Thomas King’s short story A Coyote Columbus Story is written as a children’s story, with its light, lampooning tone, informal language, and childish characters. Yet beneath this humourous presentation, King comments on important issues facing present day North American culture. These include the question of perspective regarding North America’s colonial history, the possibility of maintaining (or reclaiming) a genuine Native North American tradition, and the disturbing and nihilistic influence of capitalism on ourselves and our environment.
The story progresses in the form of a quasi-dialogue between the narrator and Coyote, a mythological “trickster” common in Native North American folklore. At the beginning, Coyote announces that she is going to a party for Christopher Columbus (presumably on Columbus Day) and informs the narrator that Columbus is the one who found both America and Native Americans. When the narrator questions this claim, Coyote says that she read it in a “big red history book.” The narrator then launches into his own account of Columbus’ arrival, in which Coyote herself brings Columbus and his men into existence. She does this out of boredom, having been abandoned by her Native friends, who find “better things to do than play ball with Coyote and those changing rules.” These things include fishing, shopping, and going to the movies.
Coyote soon regrets “thinking up” Columbus and his men however, as they spurn her invitations to play ball, which is all she ever wants to do, and are only interested in gathering things--gold, silk cloth, and portable colour televisions--to sell back home in Spain. Coyote says to herself, “Maybe I thought too hard. These people have no manners. They act as if they have no relations.” Things get worse when Columbus decides to switch from gathering material items to gathering the Native Americans themselves to sell in Spain. This decision initially evokes Coyote’s laughter: “That is a good joke, she says, and begins to laugh some more.” Once she realizes the gravity of the situation, however, Coyote dismays. She asks plaintively, “who will play ball with me?” This, then, is the narrator’s account of Columbus’ arrival and the subsequent European colonization of North America. In direct opposition to Coyote’s claim that Columbus found America and Native Americans, the narrator concludes by saying “Those things were never lost...Those things were always here. Those things are still here today.”
King presents the aforementioned cultural issues in the form of a children’s story. The tone throughout the story is light and informal, and King presents many of the important decisions and claims made by Coyote and Columbus as inconsequential. When, for instance, Coyote makes the historical claim that Columbus found both America and Native Americans, the narrator replies in an almost mockingly chastising tone “Boy, that Coyote is one silly Coyote--you got to watch out for her.” As well, Columbus’ venture, and indeed Columbus himself, are presented by King as childish. For even though Columbus’ deeds, especially his decision to
bring the Native Americans to market, are devastating, he and his men are portrayed as frisky, even temperamental children who are ultimately blameless. When, for example, Columbus’ men present him with the goods they have gathered, Columbus reacts petulantly, grinding his teeth so hard that “he gets a headache and gets cranky.” Coyote is perhaps the most childish figure in the story, however, as she is obsessed with playing ball, a game for which only she can make the rules. Her reaction when Columbus gathers most of her Native American friends is especially juvenile: she is sad because there is no longer anybody to play ball with.
A Coyote Columbus Story functions primarily as a criticism of dominant historical narratives. In other words, it calls into question those versions of history written by the “winners,” who are in this case, and most cases, Europeans. Coyote’s claim that Columbus found both America and Native Americans, an alleged ‘fact’ which she read in a dubious “big red history book,” implies that only Europeans have a perspective worth considering, and that the North American continent and the Native Americans did not exist prior to Columbus’ discovery of them. The narrator’s account problematizes this understanding, as Coyote, perhaps a symbol for the contingent nature of the world, brings Columbus and his men into existence. This new account of things serves to remind Europeans that their conquering of North America and Native American peoples was perhaps not ‘meant to be’ but was rather accidental, owing to the forces of chance. This account also forces people with “Eurocentric” biases to step outside of these biases and consider not only another version of how colonialism came to be, but also an entirely new historical perspective, namely that of Native North Americans.
King also mounts a subtle critique of capitalism in this story, or at least the consumerist mentality of the Europeans who colonized North America. He appears to be saying that this mentality, which Columbus and his men embody in the story, is dangerous as it contains few moral restraints besides those of positive laws. This danger is evident in Columbus’ insatiable desire to gather whatever material goods he and his men desire, and it culminates in his devastating decision to gather the Native Americans to be sold. King’s statement here is that fellow human beings, as well as the environment, may at any moment become objects of exploitation within the capitalist system.
King’s decision to present the controversial story of Europe’s colonization of North America in the form of a children’s story is very effective. By portraying Columbus and his men as temperamental children who were brought to North America by chance, King invites present day Canadians and Americans to view their history with humility and perhaps with humour. Beneath this trivialization, however, one feels an ethical injunction: namely, that we be attentive to other historical perspectives, as well as the potential human beings have to commit harmful acts.
nice review
ReplyDelete