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Rupturing the Myth of the Peaceful Western Canadian Frontier: a Socio-Historical Study of Colonization, Violence, and the North West Mounted Police, 1873-1905

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Rupturing the Myth of the Peaceful Western Canadian Frontier: a Socio-Historical Study of Colonization, Violence, and the North West Mounted Police, 1873-1905 Rupturing the Myth of the Peaceful Western Canadian Frontier: A Socio-Historical Study of Colonization, Violence, and the North West Mounted Police, 1873-1905 by Fadi Saleem Ennab A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Sociology University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2010 by Fadi Saleem Ennab Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-70125-6 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-70125-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 8 Mythologizing the Frontier .......................................................................................... 8 Comparative and Critical Studies on Western Canada .......................................... 15 Studies of Colonial Policing and Violence in Other British Colonies .................... 22 Summary of Literature ............................................................................................... 32 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ......................................... 35 CHAPTER FOUR: ON VIOLENCE ................................................................................ 49 CHAPTER FIVE: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 62 Description of Sample ................................................................................................. 62 Sampling Method and Analysis ................................................................................. 63 Limitation of data ....................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER SIX: VIOLENCE AROUND WESTERN CANADA ................................... 68 CHAPTER SEVEN: VIOLENCE BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE NWMP ............ 75 CHAPTER EIGHT: VIOLENCE DURING THE ERA OF THE NWMP ....................... 87 Violence in Western Canada 1873-1885 ................................................................... 88 Violence in Western Canada 1886-1905 ................................................................. 133 CHAPTER NINE: SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION ................................................... 161 Theoretical Analysis .................................................................................................. 172 Implications of the Study.......................................................................................... 187 The Archive – A Site of Knowledge and Production ............................................. 192 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 200 References ....................................................................................................................... 207 i ABSTRACT Recently there has been more critical attention given to the violent role of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) in the unfolding of settlement and colonial laws in western Canada. However, few have offered a comprehensive analysis of the violent encounters that are recorded (and missing) in the archival records and correspondence of the NWMP, and other secondary sources. Similarly, few researchers have utilized the ‘past’ experiences of Aboriginal peoples to try and understand the ongoing chasm today between non-indigenous settlers and Aboriginal peoples of Canada. In making the “marginal central” (Fitzpatrick 1989), and simultaneously challenging the dominant colonial narrative, I offer a socio-historical analysis of western Canada during the NWMP era (1873-1905), to show how it was (and still is), like other colonial frontiers, a violent space and time. I explore this argument by situating the violent encounters between the NWMP, white settlers, and Aboriginal peoples within the colonial relations that were structured to maintain the marginalization and dispossession of Aboriginal peoples. Failing to recognize and resist this part of western Canadian history, and the underlying logic behind it, is denial and limits the rationality and potential of non-indigenous Canadian populations to work for, and even conceive of, achieving an authentic reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS From the very early thoughts to the materialization of this project, I am especially grateful to Dr. Russell Smandych, Department of Sociology, who sparked my interest and repeatedly refined its growth and presentation. Russell offered a wealth of information and feedback, and patiently edited and revised many drafts of this paper. My thanks go to Dr. Andrew Woolford, Department of Sociology, for his theoretical insights and engaging comments. Also to, Dr. Jean Friesen, Department of History, for her support and encouragement, and for providing valuable advice, sources and comments. I am very appreciative for the potential opened by this thesis, which each and every one of you has nourished. I should also thank the Faculty of Arts at the University of Manitoba for offering me the J. G. Fletcher Award; without it, I would not been able to conduct my archival research in Ottawa. On that note, I would also like to thank the staff of the Library and Archives of Ottawa who provided me with all the assistance needed and ensured I had most my files retrieved on time. Finally, I would like to thank my mother, father, and sister for giving more meaning for my journey. iii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Nations are imagined communities (Anderson 1996). Scholars critical of colonialism and its effects on indigenous populations have argued that this imagination is forked, as it is never free of its colonial roots (Bhabha 1984: 126). This imagination often mixed with myths and misrepresented ‘facts,’ serves the ideologies of those who have power and who would want that power to seem to be inherently and legitimately theirs (Hildebrandt 2008: 110). One of the most treasured parts of the Canadian imagination revolves around the myth of a peaceful frontier settled by honourable officials of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP), who provided an efficient platform for political governance and economic development (Walden: 1982). Canada stands out from among other colonies in the way it has placed its police force at the heart of its national symbols (Katerberg 2003: 546). As Longstreth argues (1960: 179), “Very rarely, in this ever- changing world, has so small a body of men attained a world-wide fame in so short a while, as the young Force did, and kept it, and even added to it.” Unlike other countries that put the history of their police force on the shelf, Canadians openly boast about it across oceans, as evident in the ample sentimental ornaments of NWMP caricatures and flowery media coverage throughout the Canadian history. The myth around the NWMP is “so influential that even one hundred years later their history is still written from a single perspective – one that only presents the viewpoint of the colonizer” (Hildebrandt 2008: 35). However, this research is not interested in the imagination per se of the NWMP or to replicate what others have said; rather, it is interested, from a critical socio-historical
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