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Laura Gibson
Ethnic Studies

Brian Klopotek, Mentor
Ernesto Martínez, Mentor

As Long As the Waters Run: Metaphors of Water in Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water

The use of stories to teach lessons is a long-standing tradition of indigenous peoples. Every story is a tapestry with multiple threads of meaning woven throughout the narrative. Although Thomas King, the product of a non-Native education, is part Cherokee, the characters in his novels are often of Blackfoot ancestry. Therefore, an analysis of King’s metaphoric use of water in his novel, Green Grass, Running Water, offers opportunities to examine these metaphors not only from the perspective of Western culture, but also from the cultures and my thologies of the Cherokee and Blackfoot nations. While images of water are sometimes used in literature as metaphors for obstructions or impediments, King’s use of water imagery in this novel is different in that, while representations of obstruction are present, water is also representative of connectivity, creativity, and spirituality.