Coyote and the Enemy Aliens

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Electrical Engineering

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Apr 3, 2024

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Coyote and the Enemy Aliens Deep Hemantkumar Amin (249641650) Course Code: PMAL-103 Section: AA Algoma University Due date: February 18, 2024 Instructor name: Amanda Paananen

Thomas King's short story "Coyote and the Enemy Aliens" is included in the anthology Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada's Past (King, Cardinal, & Highway, 2010), and I really enjoyed reading it. The humorous and satirical narrative "Coyote and the Enemy Aliens" in chapter "Coyote and the Enemy Aliens" highlights the absurdity and inequities of the Canadian government's treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. The trickster Coyote and the colonial rulers who persecuted and exploited Canada's Indigenous peoples and other minority groups are compared by the author. I see the following three similarities between the interactions between Indigenous peoples and settlers throughout Canada's colonization process and Coyote's actions in the chapter: First Parallelism: Theft & Seizures: A Japanese Canadian family named Kogawa owns a seafood company, and Coyote steals their truck. He objects, saying Coyote is lying, and orders the narrator not to speak to the truck. He denies having stolen it (King, 2012, p. 162). This comparison illustrates how the Indigenous peoples, the original occupants of the area, had their lands and resources stolen by the settlers. In addition, the settlers denied stealing anything and muted the Indigenous peoples' voices when they opposed the colonial claims. Second Parallelism: Enemy Alien: According to Coyote, the truck belongs to an enemy alien, a designation given by the Canadian government during World War II to Japanese Canadians who were seen to pose a threat to the country's security. He threatens to arrest the storyteller, claiming that it is illegal to converse with enemy alien trucks. The vehicle challenges Coyote and refutes the idea that he is an enemy alien (King, 2012, p. 162). This analogy illustrates how the Indigenous peoples were viewed by the

settlers as inferior and hazardous to the civilized society, as well as savages and heathens. The legislation was utilized by the settlers as an excuse for their oppression and acts of violence against the Indigenous peoples, who stood up for their identities and rights. Third Parallelism: Order-in-Council 469: According to Coyote, a recent rule requiring the seizure and sale of any property belonging to enemies of the state forced him to sell the truck. He presents the narrator with a piece of paper bearing the words "Order-in-Council 469," a genuine document that gave the go-ahead for the eviction of Japanese Canadians (King, 2012, p. 163). This analogy illustrates how the colonists took advantage of the law to justify their exploitation and eviction of the Indigenous peoples from their territories. The Indigenous peoples were subjected to unjust and repressive policies and treaties by the settlers, who frequently used coercion and deception. The loss of their identity, culture, and language has been a common struggle for Indigenous peoples and other minority groups in their interactions with mainstream society. Assimilation and discrimination against Native Americans and Japanese Canadians were practiced by the dominant culture, which sought to obliterate their differences and impose its standards and values. For instance, it was against the law for Indigenous peoples to speak their native tongues or engage in their customs while enrolled in residential schools. Japanese Canadians lost their citizenship and were segregated from their communities while being held in internment camps. The anguish and shame of being ostracized and persecuted by society at large plagued both groups.

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References King, T. (2012). Coyote and the Enemy Aliens. In T. King, T. Cardinal, & T. Highway (Eds.), Our story: Aboriginal voices on Canada's past (pp. 161-173). Anchor Canada.