A Blurry Image on the Six OClock News written by Drew Hayden Taylor, a Curve

Lake First Nations, has many similar themes to the Rez Sisters by Highway Tomson.
Rez Sisters and A Blurry Image on the Six OClock News show how society
views indigenous people to be inferior.

Both Taylors A Blurry Image on the Six OClock News and Tomsons the Rez
Sisters describe the failed relationship between a Native and his/her non-Native partner. In The
Rez Sisters, Philomena Moosetail was able to successfully leave the reserve, find a job in
Toronto, and even find love with her married boss while working as a secretary in the garment
district. Treated me like a queen. Loved me. Or I thought he did.His wife walks in on us
(Tomson, pg 81). Later, their affair was discovered by the mans wife, and he abandoned
Philomena for his wife. It was also revealed that Philomena conceived a child she was forced to
give up. I dont even know to this day if it was a boy or a girlMaybe I can find that childI
just want to seewho (Tomson, pg 81). Similarly in A Blurry Image on the Six OClock
News, Lisa and Richard Spencer were happily married for six years. Richard, although an
Ojibway with his fashion sense and cool haircut, could easily have passed for someone of a
more Mediterranean or Middle Eastern background (Taylor, pg 226). However her family
expresses disapproval given his Native status. He was a handsome man, potentially successful,
once he got out of university, but really, an Indian (Taylor, pg 226). In both scenarios, it is
deeply implied that it is due to the Native status of the partner, it makes them lesser. In the case
of the Rez Sisters, the man shows little hesitation in returning to his wife even after cheating
on her, Philomena is also forced to give up custody of her child. Despite successfully obtaining
his MBA with a bright future ahead of him, Lisas family expresses disapproval of their union
simply because he is an Indian. EXPAND Both stories show how society views a person with

Native status as an inferior person; less worthy of being a partner, and less able to support a
family.
Neglect, on behalf of the Canadian government and the rest of society to the terrible
condition of the reserves is also reflected in both texts. In the play, the characters live on the
Wasaychigan Hill Indian Reserve. The houses are shown to be in a state of disrepair, with broken
appliances and crumbling roofs. The women live in poverty and are unable to afford to improve
their quality of life. They dream of winning the Bingo so that they can finally afford the stove,
toilet, and paved roads they so desperately need. The reserve itself is in a state of stagnancy,
Years nowand we still got dirt roads all over (Tomson, pg 7). Despite multiple calls to
action, the dirt roads of the reserve remain unpaved due to lack of funding. The lack of paved
roads prevents people from being able to seek jobs in neighbouring areas and also symbolizes a
disconnection from Canadian society. This shows how the government are turning a blind eye to
the poor quality of life of Native people.
Although the poor condition on the reserves is glossed over in the case Taylors story,
there are still allusions. During Richards phone call to Lisa, he mentions Id kill for some
earplugssome clean clothes tooand more frequent showerstheres not enough phones
around here, so theres a lineup. The earplugs are a testament to how much noise pollution is
generated by the military presence in Oka and the disregard of the military to the health and
safety of the residents inside the reserve. There is also likely to be a water shortage, a real life
problem on many Canadian Native reserves, since they are unable to spare water to wash clothes
or shower frequently. The biggest indicator of the quality of life on the reserves is demonstrated
by the lack of phones. In the year 1990, when the story took place, phones were typically quite
common in most households. Dial up internet and cell phones had also become technology

available to the average consumer. The fact that so many people line up to use the payphone
show the native reserve cannot afford telephone service and lack the wiring transmit the
telephone signal. This time instead of dirt roads, it is payphones that show the isolation and
division of races.
The consistent theme throughout both texts, Taylor and Tomson illustrate the oppression
of Native culture in Canadian society. The distance of the reserves is more than just physical
distance, there is also a psychological sense of not belonging. In the Rez Sister, Pelajia
wistfully says The mill at Espanola, a hundred miles awayand thats with just a bit of
squinting, See? if I had binoculars, I could see the superstack in Sudbury. And if I were
Superwoman, I could see the CN Tower in Toronto. Ah, but Im just plain old Pelajia Rosella
Patchnose and Im here in plain, dusty, boring old Wasaychigan Hill. (Tomson, pg 2). Each
landmark and respective city is bigger and more significant. Her seeing the city represents
more than just the geography of the land, it symbolizes her future. A life in Espanola is attainable
with some hard work, Sudbury would be possible with enough luck and the right tools, but a life
in Toronto is an impossible dream. She describes the CN Tower in Toronto as something she
could only see if she were Superwoman, something invisible to the human eye.
In the short story A Blurry Image on the Six OClock News, the rift between Natives
and non-Natives is seen even more prominently as the Mohawk clash with the town of Oka to
protect their traditional burial land from being turned into a golf course.
The army now encircled the whole community, severely restricting anybody and anything that
wanted to cross yet another imaginary line imposed on the Native people by representatives of

the government. And that imaginary circle kept getting smaller and smaller gradually choking the
life out of the community, like a noose. (Taylor, pg 237-238)
The Canadian government through the power of the Sret du Qubec, the Quebec police, and
the army suppressed the Mohawks, determined to drive them out of their encampment in the area
of land called the Pines near Oka. Despite the land in having historical and deep cultural
significance, the Mohawk were forced to defend the land at the risk of their lives.