GGRW extended Journal

Charlie, Lionel, Norma, Eli…each of these people are part of the Blackfoot Indian tribe. Whether they want to be or not; their heritage comes from these roots. The word, Blackfoot comes from ash on the bottom of their moccasins. Many of the traditions of the Blackfoot are reflected in Green Grass, Running Water, by Thomas King.

Just as most Indians were in the nineteenth century; this particular tribe was eventually put onto reservations. Prior to this, they occupied the region extending from the North Saskatchewan River of Canada to the Missouri River in Montana. The reservations of the Blackfoot are primarily located in Alberta, Canada, which is where Green Grass, Running Water takes place.

In the season of summer, this tribe participates in the Sun Dance. Although similar to many Indian rituals, the Sun Dance has a few distinctions. It would take four days to just prepare the campus alone. Teepees would need to be moved and the Sun Dance lodge built. The purpose of the lodge was for the men to encounter spiritual experiences to farther their significance in their tribe. Medicine bundles were very important in this ritual. After fasting for a certain amount of time, a person would wait to have a vision; this is where the bundle would be received. If someone did not have a supernatural experience, they would buy a bundle. It was after preparation for the ceremony that the dancing would begin. Participants had to refrain from food or drink during this time. When it came to be the time that the men danced, there was a slight difference. They included self torture in their ritual. Their skin and muscles would be pierced with skewers; sometimes they would hang by skewers inside the lodge from the ceiling. This was done in order to ensure benefits for the past in future because it was reflecting their need to give something of themselves. This is an event not described in Thomas King’s novel. It is hard to know whether Norma and the rest of the participating characters were involved in the pain-inflicting part, but there are hints to assume that they were. Eli talks about an instance from his past where, during Sun Dance, a tourist began taking pictures of the dancing men. Eli’s uncle, Orville, sternly told the man, “You can’t take pictures at Sun Dance” (153). He didn’t allow the curious tourist to leave unless he handed over the camera. It is possible that no pictures were allowed because their system of pain-infliction became illegal in 1904 and they didn’t want to be exposed.

A site known as the Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump reveals significance to the Blackfoot tribe. In all of North America, it is one of the largest buffalo jumps. It is derived from the story of a Piegan man who stood to watch a hunting session. Later he was uncovered from a pile of buffalo with his head crashed in. Something interesting from this particular site is that the creation story was told in 1997:

"In the beginning all the world was water. One day the Old Man, also
called Napi, was curious to find out what might be beneath the water. He
sent animals to dive beneath the surface. First duck, then otter, then
badger dived in vain. The Old Man sent muskrat diving to the depths.
After a long time muskrat rode to the surface holding between his paws a
little ball of mud and blew upon it. The mud began to swell, growing
larger and larger until it became the whole earth.
The Old Man then made the
people."

Head-Smashed in buffalo jump (1997)

This ties back into Green Grass, Running Water because water holds so much significance throughout the story. All of the parodies begin the same: “In the beginning, there was nothing. Just the water” (1). When Thomas King satirically describes the Christian story of creation, it is clear that he included the Blackfoot story as well.

Currently the Blackfoot tribe consists of about 1.7 percent of the entire Indian population of America. Most are living in Alberta, Canada, while the rest, for the most part, live in Montana.