Alyssa Gustin
Dr. Teresa Coronado
English 451
29 October 2015
The Sublime and the
Sea: The “People of the River of Mist” and Their Spirit Canoe
The Gitxsan
tribe is a Native North American tribe located in the northwest region of British
Colombia, and they have roughly 13,000 members of the Gitxsan nation in modern
times. The language of the Gitxsan tribe is Gitxsanimaax
and their tribe name translates to “People of the River of Mist” (gitxsan.com)
in English. With their name being related directly to water and because of the
geography that surrounds them, which is several rivers, their spiritual beliefs
and way of life also does connect directly to water as well. The Gitxsan tribe had
shaman, and the emphasis on practicing shamanism is especially evident when
discussing their spirituality. One item used by shaman of the Gitxsan tribe is
something that is called a spirit canoe.
The spirit
canoe, or the “watsx” (“Spirit canoe in the form of a land
otter”) as it is called in the Gitxsan nation’s native language, is a
small object that can fit into a person’s hands which is shaped like a canoe.
The one shown below has an otter’s face on the front of it, and the estimated
years it was created are somewhere between 1870-1900. According to Shirley
Muldon, a representative of the Gitxsan nation, the spirit canoe was something
used by the shaman of the tribe as a healing aid. The canoe could supposedly “travel
over land, over water, and the vision would come to [the shaman] that they…would
find the cure in the canoe” (Muldon). Also, the spirit canoe could “transform
the shaman in and out of reality” (Muldon), meaning that it supposedly had the
power to take the shaman into the spirit world as a way to help him aid whoever
needed healing. When connecting the spirit canoe to the study of maritime
literature, there is more to it than just the fact that the canoe could travel over
water. In many other pieces of North American maritime literature, the sea is
seen as some sublime sort of being. Since the spirit canoe is so closely
related to the sea since it can travel over sea and because of the fact that it
also represents spirituality, both of which are representations of the sublime,
the spirit canoe can then directly relate to other pieces of maritime
literature and is therefore important within the maritime literature canon.
The sublime became
incorporated into literature during the time of English romanticism, although
it dates all the way back to the ancient philosopher Longinus. Longinus states
in his piece entitled On the Sublime that
writing is meant to be “truly great, the best and most passionate thoughts, nature’s
high and rare inspirations, expressed in the best chosen words” (Longinus). Connecting
writing to nature is what makes great writing that is full of heartfelt emotion,
and so nature must then be something that is incredible and
larger-than-life. This is what is at the heart of what the sublime means, and
so nature itself is sublime. More specifically, at least in terms of maritime
literature, the sea is sublime since many stories about the sea romanticize it
and turn it into something grand. The sublime then became used in English
romantic literature, which then transformed in American romantic maritime
literature, such as many novels written by James Fenimore Cooper like The Water-Witch; or, The Skimmer of the Seas.
These romanticized tales about the sea produce a great vision of the sea is,
but they also indicate the sort of danger that is often associated with the
sea. The sublime is then not only something majestic or grand, but also something
that can be dangerous and, at times, unknown.
Although the literary idea of the sublime as a theory
began during the English Romanticism period with writers such as Edmund Burke
and Immanuel Kant, it later translated into American romanticism. According to
Zackary Vernon in his article “'Being Myriad, One': Melville and the Ecological Sublime in Faulkner's Go Down, Moses,”
many of Herman Melville’s writings embraced the idea of the sublime. Since a
majority of Melville’s works are maritime related, the sublime and its
relationship to nature becomes much clearer when examining the sea under that
scope of knowledge. There are many examples within Melville’s works as well as
the works of other maritime writers of when the sea is majestic and exotic, and
there are times when the sea is also treacherous and mysterious. The mystery
aspect of the sea and, therefore, the sublime connect back to the idea of the
spirit canoe. Because the spirit canoe is seen as something that connects to
the sea, it is sublime in nature. However, the spirit canoe’s connection to the
sea is not the only aspect about it that connects it back to the literary
theory of the sublime.
The spirit canoe’s connection to a spiritual world is
something that also makes it sublime. The spirit world can be interpreted as
some sort of afterlife within many other religious practices. Having an
afterlife provides comfort to many people, but the fact is that people do not absolutely
know exactly what awaits them after death. Having that mystery element of
mystery surrounding the spirit world connects back to the idea of the unknown
within the sublime. According to Vernon, there is something referred to as the negative
sublime, which is when “individuals confront something greater than themselves,
often withing the natural world. As a result, they are reduced to feelings of
insignificance” (Vernon 66). Something as huge as the sea can definitely create
feelings of insignificance for people, and so in order to overcome that sort of
feeling there is also the idea of the positive sublime, which is when “individuals
confront the magnitude of the sublime, and instead of feeling insignificant,
they transcend current conceptions of self and discern the unity of the environment
of which the individual is a part” (66). As opposed to the negative sublime, where the
feeling of insignificance can engulf someone, the positive sublime is when the
sublime object is faced head on and instead of feelings of insignificance,
there are feelings of otherworldliness. The sublime is then not only closely
related to nature; it also encompasses spirituality. Spirituality and religion
is something that helps to gain some kind of understanding of the mysterious
afterlife or spirit world, and although there is nothing concrete that suggests
the existence of the afterlife, spirituality is something that aids people in
facing the idea of death. Spirituality and death are both abstract, mysterious
things, and since the sea is as well, that makes spirituality something that
can incorporate the ideas of the sublime. The spirit canoe is one way of
expressing spirituality, and thus becomes related to the sublime in that way as
well.
Due to its relationship to the shaman, it is important to
note that the spirit canoe’s significance depends on that of the shaman within
the Gitxsan culture. The shaman played an imperative role in the Gitxsan
culture as their spiritual leader, and since the spirit canoe was an aid in
healing people the spirit canoe’s role for the shaman was also a major key in
the practices of the shaman. It was stated earlier that the shaman was able to
go into the spirit world through the use of the spirit canoe. With the spirit
canoe’s connection to the sublime, the shaman’s role them becomes even more
vital as he is able to confront the feelings of insignificance that can come
with facing the sublime and put those feelings to rest in order to gain higher
spiritual knowledge. The sublime then becomes something that is not only
important within maritime literature studies; it also has value within the
Gitxsan tribe’s spirituality. Each of the ways that the literary version of the
sublime is seen, which is as something that is enormous, mystifying, and
awe-inspiring, are applied to nature, and correspondingly can be applied to
spirituality in general. When attached specifically to the spirituality of the
Gitxsan tribe, the sublime goes from being only related to nature, but also to
religion and spirituality, all of which the spirit canoe incorporates. So, by
examining how important the shaman is for the Gitxsan tribe, and through observing
the importance of the sublime in terms of spirituality and nature when relating
back to the Gitxsan tribe’s spirit canoe, the spirit canoe once again proves
that it encompasses the ideals of the sublime set within the maritime literary
canon.
The importance of the sea is unquestionable in today’s
world. It opens the world up to travelling and exploration, and it provides
life. As much as there is known about the ocean, there seems to be almost ten
times the amount of the unknown. The sublime encompasses both the greatness and
the unfathomable parts of the sea. Anything that is then written about the sea
should also contemplate the sublime and how it affects the sea. However, when some
pieces of maritime literature only cover the impressiveness of the sea, there
must be other works added into the maritime literature canon that includes both
aspects of what the sea is and, therefore, what the sublime is as well. The
spirit canoe’s connection to the sea is obvious, since it is a small model of a
boat. When looking at its direct connection to the sublime, though, its linking
back to the sea makes it much more profound. Connecting the spirit canoe to the
sea through the use of the sublime, rather than just connecting the spirit
canoe to the sublime through the sea, adds another layer of insight that can be
given to the meaning behind the spirit canoe in its relation to maritime
literature, as well as to the Gitxsan culture and spirituality as a whole. In
other words, instead of the sea being the most important thing that connects
the Gitxsan spirit canoe to maritime literature, it is the spirit canoe’s
connection to the ideas of the sublime that shape the spirit canoe as something
that proves to be something significant enough to be included within the canon
of North American Maritime literature.
Works
Cited
Longinus. “On the Sublime.”
Trans. H.L. Havell. gutenberg.org. Web.
10 March 2016
Vernon, Zackary. “'Being
Myriad, One': Melville and the Ecological Sublime in Faulkner's Go Down, Moses.” Project Muse 46.1 (2014): 63-82. Print.
gitxsan.com. Gitxsan Nation. Web. 27
October 2015.
Muldon, Shirley. “Gitxsan
Spirit Canoe Curing Aid.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 13 March
2012. Web. 27 October 2015.
“Spirit canoe in the form of a land
otter.” National Museum of the American
Indian: Item Detail. Web. 25 October
2015.
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