Lesson: 3
This is a Story by Jeannette Christine Armstrong
Summary
Jeannette Christine Armstrong's "This a Story" is a story of colonization, migration, and loss of culture in the Okanagan region during the colonial period. The story follows Kyoti, a personification of Coyote, a wild animal of the dog family, as he wakes up from a nap and decides to visit the Okanagan people. However, he discovers that the Swallow people have built dams that have disrupted the salmon migration and have brought significant changes to the Okanagan way of life.
As Kyoti travels upstream, he encounters the Swallow people who have settled in the area and sees the dams they have built. He struggles to find the Okanagan people and eventually discovers that they have been forced to adopt the Swallow language, culture, and lifestyle. Kyoti is saddened to see the loss of Okanagan culture and the people's dependence on the Swallows.
Kyoti meets an old woman who is the only one who speaks the Okanagan language fluently, and she shares her bitter experience of the Swallows' arrival and the changes they have brought. The headman Tommy tells Kyoti that they cannot go back to their old ways as they need money and jobs to survive. Kyoti also meets a young man who dreams of clean water and salmon but is faced with the harsh reality of a disrupted ecosystem.
Finally, Kyoti invites all the Okanagan people to break the dams and restore the salmon migration to save the people of Okanagan. The story highlights the conflict between tradition and change, dream and reality, and the devastating impact of colonization on indigenous cultures and ecosystems.
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