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Green Grass, Running Water

Author	Thomas King
Language	English
Genre	Postmodern, trickster novel
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin - hardcover March 4, 1993. Bantam Books - paperback June 1, 1994.
Publication date	March 4, 1993
Publication place	Canada
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	480 pp (U.S. Paperback)
ISBN	0553373684 (U.S. Paperback)

Green Grass, Running Water is a 1993 novel by Native-American writer Thomas King. Set in a Native-American Blackfoot community in Alberta, Canada circa the time of its publication in 1993. The novel gained attention due to its unique use of structure, narrative, and the fusion of oral tradition with that of the written. The novel is rife with humor and satire, particularly regarding Judeo-Christian beliefs as well as western government and society. Green Grass, Running Water was a finalist for 1993 Governor General's Award in Fiction.

Plot summary

Green Grass, Running Water opens with an unknown narrator explaining "the beginning," in which the trickster-god Coyote is present as well as the unknown narrator. Coyote has a dream while sleeping, which takes form and wakes Coyote up. The dream thinks that it is very smart; indeed the dream thinks that it is god, but Coyote is only amused, labeling the dream as Dog, who gets everything backwards. Dog asks why there is water everywhere, surrounding the unknown narrator, Coyote, and himself. At this, the unknown narrator begins to explain the escape of four mythically old Native Americans from a (mental institution) named: Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye. The book then divides itself into four main sections, each of these sections is the narration of one of the four old Indians that explains events that have happened to ordinary denizens of the town of Blossom or the nearby reserve.

In addition to these four explaining the "ordinary" events, they also tell a creation story that accounts for why there is so much water; in each creation story, the four encounter a figure from the Bible, as well as a western literary figure from whom they each derive their name.

One of the ordinary denizens is Alberta, who is a professor that wants to have her own child, but does not want a husband or marriage. She promptly becomes involved with two other characters, Charlie and Lionel. Charlie and Lionel are quite different. Charlie is a confident lawyer, and Lionel a shy TV salesman. Lionel has a sister, Latisha, who runs the Dead Dog Café. Eli, Lionel's uncle, has ties to the academic world like Alberta, yet ultimately ends up living in a cabin to stop the government from finishing a dam that takes the river of off its path--a path important to the Blackfoots' traditions.

As the climax of the novel approaches, so too does the traditional Blackfoot ceremony of the Sundance. Charlie and Lionel are unsure of the father of Alberta's unborn child, and thus it leads them to find a new interest in their heritage. Alberta, too, seeks out a closer connection to her roots. Ultimately the Dam breaks due to an earthquake that the trickster-god Coyote causes, killing Eli, but also returning the waterway to its ancestral course.

The novel concludes much as it began. The trickster-god Coyote and the unknown narrator are in an argument about what existed in the beginning. Coyote says nothing, but the unkown narrator says that there was water. Once again Coyote asks why their is water everywhere, and the unknown narrator says he will explain how it happened.

Principle Characters

Lionel Red Dog - One of the lovers of Alberta, he is accused by relatives of being "too white" and not having an interest in his Blackfoot heritage. He is a TV salesman in Blossom.

Charlie Looking Bear - A lover of Alberta, he is Lionel's cousin and a slick lawyer who represents the company that is building the dam that is building the dam Eli opposes.

Alberta Frank - A professor and the lover of both Lionel and Charlie. She wants to have a child, but does not want a husband or marriage.

Eli Stands Alone - Lionel's uncle,

Latisha - Lionel's sister, she owns of the Dead Dog Café which pretends to sell "dog meat," because tourists incorrectly believe dog meat is the authentic ethnic food of the Blackfoot Indians.

Coyote - A trickster god who falls asleep and gives form to his dream, "Dog." He is on speaking terms with the four escaped Indians, as well as the unknown narrator of the novel. He does not directly speak to the "ordinary" denizens of Blossom.

Four escaped Indians - The four escaped Indians break out from a mental institution in Florida and make their way to Blossom. Each are responsible for telling a segment of the novel to the unknown narrator of the novel. They also tell a creation story as well, in which they are originally identified as First Woman, Changing Woman, Thought Woman, and Old Woman. They encounter both a Biblical character as well as a western literary figure, and they change their names to these literary figures: First Woman to Lone Ranger, Changing Woman to Ishmael, Thought Woman to Robinson Crusoe, and Old Woman to Hawkeye.

Structure and narration

The structure of the novel is quite unique; the narrator of the story is only identified as "I." This character is a companion of Coyote, and knows the four escaped Indians personally. The unknown narrator is told the plot of the novel by each of the four escaped Indians in turn. This means that the reader hears the story through the unknown narrator, who heard the story from all of the four escaped Indians, who are telling the story of the denizens of Blossom. To further complicate the narrative structure, the unknown narrator is telling this story not directly to the reader, but to Coyote and his dream-who-came-to-like, Dog.

Interspersed in the four sections of the novel are four different stories of the creation, as told by four timeless Indian women/gods: First Woman, Changing Woman, Thought Woman, and Old Woman. In each of these retellings, these women meet both a figure from the Bible as well as a western literary figure, of whom they then take on the names: Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye, respectively.

Merging oral and written tradition

Green Grass, Running Water has been hailed as a merger between oral and written tradition as well as Native American and western cultures. The story has a dualism that is present throughout, starting with Coyote and Dog. In Green Grass, Running Water, Coyote is the trickster of Native American tradition, whereas Dog thinks that he is "GOD," but is merely a dream of Coyote's that took form.

Each of the four escaped Indians originally starts as a mythical figure from Native American oral tradition. They then encounter Dog posing as "GOD," and a Biblical character and situation. They also each come across a western literary figure and take their names. First Woman becomes Lone Ranger, Changing Woman becomes Ishmael, Thought Woman becomes Robinson Crusoe, and Old Woman becomes Hawkeye. This constant merger between oral and literary traditions is indicative of Green Grass, Running Water's constant intervention in western narrative tradition.

Reception

Green Grass, Running Water has been recieved positively within the American Indian literary disipline, as well as without. King's book was a finalist for the 1993 Governor General's Award in Fiction. The book was also championed as a novel all Canadians should read by Glen Murray (a former Mayor of Winnipeg) in the Canada Reads 2004 contest.

References

• King, Thomas (01 June 1994). Green Grass, Running Water. New York: Bantam Books. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)