We decided to partner with Team Coyote for our dialogue.

“Aboriginal peoples’ intimate knowledge of natural resources and ecosystems of their areas, developed through long and sustained contact, and their respect for the spirits which inhabit these places, moulded their life on the land. Traditional knowledge, in the form of narratives, place names, and ecological lore, bequeathed through oral tradition from generation to generation, embodies and preserves their relationship to the land. Landscapes ‘house’ these stories, and protection of these places is key to their long-term survival in Aboriginal culture” (Buggey 2).

For Indigenous people “land is deeply intertwined with identity” and “concepts of territory, traditions, and customs are not divisible” (Canada, 1996: IV, 137) (Buggey 11), but Canadian literature has failed to reveal this as generalizations and stereotypes have continuously been emphasized. Place is intertwined with identity, and there is a connection between individual Indigenous people and their specific places that shapes their traditions, beliefs, values, identities, and stories. Alison Calder argues that postmodern places are composed of competing and complementary forces that change depending on an individual’s relationship with them. This relationship between a person and a place is determined by factors such as class, race and gender (Calder 114). Calder reveals that truthful representation of Indigenous peoples in literature and media is slim and that neglecting to focus on the specificity of place will erase Indigenous identities completely. Although honest representations of Indigenous peoples are rare, there are artists promoting awareness of this. For example, Cannupu Hanska Luger creates exhibits that reveal the problems with stereotypes of Indigenous peoples and then destroys them to symbolize the act of destroying these stereotypes.

Our team’s research has explored how place and identity are connected, how place has been neglected in Canadian literature and media, and how the importance of specific places, in regards to Indigenous identities, can be emphasized again. Our exploration of these topics has led us to the findings that place and identity is connected because this relationship influences the formation of specific traditions, ideas, beliefs, values and stories. We have also discovered that there are people that are attempting to destroy the generalizations and stereotypes of Indigenous peoples through projects that highlight the importance of individual differences. We have also discovered that Team Coyote’s research compliments our own as they have been researching on the importance of place and identity as well. Through our research and discussion, our team hopes to highlight ways in which the important connection between place and identity can be promoted in Canadian literature.