Compatriots- Emma Lee Warrior She was born on a black foot resort.

Blackfoot Indians- wear moccasins, they consider themselves very lucky, they are one of only six native american tribes who have managed to remain on their native land. There were 564 original tribes in Canada, and all of them were displaced ( except these 6 ). Characters: Lucy, Flora, Hilda, Bunky, Sony, Helmut, his wife, Jason and Melica, Lucy's dog ( barking at Hilda because he's not used to white people), Delphine, We have Bunky, Sony and a drunk man. They seem to be completely insignificant. They are all drunkards. Bunky spent the night with his friends, he is not faithful to his wife. He comes home drunk, and almost did not go to work, which worried Lucy very much, because it had happened before.Sony ( uncle ) was in jail because of heavy drinking. The police has a practice of picking up first nation people. And the third one is this unnamed drunk. There are two more drunkards, one of them is Lucy's cousin. They are outcasts. What about their real life? They live in the resorts. They are simply provided with housing. They cannot develop an economy. They are left jobless. And there is this saying 'if you want to destroy a person just let him do nothing.' Make him do nothing. That is why these people turn to drink. And now, they are social outcasts. But the women are seen as outcasts as well. Only Flora has a job. They live in very poor houses that don't have running water, the weather is very hot, they do not have the air conditioning. It is only on friday that they eat meat ( sausages ), when her husband gets his paycheck. Long drop toilet ( outhouse )= poljski wc The story opens with Lucy trying to hide in the outhouse, she feels embarrassed, she cannot live there, she is not a savage. Imediatelly we are given a comment by the author on the living conditions of a Lucy's family, so the economic condition is commented at the beginning of the story, so the story might be about that. Hilda and Helmut are compatriots. Hilda seems to be very happy about that, coming to Canada, to a blackfoot resort, she found a compatriot, someone from her country, is that why she came to Canada? She studied about Indian culture, she seems to be a very sensitive young, german girl who is interested in other cultures. At the beginning of the story we actually have a phrase that she gets there to get the true picture, she was given a very complex picture of this Indian culture, she was given an insight into the way of life of ordinary people, of Lucy and her family who are typical representatives of these Canadian Indians, on the other hand she was also given an insight of their spirituality because she was taken to the sundance. It is not supposed for other people to attend it, but we also see that Lucy never attended the sundance. Flora is Hilda's host, and she is the one who wants to take her to this ritual, but she knows about it only from books written by white people. Thet tells us how confused this people must be, and in a way this excuses Lucy who seems not to be interesed in that at all. She has a good picture that this is not what it should be and therefore, she should not be a part of it. Which part of it is Hilda interested in? Only the traditional part. But when Lucy tries to tell her about her life and about how she feels about it, she seems not to be listening or Lucy is telling her things that she does not want to hear. What is it that this woman wants? And what is her method in getting what she wants? Helmut- He won't talk to Hilda, why? He wants to be native. Helmot wants to be an Indian, he looks like an Indian, but he's got blond hair ( Indians are not blond ). He is not even tall, and his head is round and he has a very sharp nose, and he has earrings, big pink shells, because that is how Indians suppose to look like. And where can we see this stereotype of Indians? In the museum. He

imagines himself an Indian. When Hilda talks to him, she addresses him in English, but he speaks only the language of the Native Indians. He can't speak English or German, and she is offended that she is addressing him. But he can never look like a native man, he can never look like a native man, he cannot turn into sth he is not. Why is he doing this? Why are both of them so much interested in Indian culture? - Hunger for knowledge. Nietzche says that knowledge is not what we are after really. She is the one who probably wrote the book. He just came up with the idea, and she is providing him with the material, so neither the book is his. Appropriation- He appropriates this Indian costume, he appropriates the language of the Indian people, he appropriates the culture of these people, he is actually treated as an expert. So, instead of the Indians writing about themselves, we have this German writing about Indian tradition. There were also clubs, we can see that Germans were quite obsessed with this Native Amerian culture. They speak in the name of the Indian people. But what is it that he won't appropriate? His ancestors colonised this culture, now he is the one who uses the voice of this culture, but he is not quite consistent. He does not fully live like an Indian, when you walk into his tepee it is quite beautiful, it has all these furs, and it is cosy. He has a very comfortable mobile home, there he goes to the bathroom, and has water and shower. So, he appropriates as much as he finds it fit and that is what is hypocritical. He excludes what he doesn't like about this culture. Hilda, as well excludes how these women live. We don't see any sympathy for these women. They lack empathy and sympathy. They feel superior. They see them as other. What is that they are searching for? They are searching for spirituality because they want to raise the awareness of people, but they do not do that. They came here because they are searching for their identity. They are German, and this all happens after the WW2. Have they managed? No, it is impossible to become sth that you are not. Isn't it possible to create this third space btw the two cultures where they could coexist? What is the essense of the sundance? Who is at the centre of the sundance? A woman, The Holy Woman, and she is hidden in a tepee. The whole ritual revolves around the holy woman. If the woman is the central figure, who is representative of this holy woman in everyday life, if we go the other way around? Who is this typical first nation woman today? Lucy. She is the one who is the main character. What makes her Holy? She is carrying a child, that is what is holy. She is the one who continues life, and the existance of her nation. This is not her first baby, she already has two children. Also, she is very sympathetic person, she feeds Sony, she gives Bunky his lunch, she feeds Hilda as well. She is the one who provides food. She cares for people around her, she wasn't happy that Hilda came to visit, but she didn't show this because of her love for Flora. She didn't sleep all night waiting for Bunky to come home, that is love, care that Indian people give. She sees the beauty of nature, where she lives. She has this perseption, to see beauty although she is poor and lives in difficult conditions. She notices even the heat shimmers, that tells us that she is very much alive inside, she is not beaten by circumstances, she has this vitality which is the vitality of her race and her tirbe. Therefore, the story is about the sundance, and the Holy Woman is there, the Holy Woman is a mother, a friend, a wife. And the idea is that, as long there are such Holy Women, the community is safe. Milena: Emma Lee Warrior the product of a, so called, residential schooling system in Canada. The children of Indian mothers were taken away from them and sent to a bording school in which they were trying to kill the Indian in the child. They were training them to become good, beneficial members of the society. However, those who survived became mostly servants of the white people. There were very difficult conditions, child abuse, and people were slaughtered. What is the story about? The story actually represents deeply ironic depiction of a contemporary encounter btw native peoples and the dominant Euro-Canadian culture.

Is there a sort of a conflict? Not really. There is this girl who comes from Europe, from Germany, Hilda.She is really interested in the culture of the first Nations. She wanted to experience it on her own, so she went to Canada. She was especially interested in meeting a particular person who can tell her a lot about the Indian culture, and that's her compatriot, Helmut the Walking Eagle. 'I hope Helmut can tell me things I can take home'- dehumanization of a living culture, alive right in front of her. Hilda does not to learn from Lucy, although she could provide her with what the real Indian is. So, she is interesting in exploring the culture of the others. This 'other' becomes exotic, mysterious, here there were various stereotypes. Other as a noble savage, these people are sophisticated, they have their own set of rules, and they are good to be tamed by the white settlers. On the other hand, another dominant stereotype was that people were afraid of them. So, this stereotype works in two levels: on the level of temptation, this idea of the noble savage, and on the other hand we have this idea of fear, fear from the unknown, from the other and, from that point of view, Indians were seen not as humans, but as creatures, on the smaller level of the evolutional scale in comparison to animals, and as such they should be kept in the resorts. Why is this idea of stereotypes important for this story? Imaginary vs. Real Indians- The whole story investigates the difference btw the imaginary and real Indians. The real Indians in the story are nothing like the stereotypes that we have mentioned. They are neither noble nor savage. Lucy does not have time to thing about her origin, about the tradition, because she is a young woman with children, pregnant, she experiences what she goes through every day is a sort of an ordeal. Men are presented as drunkards, irresponsible. Is there a sort of an irony present in Helmut's name? He is the one who proclaims himself the authority of the culture. 'Wlaking eagle'- irony ( it never walks ). He is not aware of that, it's enough for him to have that name. Hilda wants to see them enjoy their culture. It is a little unethical although it was not her attention. This story can be seen as a part of the Aboriginal discourse of decolonization. What does that mean? It means that the colonization just changes its form. When a foreigner is there to teach you on the merits and values of your culture. Colonisation: Deculturation ( destruction )- Taking their land, they can't succeed in the white settlers society if they do not adapt themsleves to their way of life. Appropriation ( they appropriate the culture of the Indians as their own ), and then Neo-colonisation ( basically, they colonise them but in a different way. ) Selling books on Indians that are written by the Europeans. The common sense logic. Indians do not accept it. In their books we have, in a way, a justification of the imperialist conquest. Festivals are seen as comodity, they can be sold not only to the white men but to the Indians as well. The Indians themselves are not into it, but the white settlers are going to explain the main things about these rituals. The only conflict here is the one btw Hilda and Helmut.