Green Grass, Running Water: Extended Journal

For my extended Journal, I decided to research the names of many of the characters in Thomas King's Green Grass, Running Water. Since the book is a satire of white culture and Christianity, I thought that by looking into the names of the characters, I would find some interesting information. I searched mainly on www.google.com and used www.wikipedia.com when google wasn't very helpful. I spent between two and three hours to find descriptions for many of the characters in the book. I actually found most of these very interesting and throught provoking. I came up with many possible questions or support to use in discussion tomorrow. I'm considering presenting some of these character descriptions in front of the class on Thursday. Here are the sixteen characters I looked for information on:

The Four Indians: The Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Ishmael, and Hawkeye

The Lone Ranger – “Hi-yo Silver, Away!” From a popular radio show turned into hit television series, the Lone Ranger is a white Texan Ranger who is known to wear a black mask over his eyes to conceal his identity. He is most commonly seen with his Native American sidekick, Tonto.
Tonto – A Native American who was the sidekick for the Lone Ranger in his popular radio and television series.

Robinson Crusoe – From the Novel Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719. It is a fictional autobiography of Robinson Crusoe, an English castaway who spends 28 years on a remote island as a prisoner. After a while, Robinson Crusoe finds a fellow prisoner of native descent on the island who has escaped the island’s native cannibals. Crusoe re-names his new companion Friday, because he found him on that day of the week. He then teaches Friday English and forces him to convert to Catholicism.

Ishmael – In the Bible, Ishmael is the name of the son of Hagar and Abraham. Originally Abraham had wanted a son, so since his wife Sarah could not have children; Hagar was going to carry their son. But when Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael were kicked out of Abraham’s house. Ishmael then married an Egyptian woman, with whom he bore twelve sons. Those sons then became the rulers of the Egyptian lands.

Hawkeye – Hawkeye was an American Pioneer who was adopted into a Native American Family. Hawkeye was the name he was called by his adoptive family; he was originally called “Natty” Bumppo. As he lived with them, Chingachgook being his adopted father.

Nathaniel Bumppo – Nathaniel, called “Nasty” Bumppo by his friends is a Post-Colonial Wilderness Guide and Outfitter. He is the Pioneer that becomes adopted into a Native American Family and assumes the alias of Hawkeye.

Chingachgook – Hawkeye’s adopted father. He is a Native American that is mentioned in Green Grass, Running Water as Nasty Bumppo’s friend.


Dr. Joseph Hovaugh – Dr. Joe Hovaugh or “Jehovah” was the doctor in charge of the mental institute the four Indians were held at. Is there possibly some connection with Dr. Hovaugh to “God” in that he is holding those who know Indian culture in a mental institute?
Jehovah – Divine name for God found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Dr. John Eliot – Assistant or friend of Dr. Hovaugh, who talks with him about his concerns with the escape of the four Indians. In real life, John Eliot is the author of the book; Overachievement: The New Model for Exceptional Performance. The book talks about how to become an overachiever and take one’s performance “to the next level.”

Sergeant Ben Cereno – Police officer in charge of the investigation and he interrogates Babo Jones as well as Dr. Joseph Hovaugh. He seems to be very hot tempered as well as racist and judgmental towards the other characters. In Herman Mellville’s Benito Cereno, Don Cereno is the captain of a ship that had its slaves revolt and kill most of the crew. Don, however, still has to act like the leader so as not to arouse suspicion.

Babo Jones – A cleaning lady, and possibly member, of the mental hospital that Dr. Hovaugh works at. She was interviewed by Segeant Cereno about the disappearance of the four Indians. She seems a bit odd, to put it nicely. In Benito Cereno, Babo is the leader of the revolt and the main person who forces Cereno to remain alive and act as the captain of the ship after it has been taken over.

Jimmy Delano – Sergeant Cereno’s assistant, Delano also interviews Babo after Cereno gives up from frustration. Because he seems to be more patient and understanding, he is able to get a lot of information out of Babo. In Melliville’s short story, the American Captain Delano is the first to suspect something is amiss with Don Cereno’s ship, he finds out the truth that the slaves are actually in charge of the ship and has them re-enslaved; many were even executed.


Alberta Frank – A profession of Native American History at a college in Green Grass, Running Water, Alberta has intimate relationships with two men, Charlie Looking Bear and Lionel, and strongly desires a child, but does not want to get married. The only things I could find when I searched for Alberta frank were things about Alberta, Canada, and the horrible Frank Landslide in Alberta, Canada in the early 20th century.


Clifford Sifton – In Tom King’s novel, he was the man trying to get Eli Stands Alone to move his traditional Native American cabin out of the way of the newly constructed dam. The two build a sort of awkward friendship, but Sifton obviously wants to get Eli to move so the dam can finally be operational. In real life, Clifford Sifton was the main man behind Canadian Immigration Policy in the early 20th century. One of his main goals was to discourage or prohibit immigrants who had little potential of becoming successful rural farmers from entering Canada.


Bill Bursum – The owner of the Television shop in Blossom. He is Lionel’s employer and Charlie’s former employer. I found on the internet that the “Bursum bill” was enacted to settle disputes over land between Native Americans and American expansionists. Opponents of the bill claimed that it would cause the Pueblo Indians to lose more than sixty thousand acres of land. The bill itself threatened to destroy Pueblo Indians and their entire culture altogether.