An Inconsistent Oracle

English 205
May 4, 2010

An Inconsistent Oracle:
Trickster Art & Magic in Truth & Bright Water

                        They massacred the buffalo

                        Kitty-corner from the bank

                        The taxis run across my feet

                        And my eyes have turned to blanks
                                ──Neil Young

    One of earliest myth cycles is that of the trickster.  Trickster appears without warning and, before they leave, the world has been irrevocably changed in some manner.  In Thomas King's Truth & Bright Water the trickster appears as Monroe Swimmer, the "famous Indian artist" and an avatar for the author.  Monroe moves into an old church and proceeds to force a confrontation between authenticity and expectation on a liminal battlefield where reality, mythology, and history blur together in the fog that shrouds the bridge linking the two towns of Truth and Bright Water.  "[T]trickster stories point to the way ordinary, conventional reality is an illusory construction produced out of a particular univocal interpretation of phenomena appearing as signs" (Doueihi qtd by Smith), and to achieve such ends, Monroe enlists the help of an apprentice: the story's 15 year old narrator, Tecumseh.  Through assisting with Monroe's artistic work, Tecumseh learns the world is far larger, and far stranger, than he has conceived from his small corner of it.

    The summation and substantial representation of the Native American Trickster is Coyote. In a critical essay of King's previous novels, Dawn Karima Pettigrew considers the "innate irreverence [which] accompanies Coyote's actions. Unimpressed by titles, rules, or systems, Coyote exhibits a gentle bewilderment coupled with a complete absence of fear or fawning. The white man fails to frighten Coyote. He refuses to be reduced to a victim by the majority culture's vision and values" (Pettigrew 217-18).  Monroe Swimmer is analogous to Coyote, and the famous Indian artist irreverently moves into the old Christian church and, over the course of the novel, proceeds to paint it out of existence.  "[N]o one noticed that Monroe had ... begun to paint the outside walls of the church... [he] began with the east wall first, and because that wall faced over prairies and because you couldn't see it from Truth or Bright Water, no one knew anything was happening..." (King 30).   This act shows an absence of fear or fawning towards the white man's title, system, and rules.  Monroe does not participate in Indian Days, instead he sets up iron decoy buffalo fetishes to lure the bison back to their homeland.  In this, Monroe refuses to play the victim—that is, to pretend to be the sort of Indian expected by the conquering race of tourists—yet operates (via using iron, metal-works, paint, and modern techniques) in methods that are not at all traditional to his tribe or people.  Pettigrew goes on to suggest that although Coyote is "initially open to the contact with white people, [he] quickly becomes cognizant that their societal structures exist to exclude and oppress him. Coyote responds to these social, cultural, and economic barriers by beating their architects at their own game" (218).  Again, this description could as easily be used to describe Monroe's time in Toronto where he became the "famous Indian artist"—as King relates it: "Miles figured Monroe got lucky, that he landed in Toronto just as being an Indian was becoming chic [...] [his] paintings began to sell, and in no time at all, according to Miles, Monroe was rich" (King 28). This got Monroe into trouble with several museums for painting indians into works of art he is meant to restore.  Monroe masters the world of art as measured by the white people, then returns to Bright Water to use their architecture to perform restorations of his own.

    The fact that "in Thomas King's novels, the trickster takes these concepts and uses them to benefit Blackfoot characters who at-tempt to survive life on Canadian reservations in the modern era" (Pettigrew 219) is undeniable when examining—as Pettigrew does in her essay—King's first two novels.  But this begs the question as to the absence of a direct Coyote character in Truth & Bright Water.  It becomes easier then, and perhaps necessary, to consider Monroe as fulfilling this role. Like Coyote, Monroe shows a pridefulness that could easily be written off as egotistical arrogance.  But with Monroe taking the role of Coyote, such an attitude becomes more a matter of magic than ego.  He knows his role and function in the world and is glad to take the mantle.  When Tecumseh first encounters Monroe, he doesn't recognize who he is: "'Famous Indian artist,' says the man, as if he's announcing someone important... 'What?' 'You're supposed to say "famous Indian artist" after you say "Monroe Swimmer"'" (King 46-47).  This "man" is, in fact, the famous Indian artist himself.  The moniker needs to be spoken because—in Trickster lore—words are magic, and Monroe has come to bring fortune and hazard to Truth and Bright Water.  The most notable thing about Monroe when Tecumseh first meets him is his hair, "which reminds me of Graham Greene's hair in Dances With Wolves" (King 47) and which turns out to actually be a wig and not real hair, Tecumseh soon takes the role of apprentice to Monroe, and sees first hand—if without full understanding—of the plans and schemes this trickster has in store.

    When Tecumseh visits Monroe at the church, he takes in the strange and curious changes Monroe is making, and is quickly drawn into the trickster's plans. "There's no altar at the front of the church. I look around to see where Monroe has moved it and that's when I see the buffalo. It's not real, and I know that right away, but it's pretty good" (King 48). Monroe questions Tecumseh directly, "'What'd you think of my buffalo?' 'Is it paper mâché?' 'The real ones are on their way.' [...] Monroe puts on the wig and starts rolling around the room. He circles the buffalo a couple times. 'I'm planning to do some restoration work'" (King 49).  This is the first time Monroe discusses his restoration project.  Although he is known for his work in painting restoration, his current work involves restoring something more than a canvas.  Later in the novel, he and Tecumseh again discuss the project, and again the wig is involved: "I'm hoping Monroe will take the wig off and help.  But he doesn't. 'What do you think?' It's a buffalo. Or, at least, it's the outline of a buffalo. Flat iron wire bent into the shape of a buffalo... 'It's my new restoration project ... I'm going to save the world'" (King 139).  This sort of grand scheme is nothing usual for Trickster, who is often a multi-tasker of mythology playing roles as creator of worlds, destroyer of worlds, and, in some cases, acts to restore the world.

    Tecumseh's involvement in this restoration becomes more laborious.  Monroe enlists him to help at the church in moving his iron silhouettes; his buffalo decoys.  "At first," Tecumseh tells us, "I think all the buffalo are the same," but Tecumseh is catching a glimpse behind the curtain of the trickster.  He sees the working machinations first-hand, even if he doesn't realize the purpose, he knows the intent, "I can see that they are all different shapes and sizes" (King 139).  To fully immerse his apprentice in the workings of his magical plans, Monroe puts the wig on Tecumseh.  Tecumseh doesn't like the wig, he "can see even less now" and the "wig itself smells funny."  But this gesture between Trickster and his charge displays something tangible involving the inclusion of power.  Trickster, in mythology, is almost never on the same level as the gods.  Trickster merely uses mundane powers to fool others into doing the actual work or, when magic is involved, it usually comes in the form of hedge-magic, sympathetic magic; those process which gain power through perception and belief.  "'Before we're done,'" Monroe tells [Tecumseh], "'buffalo will return'" (King 143-44).  The magical ritual has started, but it takes some time, and a number of physical trappings, to achieve its influence. Monroe hasn't yet made the church fully invisible, but already it blends in with the prairie and sky around it.  Monroe warns Tecumseh not to tell anyone about their work because "'If they hear about it, it won't work." It is not the people of Bright Water with which Monroe is concerned, "Real buffalo,'" he whispers, 'can spot a decoy a mile away'" (King 145).  Monroe warns Tecumseh against saying anything because, like speaking his moniker, words hold power and speaking about the work in progress could lead to the words being carried on the winds to reach the buffalo, wherever they may be, and keep them from returning.

    This creates a dichotomy in Tecumseh's world, as exemplified by two conversations in particular.  His cousin, Lum, is firmly planted in the real, modern and present world: "'Garbage,' he says, his voice hissing into the wind. 'The new buffalo'" (King 162).  Lum represents a new generation of indian who does not believe in the traditions of folklore and ghost dances and dog soldiers and magic.  He is fully involved in Indian Days and doesn't have much patience for ideas involving art and restoration.  Contrarily, Aunt Cassie's life involves mystery and unanswerable questions.  In one exchange with Tecumseh, the magic at work is stated directly and aloud, "Auntie Cassie looks towards Truth. 'I hear Monroe is painting the church.' 'You should see it,' I say. 'He's making the church disappear'" (King 174).  Monroe's turning the church invisible can be seen from a realistic perspective as merely using paint to camouflage the building to appear as part of the landscape surrounding it.  On another level of perception, Monroe makes the church's history disappear as he turns it into a place of art and magic—his home—and thus, the church as a Christian house of worship has genuinely vanished.  In this latter sense, we see as well how Tecumseh is learning these same methods from Monroe, "I take my shirt off and rub dirt on my body to kill my scent and help me blend with the landscape...'" (King 205), his actions reflecting what he has learned from the restoration project of his mentor.

    Monroe's message becomes overt and undisguised when he tells Tecumseh, "'Magic ... if you want the herds to return, you have to understand magic. [...] Realism will only take you so far'" (208). Monroe, trickster that he is, is also a reflected manifestation of the author, and so Monroe telling us that magic is afoot and that realism won't bring a conclusion is King slipping in a glimpse of the authorial structure at work, hinting that the novel's conclusion will involve a certain brand of magic; realism alone will not bring us, the readers, to where the author wishes us to be.

    Later, when Tecumseh last mentions the buffalo, he sees that "a few of them have wandered off and aren't where they're supposed to be, but most of the have stayed put. Monroe said they might move around a bit and that it isn't a worry as long as they stay in sight."  Given that the church (may or may not) exist out on the prairie, iron decoys of buffalo moving about on their own doesn't come as a surprise.  Realism brought us only so far.  For something truly remarkable, if we use eyes willing to see, we find that magic will show us other paths.

    Soldier, Tecumseh's dog, has found many of the paths which the human characters traverse in the novel.  Soldier is named after the dog soldiers of old Cheyenne lore, indian warriors who staked themselves to a piece of land to defend it against all invaders, both in this world and the next.  The formation of the Dog Soldier came about after a Cheyenne warrior named Porcupine Bear had a vision of two cousins involved in a fight (Hoig).  This source vision manifest in King's novel through the three canine character—Soldier and the two Cousins.  These dogs are a crucial part of the landscape and act as symbols for both discovery and protection.  When, just prior to the conclusion of the novel, Soldier runs away from Tecumseh, Monroe views it with eyes looking at a different world than the landscape of prairies and mountains and big sky:

        "'Looks like he's on a mission,' says Monroe.
        "Soldier trots down the side of the coulee and disappears into the fog. I'm fairly sure I know where he's going, and I'm not sure it's a good idea.
        "'You better go find him,' says Monroe. 'No telling how far he'll go this time.' He leans against the truck and straightens the ribbon so it lies on the bone like lines of blood. 'When you do,' he says, 'ask him not to both the buffalo.'
        "I don't catch up with Soldier." (King 268-69)

Monroe is the trickster and Soldier is the defender and psychopomp, this passage becomes prophecy; a dark foretelling of the death that soon follows.  Tecumseh cannot catch up to Soldier because the dog must travel a path which leads to sunless lands where the living cannot go.  But this possible trek which Soldier makes, is, like the fog that shrouds the bridge spanning the river between Truth and Bright Water, is obscured and ultimately never definitively revealed.

    Monroe's message to the indians of the reservation, like his art, is not always consistent, and by the novel's end both are left unclear, but that uncertainty is part of what he teaches.  What we learn, much like what we experience, requires the proper eyes with which to see, the proper ears with which to hear.  If we hold rigid expectations about what is going to happen, as Lum and others in Bright Water did, then that is all that we may allow to occur.  If we, like Monroe and to some extent Tecumseh, open ourselves to other possibilities, then what we experience around us will continually be surprising and new.  In a previous novel by King, the narrator and Coyote are talking.  The conversation could almost as easily be placed in Truth & Bright Water as being between Tecumseh (a first-person narrator whose name is mentioned only once) and Monroe.  "'There are no truths, Coyote,' I says. 'Only stories.' 'Okay,' says Coyote. 'Tell me a story'" (King qtd by Ruppert).  The story in this latter novel could be summarized as the trickster climbing to the rooftop of an invisible church and yawping to the world: the buffalo have returned and magic is afoot!

Bibliography

Hart, Mickey and Jay Stevens and Fredric Leiberman. Drumming at the Edge of Magic. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1990. Print.

Hoig, Stan. The Peace Chiefs of the Cheyennes. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980. Internet file. 16 April 2010.

King, Thomas. Truth & Bright Water. 2000. Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.

Pettigrew, Dawn Karima. "Coyote discovers America: The cultural survival of the trickster in the novels of Thomas King." Wicazo Sa Review 12.1 (1997). EBSCO. Web. 29 April 2010.

Rose, Wendy. "Just What's All This Fuss about Whiteshamanism Anyway?" Coyote Was Here: Essays on Contemporary Native American Literary and Political Mobilization. Aarhus, Denmark: Seklos, Dept. of Eng., Univ. of Aarhus, 1984. EBSCO. Web. 19 April 2010.

Ruppert, James. "When coyote dreams." World & I 8.6 (1993). EBSCO. Web. 30 April 2010.

Smith, Carlton. "Coyote, Contingency, and Community: Thomas King's Green Grass, Running Water and Postmodern Trickster." American Indian Quarterly 21.3 (1997). EBSCO. Web. 29 April 2010.

"Truth & Bright Water Reading Guide." Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2001. HarperCollins. PDF. 22 April 2010.



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