Placing Knowledge as Resurgence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/1913-5874/37372Abstract
This article discusses Anishinabek (Ojibwa) knowledge as a manifestation of human connection and re-connection to place. Colonialism in Canada is predicated on taking land from Indigenous peoples, or taking Indigenous peoples away from their land; such removals have had a negative impact on some Indigenous knowledges. However, rather than accepting that such knowledge is gone forever when individual people are silenced, this article posits that Anishinabek knowledge is still in the land, and that it can resurge through our relationship with place. The article centres on a narrative about reconnecting with knowledge told by my grandmother, Geraldine MacLaurin-ba, and goes on to (re)envision how such knowledge constitutes a resurgence of Anishinabek self-determination.
References
Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment. “Superfund Clean-up at Akwesasne: A Case Study in Environmental Injustice.” International Journal of Contemporary Sociology 34, no. 2 (1997)
Taiaiake Alfred. “Colonialism and State Dependency.” Journal of Aboriginal Health 5 (2009): 53, accessed January 21, 2012, http://www.naho.ca/jah/english/jah05_02/V5_I2_Colonialism_02.pdf
Anishinabek of the Gichigami. Fort William Dumpsites and Adjacent Industry, accessed January 23, 2012, http://www.archive.org/details/FortWilliamFirstNationDumpsitesAdjacentIndustry
Assembly of First Nations. “Fort William.” Assembly of First Nations IRS - Indian Residential Schools Community Site, accessed January 24, 2012, http://www.afn-irs.ca/content/fort-william
Ian J. Bannon. Specific Land Claims Update: Boundary Settlement Implementation, GTP and Needing [PowerPoint Presentation]. March 9, 2012, http://www.scribd.com/doc/82441862/GTP-update-january30-2012
Marie Battiste and James Sakej Youngblood Henderson. Protecting Indigenous Knowledges: A Global Challenge. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing Ltd., 2000
Edward Benton-Benai. The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway. Hayward: Indian Country Communications, 1988
Glen Coulthard. “Place Against Empire: Understanding Indigenous Anti-Colonialism.” Affinities 4 (2010), accessed March 10, 2012, http://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/place-against-empire
Vine Deloria Jr. God is Red: A Native View of Religion, 30th Anniversary Edition. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing, 2003
Vine Deloria Jr. “Power and Place Equals Personality,” Power and Place: Indian Educationin America. Golden: Fulcrum Resources, 2001
Environment Canada. Status Report: Great Lakes Forest Products Ltd. Barkwaste Dump - Thunder Bay Survey 1986. Environment Canada, Environmental Protection, Conservation & Protection, Ontario Region, August 2, 1988
Louise Erdrich. Books and Islands in Ojibway Country. Washington: National Geographic 2003
Wendy Geniusz. Our Knowledge is Not Primitive: Decolonizing Anishinaabe Botanical Knowledge. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2009
Nancy Janovicek. “‘Assisting Our Own’: Urban Migration, Self-Governance, and Native Women’s Self-Governance in Thunder Bay, Ontario, 1972-1989.” Keeping the Campfires Going: Native Women’s Activism in Urban Communities. Eds. Susan Applegate Krouse and Heather Howard. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009
James Sakej Youngblood Henderson. First Nations Jurisprudence and Aboriginal Rights: Defining the Just Society. Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan, Native Law Centre, 2006
Basil Johnston. Ojibway Heritage. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2007
Kiera Ladner, “Aysaka’paykinit: Contesting the Rope Around the Nations’ Neck,” in Group Politics and Social Movements in Canada, ed. Miriam Smith (Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2008)
Kiera Ladner. “Women and Blackfoot Nationalism.” Journal of Canadian Studies 35 no. 2 (2000)
Winona LaDuke. “White Earth: A Lifeway in the Forest.” All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge: South End Press, 1999
Bonita Lawrence. “Gender, Race, and the Regulation of Native Identity in Canada and the United States: An Overview.” Hypatia 18 (2003)
Damien Lee. Embodying Anishinabe-Inaadiziwin: Coming Home (Unpublished Honours Bachelor Thesis). Peterborough: Trent University, Department of Indigenous Studies, 2010
Damien Lee. “In the Shoes of the Other: Reclaiming Indigenous Authenticity from Colonial Logics of Difference.” Canadian Critical Studies. Eds. Lynn Caldwell, Carrianne Leung and Darryl Leroux. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing
Arthur MacLaurin. “Fort William Writer Bothered by Paper Mill Waste.” Wawatay News. April 20, 1995
Geraldine MacLaurin-ba. Interview. May 31, 2010. Fort William First Nation
Neal McLeod. Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing Ltd., 2007
Patricia Monture-Angus. Journeying Forward: Dreaming First Nations Independence. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 1999
Pamela Palmater. Beyond Blood: Rethinking Indigenous Identity. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing Ltd., 2011
Rupert Ross. Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 1995
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). “Relocations of Aboriginal Communities.” Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Volume 1, Part 2), accessed January 24, 2012, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071211055149/http://www.aincinac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sg41_e.html
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in Canada (RCAP). “Women’s Perspectives.” Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Volume 4, Part 2). January 21, 2012 http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071211052616/http://www.aincinac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sj2_e.html
Leanne Simpson. Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence and a New Emergence. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing 2011
Leanne Simpson. “Our Elder Brothers: The Lifeblood of Resurgence.” Lighting the Eighth Fire Ed. Leanne Simpson. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2008
Leanne Simpson, Judy DaSilva, Betty Riffel and Patricia Sellers. “The Responsibilities of Women: Confronting Environmental Contamination in the Traditional Territories of Asubpeechoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows) and Wabauskang First Nation.” Journal of Aboriginal Health 4 (2009)
Andrea Smith. Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. Boston: South End Press, 2005
Andrea Smith. “Untitled Plenary Presentation.” Critical Ethnic Studies and the Future of Genocide (online video presentation), accessed January 23, 2012, http://mainstream.ucr.edu/CESA_2011_Fri_AM.mov
Mary Ellen Turpel. “Patriarchy and Paternalism: The Legacy of the Canadian State for First Nations Women.” Canadian Journal of Women & the Law 6 (1993)
