Our call to action was “Diaspora, Indigenous Sovereignties and Métis-Writing” and our idea was simply to push some ideas around: how theories of diaspora could draw out new critical possibilities when examining Métis writing and by some extension, aspects of Métis culture and history; to acknowledge the shortcomings of postcolonial theory and de-centre the ‘colonial’ to broaden our readers’ sense of the diversity of First Nations experiences, communities, perspectives and identities; and to privilege Metis voices as integral to our analysis and commentary.

This project called for collaborative writing, research, and design to present these concepts – in the same way that we sought to examine the spaces of tension and complexity in concepts of ‘Nation’, our research focus remained modest: by avoiding the myth of the monolithic Indigenous (identity, experience, culture) we touched on individual voices in Métis literature – both fiction and autobiographical, literary forms, and history as a way of creating a sense of the ‘sovereignties-in-motion’ Sophie McCall posits in her original treatment of this idea. To mirror this, our project has remained a collaborative work whereby we each take space to speak for ourselves – this is structured into the format of the blog and our responses as much as it is into our conceptual approach to highlight collectivity as much as our individual responses.

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Heidi

On “Diasporas and National Identities”

Hannah: I would click on them without knowing where I was going in relationship to the sentence you’d embedded them in. For example, for the “Godzilla” link, how about putting Thomas King’s name with Godzilla. I found find that an easier transition. Also, in your final paragraph you embedded links in the words – “entangled” and “with” and “unique from” – which confused me. Could you clarify those links? One was to a news article, and then other to websites on the Metis. Minor detail, but I thought that was a bit confusing to the eye.

I really enjoyed this feedback – on one hand, my turns of phrase and my selection of links were confusing to my reader, and for the purposes of clarity, communication and most likely grading, this is a failure – I have disoriented and possibly alienated my audience. On the other, there is something symbolic going on here: Hannah wants to read what makes sense to her, and her eye can’t see what I see – these metaphors work on multiple levels. My language, the connections I make through my knowledge, and my strategies for drawing together the text and the intertext are not explained in a way that unites our vision – what could serve as a better metaphor for seeking out a way to find understanding of what you don’t know (or knowing what it is you can’t understand)? For me this is an excellent point of reflection for the class, and the concept of intervention strategies themselves – if this class has lasting value, it is in the spirit of so-called “unlearning” and leaving with the openness to listen and ask questions of ourselves when things are messy, perhaps unclear, and to work understand our own situated knowledge in all of its limitations.  (Thanks again, Hannah!)

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Tai

Within my two posts examining articles ‘Being A Half-Breed” by Jodi Lundgren and Searching For A Place In Between: The Autobiographies Of Three Canadian Métis Women written by Toni Culjak, I discovered many complications and negative effects of growing up a Metis woman.  Within my dialogue, fellow students recognized the same issues I did such as…

• The stereotypes of Indigenous woman created in Canada
• The blatant ignoring of women (Metis, Inuit or First Nations) in the Indian Act
• How women (in the past and present) have viewed their First Nations heritage in a negative light
• Social expectations of the life that First Nations women have
• Importance of removing labels associated with First Nations people, or more broadly race and ethnicity labels altogether
• Cohesion within a culture tends to be ignored
• In regards to appearance, the need to fit into a mold to be considered a First Nations person according to the public
• The initiation to remove skin tone from ethnicity or race
• The ways that this experience is unique to Metis women specifically.

My portion of the research was interesting because the women presented issues which they had experienced personally regarding Metis women directly in their autobiographies.  A prominent point in the dialogue on my posts was that there is a gap in First Nations’ specific literature, it does not include Metis literature (most of the time) and therefor Canadians are unaware that Metis literature is also a prominent and informative portion of First Nations literature as well as indigenous culture.

As mentioned in my article as well as the comments I received there was attention drawn to the Indian Act. The Indian Act proved extremely problematic for First Nations women because, “racial classification played a role in the definition of “Indian-ness” resulting in mixed women being excluded from property and legal rights” (Sarah Steer). The Indian Act removed First Nation’s women’s voices by emphasizing men, but also the Indian Act removed the status of any woman who is not married to a First Nations man, or a woman who has racially mixed parents. Within the time that these autobiographies were written, most of the women were not recognized as Indigenous citizens of Canada.

Throughout my research I have discovered that this effect caused a gap for Metis women, which these autobiographies are trying to reconnect.  The gap being that they chose to assimilate or become what society at that time saw as an “Indian”, as Sarah Steer pointed out, “these stereotypes, as you mentioned, force a denial of their heritage”(Sarah Steer).  This became a domino effect of a denial of heritage or loss of culture but the five autobiographies discussed in the article which I researched are successful in beginning a wave of storytelling as to what it is like to be a Metis women in Canada.  A change which should be made in Canadian literature is to draw more attention and emphasize novels like these, which explain the hardships which one encounters as a Metis woman in Canada.  As I said in one of my reply comments “I believe we are beginning to look at a revolution with a fifth generation of First Nations and Metis women who are now taking back their heritage with pride”.

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Danae

On “Manipulating the System”

“EJ: I like the idea that features of postmodernism in Native literature makes Native literature more digestible. I think it gives readers more agency to decide for themselves what a certain text means, etc. That is the point of postmodern literature/art/film anyways, right? Maracle argues that readers are challenged to work through the dilemmas posed by postmodernism. In my opinion, when readers do work through the problems created by postmodernist work, the morals, values, themes and general ideas embedded in the work are more likely to make an impact on them; that’s because they were forced to work through it and it wasn’t just handed to them.”

EJ really hit the nail on the head with this comment on the article I discussed, “Please Eunice, Don’t be Ignorant” by Susie O’Brien, and spoke to the point Maracle was trying to make: help readers understand by inviting them in. As I responded, the postmodernist approach Maracle, as well as many non-white writers around the world, utilize, allows readers a role, acknowledges them and does not take them for granted. As I did more research, I came to realize how much the sentiment ran through many indigenous works, like a theme: gratitude towards the reader. This showed me, as well as other readers from what EJ had to say, that they are very conscious of the impact they will make and the unique weight of their stories in a boringly homogenous business. This is also why their followers feel such a strong kinship towards them: these writers produce work with purpose, conviction and compassion.

“Postmodernist work gives their audiences agency, and that’s what I think makes it fun.” ( EJ Dulay)

If I got anything out of this project it’s this: it is worth the extra effort to seek out these works, these overlooked treasures, because they will reward you tenfold. Pick up more First Nations literature.

Because diversity is awesome.

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Saarah

My research topic dealt with Métis history, identity, and the journey from an oral tradition to that of a written tradition with the potential for using modern technology and digital media in order for more people to be able to learn about their own culture and heritage, and for people who are not Métis to also learn about a culture and heritage that is different from theirs. Education and cultural awareness is extremely important especially in a world with such a strong role for globalization and literature is a medium which allows this education to spread.

Through dialogue these topics came out as prominent in my articles:

• Métis history and identity
• The negative impacts of ‘education’ in some instances leading to a loss in knowledge of one’s cultural heritage and history
• The role of women in Métis history and storytelling

Kathryn commented upon the idea that “Métis identity is not simply the result of a dual heritage, but rather a matter of possessing a singular cultural heritage of dual origins” and succinctly placed my argument within the idea of Sophie McCall’s diaspora intervention by stating that this perspective was:

“Definitely a different way to be looking at it, knowing that everything started from two different ideas that are coming together to create a culture. It allows us to better understand where they came from and how it go to be what it is today.”

While researching the article “Voices of the Grandmothers: Reclaiming a Métis Heritage.”  I became interested in the role of women in Métis stories as well as the important role female ancestors play in defining one’s identity. Christine Welsh’s article led to some interesting thoughts about the importance of digital media as well as the negative consequences to using technology to retain and collect knowledge. EJ Dulay commented that:

“Welsh was able to piece together information from secondary sources to learn about her heritage. Technology can help us preserve heritage, history, etc, but I think what’s also important is creating archives with powerful search engines that will allow us to find exactly what we’re looking for. Sure, we can store information electronically, but we also have to develop ways in which said information won’t be buried on top of other things and lost.”

My research has made me realize the myriad benefits that moving from an oral tradition to a written tradition has; it allows people to retain their cultural heritage and be able to learn more about their history and ancestors in their own words and their own ways even if they do not, or can not, know the language. Métis history and identity is also so beautiful and unique and without literature many people would be unable to learn more about this culture and its incredible heritage, we would have to rely on secondhand sources just like Christine Welsh was forced to. The dialogue made me also consider the importance of digital media and the potential for a transition from a written tradition to a video tradition in the future.

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Our project was not designed to provide a solution to a particular question, nor reverse the impacts of colonization – not directly, anyway. By focusing on Métis writing – as a distinct literary tradition, as expressions of political, intellectual and personal sovereignties, and as part of a larger ‘belonging’ to multiple narratives – we are really looking at concepts of Nation. Intrinsic to this are discourses of power, class, race, politics and culture and the overlapping, contradictory, and situational ways individuals can understand themselves within these regimes.

The question is: how do any of us come to understand, activate, support and cede space to Indigenous sovereignties?

Moving forward, our intervention strategy is to mimic some trend pieces that gained some traction last year and challenge each person in this class to devote intellectual space and reading time to First Nations authors. As simple or immense as that might sound, the revolutionary possibilities of supporting the publishing of First Nations voices – as political action or as literary appreciation – is the most logical recommendation to take some the rhetoric and discourse in this class and translate it into action. In this way, each student here can be empowered to continue engaging with these questions, expanding their own perspective of the landscape, and hopefully finding common ground.

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Works Cited

Kirton, Jónína. “14 Aboriginal Women Writers to Read This Summer | Room Magazine.” N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.

Anderson, Elizabeth. “Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Fall 2015. N.p., 2015. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.

“Best Native American/First Nations Fiction (348 Books).” Listopia. Goodreads.com, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.

Bradford, K.T. “I Challenge You to Stop Reading White, Straight, Cis Male Authors for One Year.” xoJane, 22 Feb 2015. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.

Fee, Margery. “Reading Aboriginal Lives.” Canadian Literature.167 (2000): 5. Web. 14 Aug 2015.

Govinnage, Sunili. “I Read Only Non-White Authors for 12 Months. What I Learned Surprised Me.” The Guardian 19 Feb. 2015. The Guardian. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.

Dadabhoy, Heina. “Diversifying Your Reading: Non-Male & Non-White Author Recommendations.”Heinous Dealings. 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.