Introduction
The story of the book takes place somewhere in central Ontario, Canada, where fictional Anishnawbe Reserve of Otter Lake is located. The central character of the novel is 35-year-old Maggie Sacord, who is raising her teenage son Virgil alone. Additionally, she assumed the duties of chief of the reserve after the death of her husband. Such a number of responsibilities present difficulties for a woman, especially in recent years. However, her life is significantly compromised when the local authorities decide to return to the reserve the land that was previously borrowed from them. Maggie not only has to deal with a huge amount of paperwork and many meetings with representatives of various levels of government, but also constantly communicate with members of the reserve, each of whom has their own opinion on the situation with the lands. The author, through comical events, explores the nature of traditional beliefs and values, and also emphasizes the need to preserve traditions in continuous contact with the wider society.
Discussion
In addition to Maggie’s routine worries, a mysterious white man called John suddenly appears on the reserve. He arrives on an old Indian motorcycle and shows up at Maggie’s mother’s house shortly before her death. Lillian, Maggie’s mother and Virgil’s grandmother, has become a unique character who combines features of traditional and modern culture. She managed to preserve her native language and beliefs, receiving an education within the framework of the culture of white people. Lillian was able to keep her faith in traditional values by telling her children stories about the Nanabush, “the central character of Anishnawbe mythology, the paramount metaphor in thei cosmology” (1 p293), while still going to Christian church on Sundays. Lillian’s death is also a difficult event for both Maggie and Virgil, for whom it was also a connection to traditional Indian culture.
Virgil witnesses John kissing his grandmother shortly before her death. The white male raises a lot of suspicions in the teenager, as he speaks the Anishnawbe language perfectly and knows about all local traditions including how to braid sweetgrass. In addition, John looks strange and has an influence on the local fauna, which makes the teenager even more worried. In the end, Virgil decides to draw his mother’s attention to the appearance of a strange white man. Gradually, Maggie falls in love with a mysterious man, which leads to a number of changes in both the character and the reserve. It turns out that John is the Nanbush trickster of the tribal lore that Vivian told of, the embodiment of traditional values and beliefs. He was acquainted with Maggie’s mother, who, before her death, asked him to do her one last favor. Over the course of the story, Nanabush helps Maggie and Virgil redefine their ideas about heritage, culture, and tradition, acknowledging that “There are no such thing as dead ends. Only people who find dead ends” (1 p341).
The book contains several important themes, which the author discusses through an often comic plot. First of all, Nanabush and his actions force the characters to reconsider their attitude to faith. He gradually helps them to understand that faith is necessary but only within reason. The constant striving to preserve traditional values and refuse to learn new orders are erroneous if there is a need to assimilate to new conditions. The constant interaction of the community with the government, which accounts for much of their difficulty, emphasizes that while the Indians need to preserve their own traditions, they cannot isolate themselves from the contemporary majority culture.
Lilan, in her younger years, was sent to a residential school where she was forced to abandon the traditions and language of her tribe in favor of the values of white society. However, it has managed to preserve its heritage and culture by combining the traditional and the modern. This approach is the key to the survival of Indian communities in the modern world, where it is impossible to exist separately from the whole society. Indian reserves in Canada need to be more supportive of their traditional beliefs within the new values of modern culture. This approach will allow them to develop organically without losing touch with their own roots.
Conclusion
It was not by chance that the author chose Nanbush as the central figure of changes in the book of the trickster. This character is a universal archetype for various cultures, which personifies the transition from one state to another. In this situation, Nanabush personifies the collective as opposed to the individual, and also offers a freer attitude towards the traditional values of the local culture. It allows the reserve’s members to understand that they are part of a larger context and not confined within their own separate space. Nanabush emphasizes that it is possible to share the values of one’s tribe within a community, but also be part of a whole society with modern advances. The universality of the trickster allows the author to simultaneously emphasize the uniqueness of the traditions of the tribe that they are trying to preserve and their commonality with all other ethnic minorities anywhere in the world.
Reference
Taylor DH. Motorcycles and sweetgrass. Knopf Canada; 2010. 368 p.