Laughing With the Trickster by Tomson Highway

With a title like Laughing With the Trickster, an author known for his “signature irreverence”, and subject matter that is so dynamic and so relevant, this could only be a book to delight and inspire the reader.

It is all that and much more: a rich analysis of language, creation, humour, sex and gender, and death, interspersed with stories that brought me to tears, and anecdotes that I am still laughing over.

Tomson Highway explores these five themes of the human condition in relation to Christian, Classical, and Indigenous mythologies. (Mythology here refers to the language used to explain that which cannot be explained by religion or science.) The role of laughter and the way it defines the Indigenous worldview underlies each section.

The author delivers academic knowledge in a way that both educates and entertains the audience. We are introduced, in the study On Language, to the diversity within the Indigenous language experience and the importance of language in conveying cultural truths. (Christian mythology, it appears, does not translate into Cree in a way that would be pleasing to the missionary mindset.) Our learning is enhanced by Tomson Highway’s straightforward and often very witty delivery. Yet a most serious question remains: if the language is taken away, what happens to the laughter and to the people whose lives are defined by that laughter?

The study On Creation provides a refreshing analysis of traditional Christian mythology. The linear and sexless creation of the traditional Christian view is contrasted with the circular, ever-renewing, and sexually active creation of the Indigenous worldview. We learn of the roles of the Trickster, Weesa-geechaak, the third being created; he is unlike the main figures of Christian mythology! The Christian mythology examined here is not the broader or more embracing view of a Henri Nouwen or a Francis of Assisi, but it does ring true to the missionary model. Thus, we see the impact of the model that was used historically.

In the analysis On Humour, Tomson Highway reflects on how the “naughty” is punishable in Christianity and provides colourful examples. We are treated to a lesson in the subtleties of translation of Cree terms into English, and the sexual innuendos that delight the Language user, but perhaps shock the English speaker. I simply must get the actual translation of the Cree term that is used to convey the concept “chastity belt”, as the author recommends.

On Sex and Gender offers stories revealing the misery and heartbreak that resulted from the church experience. There is a sensitive treatment of the special roles of Two-Spirit persons, necessary beings who fulfill important spiritual and caregiving roles in society, who have been, in the monotheistic world, marginalized and exterminated. There is fascinating teaching on the elements of nature that have souls, and the use of feminine and masculine articles.

The reflection On Death is steeped in the lessons of a catechism learned from the priests of the author’s youth. We learn why the author’s father, for example, could not be a candidate for Heaven. We read, too, of the hope and renewal implicit in the Indigenous view. Tomson Highway examines the challenges of the world view in terms of global warming, tells humorous anecdotes, and delivers stories of profound and touching grace.

The book concludes with a brief guide to Cree, which touches on the complexities of the language.

Tomson Highway takes us through analysis, tears, and laughter to an appreciation of the power of laughter in the Indigenous experience. The humour here might be outrageous, but it is also kind. There is a deep feeling for the human condition; it is a beautiful telling of the need for the Indigenous worldview today. We do need this book and this worldview for this time in history. It is a book of wisdom and healing and, ultimately, a book of joy.

TOMSON HIGHWAY is a Cree author, playwright, and musician. His memoir, Permanent Astonishment, won the 2021 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. He also wrote the plays The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, and the bestselling novel Kiss of the Fur Queen. He is a member of the Barren Lands First Nation and lives in Gatineau, Quebec.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ House of Anansi Press (Sept. 27 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 200 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1487011237
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1487011239

Anne Smith-Nochasak

Website

Anne M. Smith-Nochasak grew up in rural Nova Scotia and taught for many years in northern settings including Northern Labrador, the focal setting for her second novel. She has retired to Nova Scotia, where she enjoys reading, writing, and country living. She has self-published two novels through FriesenPress: A Canoer of Shorelines(2021) and The Ice Widow: A Story of Love and Redemption (2022).