Humor in Green Grass, Running Water

The Power of Native Humor in “Green Grass, Running Water” Native American authors have a tendency to incorporate subtle humor into their literature in order to more easily address the cultural divide between Indians and people of the Western world. As previously discussed, in Sherman Alexie’s Flight, humor is used as a tool to comfortably navigate through controversial topics, such as ethnicity and cultural stereotypes. Now, in Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, humor is used as a tool for undermining and eventually tipping over the boundaries that exist between the Indian world and the White world. Through the use of humor, King compels the reader to question these boundaries and challenge their authority. The reader is encouraged to blur the lines between the two separate worlds and to see past the “truths” about Native Americans that have been established by White institutions. “’There are no truths, Coyote,’ I says. ‘Only stories’”, and stories cannot be taken at face value. In Green Grass, Running Water, an unexpected bond is established between Natives and non-Natives; King combines humorous dialogue and ethnically disparate characters from historical, mythical, and Biblical tales to voice the trouble in believing the “truths” behind these tales, all the while reinstating the trouble in believing the “truths” behind Native American culture. Humor in Green Grass, Running Water begins with Coyote, the trickster god who eventually turns all the plans into chaos with his songs and dances, and G O D, a being he dreamt into existence on accident. A humorous dialogue occurs between Coyote, G O D, and the narrator of the novel, “I,” on the first few pages, setting the tone for the rest of the story. “Where did all that water come from? shouts that G O D. ‘Take it easy,’ says Coyote. ‘Sit down. Relax. Watch some television’” (3). Coyote and G O D offer an interesting and humorous commentary on the storytelling that is being done by the narrator. According to Abitor Ibarrola-Armendariz in “Native American Humor As Resistance: Breaking Identity Moulds in Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, this storytelling and commentary is an essential part of the novel in that they add a humor that is necessary to create a balance between the Indian world and the White world, all the while incorporating into it the Native American tradition of oral storytelling. As “I” retells, and completely reinvents, the story of creation, Coyote and G O D chime in with excitement and confusion. “I” mentions the story of the garden and the apple tree in which Adam and Eve, traditionally in the Bible, ate from. However, in this novel, “I” tells this Biblical tale as if the Tree could talk and the food falling out of it were apples and hot dogs and pizza and extra-crispy friend chicken. “Did someone say food?” (41). Humor is also seen in the reconstruction of the story of Noah’s ark later on in the novel. “I” tells the story as if there were a woman, Changing Woman, who fell out of the sky and into the boat. Noah assumes she is “a gift from heaven… my new wife” (160). In a humorous retelling of the Biblical tale, Noah says, “Lemme see your breasts… I like women with big breasts. I hope God remembered that” (160). Both are ridiculous versions of traditional, well-known Biblical tales, but in retelling these tales in such a ridiculous manner, King is encouraging the reader to acknowledge that all that he knows comes from tales told by other people. In questioning a tales’ authority, he must ask himself which tale holds any real truth. This can relate to the White culture believing the “truths” about Native American culture without concrete evidence. Humor is then seen, throughout the novel, in the small interactions between characters. Dialogue between the characters is almost always comical on some level, but it always has an underlying message and an importance. Early on in the novel, Lionel and Norma are discussing the Dead Dog Café and Norma’s belief that it will make Lionel’s sister, Latisha, rich one day. Their conversation is the perfect example of subtle comedy being mixed with an important underlying message in Green Grass, Running Water. “Nice to have a real Indian restaurant in town.” “She sells hamburger.” “People come from all over the world to eat at the Dead Dog Café.” “She sells hamburger and tells everyone that it’s dog meat.” “Germany, Japan, Russia, Italy, Brazil, England, France, Toronto. Everybody comes to the Dead Dog.” “The Blackfoot didn’t eat dog.” “It’s for the tourists.” “In the old days, dogs guarded the camp. They made sure we were safe.” “The Dead Dog Café. Some of the elders might find that insulting all by itself.” (59-60)
Here, Norma is portraying Latisha as the perfect Indian woman running an authentic Indian restaurant. However, Lionel challenges Norma’s portrayal in a humorous back-and-forth conversation; he reminds her that his sister doesn’t actually sell dog meat, but rather hamburger, and that their Blackfoot ancestors would be repulsed at the idea of eating the very animal that acted as a form of protection, while Norma is making it out to be an actual Blackfoot delicacy. Being that Lionel is accused in this novel of “trying to be white,” this exchange between Norma and himself can be seen as an Indian woman pleading with the White culture to see her Native peoples’ successes. Lionel doesn’t see, however, the success in succumbing to the stereotypes being assigned to them. Ibarrola-Armendariz sees Latisha as “the clearest manifestation of her profound understandings of the workings of stereotypical representations.” Humor draws attention to this scene and can be viewed as Native Americans using humor for survival. Native people continue to fight oppression and falsely construed identities that have been given to them. Humor merely highlights how these people combat these false identities and stereotypical representations. The falsely construed identity of Native Americans is seen again with Portland Looking Bear, a Native American man who went to Hollywood to star in Westerns. In the end, his Hollywood career did not pan out and for a superficial reason. “It was his nose, Charlie… It was your father’s nose that brought us home,” recalled Portland’s wife (167). Portland Looking Bear’s nose was simply not “Indian” enough, which is a ridiculous idea because how much more “Indian” can a nose get than on an actual, Native Indian. Here, King is reiterating the false beliefs and ideas that the Western world has about his culture and his people. He states it as though the outside world doesn’t get it at all, but states it in such a ridiculous manner that it is almost humorous. Humor, similarly, is used to acknowledge the “kind of pigeonholing that indigenous peoples have been subjected to in Euro-American minds and histories” (Ibarrola-Armendariz). Along with the stereotypes about physical appearance that the White culture has branded the Native Americans with comes a general idea about the Native people. An “Indian” in the Euro-American mind is the stereotypical Indian that lives in a Teepee, wears feathers in his hair, and is covered in war paint. Obviously, this is not a true Native American and King acknowledges these Euro-American ideas in a conversation between Eli Stands Alone and Clifford Sifton, the constructor who built the Grand Baleen Dam that Eli is fighting to not have activated. Sifton remarks, “Who’d of guessed that there would still be Indians kicking around in the twentieth century… Besides, you guys aren’t real Indians anyway. I mean, you drive cars, watch television, go to hockey games. Look at you. You’re a university professor” (155). Here, Sifton acts as the White man who cannot see beyond the stereotypes and ideologies that have been passed down to him (Ibarrola-Armendariz). Eli states, “[Being a professor] is my profession. Being Indian isn’t a profession” (155). Humor is seen here as Eli responds to Sifton’s wonderment about Indians still being around in the twentieth century as if Sifton is the least educated, most naïve individual in the world. Altogether, the use of humor in Green Grass, Running Water proves beneficial in establishing the trouble in believing stories that are told and passed down from previous generations; this includes stories of “Indians,” a group of people that the White world never quite took the time to figure out. However, King demonstrates that the Native American culture is still alive and thriving, and still fighting against the falsely constructed identities given to them. Doing so with humor, he is able to send out a more easily accepted message and can reach a wider audience.