Stó:Lō Cultural Heritage and Political Activism in the Twentieth Century
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Sovereign Culture: Stó:lō Cultural Heritage and Political Activism in the Twentieth Century by Madeline Rose Knickerbocker M.M.St., University of Toronto, 2010 B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2008 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © Madeline Rose Knickerbocker SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2018 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: Madeline Rose Knickerbocker Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Sovereign Culture: Stó:lō Cultural Heritage and Political Activism in the Twentieth Century Examining Committee: Chair: Jennifer Spear Associate Professor Mary-Ellen Kelm Senior Supervisor Professor Andrea Geiger Supervisor Associate Professor Keith Carlson Supervisor Professor Department of History University of Saskatchewan Marianne Ignace Internal Examiner Professor Department of First Nations Studies Department of Linguistics Paige Raibmon External Examiner Professor Department of History University of British Columbia Date Defended/Approved: July 16, 2018 ii Ethics Statement iii Abstract Though scholars have often perceived of sovereignty in purely territorial and capital-p political terms, this is not a useful way to understand the concept when it comes to Indigenous nations. Both earlier and certainly throughout the twentieth century, Stó:lō communities of what is now south-western British Columbia saw no distinction between the political and cultural heritage practices that affirmed their sovereign relationships with Stó:lō Téméxw, a coalescence this dissertation refers to as “cultural sovereignty.” Stó:lō practices of cultural curation—the process of taking care of tangible and intangible heritage—were deeply connected to Stó:lō political organization and territorial management throughout the twentieth century. Additionally, Stó:lō cultural sovereignty during this period sometimes manifested as a gendered phenomenon, with women and men alternately enacting cultural sovereignty in distinct ways that corresponded to Stó:lō and sometimes settler gender ideologies. Stó:lō resistance to settler colonialism was not only a protest of land acquisition, it was also an attempt to protect Stó:lō cultural heritage from settler colonial appropriation. Moreover, this dissertation contends that the settler move to appropriate Stó:lō cultural heritage must be seen as part of the colonial project of dispossession. Reconciliation in Indigenous-settler relationships, then, must include not only discussions relating to restitution of land, but also of cultural heritage. In making these arguments, this dissertation contributes to scholarly conversations about Indigenous sovereignty, cultural heritage, and Stó:lō histories, and contributes to the fields of history, Indigenous studies, and museology. Its methodological approach comes from work in Indigenous research methodology, feminist oral history, and what is being called “new ethnohistory” or community-engaged methodology. The research process itself combined archival investigation, original oral history interviews, and field work. An intersectional feminist lens framed the analysis of that research. Chapters of this dissertation examine sequential eras during the twentieth century, focusing on particular case studies to analyze changes and continuities in historical examples of Stó:lō cultural sovereignty. iv Keywords: Stó:lō history; cultural heritage; political activism; Indigenous sovereignty; gender; British Columbia v Dedication I dedicate this work to the late Tsel’xát / Maxine Prevost, my teacher, with deep respect and thanks for your work and legacy; and to my parents, Nancy Knickerbocker and Chris Rose, with my love and endless thanks. vi Acknowledgements Thanks must first go to my supervisor Dr. Mary-Ellen Kelm, who took a chance on me and guided me through this process. Thank you for bearing with the missed deadlines and passive voice, for suggesting it was time to completely reconfigure the troublesome Chapter 2, and for helping elevate my thinking by kindly encouraging me to keep pushing my analysis just a bit further. This project would not be what it is without your help, insights, and compassion. I am likewise grateful to my committee members Drs. Andrea Geiger and Keith Carlson, whose advice and support was unwavering during this process. Andrea, your attention to detail and the respect you show for the historical record are traits I hope to carry forward in my future work. Keith, your generosity in sharing your expertise has enriched this project, and meant so much to me personally. Thank you both for believing in me. Drs. Marianne Ignace and Paige Raibmon served as examiners for this project, for which I am indebted to them. Your questions and reflections were exciting during the defence, and they will continue to guide my thinking about this work – thank you both for your time and commitment in helping me through the final stage of the degree. Other faculty also mentored me during the past eight years. Along with Keith, I also want to thank Dr. John Lutz, as the two of them accepted me onto the field school which furthered this work in many ways. Drs. Willeen Keough, Jennifer Spear, Mark Leier, Elise Chenier, and Tina Adcock have similarly been profoundly influential and deeply kind to me as I made my way through the PhD program, particularly in terms of discussing pedagogy. Thank you! I owe much gratitude to the people who I interviewed for sharing their time and knowledge with me. Deep thanks to each of you, as this project would simply have been impossible without your participation. Special appreciation goes to K’HHalserten / Bill Sepass for sharing his family’s story and his own historical research, and to Lumlamelut Wee Lay Laq for her guidance and feedback at key stages of this project. I also want to vii thank: Marian Bisaillon, Larry Commodore, Sharie Conroy, Ron Denman, Darwin Douglas, Francine Douglas, Wendy Edelson, Cathy Hall, Douglas Hudson, Iyeselwet / Denise Douglas, Sandy McDonald, Gordon Mohs, Naxaxalhts’i / Albert “Sonny” McHalsie, David Pokotylo, Marion Robinson, Dave Schaepe, Ts’i:wethot / Josette Jim, Ernie Victor, and Marie Weeden. Y’alh yuw kw’a’s hò:y! Enormous thanks are also due to people whose work facilitated my own. Thank you to Tia Halstad, Ashley Edwards, and Michelle Tang at the Stó:lō Archives, to Dave Schaepe and Naxaxalhts’i at the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Center, to Shannon Bettles-Reimer, Tristan Evans, and Paul Ferguson at the Chilliwack Museum and Archives, Patricia Raymond-Adair at the Coqulaeetza Archives, Melissa Adams at the Union of BC Indian Chiefs Archives, and Benoît Thériault at the Canadian Museum of History. Staff in the History Department at Simon Fraser have been crucial in shepherding me through this process, and I want to especially thank Judi Fraser and Ruth Anderson. I’m also profoundly grateful to Susan Brook, who facilitates a productive and thought-provoking dissertation support group through Simon Fraser’s Health and Counselling Services. A big thank you to Leigha Smith for her careful and diligent work copy editing the first full draft of this project. Finally, I also want to acknowledge the bodies that helped fund this project; this research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the province of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University. While writing this dissertation, I had many fabulous colleagues who shaped my experience and helped sharpen my intellect: thank you all. I am profoundly lucky that when I was an incoming PhD student, Sarah Nickel was designated my grad student “buddy.” She is as excellent a friend as she is a scholar, which is saying a lot. Laura Ishiguro and Eryk Martin also offered writing support, morale boosting, and real talk. These three have been an intellectual home for me, and I am so grateful for their kindness and friendship. Likewise, conversations with Megan Harvey and Meghan Longstaffe were often illuminating and encouraging. My cohort was a particularly collegial one, and I want to thank Paulo Amaral, Ivan Drury, Joe Howard, Tim Stielow, and Andrea viii Walisser, as well as other PhD comrades Leah Wiener, Andrea Samoil, Jeremy Milloy, and Corey Larson. My family and friends supported me and helped keep me balanced during this process, and I’m grateful to them for that. Thanks especially to the “nerf herders,” my close-knit circle of friends outside the academy – your friendship and support means so much. Nikki Petersen, my sister in spirit, thank you for talking with me about this research for so many years; having you in my corner, cheering me on has been instrumental. I am fortunate to have a loving and supportive family, and I want to especially send my gratitude to my grandmother, Betty-Ann Knickerbocker for her boundless enthusiasm and care, and to my aunties Susan Nickel and Hilary Rose for sharing with me their own insights into research and writing. To my brother Connor Knickerbocker: thank you for becoming closer friends with me over this past decade, and for so often fueling my writing with your cooking. Mom and Dad: I’ve rewritten this sentence more than a dozen times now, and I don’t know how to adequately express my gratitude to you for your steadfast support and love. I simply could not have done it without you, and I’m so grateful you