Saturday 19 March 2011

In Pollock's Walsh, how is Louis' unique Metis perspective expressed in the play?

In
Pollock's Walsh, Louis is a Metis scout. The Metis are one of the
" title="Aboriginal">Aboriginal" tribes of Canada, no longer referred
to as "Indian" or " title="Eskimo">Eskimo." Louis was a French Metishis father was a
French-speaking fur trader (Voyageur). Louis tells Clarence:


Fort Walsh scout...Mother red, father white...Louis' father,
French.

At the time, while Louis was a part of the Indian
and white cultures, he would never have been fully welcomed into either. He
has found a place for himself helping Walsh with affairs that involve the
Indians. 

Louis has the knowledge of the two worlds of which he is a part.
When Clarence says that an officer must need to know a lot, Louis reflects his vision of the
world from an "Indian" perspective:

Take all da
books, da news dat da white man prints, take all dat Bible book, take all dose things you learn
from...lay dem on the prairie...and da sun...da rain...da snow...pouf! You wanna learn, you
study inside [your head] and [your heart] ...and how it is wit' you and me (
he...

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