Kwaskastahsowin (“Put Things to Right”): Case Studies in Twentieth-Century Indigenous Women’S Writing, Editing, and Publishing in Canada
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Kwaskastahsowin (“Put things to right”): Case Studies in Twentieth-Century Indigenous Women’s Writing, Editing, and Publishing in Canada by Alix Shield M.A., Dalhousie University, 2013 B.A. (Hons. Conversion), Acadia University, 2012 B.A., Acadia University, 2010 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © Alix Shield 2020 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2020 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: Alix Shield Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (English) Title: Kwaskastahsowin (“Put things to right”): Case Studies in Twentieth-Century Indigenous Women’s Writing, Editing, and Publishing in Canada Examining Committee: Chair: Clint Burnham Professor Sophie McCall Senior Supervisor Associate Professor Deanna Reder Supervisor Associate Professor Carole Gerson Supervisor Professor Emerita June Scudeler Internal Examiner Assistant Professor Indigenous Studies Linda Morra External Examiner Professor English Bishop’s University Date Defended/Approved: April 14, 2020 ii Abstract In the updated and restored 2019 edition of Halfbreed, Métis writer Maria Campbell introduces the Cree word, kwaskastahsowin, to describe what it means to seek conciliation or to “put things to right.” By focusing on what it means to “put things to right” in the context of twentieth-century publishing in Canada, this dissertation considers the ways that Indigenous women writers working within the Canadian publishing industry have been negatively impacted by intersecting issues of colonialism, race, and gender. My project explores Campbell’s definition of kwaskastahsowin in relation to two key twentieth-century works of Indigenous women’s writing in Canada: E. Pauline Johnson’s Legends of Vancouver (1911) and Maria Campbell’s Halfbreed (1973). Using a decolonial case-study approach that combines archival/digital methods with Indigenous editorial principles and protocols, my project focuses on the literary and storytelling contributions of three Indigenous women authors – E. Pauline Johnson (Mohawk), Mary Agnes Capilano (Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh), and Maria Campbell (Métis) – and situates their authorial contributions and publishing experiences within the larger context of twentieth- century Canadian publishing. My project uses archival research to interrogate the publishing contexts and histories of these texts, and reveals the extent to which colonial issues of voice and editorial intervention have shaped the published works. Furthermore, by approaching the various editions of these two texts with a focus on their shifting “paratexts” (Genette) or critical frameworks over time, I draw attention to the lasting impacts of such editorial interventions (as evidenced by the two excised and recently- recovered pages from Campbell’s Halfbreed, detailing her sexual assault by members of the RCMP, and through evidence of Johnson’s preferred title for the Legends of Vancouver collection). My examination of the publishing histories of these two key Indigenous texts reveals the urgency with which other works of twentieth-century Indigenous literature must be re-examined, and simultaneously calls for a necessary reenvisioning of the Indigenous literary paratext – one that takes into account Indigenous editorial principles and protocols. Keywords: Decolonization; Archival Research; Paratext; Indigenous Literature; Digital Humanities; Publishing History iii Acknowledgements Thank you to Myron Groover, and the staff at The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections at McMaster University, for hosting me so graciously in 2017 for a month-long research trip. Thank you to SFU’s Special Collections and Rare Books; in particular, thank you to Eric Swanick, former SFU Special Collections librarian, for letting me into “the vault” for a behind-the-scenes glimpse of SFU’s extensive E. Pauline Johnson collection. Thank you also to the BC Archives, City of Vancouver Archives, UBC Rare Books and Special Collections, North Vancouver Museum and Archives, Museum of Vancouver, and West Vancouver Archives for providing access to your collections. Thank you to the generous E. Pauline Johnson scholars and experts, including Linda Quirk, Jolene Cummings, Margery Fee, and Carole Gerson – you have enriched my knowledge of Johnson so infinitely, and I hope these conversations will continue. At SFU, I would like to thank Christa Gruninger (Graduate Program Assistant), and Graduate Chairs Jeff Derksen, Michelle Levy, Clint Burnham – thank you for supporting me these past six years. Thank you to Kate Hennessy (and Sophie McCall) for the incredible RA opportunities. Thank you also to Deanna Reder and The People and the Text project for supporting me as an RA since 2016. Thank you, most importantly, to my PhD committee: Sophie McCall, Deanna Reder, and Carole Gerson (aka “The Dream Team”). Thank you for your encouragement, kindness, and generosity; thank you for your mentorship and guidance, and thank you for believing in this project. Thank you to my supervisor, Sophie McCall, for more than I can ever express in words here. You have made this experience better than I could have ever imagined. Thank you. Thank you both to my internal examiner, June Scudeler, and my external examiner, Linda Morra, for your expertise and feedback. Thank you to Rick Monture, Rudy Reimer, Agi & Katie Mathias, the Mathias Family, and Maria Campbell for sharing your stories with me. Thank you to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for awarding me a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral), and to the Department of English at SFU for supporting this research through various funding opportunities and awards throughout my degree. Thank you to my family for your love and support. I couldn’t have done this without you. iv Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................ ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. v List of Tables ....................................................................................................................vii List of Figures.................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2. The Disappearing Legacy of the Capilanos in E. Pauline Johnson’s Legends of Vancouver (1911) ............................................................................ 29 “Periodicals First”: The Mother’s Magazine and The Vancouver Daily Province ............ 32 The Publication of Legends (and Recovering Mary Capilano’s Narrative Voice) ............ 37 Legends of Vancouver, or Legends of the Capilano? ..................................................... 43 Legends of Vancouver: An Overview of Key Editions ..................................................... 47 First Edition (Privately Printed, 1911) .......................................................................... 47 Thomson Stationery Illustrated Edition (The Thomson Stationery Company, 1912) ... 49 Saturday Sunset Presses/Geo. S. Forsyth Editions (1913) ......................................... 50 McClelland and Stewart Editions (1926, 1961) ........................................................... 52 Quarry Press Edition (1991) ........................................................................................ 57 Douglas & McIntyre Edition (1997) .............................................................................. 59 Midtown Press 100th Anniversary Edition (2013) ......................................................... 60 Johnson’s Final Will & Other Adaptations of Legends .................................................... 64 Today’s Legends of Vancouver: A Community-Centered Approach ............................... 70 Chapter 3. The Life and Forgotten Stories of Mary Capilano ................................ 74 Part I: A Biographical Sketch of Mary Capilano .............................................................. 76 The Dispossession Cases ........................................................................................... 79 A “Remarkable Indian,” a “Remarkable Matriarch”: Mary Capilano in Canadian Newspapers ................................................................................................................. 81 Part II: Mary Capilano’s Forgotten Stories ...................................................................... 90 “The Legend of the Two Sisters” ................................................................................. 92 “The Legend of the Squamish Twins, or The Call of Kinship” (1910) .......................... 97 “The Legend of the Seven Swans” (1911) ................................................................... 99 “The Legend of Lillooet Falls” (1912) and “The Legend of the Ice Babies” (1911) .... 104 “The Lost Salmon Run: