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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 Enlightenment, https://fractalenlightenment.com/38167/culture/a-look-at-the-powerful-nativeamerican-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. + 305 +
