Hello,
I'm writing an urban fantasy story from the first person perspective of a female of Native Canadian (Algonquin)/Indian (North Eastern Region) heritage.
I am literally none of these things. I need to have a sanity check to make sure I'm not being a white cis male idiot about soooo much stuff.
1) The main character's personality and behaviour is something I have firm in my mind. Her ethnicity has fairly little impact on how she functions day to day. In my mind her past trauma (her dad tried to kill her at age 11), her mom being in a coma (aftermath of attempted dad-related homicide) and being foisted onto her uncle (who used her as a political 'hey look how altruistic I am' tool) did most of the shaping. That aside, she's been a cop for ten years, giving her a jaded chip on her shoulder. Ultimately, she's very strong willed, has oodles of trauma she hides behind a stand-offish personality, and is generally a huge @$$ to people she hasn't personally decided to interact with. The only time her Aboriginal roots show is when she's doing magic, which I'll put in my next blurb, and her Indian roots never show. She was raised agnostic by two military parents who only really believed in being strict until they removed each other form the parenting picture.
I can't put into a short blurb how she works and why she works that way in my mind without writing a novel, which I won't subject you to (yet?) but that's the sparks notes.
2) The magic system is where I'm really worried. Without gushing too much, the idea is that 90% of mythological creatures are actually a thing, but they live in the spirit world and have no physical presence. Somebody who does magic makes a deal with one of these creatures to cast spells based on what that creature's identity is tied to. Make a deal with a salamander, you can use fire magic, make a deal with a shoe-maker elf, get crafting magic (mostly shoe related). My MC has a contract with Toho, a Kachina spirit of the Hopi tribe from the Sourthern US. Already I'm feeling a bit like I'm lumping all 'Native Americans' into one hole, but it gets worse. Magic words are a tool to cast spells, but it's not the words themselves, it's what the association between what the word means to the person and their intent. Words with homonyms leach efficiency out of a spell because it splits the caster's focus. I cast lightning using French, I say 'Elcair' which translates to 'flash of lightning' but I also think of the yummy treat, splitting my focus and causing a dip in efficiency on the spell. Therefore, languages with less homonyms and cultural bleed (English is an example of literally the worst language for this) are considered the best options for 'magic' languages. In Canada, the book setting, Cree is made the National, official, language of magic.
TLDR, I have an Algonquin MC who uses Hopi rituals/spirit in the Cree language.
I also have a 3rd generation Greek side character who also uses Cree, because she was trained in Canada and it's the national standard.
3) One of my major concerns is that I'm using Cree wrong. I don't speak Cree and I've been using an online Cree dictionary to ham-fist my way through my MC using magic. My intent is to contact somebody who DOES speak Cree to help me parse the language barrier before I even think about attempting publishing of any flavour.
4) I'm also using other characters, religions and languages in a similar fashion. I have a Chinese necromancer/coroner, a Toaist demon crime-lord, Catholic BBEG, Greco-Roman succubus witness. Just because these are all side characters, is it any less of a cultural minefield? Is there insulation here since they're never my POV?
5) The last thing is how the world has changed. Magic popped up in the 70's, so stuff has changed. There was a country rending civil war in the states, India functionally ate Russia and Africa is a technological powerhouse supplying magic focus objects and rituals. In Canada, relatively little happened on a grand scale, but it became very 'vogue' to be Aboriginal since the culture had more intact, functional rituals to access the newly rediscovered wellspring of magic. The standing Prime Minister is the MC's uncle (also Algonquin) and the Mayor of Toronto is Aboriginal too. Am I belittling the current struggle Aboriginal people face in Canada by flipping the script?
I've honestly been a little afraid to ask these questions, but I need to bite the bullet coming into my last string of edits before Beta readers start shouting at me.
Please help.
Tulip Mama
I'm writing an urban fantasy story from the first person perspective of a female of Native Canadian (Algonquin)/Indian (North Eastern Region) heritage.
I am literally none of these things. I need to have a sanity check to make sure I'm not being a white cis male idiot about soooo much stuff.
1) The main character's personality and behaviour is something I have firm in my mind. Her ethnicity has fairly little impact on how she functions day to day. In my mind her past trauma (her dad tried to kill her at age 11), her mom being in a coma (aftermath of attempted dad-related homicide) and being foisted onto her uncle (who used her as a political 'hey look how altruistic I am' tool) did most of the shaping. That aside, she's been a cop for ten years, giving her a jaded chip on her shoulder. Ultimately, she's very strong willed, has oodles of trauma she hides behind a stand-offish personality, and is generally a huge @$$ to people she hasn't personally decided to interact with. The only time her Aboriginal roots show is when she's doing magic, which I'll put in my next blurb, and her Indian roots never show. She was raised agnostic by two military parents who only really believed in being strict until they removed each other form the parenting picture.
I can't put into a short blurb how she works and why she works that way in my mind without writing a novel, which I won't subject you to (yet?) but that's the sparks notes.
2) The magic system is where I'm really worried. Without gushing too much, the idea is that 90% of mythological creatures are actually a thing, but they live in the spirit world and have no physical presence. Somebody who does magic makes a deal with one of these creatures to cast spells based on what that creature's identity is tied to. Make a deal with a salamander, you can use fire magic, make a deal with a shoe-maker elf, get crafting magic (mostly shoe related). My MC has a contract with Toho, a Kachina spirit of the Hopi tribe from the Sourthern US. Already I'm feeling a bit like I'm lumping all 'Native Americans' into one hole, but it gets worse. Magic words are a tool to cast spells, but it's not the words themselves, it's what the association between what the word means to the person and their intent. Words with homonyms leach efficiency out of a spell because it splits the caster's focus. I cast lightning using French, I say 'Elcair' which translates to 'flash of lightning' but I also think of the yummy treat, splitting my focus and causing a dip in efficiency on the spell. Therefore, languages with less homonyms and cultural bleed (English is an example of literally the worst language for this) are considered the best options for 'magic' languages. In Canada, the book setting, Cree is made the National, official, language of magic.
TLDR, I have an Algonquin MC who uses Hopi rituals/spirit in the Cree language.
I also have a 3rd generation Greek side character who also uses Cree, because she was trained in Canada and it's the national standard.
3) One of my major concerns is that I'm using Cree wrong. I don't speak Cree and I've been using an online Cree dictionary to ham-fist my way through my MC using magic. My intent is to contact somebody who DOES speak Cree to help me parse the language barrier before I even think about attempting publishing of any flavour.
4) I'm also using other characters, religions and languages in a similar fashion. I have a Chinese necromancer/coroner, a Toaist demon crime-lord, Catholic BBEG, Greco-Roman succubus witness. Just because these are all side characters, is it any less of a cultural minefield? Is there insulation here since they're never my POV?
5) The last thing is how the world has changed. Magic popped up in the 70's, so stuff has changed. There was a country rending civil war in the states, India functionally ate Russia and Africa is a technological powerhouse supplying magic focus objects and rituals. In Canada, relatively little happened on a grand scale, but it became very 'vogue' to be Aboriginal since the culture had more intact, functional rituals to access the newly rediscovered wellspring of magic. The standing Prime Minister is the MC's uncle (also Algonquin) and the Mayor of Toronto is Aboriginal too. Am I belittling the current struggle Aboriginal people face in Canada by flipping the script?
I've honestly been a little afraid to ask these questions, but I need to bite the bullet coming into my last string of edits before Beta readers start shouting at me.
Please help.
Tulip Mama