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Pathways to the Eighth Fire: Indigenous Knowledge and Storytelling in Toronto

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Pathways to the Eighth Fire: Indigenous Knowledge and Storytelling in Toronto Pathways to the Eighth Fire: Indigenous Knowledge and Storytelling in Toronto Jon Johnson A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Communication and Culture York University Toronto, Ontario July 2015 © Jon Johnson, 2015 Abstract A considerable body of scholarly research now accords with long-held Indigenous prophecy in affirming the ongoing importance of Indigenous knowledge for the health and wellness of contemporary Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and their environments. Yet, while much research has examined Indigenous knowledge and traditions in more natural or rural contexts, there has been to date very little examination of the presence and character of Indigenous knowledge and traditions in more urban contexts. This dissertation redresses this gap in the research via an analysis of Indigenous knowledge, traditions, and storytelling in Toronto and their prophetic implications for contemporary Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The analysis is based on a comparative literature review of Indigenous knowledge, traditions, and community as they have been practiced in urban and non-urban locales, long-term participation within Toronto’s Indigenous community particularly as a tour guide for the highly-regarded community-based Great ‘Indian’ Bus Tour of Toronto, and in-depth semi-structured interviews with a small group of Anishinaabe Torontonians regarding their perceptions of the city and the practice of urban Indigenous knowledge and traditions. These lines of investigation revealed that land-based urban Indigenous knowledge and storytelling traditions are practiced in at least some cities like Toronto in ways that exhibit significant similarities and continuities with those practiced in non- urban locales. Land-based stories of Toronto’s Indigenous heritage shared among Indigenous Torontonians portray Toronto as a traditional Indigenous territory, promote life – and land – affirming connections to places in the city and the development of a ii cosmopolitan ethics of place that may constitute a significant pathway to the Eighth Fire of Anishinaabe prophecy. iii Acknowledgements I am incredibly grateful to my doctoral supervisor Joseph Sheridan who provided me with sage advice and the best maps available to start me off in the right direction. He was unfailingly patient, encouraging, challenging, and confident in my ability to ‘get the words right’. I am also very thankful to my doctoral supervisor David McNab, who graciously agreed to shepherd me during the final years of my dissertation. This dissertation may not have seen completion were it not for his advocacy, holistic vision, and expert guidance through both the big questions and little details. I am likewise grateful to have been able to draw on the considerable expertise and wisdom of my dissertation advisors, David Newhouse, Fred Fletcher, and Lynne Angus. I thank them for posing the challenging questions that contributed to a better interdisciplinary analysis. I would like to express my thanks to the Communication & Culture Program, whose interdisciplinary and flexible nature allowed me the freedom to forage across disparate disciplinary landscapes toward a richer, more holistic, and relational understanding of the issues than I could have achieved in a more disciplinary program. My dissertation research was supported by both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRCC) and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) Program, and I wish to thank these programs for their much needed financial assistance during my doctoral education. Beyond York University, I owe a significant debt to many colleagues and friends within Toronto’s Indigenous community who have taught me innumerable and invaluable lessons on the importance of maintaining relationship, responsibility, and reciprocity with all that is. I have learned much (and am still learning!) from their collective experiences, iv knowledge, and stories. I would like to thank Monica Bodirsky, former co-ordinator of the Toronto Native Community History Program, for guiding me into relationship with Toronto’s Indigenous community, for her advice and guidance over the years, and for her ongoing friendship. I would also like to thank Elders Joanne Dallaire and Jacqui LaValley for the teachings, stories, and good talks they shared with me in the spirit of generosity, kindness, and the Seventh Fire. Thanks also to my friends and colleagues within the community that took the time to interview with me for this dissertation. Their stories and perspectives on Toronto and tradition are the heart of this work. It is also important to acknowledge the ancestors of the Wendat, Seneca, Ojibway, and other original peoples who call Toronto their traditional territory. They have seeded this land with their knowledge and stories of their accomplishments, and continue to look out for the current generations. Chi-miigwetch. Nyawen’gowa. Tiawenhk. I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to all my family and friends who have been so encouraging, sympathetic, and patient during the time that I toiled away on this dissertation. Despite the years of absences at important social engagements, they have nevertheless remained supportive and understanding. My mother deserves special thanks not only for this, but for instilling in me all the requisite values, skills, and resilience to complete this work. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the efforts and sacrifices of my wife, Christine. When this work became all-encompassing, it was she that most keenly felt my absence and absent-mindedness. Yet, she was the person that I most often looked to for the kind words, advice, perspective, and laughter that would sustain me through the hardest times. This work is as much hers as it is mine. Thank you. v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2: Tracking Indigenous Knowledge - A Short Review of the Science and Art of Relationship .................................................................................................................. 22 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 22 Indigenous Knowledge as Process: Understanding Continuity through Change ... 23 The Importance of Contextual, Experiential, Ecological Knowledge ................ 29 All of Creation is Animate and Related ............................................................. 33 Reciprocity and Balance as a Cosmological Ethic (and Determinant of Health) ................................................................................................................................... 38 The Prominence of Circular Models .................................................................. 42 Storytelling and Ecology .................................................................................... 44 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 58 Chapter 3: Indigenous Knowledge as Living Well – Cultural Integrity, Storytelling, the Land and Healing ........................................................................................................ 62 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 62 Colonialism, Health, and the Ongoing Importance of Traditional Indigenous Culture for Contemporary Indigenous Groups ............................................................. 64 vi Colonial Trauma and Indigenous Health ............................................................ 80 Cultural Integrity, Ecological Integrity and Healing .......................................... 92 The Importance of Indigenous Cultural Traditions for Western Society ............. 104 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 129 Chapter 4: Urban Histories are also Indigenous Histories - A Review of Urban Indigenous Knowledge, Culture and Community........................................................... 131 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 131 The Pre-Colonial Urban Indigenous Tradition ..................................................... 133 Problematic Representations of Indigenous Re-Urbanization ............................. 135 Review of Recent Literature on Urban Indigenous Knowledge and Community 141 Connected to Culture and Heritage .................................................................. 143 Land-Based Traditions ..................................................................................... 146 Geographically Dispersed ................................................................................ 163 Mobile and Connected to Reserve Communities ............................................. 167 Intra-Community Cultural and Economic Diversity ........................................ 171 Cosmopolitanism and Pan-Indigeneity ...........................................................
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