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INDIGENOUS HUMOR AND TRANSCULTURAL IDENTITY SHIFTS AND MIX-UPS...
ghosts, but rather magic, a tricksterish spirit and spirituality, and the meeting
of past-present-future at one moment in time. Why is this relevant? The
three figures, Rusty (present), Keesic (past), and Michael (future) meet across
three dimensions of time. Since the location of the play, Dreamer’s Rock, is
a “sacred site” the magical element is given greater emphasis, and this is
further highlighted by the symbolism of the crow. If we are looking for a
trickster figure, then the crow has an important function, because its cawing
at the beginning and at the very end of the story, with the sound of drums
beating, is a sign that a magical occurrence is taking place, furthermore there
is a hint later on that the crow is in fact the "messenger of the Creator."
The symbolism of the crow has acquired different meanings throughout
history, which is worth looking into in order to understand its relevance. In
general, the crow has acquired a bad reputation and is considered a bad omen,
a scavenger. In Christian tradition, it is depicted as being evil and one that
carries the spirit of the damned to its final destination.‘* However, in Native
American culture the crow is respected and honored as a “sacred keeper of
law” and as being “powerful spirit guides” and their “message to us has the
power to heal by bringing aspects of ourselves to consciousness.”
The three boys represent three different time periods, therefore Rusty is
the present generation of the early 1990s, who typically hates school, drinks,
is angry and frustrated with his Indianness and himself, and tries to absorb
traits of the dominant culture, but has to realize that “I don’t fit in. Keesic
is virtually dropped in from the past of approximately five hundred years ago.
He first speaks his native language then through his contact with Rusty and
magic suddenly begins to speak in English, but he is very conscious and proud
of his identity as an Odawa, exclaiming that “we are the people.” In the
present, Rusty came to Dreamer’s Rock to ironically enjoy some solitude and
drink his beer, while, in his own time dimension, Keesic visited Dreamer’s
Rock as a “dream quest” in order to find answers to his questions through
prayer, fasting and dreams.®* Authenticity clashes with transculturalism,
through which the validation of cultural criteria begins to fall apart. Then,
into this tense moment arrives Michael from the year 2095, who is educated,
polite, has an in-depth knowledge of history, but as an Odawa has lost most
of his heritage. The ultimate question then is why were they brought here?
© Tbid., 16.
63 Ibid., 37.
64 Jules Ravenheart, A Look at the Powerful Native American Crow Medicine, Fractal Enlight¬
enment, https://fractalenlightenment.com/38167/culture/a-look-at-the-powerful-native¬
american-crow-medicine (accessed 29 May 2020).
65 Ravenheart, American Crow Medicine.
6° Drew Hayden Taylor, Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock, Calgary, Fifth House Publishers, 1990, 47.
6 Ibid., 38.
68 Ibid., 26.
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