characters from Christian and Native American creation myths and traditions as well as literary and historical figures including Ahdamn, First Woman, the Young Man Who Walks on Water, Robinson Crusoe, Nasty Bumpo and so on.
As the climax of the novel approaches, so does the traditional Blackfoot ceremony of the Sun Dance
Sun Dance
The Sun Dance is a religious ceremony practiced by a number of Native American and First Nations peoples, primarily those of the Plains Nations. Each tribe has its own distinct practices and ceremonial protocols...
. Ultimately, the dam breaks due to an earthquake caused by Coyote's singing and dancing. The flooding of water destroys Eli's house, but also returning the waterway to its natural course.
The novel concludes much as it began. The trickster-god Coyote and the unknown narrator are in an argument about what existed in the beginning. Coyote says nothing, but the unknown narrator says that there was water. Once again Coyote asks why there is water everywhere, and the unknown narrator says he will explain how it happened.
Principal Characters
Lionel An uninspired, ill-motivated electronics salesman; Lionel rivals Charlie for Alberta's affection. Lionel's parents and sister Latisha attempt to counsel him through his various troubles.Charlie Looking Bear - A lover of the character Alberta Frank, he is Lionel's cousin and a slick lawyer who represents the company that is building the dam that Eli opposes. Charlie was hired because the company thought an Aboriginal lawyer might ease resentment from the populace. He used to have the same job as Lionel, a TV salesman, and in many ways represents what Lionel could become.
Alberta Frank - A professor and the lover of both Lionel and Charlie. She wants to have a child, but does not want a husband or marriage.
Eli Stands Alone - Lionel's uncle. A former professor, who opposes the building of a dam that upsets the natural course of a waterway. This natural course is important to Blackfoot tradition. Eli lives in a cabin near the dam, which would be ruined (and his life threatened) if the dam were to continue to be expanded and form a lake. Eli has filed lawsuits, and the company that Charlie represents has been stymied for 10 years.
Latisha - Lionel's sister. She is the owner of the Dead Dog Café which pretends to sell dog meat, because tourists incorrectly believe dog meat is the authentic ethnic food of the Blackfoot Native Americans. In the novel, she acts mainly as someone who offers good counsel to Lionel.
Dog, aka GOD - While Coyote was sleeping at the beginning of his novel, one of his dreams takes form and runs amok, waking Coyote up. The dream thinks it is very smart, and calls itself GOD. Coyote agrees that his dream is smart, but that it is only a facsimile of Coyote and that this dream has everything backwards; thereby he names it Dog.
Coyote - A trickster god who falls asleep and gives form to his dream, "Dog." He is on speaking terms with the four escaped American Indians, as well as the unknown narrator of the novel. He does not directly speak to the "ordinary" denizens of Blossom, although he does appear as an odd-looking dog which Lionel sees dancing.
The Old Indians - These four escaped Aboriginal men break out from a mental institution in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and make their way to Blossom. Each is responsible for telling a segment of the novel to the unknown narrator of the novel. They each tell a creation story as well, in which they are originally identified as First Woman, Changing Woman, Thought Woman, and Old Woman. They encounter both a Biblical character as well as a western literary figure, and they change their names to these literary figures: First Woman to Lone Ranger, Changing Woman to Ishmael
Ishmael (Moby-Dick)
Ishmael is the narrator of the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by U.S. author Herman Melville. It is through his eyes and experience that the reader experiences the story of the ship Pequod, and the fight between Captain Ahab and the white whale...
, Thought Woman to Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
, and Old Woman to Hawkeye
Natty Bumppo
Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.- Fictional biography :...
.
Dr. Joe Hovaugh - the doctor in charge of the mental hospital from which the four Aboriginal men escape. King portrays him as a confused, harmless, uninterested old man who is concerned mostly with his dying garden. When pronounced phonetically, his name sounds similar to "Jehovah."
Title significance
The title, Green Grass, Running Water, is said to be in reference to the U.S. government promising Native Americans rights to their land "as long as the grass is green and the water runs." The significance of land in First Nations' culture and the politics of land claims are underscored throughout the text.Structure and narration
The structure of the novel is quite unique; the narrator of the story is only identified as "I." This character is a companion of Coyote, and knows the four escaped Aboriginal men personally. The unknown narrator is told the plot of the novel by each of the four in turn. This means that the reader hears the story through the unknown narrator, who heard the story from all of the four escaped Aboriginal men, who separately tell the story to the denizens of Blossom. To further complicate the narrative structure, the unknown narrator is telling this story not directly to the reader, but primarily to Coyote.Interspersed in the four sections of the novel are four different stories of the creation, as told by four timeless Aboriginal women/gods: First Woman, Changing Woman, Thought Woman, and Old Woman. In each of these retellings, each woman meets both a figure from the Bible as well as a western literary figure, from whom she takes on a new name: Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye, respectively. These timeless women become the four "Indian Men" who escape the asylum, thus echoing the Trickster's ability to change genders.
Merging oral and written tradition
Green Grass, Running Water has been hailed as a merger between oral and written tradition as well as between Aboriginal and European-American cultures. The story has a dualism that is present throughout, starting with Coyote and Dog. In Green Grass, Running Water, Coyote is the Trickster of Aboriginal tradition, specifically plains/prairie tradition, whereas Dog thinks that he is "GOD," but is merely Coyote's dream.Each of the four escaped Aboriginal men originally starts as a mythical figure from Aboriginal oral tradition. They then encounter Dog posing as "GOD," and a Biblical character and situation. They also each come across a western literary figure and take new names after them. First Woman becomes Lone Ranger, Changing Woman becomes Ishmael
Ishmael (Moby-Dick)
Ishmael is the narrator of the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by U.S. author Herman Melville. It is through his eyes and experience that the reader experiences the story of the ship Pequod, and the fight between Captain Ahab and the white whale...
, Thought Woman becomes Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
, and Old Woman becomes Hawkeye
Natty Bumppo
Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.- Fictional biography :...
. This constant merger between oral and literary traditions indicates "Green Grass, Running Water"'s constant intervention in western narrative tradition. By using satire and humor, King is comparing and contrasting the two traditions, highlighting faults as well as strengths.
Reception
Green Grass, Running Water has been received positively, both within Native communities and without. King's book was a finalist for the 1993 Governor General's Award in Fiction1993 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1993 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $10,000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-Fiction:Winner:...
. The book was championed as a novel for all Canadians by Glen Murray, former Mayor of Winnipeg, in the Canada Reads 2004
Canada Reads
Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...
contest.
Some elements of the book were incorporated into King's later CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
comedy series The Dead Dog Café.