2] In this lesson I say that it should be clear that the discourse on nationalism is also about ethnicity and ideologies of “race.” If you trace the historical overview of nationalism in Canada in the CanLit guide, you will find many examples of state legislation and policies that excluded and discriminated against certain peoples based on ideas about racial inferiority and capacities to assimilate. – and in turn, state legislation and policies that worked to try to rectify early policies of exclusion and racial discrimination. As the guide points out, the nation is an imagined community, whereas the state is a “governed group of people.” For this blog assignment, I would like you to research and summarize one of the state or governing activities, such as The Royal Proclamation 1763, the Indian Act 1876, Immigration Act 1910, or the Multiculturalism Act 1989 – you choose the legislation or policy or commission you find most interesting. Write a blog about your findings and in your conclusion comment on whether or not your findings support Coleman’s argument about the project of white civility.

 

In my reading of the Indian Act 1876, I was able to find many discriminatory notions of what an “indian” was within the Canadian law. What interests me is the strong constraints at the very beginning of the document. The state is very clear as to the whom the act applies to. For this blog I would like to raise awareness to the “terms” section at the very beginning of the Indian Act.

This specific quote raised many flags of discrimination and race superiority through my point of view. It is stated under the title “Indians”.

First. Any male person of Indian blood reputed to belong to a particular band; Secondly. Any child of such person;
Thirdly. Any woman who is or was lawfully married to such person

In this section the act begins to eliminates the number of First Nations people affected by this law within the third sentence.   A lawful marriage to the state would be a Christian or catholic marriage within the church of Christ. Therefor it is implied that any woman who did not have a marriage certificate with a First Nations man was not an Indian and would not be included in the Indian Act. Here we see superiority due to the implication that an official marriage is required and that a First Nations woman would not be considered First Nations if she were not accompanied by a man. My observation is also addressed once again under the title “Marrying non-treaty Indians”.

(d) Provided that any Indian woman marrying an Indian of any other band, or a non-treaty Indian shall cease to be a member of the band to which she formerly belonged. and become a member of the band or irregular band of which her husband is a member:

This presents more constraints in regards to Firs Nations women.

Under the sub title “Half Breeds” the document is once again limiting the amout of people who are covered under the Indian Act.

(e) Provided also that no half-breed in Manitoba who has shared in the distribution of half-breed lands shall be accounted an Indian; and that no half-breed of a family (except the widow of an Indian, or a half-breed who has already been admitted into a treaty), shall, unless under very special circumstances, to be determined by the Superintendent-General or his agent, be accounted an Indian, or entitled to be admitted into any Indian treaty.

The state is taking control over whom is able to claim themselves as being part of an “Indian Band”. This section becomes relevant to the Metis people of Canada and the ownership of their heritage which they continue to fight for. This stuck me because it seems as though if a person was not covered by the Indian Act, they were not considered First Nations and were immediately considered part of the immigration masses. This law once again revokes a person’s heritage and identity to assimilate them into the civil European masses.

The final law in the terms section which I thought was relevant to the term white civility is,

12. The term “person” means an individual other than an Indian, unless the context clearly requires another construction.

I clear division between the Nations and the state.  This support’s Coleman’s concepts of white Civility because within the terms of the document the state is beginning to separate and segregate people even before they list the rules and constraints they are placing upon First Nations people. The favorable culture within the document is the British European worldview and the document is stating that their world view is one which the First Nations people must live by.

 

Bibiliography

Crey, Karrmen, and Erin Hanson. ‘Indian Status’. Indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 July 2015.

‘Chapter 18: An Act To Amend And Consolidate The Laws Respecting Indians’. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 July 2015.

Montpetit, Isabelle. ‘Background: The Indian Act’. Cbc.ca. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 July 2015.

2] Read Susanna Moodie’s introduction to the third edition of Roughing it in the Bush, 1854. I use the Project Gutenburg website which has a ‘command F’ function that allows you to search the entire document by words or phrases. Moodie’s introduction is often read as a warning to would be emigrants as well as an explanation of why her family emigrated from Britain. See if you can find echoes of the stories discussed above: a gift from god, a second Garden of Eden, an empty/wasted land, the noble but vanishing Indian, and the magical map. By echoes I mean reading between the lines or explicitly within Moodie’s introduction. Discussing what you discover, use your examples as evidence to write a blog that explores what you think might have been Moodie’s level of awareness of the stories she carried with her. And accordingly, the stories that she “resurrects’ by her appearance in the Dead Dog CafŽ in Green Grass Running Water.

 

When I use the command F function and look for phrases used in the question for this prompt, all searches find the exact words later in the text Susanna Moodie has written. I felt like I was already introduced to these ideals in the introduction even if it had not been stated directly.

Something that really struck me about this piece was Moodie’s deliberate stating of the roughness and hardship of the decision to migrate to Canada. She emphasizes that it was not the wealthy men of high society who decided to leave the their land.   It was “the emigrant’s hope of bettering his condition, escaping vulgar sarcasms too often hurled at the less wealthy by the purse- proud common place people of the world” (Moodie). Moodie comments on how migration to Canada was encouraged by “the snares of their artful seducers” (Moodie) in other words was highly exaggerated and encouraged by diplomats and persons of power. This gives us the impression that Canada was in fact labeled as a gift from god, also known as a second Eden. The term “second eden” is interesting.   Within the Garden of Eden, man was supposed to stay pure yet Eve ate the apple. Now I could relate this to the emphasis of men in Moodie’s story though I doubt that is the prevalent comparison.   The Garden of Eden was meant to be a divine place in which the devil could not touch man. By saying that the early Canada was meant for “those rich in hope and poor in purse” (Moodie), Canada was only for those of strong resilience who wished to work for their fortune. “Men of all grades rushed to hear your hired orators declaim upon the blessings to be obtained by the clearers of the wilderness”(Moodie), this quote is bringing us closer to the spiritual aspect of Canada and the divine wish of using this “wasteland”, somewhat like the Garden of Eden once was.

At this time although wealthiness also correlated with the amount of usable farmland one owned, monetary wealth was also in high value. Monetary wealth at this time could compare to the amount of food which was in the garden of Eden. I stumbled upon this ad, which was published in 1903. It was used to advertise Canada to the United States (even though it is not European I believe I can still use it as evidence).

Here we have an apple tree, which at this point had become an iconic view of prosperity and wellness due to the biblical story, and the tree is made into a dollar sign. Signifying that this material prosperity would bring monetary wealth which was currently the goal of a poor man’s migration to the praries.

I particularily emphasize the “Second Garden of Eden” because it is one of the major reasons for colonization.

Here I found another advertisement published by Canada West in 1923. It has a woman opening the curtains to a endless farmland. This also brings the meaning of fertility into play, the idea of raising a family in this new found land. Somewhat similar to what Adam and Eve were supposed to do

Tc2.ca,. ‘TC2 Source Docs – Prairie Immigration And The “Last Best West”‘. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 July 2015.

Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush.. Project Gutenburg, 18 January 2004. Web. 8 July 2014.

Collectionscanada.gc.ca,. ‘ARCHIVED – Immigration – Contact – The Canadian West – Exhibitions – Library And Archives Canada’. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 July 2015.