What is this mysterious trickster figure? Why is it mysterious? One cannot understand Native American Literatures or First Nations Literatures, for that matter, without a clear understanding of mythology. Mythographer John Bierhorst claims that "mythology does not have the antiquity of geologic ages, but it is nevertheless a very old pattern, woven into the terrain over the course of thousands of years. Each continent - except Antarctica - has its own mythological imprint and will probably never receive another, at least not in the foreseeable future. Viewed at a distance, myths create a luxuriant configuration that gradually changes from region to region. At close range, these same myths reflect the desires and fears of distinct peoples, granting them trusteeship of the land with the consent of unseen powers." (2) What Bierhorst is suggesting here is that there are distinct mythological maps that have guided cultures from ancient times to the present.
Myths are called âtayôhkêwin in Plains Cree, and occupy a very important place in the culture. The Cree creation narrative is considered to be the archetype of its spiritual foundation. The events and sequence of the unfolding universe are the basis of the Cree belief system. Other sacred narratives of Cree mythology speak of the emergence of a culture hero, the trickster, who named and organized everything that existed in the Cree lifescape, and made the flora and fauna, earth and heavens harmonious and safe in preparation for the arrival of the Cree people. The collection of tribal narratives represents the archives of centuries of learning and the synthesis of human, ecological, and spiritual knowledge. "In many cases, Cree knowledge is only accessible through the understanding of a complex nexus of sacred oral narratives and communal spiritual practices that are reenactments of the creation time. The whole scheme of creation and mythological beginnings, along with a complex array of peoples' experiences since ancient times, contributes to what traditional Cree people consider the truth of existence."
Many of the most important figures in Cree mythology are human in shape. Here are some central ones just to name a few:
- The 'Older Brother' of all Cree people. He is clever, plays tricks on other creatures and is often treated as The First Cree person.
- 'Little People' can help humans by giving them powers if they pass a test or challenge.
- 'Windigo' is a human that has been infected with wicked powers after consuming human flesh. They have great powers and are much feared.
- 'Thunderer/Thunderbird' are beings that come from the sky, usually associated with strong and powerful thunderstorms. They are considered good, and protect humans from evil things.
- 'Sun-Child' is born when the Sun takes a mortal wife. He becomes the Morning Star.
- 'One with a beaded head/Wampum-head' is a man with beads in his hair. He is associated with prosperity and physical beauty.
But what about this mysterious Fur Queen?
In Tomson Highway's novel Kiss of the Fur Queen, the figure of the Fur Queen is described with both Weesageechak and Weetigo imagery. Cynthia Sugars asserts that Highway's use of the Weetigo "represents a critical after effect of colonialism for it [the Weetigo] embodies the ways members of a culture can be induced to turn on their own people."(74) Jenifer S.H. Brown and Robert Brightman in their study The Orders of the Dreamed: George Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth claim that there is a "socially shared belief in the reality of windigo transformation."(163) Highway employs Weetigo imagery to describe the residential school's abusive priest which places sexual abuse parallel to the Weetigo's cannibalism. Such a construction of a Weetigo sexuality within the Christian context puts Jeremiah and Gabriel in danger of a sexualized and religious form of Weetigo transformation as Mitchell Leslie Spray tells us. To demonstrate the complex issues that the Aboriginal culture and its members must encounter within the modern colonial framework, Highway uses mythological figures specific to his characters' culture. Tomson Highway does not praise Aboriginal culture or condemn Western culture; in the Okimasis brothers he exaggerates the interaction and confrontation between the two cultures.
In Comparing Mythologies Tomson Highway states that mythology "maps out the collective subconscious, the collective dream world of races of people, the collective spiritual nervous system."(26) Therefore, he, using the mythology of the Rock Cree, comes up with a Trickster who has an unclear influence on the main characters' lives and whose symbolic presence permeates both cultures in which the brothers travel. For, as Elvira Pulitano writes, "Trickster stories have always aimed at liberating people's minds, forcing them into self-recognition and knowledge, and keeping them alert to their own power to heal."(147) It is easy to identify the Fur Queen as Trickster; however, the complications of Weesageechak and Weetigo merged in this one figure make the liberation of minds and forced self-recognition clearly painful and potentially dangerous.
more to follow ...
Works cited and consulted:
John Bierhorst, The Mythology of North America
Jenifer S.H. Brown and Robert Brightman, The Orders of the Dreamed: George Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth
Tomson Highway, Comparing Mythologies
Elvira Pulitano, Toward a Native American Critical Theory
Cynthia Sugars, "Weetigos and Weasels: Tomson Highway's Kiss of the Fur Queen and Canadian Post-Colonialism"
The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
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