Below, please find our annotated bibliography in alphabetical order, in keeping with MLA specifications. We would like to invite you to read our bibliography in a non-alphabetical order. With each of our entries, we are attempting to construct a narrative about the process of moving from the basis of the intervention to the possible outcomes of a successful intervention.
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The Basis of the Intervention:
Cardinal, Harold; Taylor, Christopher; Deanna Reder: “A Complex Web of Relations…”. -
The Strategies for the Intervention:
Highway, Tomson; Reder, Deanna: “The Strategic Potential…”; Tuck, Eve. -
The Outcome of a Succesful Intervention:
Dillon, Grace; McIvor, Onowa.
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Cardinal, Harold. “Nation Building as a Process.” Canadian review of comparative literature, vol. 34, no. 1, 2007. pp. 65-76.
Harold Cardinal was an Indigenous writer, leader, and lawyer from the Sucker Creek First Nation who helped to prevent the enactment of the “The White Paper” with his book, “The Unjust Society”. Scholars such as John Milloy states the prevention of the white paper policy was the turning point for the federal government to abandon the policy of assimilation to move towards establishing protected rights for First Nations (Milloy 18).
In this transcribed version of his talk, Cardinal explains how nation-building has impacted Cree self-identity. As Canada became a nation, Europeans began to define what it meant to be “Indian” and “arrogated unto themselves the power and authority to determine and define who was and was not a Cree person or who was or was not a member of a First Nation” (Cardinal 67). These laws have torn communities apart. For a long time, this law resulted in the collective identity and individual self-identity of Cree and other First Nations people to be determined by a legal construct.
Decolonization and identity reclamation requires the deconstruction of these racist paradigms, but we are confronted with the challenge of overcoming the state-sponsored system which has transformed the minds of First Nations peoples. Cree Elders ask their youth: “Awina maga kee anow.” In translation, this says, “Who is it that we really are?” (Cardinal 66). Connecting to our intervention, when reading Indigenous texts and applying Cree knowledge paradigms to these texts, we must ask ourselves “Who is Canadian?” and First Nations people must be allowed to find this answer within their nation to continue the process of decolonization and nation-building.
Works Cited
“About SCFN.” Sucker Creek First Nation. 2019. http://www.scfn.ca/index.php?page=about-2. 17 Mar. 2020.
Canada. Dept. of Justice. Indian Act. [Ottawa]: Parliament, 1985. Parliament of Canada. Web. 17 Mar. 2020.
Furi, Megan and Jill Wherret. “Indian Status and Band Membership Issues.” Parliamentary Research Branch. Feb. 2003. http://www.skeetchestn.ca/files/events/indian-status-and-membership-issues-parliamentary-paper.pdf. 17 Mar. 2020.
“Harold Cardinal.” APTN National News. n.d. https://aptnnews.ca/aboriginal-history-month/harold-cardinal/. 17 Mar. 2020.
Milloy, John. “Indian Act Colonialism: A Century of Dishonour. 1869-969.” National Centre for First Nations Governance. 2008. http://fngovernance.org/ncfng_research/milloy.pdf. 17 Mar. 2020.
“Reclaiming Our Identity.” National Centre for First Nations Governance. n.d. http://fngovernance.org/resources_docs/ReclaimingOurIdentity_Paper.pdf. 17 Mar. 2020.
Dillion, Grace. “Introduction: Indigenous Futurisms, Bimaashi Biidaas Mose, Flying and Walking towards You”. Extrapolation, 57, 2016, p. 1-6
Grace L. Dillion is an Anishinaabe professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies Program at Portland State University. Her work focuses on the value of speculative fiction narratives and the ways in which they support Indigenous Futurisms.
In her introduction to “Indigenous Futurisms, Bimaashi Biidaas Mose, Flying and Walking towards You”, Dillion provides an overview of the canon of contemporary Indigenous works that contribute to the field of Indigenous Futurisms. Dillion describes Indigenous Futurisms as being intimately tied to the concept of Survivance. In this way, she argues that Indigenous Futurisms reject assumptions of Indigenous peoples as victims, but rather, they insist upon viewing Indigenous peoples as a thriving, unbroken community of individuals with vast potential for their futures.
Dillion provides an introduction to a collection of works that all promote imaginings of Indigenous futures through a wide variety of mediums, from speculative fiction novels to short stories to films. By doing so, she offers readers a canon of work that will encourage their imaginings of Indigenous futures and reject the perspective of Indigenous communities as broken victims.
Works Cited
“Anthologies.” Indigenous Literary Studies Association, www.indigenousliterarystudies.org/anthologies. 18 Mar. 2020.
“From Growing Medicine to Space Rockets: What Is Indigenous Futurism? | CBC Radio.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 19 June 2019, www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/looking-towards-the-future-indigenous-futurism-in-literature-music-film-and-fashion-1.5036479/from-growing-medicine-to-space-rockets-what-is-indigenous-futurism-1.5036480. 18 Mar. 2020.
Highway, Tomson. “Cree Knowledge Embedded in Stories and Kiss of the Fur Queen.” Read, listen, tell: indigenous stories from Turtle Island. Ed. Sophie McCall, et al. Waterloo: Wilfird Laurier University Press, 2017. 157-165. Web. 17 Mar. 2020.
This textbook, Read, listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island provides excellent resources for applying Cree knowledge paradigms to autobiographical texts, providing structure to our intervention. Chapter 4 focuses on how Cree Knowledge is Embedded in Stories: in the chapter introduction, the editors explain that focusing on colonization can take away from focusing on community building and that to move forward, we must ensure Cree storytelling systems continue to exist in modern writing.
There are two main genres in Cree literature: “âtayôhkêwin, translated by linguist H. C. as “myth text or legendary text,” and andâcimowin, which is a “report” or an “account” (Wolfart, “Cree” 245‒46). (McCall, 158). While you can make Cree literature fit into the English generic categories of novel, short fiction, etc, we learn more about these stories by reading them through the lens of Cree genres.
Tomson Highway, an author, playwright, and director is a member of the Barren Lands First Nation, who was separated from his family as a child and attended residential schools, which inspired the storyline of his novel Kiss of the Fur Queen. In this section of the novel, two Cree brothers, while on a trip to the shopping mall tell a Wîsahkêcâhk legend of the story of the cultural hero Weesageechak who kills the cannibal monster Weetigo.
The story, a mix of stretching “truth into myth” (Highway 161) breaks English writing rules, even within the text, one of the characters says “You could never get away with a story like that in English” (Highway 163), showing the importance of reading this story through the Cree lens. If we do not shift how we understand and read stories, we will make the grave mistake of discounting important stories, especially âtayôhkêwins.
Works Cited
“Barren Lands First Nation.” Community Visit Summary. 2006. http://www.yourcier.org/uploads/2/5/6/1/25611440/barren_lands_summary_document2_3.pdf. 17 Mar. 2020.
Fagan, Kristina. “Weesageechak Meets the Weetigo: Storytelling, Humour, and Trauma in the Fiction of Richard Van Camp, Tomson Highway, and Eden Robinson. Studies in Canadian Literature, Vol. 34, no. 1, Jan. 2009. https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/scl/article/view/12387/13262. 17 Mar. 2020.
Highway, Tomson. “Biography.” Tomson Highway. n.d. https://www.tomsonhighway.com/. 17 Mar. 2020.
“Legendary Native American Figures: Wisakedjak (Wesakechak).” Native Languages of the Americas website. 2015. http://www.native-languages.org/wisakejak.htm. 17 Mar. 2020.
Napolean, Art. Key Terms and Concepts for Exploring Nîhiyaw Tâpisinowin the Cree Worldview. MA Thesis. University of Victoria, 2014. https://www.uvic.ca/education/indigenous/assets/docs/Napoleon_Arthur_MA_2014.pdf. 17 Mar. 2020.
“Wisahkecahk.” Online Cree Dictionary. n.d. http://www.creedictionary.com/search/index.php?q=w%C3%AEsahk%C3%AAc%C3%A2hk&scope=1&cwr=37023. 17 Mar. 2020.
McIvor, Onowa. “Building the Nests: Indigenous Language Revitalization in Canada Through Early Childhood Immersion Programs.” ProQuest, University of Victoria (Canada), 2005. Web. 19 Mar. 2020.
“Building the Nests: Indigenous Language Revitalization in Canada Through Early Childhood Immersion Programs” is an academic thesis by University of Victoria student Onowa McIvor. In this paper, McIvor outlines the importance of preserving rapidly diminishing First Nations languages through numerous initiatives, specifically language nest programs. McIvor argues that language loss leads to “cultural dislocation, social rootlessness, and deprivation of a group identity as well as the dangers of loss of pride and cultural identity” (3), and that not only is it important to preserve Indigenous language as spoken word and written literacy, but she illustrates how it strengthens the learner’s connection to their history, culture, and community. This is possible because language encapsulates “the culture and knowledge of a people,” as well as “symbolizes political autonomy, self-determination and ethnocultural identity” (16). Through her research McIvor has found that strategies such as language classes, dictionaries, recorded teaching material, and bilingual schooling help revitalize Native languages, but the proven most effective way is through language nests for young children. These programs not only teach children their ancestral language, but they also learn spirituality, cultural traditions, and respect for their elders.
Deanna Reder calls for the future of Indigenous literature and culture to be more independent from a settler narrative because she wants Indigenous peoples to possess their own identity that is not in relation to colonization. Reder wants less post-contact narratives, and this paper by McIver is a phenomenal resource for conceptualizing a tangible future for Indigenous language, culture, and literacy that stands autonomous. The language nest programs are proven to work in other parts of the world, and is a system that is separate from colonial traditions; Indigenous children in “Canada” can learn their language and culture independent from English and settler education.
Works Cited
Coles, Terry. “Indigenous Languages Are In Danger Of Becoming Extinct — Here’s How You Can Help Save Them.” Huffpost, 22 June 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/06/21/indigenous-languages_a_23465069/. 19 Mar. 2020.
“New Zealand: The Maori.” Aljazeera, 17 July 2014, https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/livingthelanguage/2012/04/2012416141630195978.html. 19 Mar. 2020.
Skala, Aurora. “Language Nest Program.” First Peoples’ Cultural Council, http://www.fpcc.ca/language/Programs/Language-nest.aspx. 19 Mar. 2020.
Reder, Deanna. “A Complex Web of Relations That Extends Beyond The Human.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 39, no. 4, 29 November 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2020.
In Deanna Reder’s article “A Complex Web of Relations That Extends Beyond the Human,” she challenges the concept of a “world humanity,” expressing concern over the concept as one that acts to diminish nuanced cultures, specifically Indigenous culture, for the sake of homogeneity. Reder argues that the popular definition of “humanity” is inherently hierarchical, creating a scale from human (civilized) to animal (savage). Common understanding of Indigenous culture and people (specifically before contact) is that of “savage” or “undeveloped,” and Reder sees these cultures disappearing as we move towards a globalized civilization. Reder believes that “the humanities are only valuable if they participate in the recuperation and protection of Indigenous stories – and by extension Indigenous languages and epistemes” (515) because by honouring these cultures we are not only preserving and respecting a unique group of peoples, but we can learn many precious aspects about the world that we would not have the chance to if we assimilated our global culture.
Deanna Reder is again defending the importance of preserving Indigenous culture, language, and stories. In this article she explains how in moving towards a global culture we will lose a valuable and distinct understanding of the world, as well as a cultural group will lose their history and ethnology. Reder argues that the contemporary, postmodern definition of “world humanity” is inherently anti-Indigenous, and is not a productive method if society cares to conserve and celebrate First Nations society.
Works Cited
“Indigenous Peoples Worldviews vs Western Worldviews.” Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., 26 January 2016, https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indigenous-peoples-worldviews-vs-western-worldviews. 20 Mar. 2020.
Sinclair, Niigaan. “Indigenous nationhood can save the world. Here’s how.” The Globe and Mail, 12 September 2017, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/recognizing-indigenous-nations-niigaan-sinclair/article36237415/. 20 Mar. 2020.
Reder, Deanna. “The Strategic Potential of Indigenous Literary Nationalism.” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, vol. 29, no. 1&2, 2009. P. 19-44.
Deanna Reder is chair of First Nations Studies at Simon Fraser University and a founding member of the Indigenous Literary Studies Association. In her article, she discusses the history and impact of Native American literary nationalism, crediting this relatively recent critical approach with the “rise in the use of Indigenous frameworks in English departments,” as well as the formation of Native American literature courses and curricula.
A strong proponent of this critical approach, Reder writes that, “Indigenous Literary Nationalism offers a way to shift the focus of research away from the effects of colonization to the contributions and potential of Indigenous worldviews.” At the same time, while acknowledging the progress made in the field of literature in regards to Indigenous voices, she is critical of the current state of literature departments across the country, where there are classes on every period of British literary history yet most students can’t name a single Native author.
In the end, she argues for the continuation of the recent trend of Indigenous literary nationalism she described earlier in the article. However, though herself a proponent of a more “indigenist” mode of criticism, she predicts a coming shift from “indigenist” to “panIndian” in the following generation of literary critics. This potential coming shift, she says, is due to the fact that “panIndian” approaches “hold within them the possibilities to theorize aspects of common experience and common aesthetics, especially given the growing presence of urban Native populations with little connection to home communities, languages, or culture.”
Works Cited
ILSA Home. The Indigenous Literary Studies Association, www.indigenousliterarystudies.org/home. 22 Mar. 2020.
Indigenous Studies. Simon Fraser U, www.sfu.ca/indg.html. 22 Mar. 2020.
Urban Indigenous Peoples. Pulling Together, www.opentextbc.ca/indigenizationfoundations/chapter/urban-indigenous-peoples/. 22 Mar. 2020.
Taylor, Christopher. “North America as Contact Zone: Native American Literary Nationalism and the Cross-Cultural Dilemma.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 22, no. 3, 2010, p. 26-44
Christopher Taylor studied literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University, holding a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In his article, Taylor asks the question of what Native literary criticism should look like. Going through the current landscape of Indigenous literary criticism, Taylor divides the contemporary field into three camps: nationalist, indigenist, and cosmopolitan, with the fundamental question underlying each view being, “should the critic be concerned with the relationship between Native American culture and settler culture, or should the critic focus on issues internal to First Nations people?”
Working through each view, Taylor demonstrates that each, while possessing important insights and tools, lacks necessary elements. In his own words, Taylor writes, “It is generally a good policy to be wary of any absolute distinction between the cultures of the East and West, colonizer and colonized, or any other simple binary division of the world’s people. Scholars of North American history, however, have been too quick to make just such distinctions between Native and settler cultures.” With this in mind, Taylor advocates for a fourth path for Native literary criticism, a “critical approach that sees North America as a field of overlapping sovereignties.” In this, he expands on the idea of the “contact zone,” defined by his contemporaries as a social space where “disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination and subordination.”
In adopting this new critical approach, Taylor hopes for Native American literary criticism to separate itself from political impulse and “develop a fuller understanding of how Native American literature works.”
Works Cited
“Cosmopolitanism in the 19th and 20th Centuries.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmopolitanism/#Cosm19th20thCent. 22 Mar. 2020.
Crews, Frederick C. Literary Criticism. Encyclopaedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/art/literary-criticism/Historical-development. 22 Mar. 2020.
“Literary Nationalism.” Encyclopedia.com, https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/literary-nationalism. 22 Mar. 2020.
Smith, Christine. Indigenous Literature: Diversity and Importance. All Lit Up, www.alllitup.ca/Blog/2014/Indigenous-Literature-Diversity-and-Importance. 22 Mar. 2020.
Tuck, Eve. “Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities”. Harvard Educational Review, 79, no.3, 2009, p. 409-427
Eve Tuck is a young, Unangax Indigenous scholar and educational researcher who is well known for her pursuit of improved relations between researchers, educators, and communities. She teaches Critical Race and Indigenous Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
In “Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities”, Tuck addresses researchers and educators as well as the communities that they interact with. She calls for a moratorium on “damage-centered research”, which she says aims to document the pain and loss in an individual, community, or tribe. She argues that contemporary damage-centered research perpetuates one-dimensional narratives of communal brokenness and hopelessness.
Tuck proposes that, instead, a “desire-based framework” should be implemented in the research and education of these communities. She argues that such a framework of study will more accurately portray the complexity and self-determination of the lives within the communities.
Tuck claims that while desire-based frameworks do acknowledge pain and suffering the focus of this framework is on the idea of survivance and the hopeful possibilities of Indigenous futures.
Tuck provides readers with a framework through which they can navigate Indigenous literature and studies in a productive way that promotes a more positive outlook on the future of Indigenous communities.
Works Cited
“Acts of Survivance.” Survivance, 20 Apr. 2016, survivance.org/acts-of-survivance/. 18 Mar. 2020.
“Aleut Community of St. Paul Island.” Tanam Awaa, tanamawaa.com/acspi/. 18 Mar. 2020.