RE-THINKING A COLLECTIVE STORY: ADDING AN ANISHINAABEK PERSPECTIVE
TO ‘A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN ISLAND AND OUR PEOPLE.'
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
RE-THINKING A COLLECTIVE STORY: ADDING AN ANISHINAABEK PERSPECTIVE
TO ‘A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN ISLAND AND OUR PEOPLE.'
By Shelby Shawongonabe, B.A (Honours)
A Major Research Project submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of
the degree of Master of Arts
McMaster University © 2015 Shelby Shawongonabe
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
McMaster University MASTER OF ARTS (2015) Hamilton, Ontario
TITLE: Re-Thinking a Collective Story: Adding an Anishinaabek Perspective to ‘A History of
Christian Island and Our People.'
Author: Shelby Shawongonabe, B.A Honours (Laurentian University)
Supervisor: Dr. Rick Monture
Number of pages:
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Acknowledgments
During the writing of this project, I had come across many obstacles to meet its completion. So I
owe many, many, thanks to Dr. Rick Monture for his guidance, encouragement, and most of all,
his patience in seeing this project through to the completion. If it were not for Rick’s patience
and support, it would never have seen the end. I owe Dr. Monture my most sincere gratitude.
I offer many thanks to family members. My Mom for sharing her stories and sharing her
knowledge of Anishinaabemowin. My Sisters, Mzhakdo Kwe, Asinii Kwe and Zibii Kwe, for
being ever-supportive. Most especially, my four children and my husband – my heartbeats, my
reason for being – they have walked this journey alongside me for the past two years of our lives.
I do not think I will ever stop thanking my family for being my inspiration and encouragement.
This project would also not have come as far as it did without the help and encouragement of
Susie O’Brien and Hayden King. I own them my thanks and gratitude, as well.
Chi Miigwech!
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
A Note on the Use of Anishinaabemowin
Our language is ancient. Out of respect for my ancestral language, and the fact this work
is to meet part of academic obligations to earn my degree. As a learner of Anishinaabemowin,
the words that I used throughout may be challenged through the conventions of modern spelling
and the politics of dialect found within Anishinaabemowin teaching standards. As an on-going
learner of the language, these conventions often make me feel distant and even apathetic to
learning Anishinaabemowin. These conventions actively play a role in discouraging my learning.
To be expected to “know” when much of the language is gone from my community is violent.
The words I have used throughout this project are what I have spelled on my own. Some words
have come from existing texts I have utilized and some from online resources. My Mom has
taught me: “as long as you know the word you are using, sounding out the spelling of it is a
better attempt than not using the language at all.” When I had attended the annual
Anishinaabemowin conference in March 2015, two of my children had attended. Upon
registering my six-year-old son, the registration asked, “Why is the language important?” I
proposed this question to my son, and his answer still inspires me to this day, he replied “the
language is important because it comes from the earth.” As a learner of Anishinaabemowin, and
as an Anishinaabe-Kwe, I understand the importance of the language to those who struggle every
day to keep it alive. I do not mean any disrespect. To rush my learning to fulfill the requirements
of this project is to rush the healing of my community. I have utilized what was available online
for spelling; some spelling came from existing texts and may not be native to the dialect of my
particular locale. I have made the attempts and will continue to learn. I believe, wholeheartedly,
my project is demonstrating this on-going effort that reaches beyond the confines of the
academy.
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Table of Contents
Prologue
A Sketch of Beausoleil First Nation
Nme Mnissing/Gahoendoe/Beausoleil First Nation/Christian Island
Introduction
Collecting Information
The Centennial Project
Wendat and Anishinaabek Meet the Aboriginal
Self-Determination and Self-Recognition through Our Stories
Conclusion
Epilogue
Works/Knowledge Cited
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Prologue
Waywaynabozhoo, Waubunanung N’dizhnikaaz, M’gizi Dodem, Nme Mnissing
N’doonjibaa. My name given at birth is Shelby King, and it is the same name used for registering
under the Indian Act. I was given my spirit name when I was six years old, and it means Morning
Star. I introduced myself by my spirit name and my clan – the Eagle clan. I relate more to this
name in the sense that it is the representation of my spirit, and it connects me to my place in the
world. The name that I carry is the name of the spirit that drives the vessel that is my body; the
spirit that leads my vessel through the journey of life.
My Uncle Medwayosh had shared a story with myself and with people who had broken
their two days fasts. The story, which was brief, was a personal recollection for my Uncle
Medwayosh. He had told the story of how a man from long ago had acquired the spiritual
teachings to become a first degree Midewiwin. The man had not been able to find any fulfillment
from within the Midewiwin lodge, so it was then he journeyed the earth in search of spiritual
fulfillment that he felt was missing. The man had then turned to learning many types of faith;
Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and many others to try find the fulfillment he had sought.
After being gone around the world in search of this spiritual fulfillment, he found that what he
was searching for went unfulfilled. It was a lack of purpose within his spiritual being that he
returned to the homelands of his people to live out what remained of his life. Upon his journey
home, he could hear singing. He listened more carefully, and he could hear laughing and was
taken over with a sense of curiosity that he then started walking faster up the hill that had
sheltered his community. It was his arrival at the top of this hill, where he stood in awe of what
he had saw – the Midewiwin lodge. At that moment, the man had been overtaken with a sense of
happiness and ease. These feelings brought with them the sense of fulfillment that he had longed
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
for and went in search of nearly his whole life. At that moment he realized, that everything he
had ever wanted and needed to know was always right in front of him. All the longing for
fulfillment and purpose to his life had been with the people he had known as his own. In his
search for the personal and spiritual fulfillment, he had taken for granted what he could learn
from his people.1
There are a few events that, in retrospect, have assisted in shaping my current will to
explore the topic of Nme Mnissing’s ‘history’. In my lifetime on Nme Mnissing, specifically, in
the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, my Uncles were ridiculed for breathing life back into
Anishinaabek spirituality on Nme Mnissing. My Uncle Floyd, Niigaanup, had stood at a
community meeting in the early 1990’s and defended our way of life. With an eagle feather in
his hand, he had stated how proud he was to be Anishinaabek. Many did not see it the same as
my Uncles, as Anishinaabek ways were “pagan” or seen as “witchcraft.” Instead, my Uncles
were the “pagans.” It was because of my Uncle’s perseverance and resiliency to the ridiculing
that they blazed a new path for others in the community. This new path that they helped to lay
the foundation for the lead to the Midewiwin lodge and reconnecting with the spirit of our
ancestors and our ancestral ways. It was because of my Uncle’s struggle; their resiliency has
inspired me.
A Sketch of Beausoleil First Nation on Nme Mnissing
Christian Island has been the home of the ‘Beausoleil Band of Indians’ since 1836. The
band arrived at the Island after being displaced from Anishinaabek territory around what is now
the Simcoe County, Lake Simcoe areas. The population comprised of the Ojibway, Bodewatomi
and more recently, Odawa call the Island ‘home.’ Prior to permanent settlement in 1836, the
1
This is part of a longer teaching and is not written verbatim. It is captured from the perspective of the writer and
not of the storyteller. What is important, in this sense, is what was taken from this story that assists in shaping the
thinking of the writer.
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
‘Beausoleil Band of Indians’ had attempted to make a home on what is now Beausoleil Island.
Given Beausoleil Island’s harsh terrain, the people found it difficult to farm and grow food. After
leaving Beausoleil Island, what is now a National Park, the people made the journey make a life
on Christian Island. According to one interpretation of Parks Canada, upon leaving the lands of
the Coldwater-Narrows Civilization experiment, and after struggling to make life on Beausoleil
Island,
“…under the leadership of Chief John Assance, the band continued to pursue an
agricultural lifestyle and a Christian education. Settling at what is now Cedar Spring, a
cleared meadow that is visible from the water is all that remains of the fields that were
tilled here more than a century and a half ago. The settlement included 16 log houses, a
church, two barns and more than 80 hectares of land cleared for growing corn and
potatoes.
Life was very difficult for the Beausoleil Band. The island proved to be quite difficult for
farming; the sandy barren soil caused repeated crop failures despite their efforts.
Although the fishing was very plentiful, they could not sustain themselves there, and the
once independent band was forced to rely on the government for staples such as flour and
pork. In 1856, the band moved west to another island in Georgian Bay, Christian Island,
bringing with them the name Beausoleil First Nation. Today, Beausoleil First Nation
continues to flourish as a community that has endured displacement and colonization.”2
Presently, the current population stands at 2332 of the total registered population as
current at July 2015 according to AANDC statistics.3 From the same figures, that would put the
total on-reserve population at 628 peoples. This number does not include all the people who
reside on First Nation territory who are non-members of the Indian Act registry for Beausoleil
First Nation. Nor, does it include the many who are partnered with non-native peoples who also
reside on the First Nation. From May until mid-October every year, there is a huge influx of our
population. This influx of the population is due to the First Nation’s allotment of 184 lots at Big
Sand Bay at the northern part of the Island for cottage leasing. There are also 105 lots at
2
Georgian Bay National Parks Cultural Heritage. 22 February 2013. web. 2015 25 August.
<http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/georg/natcul/natcul3.aspx>.
3
First Nation Profile – Beausoleil; retrieved August 25, 2015 http://pse5-esd5.aincinac.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/FNRegPopulation.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=141&lang=eng
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Lighthouse Point at the Southern end of the Island.4 The First Nation relies heavily on the
cottage industry to generate revenue for the First Nation. Not only is it the cottage industry, but
the land’s beauty and historical significance attracts many tourists to our area in Georgian Bay.
The Land’s Department website describes Christian Island,
We have it all! White, sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and a rich marine
heritage that includes great shipwrecks! Gordon Lightfoot has personally enjoyed the
beautiful scenery and waters of the area (so much so he has even written a song called
"Christian Island"). The recorded history of Christian Island dates back to the Huron
Indians and Jesuit ruins at St. Marie II, erected in the 1600s. The island is home to the
Beausoleil First Nation people.5
The lands and waters surrounding Christian Island, have also been an inspiration to
people like Canadian folk singer, Gordon Lightfoot. The inspiration for some of the people who
call the Island home comes in more spiritual ways. Merle-Assance Beedie, a respected
Anishinaabe-Kwe from the local area, had been instrumental in sharing Anishinaabek knowledge
with such things as the Ipperwash Inquiry’s Indigenous Knowledge Forum.6 She had also shared
herself with many volunteer initiatives throughout the Simcoe County region7. Waasnodaa-Kwe
had begun her spirit journey in December 2010, and although I never had the opportunity to
know her, I have been moved by her writing. I’m unsure of how many books were published in
her name, but I do know of one. It is titled It is a quote from Nshkintam Gii Maanjidyaang that
has contributed to finding a way to articulate some of the most difficult critiques of the
community that I have concluded in this project. In Waasnoodaa-Kwe’s book, she writes about
being re-connected to the Anishinaabe ways of knowing and being. It was through sharing with
4
Leasing – Beausoleil First Nation Lands Department retrieved August 25, 2015 from:
http://www.chimnissing.ca/lands.html
5
Some History on Christian Island, Lands Department. Retrieved from: www.chimnissing.ca/lands.html August 25,
2015
6
Switzer, Maurice ‘Missing Auntie Merle’ Tuesday, September 12, 2011 retrieved from
http://www.baytoday.ca/content/editorials/details.asp?c=48775 August 25, 2015
7
The Circle of Turtle Lodge, Native Women’s Health and Wellness Circle Speak Biography.
http://thecircleofturtlelodge.ca/bios.htm retrieved August 25, 2015
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
her relatives through our ancestral ways that she found that not only had it been our ways as
Anishinaabek to strengthen herself and her family, but also the Island itself. She writes,
This Island is surrounded by water, one of our great medicines that we cannot do
without” I thought. “Cedar trees grow along our shoreline and sweetgrass grows in
abundance here. No wonder I always come back home when I need to heal my wounds.
This Island is medicine too.8
Waasnodaa Kwe references our physical surroundings as medicine. This reference to the
surroundings is a perspective that many do not hear or read about. Within the community, people
are often confronted with the struggle simply to survive that our lands are often left
unappreciated and disconnected from. It is because of this constant, consistent cycle to survive,
that the lands are left unattended. That is not to say that the people who live do not care for the
lands. It simply means that land is not viewed as a source of healing. Alternatively, even the
simplicity of having an escape from the constant, consistent struggle to survive.
Upon the arrival of the ferry from the mainland to Nme Mnissing, one would travel
across the waters of southern Georgian Bay. A channel that is approximately seven kilometers or
an 18-minute ferry ride. At the arrival of the Island side dock, standing at the ferry dock one
would see, an independently owned grocery store. They would see a restaurant; our school that
teaches grades junior kindergarten through grade eight. The Guiding Lights Senior’s Centre; the
First Nation’s Administration Office; the Day Care Centre. A mini-mall that houses the Social
Services Office, the Radio Station, an independently owned and operated coffee shop. From here
a short walk up the road, one will see our First Nation’s Health Centre and the Library, the
Community Hall, the United Church. At the four corners of where the two main roads meet is a
veteran’s memorial that had taken a dedicated group of volunteers eight years to fundraise for.
Behind the church is our new community events centre that will be the home of our rink and a
8
Beedie-Assance, Merle ‘Nshkintam Gii Maanjidyaang’ Anishinaabe Kendaaswin Publishing Munsee Delaware
Nation, Union of Ontario. Indians 1995
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
place for community gatherings. This area is the heart of the community of Beausoleil First
Nation. It is where our people gather for morning coffee, where the children of our community
are taught. It is where elected representatives meet; where we gather for community events and
where our people work towards making the community what it is today. Further up the road, or
more commonly known to Islanders are “up the hill,” is the First Nation’s recreation center and
the ball field. This may seem like the idyllic place to live. In a lot of ways it is. But, as with many
First Nation communities, we have our struggles. Many people in my community have battled
through the many forms of systematic colonial oppression through foreign systems that have
only ever meant to oppress. Our people have survived a Spanish flu epidemic in the early 1900’s.
9
Yet, here we are.
It was not too long ago the people of the First Nation had been in a position of deciding
to surrender land after being made an offer by the Federal government. Although the decision did
not rely on the people of this First Nation, it also relied on the decision of three others –
Mnjikaaning (Rama), Neyaashiinigmiing (Nawash) and Georgina Island. Ultimately, it was a
‘yes’ vote and ten thousand acres of land was surrendered to the Federal government in 2012.
Now, Beausoleil First Nation has a trust account established, transferring funds from interest
accumulated from the Trust, happens yearly. The First Nation members are now into the third
year of a community-driven process, where allocating of funds from the separate account is a top
priority. This community-driven process is something that has never happened before on our
First Nation. In 2014, there was a heavy emphasis on funding ‘Cultural Revitalization’ initiatives
through a “request for proposal’ process. This process gave the First Nation members of
Beausoleil the opportunity to manage cultural initiatives they thought to be beneficial for the
9
For more on this, please refer to Laurie LeClair’s article in the Anishinaabek News from November, 2014. Found at: http://anishinabeknews.ca/2014/11/19/remembering‐beausoleils‐spanish‐flu‐epidemic‐of‐1918/ M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
First Nation. The initiatives proposed to revitalize culture on the First Nation seemed merely
reflect the aesthetics of culture. In this regard, the use of culture was mainly seen as reviving arts.
In examining the arts, a major cultural text, these cultural texts are useful on a micro-level for an
aesthetic reading of the community. Within the year of 2013-2014, there had been a massive
influence within workshops on creating regalia, moccasins, and woodland-inspired paintings.
Most recently, a whole series of workshops was funded for making men’s ‘traditional’ regalia
that was a “mens only” workshop. While some workshops focused on creating items for survival
– mittens and moccasins, mainly- the focus on the creation of men’s regalia as a cultural
revitalization initiative was irrelevant at best. On the opposite end of the cultural spectrum on
Nme Mnissing, there were workshops held that focused on utilizing multi-media to tell ‘our
stories.' The participants would employ whatever multimedia tools they felt comfortable with to
capture and bring life to what stories need to be told. If these cultural texts are any indication of
anything on Nme Mnissing, there is a stark contrast in what people identify with in terms of
‘culture’. On one end, there is the initiative tied strictly to patriarchy, like ‘men only’ workshops
in crafting powwow regalia. On the other end, workshops that are distinct to what is missing on
Nme Mnissing – our stories. I am not arguing against the making of regalia; my argument
primarily lies with the exclusion of participants when the point of funding these initiatives is
based on Anishinaabek knowledge sharing and ‘revitalizing’ Anishinaabek knowledge. It is
important to remember that knowledge transmission is essential to the survival of what is
considered worthy of ‘revitalizing.’ Also, it should be considered that what is worthy of reviving
for funding purposes will assist in maintaining Anishinaabek identity and usefulness to the
survival of Anishinaabek on Nme Mnissing. So, the latter workshops speak more to our survival
on the land where Anishinaabek have been forced to reside in the late 1800’s. While the others,
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
although useful in some respects, were grounded within the patriarchal ideas that are embedded
in the Indian Act. The ‘revitalization’ of culture and language exclude people of Anishinaabek
decent that are not Indian Act members of Beausoleil First Nation. They also exclude a portion
of the community’s population who are non-members and are non-Anishinaabek. These
exclusionary tactics entrenched within the collective consciousness are an indication of the
influence of government policies such as the Indian Act that have shaped Anishinaabek and
Indigenous ideas of belonging.
There is an awareness for many on the First Nation that Anishinaabemowin is imperative
to the revitalization of Anishinaabek ways of knowing and being. However, there is also the
absence of Anishinaabek stories or history missing from the collective consciousness of the
community to answer ‘why’ language and culture are essential to revitalize. So, culture as it
currently exists within the community is largely undermined because of the entrenched, Indian
Act influences exclusionary practices and are embedded within one’s consciousness. The absence
of Anishinaabe knowledge exchange and the fact that funds are administered solely to Indian Act
status members of Beausoleil First Nation is an exercise in our epistemological demise. The act
of knowledge sharing ties Anishinaabek to survival. The funding of projects of what are
considered ‘cultural initiatives’ work much like government funding. Government funding,
typically, only proposes reactionary, aesthetic and temporary solutions; it is not allotted to assist
with the connecting to our ancestors and our ancestral ways. Therefore, ‘cultural initiatives,’
within the community’s current interpretation work much like government funding and policy.
Both are used as a band-aid solutions – short term aesthetic fixes that contribute nothing to
regaining Anishinaabek knowledge or connecting to spirit. Quite ironically, the funding for such
projects is derived from the Trust account established after the community ratified the
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Coldwater-Narrows claim in 2012. The irony that Anishinaabek now have to use funds from a
land surrender to revitalize culture further indicates the reliance Anishinaabe now have on the
federal government and the policies that are used to subdue and oppress Indigenous peoples. If
there is anything great that has come from the trust and the funds earned from it, the communitydriven process within, rather than the ‘request for proposal’ process have influenced how the
community works together. Any time, people get together and work with the best intentions for
all, could only be a good thing. In many ways, it sounds like the people of Beausoleil First
Nation have come a long way. But we also have a very long way to go in terms of working
towards collective decolonization. This paper is but one way of contributing to the collective
path there; to think critically about one aspect of a collective story.
Nme Mnissing/Gahoendoe/Beausoleil First Nation/Christian Island
Throughout this project, I utilize Nme Mnissing in reference to “Christian Island.” When
asked where I am from, I say “Nme Mnissing n’doonjibaa!” quite proudly. Nme Mnissing is
what I have been taught to call “Christian Island.” I remember hearing when I was younger that
the waters surrounding the Island were known to be spawning grounds for sturgeon. I believe
this. I have seen commercial fisherpeople from my community net huge sturgeon from our
waters surrounding the Island. Sturgeon are significant within Anishinaabek ancestral teachings
as being a relative that is far more ancient than Anishinaabek10. Beausoleil First Nation is the
name of the First Nation recognized under Canadian laws. The title Beausoleil First Nation is
what connects Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing to the colonial imposition of foreign governance
systems. These governance systems house acts and laws such as the Indian Act, the First Nations
Financial Transparency Act and every other act that govern Anishinaabek being on Nme
10
To read more about name or nme see chapter Namewag, Sturgeon and the People of The Great Lakes Region in
Winona LaDuke’s Recovering the Sacred starting on page 227.
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Mnissing. Although ‘Beausoleil’ is a French term, no one on the Island is French or speaks
french. The term Beausoleil is what honours the ancestors who were displaced from Beausoleil
Island to Christian Island in 1856. During this project, the name of Gahoendoe will arise.
Gahoendoe is the name that the Wendat peoples had for what is now more commonly known as
Christian Island. Gahoendoe is also referenced within the primary source document that forms
the basis for this project as Ahoendoe.
Introduction
Much of this project is an attempt to weave in some of the stories I have been told by
members of my family. It is an attempt to weave into the wider collective story of the Island. The
work of Leanne Simpson has assisted to articulate how weaving family stories can be related to
the broader colonial influences that have plagued Indigenous existence since colonization of
Anishinaabek territories. First of all, some of the stories I employ during this project help to
depict what I have called survival narratives. Many of the survival narratives start with my
family and work through the community, to the broader happenings outside the community. It is
not an attempt to re-write the history of the people on the Island, but utilize the survival
narratives as a means to demonstrate the importance of the knowledge found in our community.
Moreover, how this knowledge has ripple effects throughout the lands and waters. Anishinaabek
theory, according to Leanne Simpson in Dancing on Our Turtles Back, is personal (39).
Anishinaabek envisions themselves within the stories to assist in articulating in a “culturally
inherent way, rather than through the obfuscated lens of imperial thought” (40). In this respect, I
will refer to the work of Leanne Simpson who writes on the importance of aandioskaanan in
Dancing on Our Turtles’ Back. Within aandioskaanan and dibaajimowinaan, Anishinaabek can
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
employ those “culturally inherent ways” of articulating the world and our place within it. Within
this project, I mainly focus on these ideas, rather than focusing on Anishinaabek culture. The
term culture is used in some different contexts and has so many different meanings within those
contexts, that the term itself is often misunderstood. However, within Anishinaabemowin, there
is no specific word for culture. Instead, it is understood by Anishinaabek as being ‘more life.’11
Within the work of Scott Lyon’s he adds this insight to culture as being “different ways of living
on Earth.” and the production of “more life.” 12 Although I do not employ the work of Scott
Lyon’s explicitly within this project. His work is valuable to articulate how Simpson’s idea of
Anishinaabek theory is personal and how aandioskaanan and dibaajimowinaan are a part of life
and intellectual traditions of Anishinaabek in creating “more life.” It is to this end that one story
within the history of Nme Mnissing has played a role in the creation of more life within the
community. It is the primary source document I utilize as a means of critiquing it is titled A
History of Christian Island and Our People. Currently, when one wants to know more about the
Island, the people, the history and how Anishinaabek came to be on the Island, there is not much
information available publically. Aside from descriptions available on the First Nation’s website
referencing the land, it does not give one insight to the people who reside here year around.
There have been studies on the history of the Island, mainly archeological work. Also, another
project I came across that is out of print is a curriculum resource for teaching grade six social
studies13. Much of these are out of print and unavailable without having to travel great distances
or paying certain fees to have access to the. One historical take we have on the people of our
11
Scott Lyons employs Winona Laduke’s articulation of mno biimaadziwin and it meaning ‘more life.’ To read an
in-depth analysis of the many words within Anishinaabemowin that can be used in place for ‘culture’ see Scott
Lyons X-Marks: Signatures of Assent in chapter two titled Culture and its Cops.
12
The publication utilized for this specific reference comes from a kindle e-book, its location is within Chapter two
at 1929 to 1931.
13
Curriculum Resource: Beausoleil First Nation http://www.goodminds.com/curriculum‐resource‐beausoleil‐first‐
nation‐out‐print M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
First Nation that is readily available in the community is a telling by the Sisters of the Catholic
Church from 1967, Canada’s Centennial Year. Having to rely on this accessible history that is
told through the lens of Christian and Eurocentric thought indicates a problematic idea of who
our ancestors were. The problematic framing of our ancestors and this history had led to
questions about its implication on the past and current views of Anishinaabe ways of knowing
and being. There is a substantial utilization of this document on Beausoleil First Nation because
of its accessibility. The document assists to give people a glimpse of the past; it helps them find
out who their relatives were; it connects them to the time when their relatives walked the earth. It
is significant to the overall creation of Lyon’s articulation of culture as ‘more life.’
It is through this major research project I want to explore how this history project’s
research methodologies helped to forward Anishinaabek knowledge to serve the greater purpose
of dehumanizing Anishinaabek. The History of Christian Island and Our People was written by
Sister Leona Trautman and Sister Anne O’Connor as a project for Canada’s Centennial Year in
1967. Both Sisters were teachers at the school on the Island that had been operated by the
Catholic Church. This school was simply known as the “RC School” within the community.
According to their accounts in The History of Christian Island and Our People, both Trautman
and O’Connor had spent 18 years altogether teaching at the school. Trautman spent eight years in
her teaching capacity and had taught grade one to grade eight (68). O’Connor had spent ten years
teaching and also served as Principal of the RC School (ibid). Within the document, they talk
about their exploits in teaching “these grades” and how they both had taught new skills to the
students. In some ways, their teaching exploits almost sound like complaints rather than their
duty of being educators. For example, a quote about the work of Sister O’Connor, who was a
primary grade teacher states,
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Such work is tedious, bending over tiny desks, encouraging them to work, changing the
program of lesson materials and the repitition (sic) are some daily round duties entailes
(sic) in teaching these grades and in which Sister O’Connor was especially gifted. (ibid)
Within the primary source document, there are references that employ the use of terms
such as ‘heathen.’ The use of this term associates people with the primitive as if Anishinaabek
ancestors were non-human. This document has assisted in serving the greater Canadian narrative
of unity within Canada’s Centennial year. To demonstrate this, I utilize what Taiaiake Alfred
calls “a legal and social construct of the state.” (23) The “legal and social construct of the state”
is what contributes to ‘aboriginalism.’ Moreover, Alfred describes ‘aboriginalism’ as,
[Aboriginalism] is a false consciousness, a thorough and perpetual embedding of colonial
identities. Within this inauthentic consciousness are non-contentious cooperative
identities, institutions, and strategies for interacting with the colonizer. The lost people
who accept Aboriginal status created for them by the colonizer can assume various
postures; lacking an identity rooted in an Onkwehonwe culture, they find it necessary to
select identities and cultural choices from the menu presented to them by the Settler
society and the machinery of the state. (131)
The Eurocentric social construct of the state perpetuates misrepresentations of
Anishinaabek and Indigenous identity collectively. As Alfred has indicated, with his use of
Onkwehonwe, and his use of Aboriginal status, he helps one to recognize the influence of the
Canadian definition of ‘aboriginal’ and its impact on the consciousness of those who identify as
such. Also, Alfred further indicates that being rooted within indigenous identity, either
Anishinaabek or Onkwehonwe, that one would be more conscious of the tactics of settler society
and machinery of the state. To further demonstrate this, within A History of Christian Island and
Our People, the Eurocentric social construct and is the misrepresentation in identifying
Anishinaabek. This centennial year project depicts the ‘Indians’ of Christian Island as having
adapted to the modern Canadian way of living and thus, fitting into the social construct of the
state. Within the document, it is written in the introduction by Trautman,
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
As we proceeded into the project of tracking down facts, looking up items, gathering
data from books and collecting information from the folks on the reserve, we were
surprised and intrigued with what we have found. Our people have done a great deal
more than any of us was aware. We have to place first thinking first, so we have collected
the story of the Hurons and their struggle with the Iroquois and the final retreat to
Christian Island. Here on our Island where they suffered so much is also where so many
of these brave Christians lie buried, witnessing thereby their love for their Christian faith.
We cannot read their story without a stirring of our own faith, no matter to which church
we adhere. (1)
Through Eurocentric thought, our ancestors of Nme Mnissing have been depicted as
“doing more than any of us were aware.” Ultimately, this is suggesting the old Canadian trope of
the lazy Indian living on the system. What is also problematic is how the Creation Stories of two
distinct nations are utilized and not utilized as a means of introduction to the ‘history’ of a
separate nation of peoples. The Wendat creation story acts as an introduction to being either
nation’s existence on the Island. To utilize one nation’s creation story to frame the existence of
another is denying that nations separate existence and distinct intellectual traditions. Hence
contributing to what is known as ‘aboriginalism’ as the hegemonic social construct of the state.
Combining the stories of Anishinaabe and Wendat history places both distinct nations within a
social construct of the ‘aboriginal.’ At the time of writing this history project, the ‘Indians’ of
two different nations are one in the same because of the land they shared at different points in
time. Although Alfred does not suggest within his definition of ‘aboriginal,’ that hegemonic
identity is an aspect that defines the ‘aboriginal,’ it can be concluded that it is an allencompassing term that is suggestive of such. Especially given that ‘aboriginal’ or
‘aboriginalism’ is what strips away the identity of people and ultimately, their nation.
Through the work of people such as Helen Davies, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Stuart Hall,
Taiaiake Alfred, Glen Coulthard and many others, I will explore the problematic framing of this
particular history within the source document. I will look at the impacts of research and how it
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
was employed to undermine Anishinaabek knowledge to serve the greater purpose of Canadian
unity. Utilizing a mix of Indigenous, more specifically, Anishinaabek critique to this aspect of
the Nme Mnissing’s collective story, I will conclude with thoughts on Canada’s 150th of
Confederation and how fitting into the idea of a comforting, eurocentric vision of Anishinaabek
will form the thoughts of those who are here and those yet to come.
Collecting Information
Citations are important within the academy – this is common knowledge. As one makes
their way through school, they are instilled with the importance of citing work that helps to shape
the knowledge that forms their thoughts articulated through academic work. Of course within the
academy, it is an academic offense to pass another’s work or words off as one’s own. If someone
is caught plagiarizing another’s work, he or she can be expelled from the Academy. Outside of
the academy there are few repercussions for an offender. If one can afford to take legal action
under copyright for plagiarism, which is one recourse. One could also look at that means of
recourse as a way of stifling knowledge transmission and sharing of knowledge, so there are
social and systematic repercussions. Some are punished either through societal moral and ethical
codes while others through law. In this case, examination of the idea of “collecting stories of the
locals on the reserve” (Trautman, 1) is problematic in terms of ethical research methodologies
within Indigenous communities. The History of Christian Island and Our People a section where
the text demonstrates how collecting information undermines Anishinaabek knowledge. In this
particular section, the work of Leeanne Simpson is particularly useful to illustrate Anishinaabek
intellectual traditions that shape Anishinaabek knowledge. Further, Simpson’s contributions
insist that the ancestral language of Anishinaabek be integral to conceptualize Anishinaabek
knowledge within the academy. Although I utilize Anishinaabek knowledge for this particular
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
argument, the work of Marie Battiste and Linda Tuhawai-Smith assist in demonstrating the
detriments of research to Indigenous knowledge collectively. Utilizing the work of Battiste and
Tuhawai Smith in no way denies the credibility of Anishinaabek knowledge. However, given the
colonization of lands and on-going colonialism within Indigenous communities the world over,
utilizing critiques of research in an Indigenous context assists to demonstrate the point.
In Lighting the Eighth Fire: The Liberation, Resurgence, and Protection of Indigenous
Nations, Leanne Simpson gathers the work of many Indigenous scholars to assist in the themes
of liberation, resurgence, and protection. Within her own contribution titled, Our Elder Brother:
The Lifeblood of Resurgence, she indicated how resurgence can be identified through
Anishinaabek ancestral intellectual traditions. In relation to Indigenous Knowledge more
collectively, she writes
Throughout colonial history, the colonizer has thought at every stage that he was doing
the “Indian” a favour by assimilating him, by eradicating his “primitive” ways, and by
showing him a “better” way of life. In contemporary times, the colonizer continues to tell
us that if we do not write down our knowledge, that it will be lost forever. That is we do
not adhere to the Western intellectual traditions to ethically conduct research in our
communities, we will do our communities a disservice. (75, 76)
Simpson continues to argue that Indigenous knowledge in often undermined within
settler-colonial government structures. Simpson indicates that Indigenous peoples need to
challenge the systems and structures that contest the legitimacy of Indigenous knowledge (76).
Much of the work in challenging and protecting Indigenous knowledge has commenced in many
such. With work by people like Marie Battiste and Linda Tuhiwai Smith, challenging and
protecting Indigenous knowledge can be thought through and employed within the academy,
governments and communities. In Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage, Battiste’s
analysis of Eurocentrism and its impact on Indigenous knowledge. She argues how it has served
as a means to exploit and endanger Indigenous knowledge and heritage (289). She further
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
contend, that a change in policies and laws are needed both nationally and internationally (251
and 271) to protect Indigenous knowledge as a means of protecting Indigenous humanity (291).
At the beginning of chapter eight, Battiste begins,
Ethical research systems and practices should enable Indigenous nations, peoples, and
communities to exercise control over information relating to their knowledge and
heritage and to themselves. (132)
It is tempting to dismiss collecting information and lack of any research methodology as
a means of not having these established norms in place at the time. The “I’m sure those poor
Nuns did not know what they were doing” type of sympathy is unwarranted. At the end of the
document, there are few sources mentioned. These sources that are mentioned include the use of
three books, four articles, and three letters. This lack of sources leads one to believe that the
document relied heavily on the utilization of people’s personal narratives to carry out the project.
As Linda Tuhawai-Smith points out,
History is about power. In fact, history is mostly about power. It is the story of the
powerful and how they became powerful, and then how they use that power to keep them
in positions in which they can continue to dominate others. It is because of this
relationship with that we have been excluded, marginalized and ‘Othered.’ (35)
In this example, collecting information is an act of exclusion that serves to marginalize
the voices of the contributors and furthermore, demonstrates the positions of the sisters to
dominate and ‘other’ Anishinaabe contributors. Further to research methodologies on Beausoleil
First Nation, western practitioners within disciplines such as archeology had a significant
emotional impact on the community from the 1960’s to the late 1980’s. Upon the discovery of
Wendat remains in the 1960’s, archeologists had “upset” people within the community. In an
article from the Globe and Mail, dated in 1986, the economic development officer at the time,
the late Boyd Jaimeson says in reference to the site,
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
A test excavation was done on the site in [nineteen sixty-five], and many people became
upset when bodies were put in boxes and stacked in the community hall. 14
How the remains of the Wendat in 1965 were handled proves the lack of methodology.
Further, it proves that many believed that the remains were treated in a disrespectful way, to put
it mildly. For this description at the time to impact a memory 20 years after the fact must have
been traumatic to witness. In what some would see as a twist, the First Nation has attempted to
market the site known as “Ste Marie Two” as a tourist attraction to no avail. Given what the
Wendat peoples had suffered here, it is probably for the best that these types of ‘economic
development’ initiatives never worked out. However, when it comes to the methodologies of past
research of the Wendat, the performances of the research process should be respectful of
Anishinaabek and Wendat beliefs so research will not be a traumatic experience. It is doubtful
that any study with the Wendat will happen again. However, if one looks at the experience of the
people in the community at the time, it can be concluded that this emotional disturbance does not
happen again. The fact that there is no established methodology within The History of Christian
Island and Our People, and the absence of any reference to method aside from “tracking down
facts, looking up items, gathering data from books and collecting information from the folks on
the reserve” (1) leads one to believe that an accurate depiction of the history can be drawn by
what was tracked down, looked at, gathered and collected. The act of collecting can now be
translated as an act of violence. Violence in this sense meaning that the stories that were shared
and explained as an act of “collecting information” is exploitive in order to serve a project goal.
Although, the act of writing histories mainly are projected in an administrative sense and
14
Full article: Bourrie, Mark. Band, Archeologist Join Forces in Bid to Excavate Historic Site. Globe and Mail
(1986). Proquest Database. 1 May 2015.
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
employing modern project processes, the ultimate aim of this project had been a contribution to
mark the 100th year of Canada’s Confederation.
The primary use of sources is journals and letters of others in the Christian faith. It is
indicative of bias for European knowledge over Indigenous knowledge. Thus, placing
dependence on the latter rather than our own. Trautman and O’Connor were not academic
researchers. Critiquing their methodology while utilizing the more modern standards of research
that include Indigenous peoples and guides Indigenous researchers today, will shape the
knowledge that comes from the community in any future research. Critiquing the methodology
within The History of Christian Island and Our People is fair after Anishinaabek of Nme
Mnissing had been impacted so negatively by past archeological research. Past anthropological
practices, and in this sense western research, have harmed Anishinaabek and Indigenous peoples
all over the globe, Linda Tuhawai-Smith argues in Decolonizing Methodologies regarding
anthropology,
[W]estern disciplines are as much implicated in each other as they are in imperialism.
Some, such as anthropology made the study of us ‘their’ science, others were employed
in the practices of imperialism in less direct but far more devastating ways. (11)
The Sisters were tasked with the responsibility of writing a document that would have
influence in forming thoughts and informing people. Within the document, they heavily utilize
words such as “us,” “our,” and “we.” The use of these possessive adjectives and pronouns are
indicative of the authority of the writers, and also suggest an interesting power dynamic within
the writing. In English grammar, the use of possessive adjectives and pronouns show ownership
and thus, an assertion of possessive authority in the social dynamics of the community. Stuart
Hall’s concept of representation is particularly useful in this respect. Moreover, it can be applied
in terms of the use of language. Representation, for this purpose, is not to deconstruct the social
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
relationship of the Sisters to the community; rather, how the language of the document relates to
the use of possessive pronouns and adjectives to represent meaning. To be more specific,
Representation is the production of meaning of the concepts in our minds through
language. It is the link between concepts and language which enables us to refer to either
the ‘real’ world of objects, people or events, or indeed to imaginary worlds of fictional
objects, people and events. (Hall, 17)
Although Hall details that there are two processes within the system of representation –
concepts in which people classify and organize their thoughts – also, language. Language in this
instance operates as a means of “constructing a set of correspondences between our conceptual
maps and a set of signs.” Further to this system of representation, the link between “concepts and
signs” assists in solidifying “the meaning within language” (Hall, 19). Hall’s influence in the
area of Cultural Studies is unparalleled. His contributions to this field of study formed the basis
for the study altogether. Another thinker who has deconstructed the use of language is Edward
Said in Orientalism. I will not cite Said’s work exclusively in corroboration to deconstruct
language use for this particular work. I will, however, use an Indigenous perspective of Said’s
work that considers the impact of signifiers such as language. In The Transit Of Empire, Jodi
Byrd states in regards to Said’s Orientalism and as how it “codifies representation in connection
with images of American Indians in Western cultures” (63). Boyd justifies this as,
[I]mages that reify “savageness” and “primitiveness,” rely upon emptying [American
Indians] in tribal manifestation of identity, history, culture, then, filling them instead with
those signifiers that assert mastery and control. (ibid).
Therefore, the possessive pronouns and adjectives are the signifiers that reinforce
“mastery and control” and empty Nme Mnissing’s ancestors of any agency. Although, the Sisters
may have taught in the community, however, they were not the “we” and “our” to assert a
belonging to the people of the community who had been subjugated at the hands of their own.
The contributions of those who shared their personal stories were diminished as merely a means
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
of collecting stories. Diminishing the value of these stories also implicates “the practices of
imperialism” that were “less direct but far more devastating” (Tuhawai-Smith, 11) where the
future of Anishinaabe on Nme Mnissing are concerned. Furthermore, the lack of research
methodology indicates the relationship of the Sisters settler-colonial privilege within the
community. The performance of the Sisters in the project favors the Christian Faith and is
evident within the document. For example, two sections of the document are focused on the
history of the churches in the community. The section on the United Church is a meager five
pages long; where the section on the Roman Catholic Church is 19 pages of the whole eightyseven. A total 24 pages are dedicated solely to the faiths within the community. However, yet,
the focus of the document on this aspect of the community’s history, weakens Anishinaabek
ancestral faith and relegates it as “heathen custom.” Within a report submitted to the Indian
Claims Commission in 1996, a researcher by the name of Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux has been
cited extensively for her research on the Coldwater-Narrows Reserve. The report titled,
Chippewa Tri-Council Inquiry – Coldwater-Narrows Reservation Surrender Claim gives an
account of the Coldwater-Narrows Experiment. There had been a multitude of issues that
stemmed from the mismanagement of funds to alcohol abuse to the rapid influx of settlers in the
area. Religious affiliation had also taken a toll on the “progress” of the “community.” The report
states,
…the focus on religious conversion and instruction as key features of the settlement
policy created new problems among the Chippewas. Divisions arose among the Bands as
a result of the escalating competition between representatives of the various Christian
denominations for the religious allegiance of the Indians of the reserve. This rivalry
contributed to unrest among the Chippewa Bands, and presented an additional obstacle to
the successful development of the community. (12-13)
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Although there had been the presence of Methodism, Roman Catholic, and Anglican
religious denominations present within the Narrows community, the competition for “allegiance”
is what has had the most profound, intergenerational impact. Reading this particular historical
take on the social aspects of the Coldwater-Narrows Reserve is interesting. It assists in
understanding many who reside on the Island in the present. It is interesting to see the parallel to
what the report states as “escalating competition” for “religious allegiance.” This ‘allegiance’
been established in the community and maintained intergenerationally through the Residential
School system. As Jo-Ann Episkenew regarding the unrelenting statements regarding Indigenous
traditions statements to children. Episkenew, states in Taking Back Our Spirits,
As part of the process of converting Indians to Christianity, school officials taught
students that they pagan savages and, therefore, would burn in hell if they persisted in
practicing traditional ways. (51)
Christianity has been the way of life for many people in the community for many
generations now. It is not surprising that in a document that is one aspect of the communities
collective story mentions this way of life. Not only has Christianity been prominent enough to
warrant ‘escalating allegiance’ at the Narrows Reserve, the territory before the Narrows reserve
was a site of Christian conversion work by people like Peter Jones.15 The intergenerational
impact of Christian conversion work was evident within the references to ancestral ways when
my Uncles were breathing life into what was next to lost to Anishinaabek on Nme Mnissing. The
use of the term ‘heathen’ within the source document for this project further exemplifies how
Anishinaabek was viewed through the lens of Eurocentric and Christian thought. For example
within the document, it states,
“There were already residing on Christian Island a few Potawatomis and Ottawas. In all
94, the Potawatomis came from Lake Michigan (near Michi Island) and remained
15
In Sacred Feathers: The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) and The Mississauga Indians, states “Peter
Jones also carried the gospel to the Lake Simcoe area Indians in July 1826. (Smith, Donald B., ch.6)
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
heathen. They number 49. The Beausoleil Indians have offered to receive them into
their band, if they abandon their heathen customs and embrace Christianity. The Ottawas
number 49 and are principally Roman Catholics who emigrated here.” (pg 12, Trautman
& O’Connor)
The reference to the “Pottawatomi” peoples as “heathen” situates them in a distant past.
The ‘heathen’ past that is absent of Eurocentric and Christian ideas of progress. Therefore,
utilizing the heathen term as a means of “emptying them of any tribal manifestation of identity,
history, and culture” (Boyd, 63). The reference to Anishinaabek spirituality as ‘heathen16’ is
indicative of the idea that Anishinaabe being in the world that was ‘progressing’ fits within the
social construct. The idea of ‘progress’ is proliferating a “social construct” that speaks to and
reinforces settler-colonial views of ourselves. Settler-colonialism is defined succinctly in Glen
Coulthard’s book, Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition,
“A settler colonial relationship is one characterized by a particular form of domination;
that it, it is relationship where power – in this case, interrelated discursive and
nondiscursive facets of economic, gendered, racial, and state power – has been structured
into a relatively secure or sedimented set of hierarchical social relations that continue to
facilitate the dispossession of Indigenous peoples of their lands and self-determining
authority.”(6, 7)
The reference to “Pottawatomi” peoples as “heathen” has othered peoples who have an
ancient connection to each other by way of the Three Fires Confederacy. The Three Fires
Confederacy is the means in which Ojibway, Bodewattomi, and Odawa maintained their
relationship and responsibility to each other. Each was to uphold a responsibility in being the
keepers of the faith, the keepers of the fire, and the keepers of the trade. A mention of this
connection is written in the document. However, the only reference is the responsibility to the
“Ottawa” as meaning “to trade” in Algonkian [sic] terms. (10). Trautman and O’Connor continue
in a section titled ‘The Ojibways or Chippewa of Beausoleil,’ it starts,
16
"heathen." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 02 Mar. 2015. <Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/heathen>.
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
The present inhabitants of Christian Island Reserve are also entirely of the Ojibway
Nation and are classified as the Chippewas of Beausoleil. Originally they lived in the area
bordering on Northern Lake Superior and in 1683 banded together with other branches of
the Ojibway nation and some tribes from the south to eject the Iroquois from Ontario
where they (the Iroquois) had become masters after they had defeated the Hurons and the
other occupants of this area. (ibid)
In the abandonment of “heathen customs”, one would become more Christian, more
human in the eyes of those who exerted authority over the Anishinaabek. Associating
Anishinabek ancestral ways of being was an assault on intellectual, political and spiritual ways.
The use of ‘heathen customs,’ had ultimately dehumanized Anishinaabek and therefore, allowed
the collecting information within the document to open up the collective intelligence of the
contributors and exploit it for a purpose that assisted in delegitimizing self-determining
authority.
The Centennial Project
In the introduction, I wrote of how The History of Christian Island and Our People
written as a project to mark the Centennial year of Canadian Confederation. In this section, I will
refer to the writing of Helen Davies and her work on the Centennial Year. I will argue that the
work of Trautman and O’Connor tied Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing to the Canadian social
construct of the aboriginal referenced earlier. In the Introduction of The Politics of Participation:
Learning for Canada’s Centennial Year, Davies’ states that,
Centennial organizers worked to promote the theme of unity over division in an effort to
shape a distinct, but uniform, Canadian national identity. (31)
Moreover, Davies argues that “officials designed events that generated a mood of
excitement and promoted mass participation while bolstering national pride and reinforcing
political unity” (ibid). The word ‘design’ is problematic. It speaks to how The History of
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Christian Island and Our People was a part – albeit, a small part - of the design in bolstering
Canadian pride and political unity. The Centennial year and all the projects that were associated
with celebrating the centennial year across Canada were to define “Canadianess” (ibid). Further
to this, it was to exemplify how “Canadianness” had evolved in 100 years since Confederation.
The History of Christian Island and Our People starts with an introduction by Sister Trautman,
who states,
“All over Canada communities are writing up the history of their particular locality. In
doing this the people become aware of the advances made and develop an appreciation
for what has been accomplished by the people of their district. In assigning this project to
the schools, Mr. Mullin of Indian Affairs, put into our hands a task that did not give us at
first the full picture of what was entailed.” (1)
As Davies finds in her research, government documents produced in planning a mass
event. These documents indicated there was a “source of particular concern to officials” because
they wondered “how best to administer funds for Aboriginal projects” (136). Davies had also
offered insight into the commission’s view of “aboriginal participation.” Davies had indicated
that a separate committee had been established to ensure “aboriginal participation.” Centennial
officials met with the National Indian Council of Canada in 1963. So the centennial committee
had been created to execute the mandate that would “work to foster a spirit of cooperation
between Aboriginals and the larger Canadian community” (135). The overall Centennial project
was “challenged” by “inherent political tensions,” as Davies points out,
[M]any Aboriginals and Quebecois nationalists remained skeptical of the government's
motives and, consequently, were reluctant to join the celebration. Moreover, believing
that the Liberal rhetoric of national unity implied conformity and capitulation, some
people decided to resist the Centennial “moment” or, in the case of young Aboriginal
“radicals,” use the opportunity to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the status quo.
(Davies, 139)
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Trautman and O’Connor had summarized the Centennial events on Christian Island by
referencing an article from a newspaper - although it is uncertain which newspaper. The events
included giving “Indian” names; presentation of headdresses to the Indian agents clerk and a
reporter from the local paper, the Free Press. There was also a flag raising by an individual who
had worked for the parks and recreation department for Simcoe County (84). In sum, Centennial
celebrations were marked in the fashion that had been an overall project goal in “bolstering
Canadian pride and political unity.” While Christian Island was celebrating the Centennial Year
in mandated fashion; on a national front, Chief Dan George “had silenced a crowd of 32 000
people” at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. Chief Dan George’s speech titled A
Lament for Confederation symbolizes mourning for a life prior to colonization. It is also
indicative of how Indigenous peoples had always struggled with the idea of ‘Canada’ when at the
time, there had been an outright denial of Indigenous rights by Canadians. Many Indigenous
children were in residential school at the time, and many had already been through the
Residential school system. It is fair to say that Indigenous people knew the 100 years of
Canadian confederation reinforced colonialism and colonization of Indigenous lands just to see a
celebration of 100 years of subjugation at the hands of the colonizing settler-state. As Davies
writes, the 1960’s saw a “paradigm shift” and “rapid social and technological change” (23).
Amongst those changes Davies names,
[The] birth of the women’s liberation movement, the increasing politicization of
Canadian Aboriginal Communities, the rise of Quebec nationalism and the developing
youth culture. (ibid)
She continues to write that “contemporary observers had seen Canadian society as being
“under attack” (23-24). Although these changes are within society are notable. However, I want
to focus on the “increasing politicization of Aboriginal Communities.” It was in the 1960's that
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Anishinaabek and other Indigenous nations across what is now Canada became more noticed by
the Canadian public to assist in the “paradigm shift” and the creation of social change. Not long
after the Centennial year did Canadian’s and Indigenous peoples see what is called The White
Paper, Pierre Trudeau’s contribution to help rectify the ‘Indian problem’ in Canada. Carmen
Robertson’s contribution Imaginary Citizens: The White Paper and the Whitewash in the Press
within the book Narratives of Citizenship: Indigenous and Diasporic Peoples Unsettle The
Nation-State, states,
Released on June 25, 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s White Paper on Indian
Policy proposed the abolishment of the Indian Act and this the termination of special
rights and the legal status of First Nations peoples in Canada. (235).
Robertson concludes that highlighting the problematic idea of citizenship and the
assimilation of Indigenous peoples “had seemed to help solve Canada’s troubles” (255).
Furthermore, “The white paper championed a form of homogeneity that served the dominant
power structure but left no space for treaty rights or the acknowledgment of difference.” (ibid)
For Chief Dan George, this future vision brought about by Centennial year celebrations indicated
what could be possible in the future for Indigenous peoples. However, what could be possible for
one does not necessarily have to come at the expense of being “Canadian.” So long as one does
not forget who they are and where they come from as Indigenous peoples while utilizing the
“instruments of the white man’s success.” The Centennial Year project undertaken by the Sisters
of the Catholic Church and the RC School had helped to guide Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing
into fitting into the wider Canadian notion of belonging and sameness. Thus, the project carved
out a sameness to peoples of very distinct nations who had resided on what is now our Island
home. Given that Wendat and Anishinaabek shared the land at different points in time, our
history tells us that we are the same as Wendat and ultimately, as Canadians.
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Wendat and Anishinaabek Meet the Aboriginal
Considering how the writers of the History of Christain Island and Our People had
managed to intertwine two distinct nations as being the same, this sameness created a hegemonic
social construct. It is imperative to consider how the Indigenous stories told within reflect the
hegemonic social construct. In this respect, the story of Kitichiwana. Trautman and O’Connor
appropriate it as a means of framing the creation of the Island to begin writing about “our
people.” Although it is an attempt to add an Indigenous truth to the creation of the land, the effort
is diminished to a mere “Indian legend” within the document. The use of “Indian legend” as
framing for the document and introducing a creation story does not define, nor indicate that it is,
in fact, a part of a Wendat creation story. Not only is this aspect of the document an interesting
element in perpetuating a discourse of pan-Indian romanticism; the importance to a nation is
reduced to a “claim.” As Trautman and O’Connor state within the introduction to The History of
Christian Island and Our People,
To open our story we begin with an Indian legend, one which interests us all, since from
Cedar Point dock we are always confronted with the mysterious island, Giant’s Tomb.
The legend gives us the setting, in fantasy of course, for the beginning of Christian Island
and a reason for the hump on the island called “The Tomb.” (2)
In referencing Creation stories, Anishinaabe scholars Jill Doerfler, Niigaanwewidam
James Sinclair and Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark offer a insight. In Centering Anishinaabeg
Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories, they demonstrate the Anishinaabek Creation
Story as a “vast collection of stories that embody history, law and many experiences and
perspectives” (ch.2). Further to this point, they add to the importance of the Creation Story as
being “like maps, or perhaps instructions, that teach us how to navigate the past, present, and
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
future.” They further add that Creation Stories are “ultimately about creation and re-creation”
(ibid). Trautman and O’Connor retell the Wendat Creation story,
Kitichikewana, the Indian Giant of long ago who waded in Georgian Bay waters one
hundred feet deep, must have been the first to view Christian Island shores. Indian
legends claim he was the architect of all the island in the bay. He scouped [sic] great
giant chunks from the mainland in monstrous handful, threw them dozens at a time in
streaking arcs across the sky. One of the biggest became Christian Island. Smaller ones
became Hope and Beckwith Islands. And so they fell all the way north to form more
island which are now called the 30 000 islands. When Kitchikewana was scouping [sic]
up the sand one day with his huge hands, he dug into the mainland, the part now known
as Huronia. He left the indentation of his enormous fingers, giving us the shoreline of
inlets. (Trautman and O’Connor, 2)
I’m not familiar with Wendat oral tradition or how Wendat Creation stories operate
within Wendat being. I can only discuss the perspectives of Doefler, Stark, and Sinclair about the
importance of the Anishinaabek Creation story. Anishinaabek Creation stories could take days to
tell. Also, it is the story of how the Creator made the sun, the moon, the earth and how
Anishinaabe have been placed on the earth, generally speaking. In this respect, Trautman and
O’Connor reduce the Wendat creation story of the territory to “fantasy.” This further reduces its
credibility. In part, the use of “fantasy” acts as a means of affirming the absence of Wendat
peoples in the area. Referring to their knowledge as “fantasy” also assists in perpetuating the idea
that the Wendat were absent of formulating intellectual thought. As Katheryn Magee-Labelle
states within the book Dispersed but Not Destroyed: A History of the Seventeenth Century
Wendat People, she writes,
The Wendat engaged in calculated planning and strategic decision making to facilitate
their move to Gahoendoe. Despite limited options, Gahoendoe represented the best
opportunity for survival. Much of the scholarship discussing this point in Wendat history
tends to overemphasize the role of the Jesuits in these deliberations. The public history
site of Saint-Marie among the Hurons, for instance, presents a sign depicting those who
moved to Gahoendoe as a groups of Jesuits and “some Wendat followers.” (54)
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Another interpretation of the event that led up to the decision to come to Gahoendoe is
recorded and contrasts what Labelle-Magee has found within her research. In The History of
Christian Island and Our People, Trautman and O’Connor write,
During April and May the missionaries prayed for light and conferred about their
problems. They decided they must abandon Ste. Marie as quickly as possible or be
massacred by the Iroquois. At first they planned to move to Manitoulin Island and would
have but they were approached by Christian Chiefs who begged the Fathers to gather
their Christian people at St. Joseph Island to protect their Christian faith. (5)
Both these quotes indicate that there are two sides to every story. Of course, people who
favour the Christian faith are going to focus more on the aspect of the influence their faith has
had on others. To suggest that the Wendat were merely followers of the Jesuit, indicates that they
were docile, non-humans that they were obeying orders. This denies the Wendat of autonomy
and further plays into the idea that they are a memory situated in a distant past – the vanished
Indian – rather than the vanishing one.
Recreated villages and tourists sites assist in perpetuating this idea. Aside from remains
found within the present village of Anishinaabek residing on Nme Mnissing, there are no
physical beings in the area of what is known to the Wendat as Wendake. Because of this absence
of physical beings, it had been concluded that Wendat peoples are non-existent and therefore,
fantasy. Presently, what remains of the Wendat peoples are only remnants of what make-up
recreated villages such as Ste. Marie Among the Hurons in Midland, ON and the remains of the
fort on Christian Island called Ste. Marie Two. Even though there are these re-created villages,
they assist in perpetuating the idea that Wendat no longer exist and that they are simply a
memory.
As Stark, Sinclair and Dofler have indicated, Creation Stories are “maps” or
“instructions” in how to “navigate the past, the present, and the future.” In considering this
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
articulation of Creation Stories more generally, they connect one to that place in time. Further to
this point on Creation Stories, in Dancing On Our Turtles Back, Leanne Simpson adds,
In interpreting Creation Stories within a culturally inherent framework provides several
insights into [Anishinaabek] thought. First, it is a highly personal. All [Anishinaabek]
people are theorists in the sense that they hold responsibilities to making meaning for
their own creation and their own life. This happens in the context of [Anishinaabek]
knowledge, their name, their clan, their community, their own personal gifts and
attributes and their own life experience. Theory is collectivized through the telling of our
stories and the performance of our ceremonies. (43)
When another nation’s Creation Story is told as a means to introduce a history of another
nation, it denies that nations intellectual traditions and spiritual connections to the land. It is also
denying the responsibility of “making meaning for [Anishinaabek] creation and their own life.”
Combining both the history of Anishinaabek on Nme Mnissing to a Wendat Creation Story
indicates those nations are one in the same. That they share intellectual traditions that assist to
guide their way of being in the world. It operates as a means to be a precursor that suggests
sameness and plays into the hegemonic discourse of ‘aboriginalism’ and robs either nation of
their autonomy.
Self-Determination and Self-Recognition Through Our Stories
Throughout my life I have heard many stories told by my relatives of how the people in
our community have managed to find a way to live; to make ends meet. Often my Mom would
tell the story of how my grandparents were unable to provide food for them. That was when my
Grandfather would go fishing and find a seagull’s nest for the eggs. Many of my relatives have
said that when the Bodewattomi resides on the Island at the time of the arrival of the Ojibway
from Beausoleil Island, they were banished to live on one side of the Island. It was at this time,
that the Bodewattomi had to find a means of survival. My Grandfather had been using the same
survival instincts as his relatives before him. If the Ojibway had not been taught to believe that
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
our ancestral ways as Anishinaabek were “heathen customs” the Bodewattomi would have been
able to reside in the same village. However, Christianity had an impact on the minds of the
Ojibway and so, divisions were built.17 Since this story is one that is absent to the history of
Anishinaabek on Nme Mnissing, it directly impacts collective self-recognition in terms of being
Anishinaabek. Self-recognition in this sense means who Anishinaabek are and utilizing
Anishinaabek ancestral ways of knowing for survival as a people. Thus, having these ways to
guide how we see ourselves and our place in this world. In relation to this, Anishinaabe-Kwe
Scholar, Leanne Simpson writes in Lighting the Eighth Fire,
I believe one of our most critical and immediate tasks in building an Indigenous
resurgence is ensuring that the knowledge of our ancestors is taught to the coming
generations. But, according to our intellectual traditions, how we do this is as important
or perhaps more important than the product of our efforts. (74)
Simpson is speaking in the more generalized sense about Indigenous Nations, as many
Indigenous nations have battled and continue to battle colonialism. Colonialism has impacted
knowledge systems the world over. In relating this to Anishinaabek “how we teach,”
Anishinaabek knowledge is important. However, in terms of building a ‘resurgence’ on the First
Nation through that knowledge, will require more work to realize a ‘resurgence.’ Much of the
work has to do with being empowered through Anishinaabek knowledge. After nearly 400 years
of colonialism and colonization in this area around Nme Mnissing, the term resurgence within
the current idea implies that undoing the colonial damage can happen instantaneously. A
resurgence cannot simply be built overnight. It will take many years to heal the spirit of the
people from what has been lost and taken away through colonial systems. A resurgence will
happen within the coming generations, just as colonialism has taken generations to become
ingrained. It will take generations to undo for Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing to fully realize
17
A story often told by my Mom, Rosanne Monague and my Uncle Giiwedin, Leon King.
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
self-determination. In other words, Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing needs to find a way to work
towards a collective idea of how to work towards “resurgence” through the empowerment found
within our collective knowledge as Anishinaabek. Working towards collective empowerment
through Anishinaabek knowledge will assist the collective to work and carry forward that
empowerment for our future generations. The community has already seen acts ‘resurgence’ in
many ways, through many stories. The colonial systems have been instilled in people not to
acknowledge them as such. In realizing and living self-recognition of Anishinaabek and
collective self-determination through colonial governance systems, Glen Coulthard writes,
…that the dominance of a legal approach to self-determination has over time helped to
produce a class of “Aboriginal” citizens whose rights and identities have been defined
more in relation to the colonial state and its legal apparatus than the history and tradition
of Indigenous nations themselves. (42)
It is worthwhile to explore self-recognition and self-determination, as they are not one in
the same. They are two separate means of seeing Indigenous existence within the current
structure of society. My Mom and Uncles often told the story of how my grandfather, Wilson
King had resisted registering with the Indian Agent. However, he had been forced to be baptized
and take on the name ‘Wilson King’ when he was 18 years old. It was not by choice, but for his
survival at the time. Stories such as this are integral to our very being now than they were before.
These stories are what help to realize what has impacted self-recognition that also impacted selfdetermination on an individual level. They are stories that help to realize how our ancestors were
impacted by colonial policies and how their very being was oppressed under these policies. Since
our ancestors were impacted spiritually, mentally and physically by colonialism, that pain had
emanated out into our communities and thus, impacted self-recognition and the collective selfdetermining authority. When a story such as the one of my grandfather is told, it can be related
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
further to other acts of resistance to the state. To further demonstrate community member
resistance; not too long ago men from the community, including my Uncles, had assisted in
taking supplies to the community of Kahnesatake. Canadians have to come know Kahnesatake as
being a part the “Oka Crisis.” As a twelve-year-old, I remember my brother and my uncles
preparing for the trip that included the Tri-Council communities of Rama and Georgina Island.
As Jeff Monague, Chief of the First Nation at the time recollects,
As a young Chief I had just started my first term as the Chief of my community, the
Beausoleil First Nation. Together, with men from Christian Island, Rama, and Georgina
Island, I organized a food drive to Oka Quebec. The Tri-Council communities responded
in huge way. We loaded 6 trucks and vans and we headed to Oka. Along the way we
stopped in Cornwall and stopped at a super market and asked the manager if we could
have boxes as some of our food was not boxed. He asked us what we were doing and
after hearing what it was, he graciously donated more food. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and
eggs. A very nice kind and caring man. Very different from the men we would encounter
at the Police barricades leading into Oka and Kanesatake. The Police pointed loaded
guns at us, had us raise our hands in the air and then lie on the ground as they searched
our vehicles. We were spat at, sworn at, and called every racist name you could think of
but all the while we remained cool. We were allowed through countless Police
checkpoints leading into Oka and just as we made it into the town we were ordered to
turn around and go home. 18
Through acts of solidarity with what have been historical events in what is now Canada;
involving these personal recollections that tie people from our community to these events are
integral. Within the history of Nme Mnissing, the people of the First Nation could find a
connection to our past that demonstrates how people from Nme Mnissing have helped
Indigenous peoples in land reclamation efforts. Furthermore, they can see who had assisted with
acts of resistance to the state and will compel others to assist in future efforts. Acts of solidarity
and resistance to the state also contribute to define and reinforce a self-recognizing and selfdetermining community belonging to a greater whole. This greater whole is not Canada, but the
18
Jeff Monague, Personal Communication July 11, 2015
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
ancient connections Anishinaabek have with nations we shared territory with prior to
colonization.
To read personal recollections of state resistance or a person’s contribution to land
reclamation efforts assists to articulate how people from our community played a role in
solidarity and resistance movements within what is now ‘Canada.’ Stories in this sense, do not
act quite like teachings Anishinaabek receive in the lodge. Instead, they operate much like
survival narratives within imposed systems of governance. Leanne Simpson in Dancing On Our
Turtles Back: Stories of Nishinaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence, and a New Emergence,
Storytelling is an important process for visioning, imagining, critiquing the social space
around us, and ultimately challenging the colonial norms fraught in our daily lives. (34)
Acts of solidarity and resistance to the state also help to define and reinforce selfdetermination outside state definitions of who Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing are. In this sense,
self-recognition and self-determination are not solely determined by the current political
structure of Aboriginal peoples established under the Charter. They are reconnecting to the
ancestors and to who Anishinaabek were prior to civilization experiments, Christian
indoctrination and assist to stifle the idea of Canadian progress. It is to this end that Leanne
Simpson writes in Lighting the Eight Fire,
The [Anishinaabek] knowledge system has always encouraged its learners to look inside
themselves as individuals, as families, as communities, and as nations, and to engage in a
process of restoring and maintaining balance within the cosmos. The belief is that by
changing oneself, you can change your reality, and by committing to a process of
decolonization and Indigenizing, a collective transformation can occur. (75)
Conclusion
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
I had come across the document The History of Christian Island and Our People within
personal records of one my relatives. I was fascinated to see the names of people I recognized
and were related too; their accomplishments and the work that they had contributed to making
the most of the land where they had been displaced. As Keith Richotte Jr., says in Telling All of
Our Stories: Reorienting the Legal and Political Events of the Anishinaabe, nations need to
“reconceptualize the legal and political histories of Anishinaabeg as stories” (par.1).
Reconceptualizing according to Richotte includes distinguishing between history and story.
Moreover, he asserts,
The word “history,” on the other hand, carries an air of authority. History, unlike stories,
is defined by its claim to accuracy and truthfulness. It is also defined by its relationship
with the linear progression of time. (par.2)
It is through Richotte’s idea of reconceptualizing that addressing the concept of ‘truth’ in
storytelling, as opposed to the truth within history demonstrates how the two differentiate within
Anishinabek thought. Reconceptualizing, in this instance, assists to define more succinctly, selfrecognition and self-determination guide Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing through the confine of
the colonizing settler-state. Within this project, I had difficulty reconceptualizing this version of
history. Currently, this is all we have on the First Nation in the form of written words that
connect us to our ancestors. Many of the First Nation’s documents had been housed in the old
band office that burned down in the mid-1980’s. The History of Christian Island and Our People
survived because it had been kept in personal archives by community members and were also
circulated at the Midland Public Library. This document serves as a reminder of the hardships
our ancestors bore to make this place worth living when so many of us, such as the Wendat,
could not. It serves as a reminder that even though the Wendat peoples had struggled on this
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
place we now call home; we should honour and acknowledge them for the extreme hardships
they faced that were more perilous to our own. As Jodi Byrd indicates in Transit of Empire,
[T]he land both remembers life and its loss and serves itself as mnemonic device that
triggers the ethics of relationality with sacred geographies that constitute indigenous
peoples’ histories. (118)
Although The History of Christian Island and Our People was ultimately a project that
assisted in perpetuating a hegemonic Canadian narrative of unity. It worked to weave
Anishinaabek of Nme Mnissing into a social construct of the state, and tied into the Centennial
year celebrations of 1967. Our real story is one of struggle grounded in making this place work
for everyone that resided and currently resides here. It is a story of an intellectual and physical
struggle within the imposed colonial system. The History of Christian Island and Our People
reimagines our people’s struggle as being productive Canadian citizens. Further to this, the
writers even acknowledge that the “people had done more than any of us was aware” (1). As if to
say, the people in the community had been unproductive, primitive, non-human beings, just
simply living and breathing. This particular project has played a part in delegitimizing
Anishinaabek knowledge because stories were passed off as someone else’s to fill an entirely
different objective. To demonstrate this, I have referenced the work of Helen Davies. The work
she had conducted on the Centennial Year has brought some insight to the objective of the
Centennial Year project. As Davies concludes in her work,
“[as] at any good party, guests blew off a “little steam” and, in a carnivalesque
environment, poked fun at themselves and their neighbors. But, of course, it was all in
jest and, in time, everything returned to “normal.” Of course, these fleeting feelings,
socially sanctioned moments of non-conformity served primarily to generate greater
enthusiasm and support for an event that, in the end, promoted a comforting vision of
Canadian society.”
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
In utilizing the labor put into the creation of any economy back in the days of the 1960’s,
the Sisters who compiled the document place my ancestors in that “comforting vision of
Canadian society.” Because my ancestors that built the community now known as Beausoleil
First Nation had given up their “heathen customs” had helped to place them comfortably within
that vision. Our “heathen costumes” were uncomfortable because our ancestral ways of knowing
and being had interfered with Eurocentric and Canadian ideas of ‘progress.’
It is through the work that was compiled by Sisters Trautman and O’Connor that
Anishinaabek on Nme Mnissing can envision what life was like for their relatives. The History of
Christian Island and Our People mentions relatives who served in the World Wars, who had
served in the position as Chief and what they accomplished in their time as Chief. The document
lists Indian Agents who were appointed by the Department of Indian Affairs. The listing of
Indian agents assists people to see now how our people were policed – that Indian agents helped
to reinforce colonial systems on their relatives. The History of Christian Island and Our People
lists organized clubs that included women like my grandmother and great-aunts. It mentions the
committees our relatives were part of and a ‘Buyers Club’ that was to act as a co-op to assist in
alleviating ice crossings in the winter months for groceries (41). It lists milestones such as when
hydro first arrived on the Island and when the first telephone had been installed (44). It
documents the ferries that had been the lifeline of the community. Overall, The History of
Christian Island and Our People served as a means of reflecting on what needs to be done to
take on the task of this magnitude. If people now want to re-write an Anishinaabek version of
The History of Christian Island and Our People, that truly exemplifies who are people are, it
needs to done with care. Adding an Anishinaabek interpretation will be a task that assists in
forming the thoughts of those for generations to come. Although, I have critiqued various aspects
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
of the document’s interpretation. A ‘historical’ aspect of the collective history of people on Nme
Mnissing, and its explicit Eurocentric views of my ancestors, I can read through it and hear the
voice of my great-grandmother. As she was one of the people, who had shared stories with the
Sister for this project.
In the beginning, I had written the story that was shared by my Uncle, Medwayosh. When
I referenced Leanne Simpson’s work on aandisokaanan and dibaajimowinan, this is an example
of those. However, I have only taken from this story what I needed to know it. It was not a full
teaching; it was a personal reflection for my Uncle at the time. It is a story that has assisted to
understand, in greater depth, the knowledge that surrounds our very being and how we often take
that knowledge for granted. Much of why it is taken for granted is because of how Anishinaabek
have been taught to see ourselves and our place in the world. My Uncle Medwayosh is a Chief
within the Midewiwin Lodge now. Along with my Uncles Shkabewis, Niigaanup, and Giiwedin,
he had helped to bring Anishinaabek ancestral ways back to Nme Mnissing. I wanted to utilize
this story as a means of also demonstrating how Anishinaabek knowledge comes from the land
and through our people. That people may take those trips to explore and embrace other lands and
religions, however, what we always need to know, will be at home. The History of Christian
Island and Our People tells a story that is quite the opposite of this. In some respects, it tells the
story of struggle. However, this struggle is grounded in surviving through colonial systems that
have been imposed on Anishinaabek. It tells of how many people had found a way to survive on
land that was not within our ancestral territory, but rather land our ancestors had been placed on
to create an existence for generations to come. To this end, I am reminded of the words of Merle
Assance-Beedie, Waasnodaa-Kwe, who has been cited in an article not long after her departure
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
to begin her spirit journey. Maurice Switzer had utilized her words within the Ipperwash
Inquiry’s Indigenous Knowledge Forum, as he recalled her words, Switzer writes,
“The Haudenosaunee like to say they told the first European explorers that they were
entering “Kanata”, which was “the village” in Iroquois, but Merle had her own
Anishinaabe version, one she shared with the Ipperwash Inquiry’s Indigenous Knowledge
Forum on Oct. 14, 2004.
“When the visitors came, the people whom they first met were people from the
Algonquin-speaking nations who were fishing on the St. Lawrence River. And it was
Jacques Cartier who asked them ‘What is the name of this country? What is the name of
this land?’
“And the reply was ‘Kenada. ‘K’ means land in our language. ‘Kena’ means everyone
and everything. ‘Da’ means heart. So the actual name of our country is ‘Kenada’ –
everything has heart; everyone has heart.”(ibid)19
Reflecting on this written journey and employing Leeanne Simpson’s scholarly work on
Anishinaabek theory has assisted in helping understand many of the teachings that I have
received from my Uncle's. Her work, as long as with the work of many others, has assisted to
understand, in greater depth, the struggles of Anishinaabek in maintaining intellectual traditions.
Within the community residing on Nme Mnissing, many have come to respect Anishinaabek
ancestral ways. Respect has taken a long time to build for space within the community for both
Christian ways and Anishinaabek ancestral ways. However, there is much work to do when it
comes to sharing our stories comfortably. The stories of Anishinaabek on Nme Mnissing will
contribute to restoring Anishinaabek governance and Anishinaabek education methods in order
to assist in the creation of building “more life” to provide for those who are yet to come.
Epilogue
19
Switzer, Maurice ‘Missing Auntie Merle’ Tuesday, September 12, 2011 retrieved from
http://www.baytoday.ca/content/editorials/details.asp?c=48775 August 25, 2015
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Recently, I have come across initiatives that will assist one who is interested in
celebrating Canada’s 150th year of confederation. The initiatives assist in engaging and guiding
enthusiastic Canadians through starting discussions in their communities on commemorating
Canada’s 150th year of Confederation. For instance, a group volunteers from Calgary had put
together the imagiNation 150 Handbook. Within this particular handbook contains The i150
Manifesto, which reads,
Soon, we Canadians will celebrate the birth of an idea.
A vision. A hope and a dream. A promise.
In 2017, we will celebrate the 150th birthday of our great nation.
Let us rise, we passionate Canadians, we dreamers and builders.
And bring our nation the gift of our boundless imagination.
Once again, as we have done generation after generation,
Let us imagine an even greater Canada.
A Canada even more generous and just.
Even more bold, more innovative.
Even more vital, more compassionate.
Even more strong and free.
As we approach Canada’s birthday let us speak, entre nous,
of the nation we could be.
On the day, let us bring Canada the gift of a new dream.
And the next day, and in the days to follow,
let us roll up our sleeves and build it.
This project was written at various times throughout 2013 to 2015. In finishing this
project, Canadians are now in the shadows of Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation. I
can only imagine that much of the celebrations that will take place will be similar to that of the
Centennial year nearly 50 years ago. However, I am sure for Indigenous peoples within the
confines of Canada; the celebrations will be much more like resistance in the 1960’s. Since 2012
Idle No More was successful at engaging Indigenous peoples, young and old, to gather in places
like Parliament Hill, Young and Dundas Square and shopping malls all over Canada. Many of
the rallies and round dances were utilized to demonstrate how Canada continues to ignore treaty
rights, inherent rights, and Aboriginal Rights. Current discourse surrounding the topic of
M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
teaching Indigenous history to Canadians has been predominant given movements like Idle No
More and recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 20 This leads to further
questions such as, what aspects of history are going to be taught? How does the history of the
First Nation communities fit into the history that is going to be taught, especially given the past
interpretations of history of a specific community, like the Anishinaabek on Nme Mnissing; how
does the discourse of teaching “indigenous history” collectively impact a communities sense of
belonging? Will teaching “Indigenous history” further remove First Nations communities from
the rest of Canada?
I am not going to attempt to answer these questions at this point. Nor will am I going to
predict what will happen with Canada’s 150th year of Confederation. The spirit of the eighth fire
is what moves the collective. No one can predict where the spirit will take the people. If
everyone and everything has heart, as in Waasnoode Kwe’s interpretation of ‘Kenada,’ and the
heart is connected to the spirit. And furthermore, to the spirit of the eight fire, one can only
imagine the beauty that will come.
Works/Knowledge Cited
20
There are many references within the ‘Call to Action’ document that speak to this need in many areas from Government public service to schools. For more on the ‘Call to Action’ items from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Visit: http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf M.A Major Research Project – S. Shawongonabe; McMaster University – Cultural Studies and Critical Theory
Alfred, Taiaiake. Wasase: Pathways to Indigenous Freedom. Toronto, ON: University of
Toronto Press, 2009. Print.
Assance-Beedie, Merle (Waasnodaa Kwe). Nshkintam Gii Maanjidyaang. Munsee-Delaware:
Anishinabe Kendaaswin Publishing, 1995. Print.
Author, No. "2017 STARTS NOW CONVERSATION KIT." n.d. A GUIDE TO IMAGINING
CANADA'S 150TH ANNIVERSARY. CBC/Radio-Canada. pdf. 26 August 2015.
<http://www.2017startsnow.ca/en/docs/conversation-kit.pdf>.
—. Beausoleil First Nation Lands and Leasing; Some History of Christian Island. July 2015.
Web. <http://www.chimnissing.ca/lands.html>.
—. This Day In History: July 1 1967. Vancouver, BC, 2 July 2015. Website. 15 July 2015.
<http://www.vancouversun.com/This+history+July+1967/6876736/story.html>.
Battiste, Marie and Youngblood-Henderson, James (Sa'ke'j). Protecting Indigenous Knowledge
and Heritage: A Global Challenge. Saskatoon, SK: Purich Publishing Ltd., 2000. Print.
Bourrie, Mark. "Band, Archeologist Join Forces in Bid to Excavate Historic Site." Globe and
Mail (1986). Proquest Database. 1 May 2015.
Byrd, Jodi A. The Transit of Empire: Indigenous Critiques of Colonialism. Minneapolis and
London: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. print.
Canada, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Registered Population. 23 January 2015.
web. 25 August 2015. <http://pse5-esd5.aincinac.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/FNRegPopulation.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=141&lang=eng>
.
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