T H E C A N A D I A N A N T H R O P O L O G Y S O C I E T Y N E W S L E T T E R CC UU LL TT UU RR EE L E B U L L E T I N D E L A S O C I É T É C A N A D I E N N E D ’ A N T H R O P O L O G I E

SPRING Volume 4, No 1, 2010 HIVER I N D I G E N O U S R I G H T S I N TA I WA N Scott Simon, Associate Professor Department of Sociology and origin of the Austronesian dispersion that industrialization, mining, and national University of Ottawa ranges from Madagascar to Easter Island parks. The Chinese Nationalist (KMT) and from Taiwan to New Zealand. government, which came to Taiwan in Canada and Taiwan may be an ocean 1945, called this “self-government” and apart, but face similar challenges to On Taiwan, 505,159 Austronesian people even signed the ILO Indigenous and renegotiate indigenous rights after nearly are classified as members of fourteen Tribal Peoples Convention 107 in 1962, four centuries of colonization. Taiwan's tribes. Their traditional territories, albeit primarily to distinguish themselves 23 million people, mostly crowded into ranging from tropical coastlines to tundra from the Chinese Communists who had the cities of the western plains, live on an at 4000m, cover over half the island. This suppressed the Tibetans three years island slightly smaller than Vancouver land is administered by thirty “mountain earlier. Quotas for indigenous legislators Island. The majority of Taiwanese trace townships” where the elected magistrate were established at provincial and their roots to various waves of immigra- must be indigenous and only indigenous eventually national levels. tion from China since the 17th century, but people can buy and sell usufruct rights on the Austronesian peoples ave inhabited reserve land. Reserve land amounts to Taiwan's Austronesian peoples have Taiwan for at least 6000 years. only about 250,000 hectares, and the rest never accepted external domination Archaeological, genetic and linguistic may be allocated by townships for such easily. The Dutch, who set up a small evidence indicate that Taiwan may be the purposes as defence, forestry, agriculture, colony in 1624, represented the first and Continued/Suite Page 2

Members of the Truku band of Skadang resting at their mountain home Photo: Scott Simon C H I L E A N D E M O C R A C Y P. 3 & 4 D É M O C R AT I E C H I L I E N N E P. 3 & 4 N AT I V E N G O ’ S P. 5 & 6 L E S O N G A U T O C H T O N E S P. 5 & 6 D A N S C E N U M É R O A J P P. 7 A J P P. 7 C R A B G R A S S C O L L E C T I V E P. 8 & 9 C O L L E C T I F C H I E N D E N T P. 8 & 9 I N T H I S I S S U E W O M E N ’ S N E T W O R K 2 5 T H P. 1 0 2 5 E D U R É S E A U F E M M E P. 1 0 U P E I P R O F I L E P. 11 & 1 2 U P E I E N P R O F I L P. 11 & 1 2 F I L M N O T E S P. 1 3 F I L M S E N B R E F P. 1 3 B O O K N O T E S P. 1 4 & 1 5 L I V R E S E N B R E F P. 1 4 & 1 5 SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 2 I N D I G E N O U S R I G H T S I N TA I WA N Continuation from page 2/Suite de la page 2 Indigenous Peoples (CIP) was created in On August 8, 2009, Typhoon Morakot only State to sign treaties with indigenous 1997 to administer indigenous affairs. swept across Taiwan, causing landslides groups and set the stage for subsequent Austronesians were permitted to use their and over 600 deaths. Most of the deaths colonization. As Han (Chinese) migrants own names and textbooks were revised. were indigenous, including over 500 in opened up farmland over the next 250 From 2000 to 2008, the pro-independence the village of Hsiaolin belonging to the years, the Qing Dynasty found it easier to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) unrecognized Siraya tribe. Experts divide the island than to directly challenge government manipulated indigenous declared 33 out of 64 indigenous settle- the headhunting tribes. The mountainous cultural symbols to demarcate Taiwan's ments as unsafe and recommended eastern half, marked as “raw savages” on identity from China. In 2005, the KMT- relocation. Some of the affected commu- Chinese maps, was left entirely outside of majority Legislative Yuan passed the nities responded by setting up village state administration. The Japanese, who Basic Law on Indigenous Peoples, committees and demanded reconstruction acquired Taiwan in 1895, were the first to stipulating that all laws relevant to on their own terms. This yet unsettled pacify the indigenous peoples and bring indigenous peoples must be revised issue may either strengthen the resolve of modern state institutions to their commu- within three years. Although some communities to assert autonomy, or lead nities. The last indigenous rebellion was progress was made in education, language to both physical and social dislocation. It put down in 1930 when the Japanese used and labour laws, issues of land, autonomy, was a good sign that the Taiwan High aerial bombings and mustard gas against and nuclear waste languished. Court on February 9 recognized indige- warriors armed with bows and arrows. nous rights to forest resources on The Austronesians are rightfully proud of After KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou was traditional territory in accordance with the this long history of Basic Law. resistance. Political decisions The contemporary regarding indigenous indigenous movement peoples are still decided began in 1984 with the through negotiations establishment of the between communities Alliance of Taiwanese and the state. Taiwanese Aborigines. This indigenous peoples have movement has various less negotiating power t i e s t o C a n a d a , than those in Canada, as including the Urban- they have no treaty Rural Mission of the history, no legally Presbyterian Church r e c o g n i z e d b a n d that invited York c o u n c i l s , a n d n o University sociologist consensus that they are E d F i l e a n d h i s First Nations with Mohawk wife Donna inherent rights to land Loft to train activists. rather than ethnic Indigenous demands minorities with only included: 1) changing cultural rights. Ordinary their collective legal indigenous people may classification from Truku elder Saki examining his community's claims to land Photo: Scott Simon be better off materially in in the Taroko National Park. “mountain people” to elected President in 2008, Taiwan focused Ta i w a n , h o w e v e r, “indigenous peoples”; 2) abolishing on improving relations with China and because all villages are electrified and trafficking in indigenous women and indigenous rights seemed to take a relatively accessible to urban labour girls; 3) permitting the use of backseat. In 2009, three counties were markets. There are regular contacts Austronesian rather than Chinese conglomerated into municipalities, between Taiwanese indigenous peoples personal names on official documents; 4) causing activists to speculate that five and Canadian First Nations, and a removing nuclear waste storage from mountain townships would be down- Memorandum of Understanding has been Orchid Island; 5) reclaiming reserve land graded to the status of urban wards. implemented between the two countries to transferred to corporations; 6) deleting Whereas President Ma backpedalled on facilitate academic and community racist myths from school curriculum; 7) promises to establish a trial autonomous exchanges. Taiwan will thus remain a promoting indigenous rights on land region, indigenous groups in January privileged site for Austronesian research, appropriated as national parks; and 8) protested on issues of hunting rights, and also a place to study non-western establishing indigenous autonomous nuclear waste, and the controversial assertions of indigeneity. regions and higher constitutional status. appointment of a Hong Kong Chinese as First Secretary of the CIP. On February Scott Simon conducted research on Demands that did not directly threaten 28, 2009, the newly-formed Hunters development and state- relations in Han Taiwanese interests in land and Smoke Action Union lit bonfires in three Taiwanese indigenous villages from natural resources were eventually indigenous villages around Taiwan to 2004-2007. His research was possible due fulfilled. The constitution was revised in send “smoke signals” of protest to the to funding from SSHRC. 1994 and 1997 to include “indigenous government. peoples.” A cabinet level Council of

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 3 LESSONS IN ELECTIONS: LEARNING TO BE (AND NOT BE) POLITICAL IN CHILE'S RURAL SOUTH Rita Isabel Henderson touch with local perspectives illustrates an exaggerated platforms of change. His joke PhD Candidate, Anthropology important element of current neo-liberal Université de Montréal veiled sentiments common among political horizons: linkages between younger generations that, like the Like most municipal schools in Chile, political parties and their bases of Transformer movie, elections are seen as Land of Hope is a designated polling grassroots supporters have disintegrated. station for elections. In January 2010, in expensive fantasies of an influential few. My acquaintance is in the minority, this bright yellow building set against a For thirty years between 1960 and 1990, among 23% of Chileans under thirty who forested green hillside, a small portion of parents and grandparents of today's newly have even registered to vote; this figure the Chilean electorate gave right-wing eligible voters experienced persistent reaches 7% in particularly poor sectors of financier Sebastian Piñera a narrow conflict over the political and economic the rural south. With the political coming- presidential victory—51.6%. This tiny organization of their country. Public of-age of those born at the time of the margin is about as much as anyone ever confrontations were framed by a socialist- transition, newly eligible voters are wins in Chile, where majorities are less revolutionary presidency, a seventeen- unlikely to volunteer for a registry that representative of social consensus than year fascist regime, and solidarity renders participation obligatory and they are of run-off elections and a movements through the 1980s that rallied penalizes with heavy fines those who in coalition-prone binominal system. The for democracy. That the end of the subsequent elections choose to abstain. victory was called historic because this Concertación's mandate converges with year, for the first time since negotiating the intensification of political disinterest, The apathy of my friend's generation the 1990 democratic transition, the centre- especially among youth, raises questions towards the electoral process has left coalition of parties known as the about how young Chileans today learn to perplexed political scientists in Chile for Concertación lost its mandate. Piñera took be (and not be) political. to the stage for his acceptance speech to some time. They observe plunging registration rates and rising numbers of dramatic chants of “¡General Pinochet, I wonder less about the historical null ballots and abstentions. Over a este triunfo es por usted! … ¡Viva Chile y significance of this year's presidential decade ago, one study of perceptions of Pinochet!” However, one could not help victor or calculations of political apathy, political leaders revealed members of the but notice the very small number of than about inter-generational transmis- ruling Concertación speculated that dedicated supporters Piñera, and the sions of citizen subjectivities among political disinterest was a lingering effect election overall, were able to claim. Chile's silent majority, to whom candi- of authoritarian repression (Posner 1999). dates appealed with incredible promises Curiously, in 1988's referendum that An acquaintance's post-voting grin told a of change. Land of Hope School, where I triggered the end of Pinochet's rule, 95% fuller story of Chilean political work as an English teacher, is one of many of eligible voters cast ballots during a s u b j e c t i v i t i e s . “ I v o t e d f o r a sites where I observe the ways by which military regime. The degree to which the Transformer,” he said. Candidates ran on young Chileans today are publicly Concertación's leadership became out of conditioned to withdraw from political matters.

1) Uniformity: In the weeks leading into the September 18 national holidays, my grade 1 class lost 25 hours of English lessons in order to practice marching, circling the soccer field to the step of the school's “war band” in preparation for a ten-minute parade past town authorities (police and military officials). On parade day I showed up with a scarf and mittens in addition to my uniform, and was quickly warned to remove the deviant accessories because “people like unifor- mity.”

I had heard this before. Criticizing the liberal high school up the hill, whose students wore sneakers and hats, my neighbour bragged to me that her daughter's school marched in perfect unison. Satisfaction with uniformity may be a lingering feature of the military past, Monument to the detained and disappeared of Chile's 1973 coup Photo: Rita Isabel Henderson Continued/Suite Page 4 B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 4 LESSONS IN ELECTIONS: LEARNING TO BE (AND NOT BE) POLITICAL IN CHILE'S RURAL SOUTH Continuation from page 3/Suite de la page 3 photocopies could be made for other youth from self-identifying as active but its relevance persists in institutions courses. All resources were directed to subjects in history. that conceive of discipline as commitment forty students upon whom future funding to state authorities, and success as falling as a “school of excellence” depended. As fear of losing one's job or of making in line with public order. Teachers' jobs were at stake. Poor others lose their jobs intrude into mun- performances on the memorization-based dane aspects of second language classes 2) Anti-solidarity: During the 1980s, tests could lead to the further transfer of and national holiday celebrations, youth public system teacher salaries were cut by pupils to the state-subsidized private are not simply transmitted social habits 75%. A world recession was blamed. school across the road. carried from a removed military past. Educators were told that upon the return of prosperity, their lost wages would be In Latin America's “neo-liberal economic recovered. This never happened. Salaries The school's yearly strategy of funnelling have since increased, but still remain well resources to strong performances on miracle,” young Chileans experience their below the wages of similar professionals, standardized exams had a debilitating own education as a charged political space for many they sit as much as 200% below effect on our second language in which older generations vie for what would be expected had cuts never programme. Students conditioned to influence, justice, and resources. Recent occurred. Affected public teachers each excel in passive learning (memorization elections indicate the political coming-of- lost more than $50 000CDN from the and recall), had never developed the skills age of a generation that, during the “historical debt.” to express themselves in creative and democratic era, has learned to disengage. interactive situations like those proposed Far from an historic triumph of the right, Today, thousands strike every year in our classes. Piñera's election signals that many demanding (among other things) Chileans do hope for change, but growing recognition of the debt, whose payment In Chile, under both military and demo- non-participation especially among youth was denied by this year's presidential cratic governments, parents have suggests that few actually expect it to be candidates. During 2009's month-long increasingly become incentive-driven achieved in the electoral realm. national strike, Land of Hope's school consumers of education, registering principals were effective in pressuring children in either public or private Works Cited: staff to continue working. They used fear subsidized schools that compete for the Posner, P. 1999. Popular representation tactics, arguing that funding was endan- and political dissatisfaction in Chile's new gered by the potential of frustrated parents same state funds. The routinization of inflexible discipline, disregard for picket democracy. Journal of Interamerican transferring pupils to the town's other Studies and World Affairs 41:59-85. school, a state-subsidized private lines, and passive learning emphasized in institution not on strike. educational institutions today discourage

In the end, younger colleagues not directly affected by the debt did not stand in solidarity. While teachers in urban sectors proved less vulnerable to staging stoppages and carried the movement for several weeks, in our rural school only 3 of 21 teachers went on strike. While inherited from the dictatorship, lingering irresolution of the debt causes frequent tension with parents and younger teachers who are weary of repetitive cycles of strikes. In my experience, many of these individuals were not ideologically anti- strike, but vulnerable to the immediate impacts of extended yearly work stop- pages.

3) Competition: Standardized testing conducted nationally in all municipal schools (approximately 50% of primary institutions) became Land of Hope School's total priority in the last months of classes. While only two of eight primary grades wrote exams, for six weeks no Wooden sculpturree ofof thethe MapuMapucheche warriorwarrior herhero Lautaro inin frfront of Land of Hope School Photo: Rita Isabel Henderson

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 5 NAT IVE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGA- NIZAT IONS AND ABORIGINAL LEADERS: THE POLICY BROKERS IN CANADA[1] María Cristina Manzano-Munguía Limited-Term Assistant Professor with the state, rather, Aboriginal leaders completion of government forms such as St. Francis Xavier University and Native non-governmental organiza- the application for an Indian status card Antigonish, Nova Scotia tions (NNGOs) bridge two poles: the state requires certain language that is only The British Indian policy of assimilating, and the Aboriginal population. Native familiar to the Native organization's staff civilizing, and protecting the Indians [2] Friendship Centres across Canada and and their leaders. Moreover, Aboriginal was continued by the Canadian govern- employment Native organizations such as people might also seek advocacy services ment after Confederation in 1867. Both Nokee Kwe Occupational Skills such as affordable housing that mean a governments materialized Indian policy Development, located in London, Ontario “big difference” in understanding the and legislation into concrete actions are exemplars of “cultural translators” and dynamics of living in urban areas. through the implementation and design of mediators between the state and the different governmentalities such as, to Aboriginal population. At the same time, Aboriginal leaders and mention only a couple, the reserve and the Native organizations interject Aboriginal residential school systems. Despite these Both NNGOs and Aboriginal leaders (the people's concerns and projects into governmentalities, Indigenous people's Executive Directors of these organiza- Canadian Aboriginal policy. By doing so, resistance persisted overtime in urban, tions) “translate” government documen- these two entities (Aboriginal leaders and rural and on-reserve areas. An example of tation, applications, and eligibility Native non-governmental organizations) this resistance is the Citizens Plus Red requirements for accessing programs, and not only use and stretch state policy but Paper (Indian Chiefs of Alberta 1970) in funding available for their clientele. Some they make it meet their constituency's response to the White Paper of 1969. of the services offered include, but are not needs. For instance, despite the efforts of limited to, skills training, education, the Canadian state to secure the identities Today Aboriginal people [3] dwelling in housing, employment, health, and day of Aboriginal people as Indian, Inuit, and urban centres do not negotiate directly care facilities. Most of the time the Métis through legislation and Human Continued/Suite Page 6

Continued/Suite Page 9 Prince George, British Columbia Photo: Ekaterina Bouchard

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 6 N AT I V E N O N - G O V E R N M E N TA L O R G A - NIZATIONS AND ABORIGINAL LEADERS: T H E P O L I C Y B R O K E R S I N C A N A D A Continuation from page 5/Suite de la page 5 Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) policies, we find Aboriginal leaders making state policy (e.g, regarding regulations on who is and who is not entitled to receive funds and program opportunities) legible to the Aboriginal population who fall behind Native policy is being implemented on- Accordion Model of Native North American those “managing categories and simplifi- and off- reserve across Canada. The Social Organization. Proceedings of the cations” (Scott 1998: 82). challenges faced while conducting 29th Algonquian Conference. Edited by research on Native policy concern Wolfart, H. Pp:90-105.Winnipeg, The inclusion of Aboriginal people's broadening the scope of where, when, and : Press. knowledge or their “practical knowl- with and for whom to conduct fieldwork. edge”, to borrow the term from Scott In addition, building theory was, is and ______2004. Qualitative demographics of (1998:78), in planning and executing should be closely linked with empirical aboriginal urban-rural migration: the social engineering projects is today a data shaping it rather than the other way Persistence of Nomadic Habits. Proceedings of the 35th Algonquian reality that both the Canadian state and around. For instance, research conducted Conference. Edited by Wolfart, H. Pp:75- Aboriginal leaders negotiate on an on- on Aboriginal-run programs by Proulx 89. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of going basis. For instance, since 1999 (2003) in and Weibel-Orlando Manitoba Press. HRSDC stakeholders and Aboriginal (1991) in Los Angeles California. leaders signed the Aboriginal Human Otherwise our work as anthropologists in Dyck, Noel and James Waldram (editors). Resources Development Strategy the area of public and Aboriginal policy 1993. Anthropology, public policy and (AHRDS) where Aboriginal leaders will become meaningless given its lack of native peoples in Canada. Montréal, obtained local control over Aboriginal praxis (see Darnell 1998; 2004; Clairmont Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press. labour force development policies as and McMillan 2001). outlined in National Accords, signed by Little Bear, Leroy, Menno Boldt, and J. National Aboriginal Organizations [1] I would like to thank Craig Proulx and Anthony Long (editors). 1984. Pathways to (NAOs). The increasing number of Martin Hebert for their insightful editorial Self-determination. Canadian Indians and negotiated federal policy agreements comments. Also I would like to thank the Canadian State. Toronto: University of between state institutions, Aboriginal Susan Vincent and Jane McMillan for Toronto Press. leaders and Native organizations and their thoughtful comments on an earlier NNGOs reiterated this new “partnership draft. Needless to say, I am responsible for Clairmont, Don and Jane McMillan. 2001. approach” in program design and the views and interpretations expressed in Direction in Mi'kmaq Justice: An implementation on issues pertaining to this article. For further details see my Evaluation of the Mi'kmaq Justice Institute health, education, employment, and doctoral dissertation (Manzano-Munguía. and its Aftermath. Government Document. Mi'kmaq Nova Scotia Canada: Tripartite human rights. 2009. Mediating Aboriginal-State F o r u m . Relations through Native Non- http://www.gov.ns.ca/just/publications/doc Nevertheless, the Federal government Governmental Organizations and s/TFexesum.pdf needs to accept greater responsibility for Aboriginal leaders: An Alternative the First Nations people who live off- Model. The University of Western Proulx, Craig. 2003. Reclaiming Aboriginal reserve and to recognize that the reserve Ontario. Dissertation Supervisor: Regna Justice, Identity, and Community. system as 'homelands' need a drastic Darnell). Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Purich rethinking not only in policy briefs but Publishing Ltd. also within political praxis. In the near 2] “Indian(s)” are simultaneously and future it will be necessary to ensure that jointly a legal and theoretical construct of Scott, James. 1998. Seeing like a state: how Aboriginal policy goes hand in hand with the state, Aboriginal leaders and public certain schemes to improve the human Aboriginal demand-driven programs and perceptions (including personal and condition have failed. New Haven: Yale projects. A special priority must be given ascribed identities). That is, the category University Press. to Native non-governmental organiza- of “Indian” is not solely a construct of the tions and Aboriginal leaders on how to state . Waldram, James. 1997. The Way of the Pipe: improve governance through their work, Aboriginal Spirituality and Symbolic and to stretch partnership agreements with [3] Aboriginal people include Indian, Healing in Canadian Prisons. Peterborough, researchers and policy advisors. Inuit and Meìtis as stated by the Ontario: Broadview Press. Constitution Act 1982 s. 35. Weibel-Orlando, Joan. 1991. Indian Anthropologists and other academics Country, L.A. Maintaining Ethnic (Dyck and Waldram 1993; Little Bear, References: ComChicago: University of Illinois Boldt and Long 1984; Proulx 2003; Press.munity in Complex Society. Waldram 1997) are making significant Darnell, Regna. 1998 Rethinking Band and contributions to understanding how Tribe, Community and Nation: An

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 7 ANTHROPOLOGISTS FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE (AJP) ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR MEMBERS Joining struggles for self-determination, and inequality. As ethnographers, we call decolonizing knowledge production, and on anthropologists to radically rethink the resisting imperialism. AJP joins the nature of their position in local communi- academy to building non-state and non- ties, to decolonize , and to re- market solutions to social injustice. conceive the nature of the research process so that ethics are not a minor, Where: p r o c e d u r a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n . http://anthrojustpeace.blogspot.com/ In particular, these are the broad hall- To add your support to AJP's principles marks of our position: (below) and to add your name to the list of members e-mail: 1. We recognize and support the right of people everywhere to lives lived with [email protected] self-determination, dignity, freedom, and military training and consultancies for justice, and peace. To join the steering committee and any branches of the state engaged in 2. We unequivocally condemn and will become an active AJP member, please warfare and occupation. work against the use of anthropology, in join our group by e-mailing: whatever form, for military or intelli- [email protected] We are especially concerned by the way gence purposes. anthropology is enlisted in the war effort 3. We seek to advance struggles for social Provisional Manifesto and Hallmarks in the form of the U.S. "Human Terrain justice through public, democratic, and Where We Stand System" and its variants, and Canada's peaceful action. development of "white situational 4. We stand in solidarity with communi- Anthropologists for Justice and Peace awareness teams." We are also deeply ties resisting systems of violence, (AJP) stand opposed to the uses of concerned by the militarization of the oppression, and exploitation, and anthropology in the service of the national academy, beyond anthropology. In recognize the legitimacy of diverse forms security state, as we oppose the engage- particular, we stand against Canadian of resistance which maximize respect for ment of anthropologists in imperial wars universities and researchers applying for life and oppressed peoples' rights. of conquest and occupation. With the grants under the U.S. Department of 5. We embrace the full dignity of human U.S.-based Network of Concerned Defense's Minerva Research Initiative, beings and reject all forms of oppression Anthropologists, we hold firm to the which enlist American, Canadian and and discrimination including, but not principle that "anthropologists should not academics of other nationalities in limited to, racism, sexism, homophobia, engage in research and other activities that producing knowledge oriented toward ageism, and ableism. contribute to counter-insurgency pinpointing "terrorists" and creating 6. We recognize the connections between operations in Iraq or in...the 'war on terror.' "countermeasures" to subvert local militaristic, economic, social, and resistances to the U.S. imperium. We also political forms of domination and Furthermore, we believe that anthropolo- reject the militarization of humanitarian oppression and will work to expose and gists should refrain from directly assisting aid and foreign policy, and call for greater dismantle them as systems of structural the US military in combat, be it through attention and support for autonomous, violence. torture, interrogation, or tactical advice." g r a s s r o o t s , l o c a l i n i t i a t i v e s . 7. We will advocate for the use of Given the interest of the military and anthropological knowledge about the intelligence agencies in "," AJP will forge links with civil society diversity of human experience as "ethnography," and the development of organizations, anti-war activist groups, powerful resource with which to assist in both "ethnographic intelligence" and and indigenous communities engaged in the construction of resilient, just, "cultural intelligence," we warn anthro- struggles against racism, encroachments democratic, and peaceful alternatives to pologists about the damage they do to the on their lands, and police surveillance. As some of our most pressing contemporary discipline, and the potential for jeopardiz- teachers, researchers, and students, we problems. ing the lives of anthropologists when a commit our work in whole or in part to close link is forged between anthropology unveiling structures of violence, injustice,

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 8 THE CRABGRASS COLLECTIVE “Crabgrass is an annual grass which can pose a problem in lawns and gardens. Once crabgrass makes its home in your garden it is a very unpleasant and difficult weed to eliminate.” -- Daisy Moore

Brian Noble Department of Sociology and Anthropology participated in its development as agents interlocutors have done in their calling our Dalhousie University of imperia-lism. The question is whether attention to these conditions, in persisting our disci-pline has now escaped this against such conditions, and in challeng- At the 2007 CASCA-AES meetings held legacy — or have we, by sleight of ing us to conceive of and practice anti- in Toronto, a group of anthropologists theoretic hand and rhetorical or colonial alternatives. came together for a Symposium cosmopolitan praxis, merely distanced addressing what we all agreed was ourselves from it? Crabgrass's challenge, then is not merely “Anthropology's Colonial Impasse”. In in showing or critiquing these relations of 2008, several of that same group met The collective spans some four genera- power, but in directly undertaking a again in Victoria BC, hosted by Prof. tions, anthropologists ranging in age from politically-committed anthropology that Michael Asch, and adopted the name their 20s to 80s, most working in Canada interrupts or undoes these colonialisms, 'Crabgrass Collective' to register their but some in S. America, Africa, and recovering practices which displace involvement in a common project. Australia. All are committed to articulat- relations with the aim of articulating and ing practices for anti-colonial mobilizing definitively more just forms The abstract for the 2007 meeting that are focused, prag- and relations of polities. articulated the basic tenets and matic, and effective, having all engaged challenges for a politically resolute and directly with Indigenous Peoples and their So, in certain senses Crabgrass's project is engaged practice of anthropology, encounters with state or other powers. not substantively new, insofar as we are flowing largely from ongoing colonial inheritors of more than a century of situations animating anthropology's We are all deeply troubled by the kinds of anthropologists' engagements with and location in the midst of Indigenous 'modern' relations, often encountered as often in support of the struggles of Peoples encounters with modern settler universalizing projects, that entail, curtail, Indigenous peoples' to sustain their states. We wrote, colonialism is not an subjugate, or silence Indigenous Peoples' political freedom. What is new is that we external process – something we only do lives, relationships and polities. We have have come together, perhaps for the first to others. It is asked carefully what our Indigenous time, to engage something we do the questions to ourselves. It collectively and instructs us that, in a sustained as anthropolo- way, seeking to gists, our own e x t e n d t h e praxis is a matter c o n v e r s a t i o n to which we w i t h i n t h e must attend. discipline, with the wider polities Nowhere are we in which we are more challenged l o c a t e d ( e . g . on this than in Canada), and our engagements with Indigenous with, and dis- peoples them- courses about, selves, building Indigenous on our ongoing Peoples. m u t u a l l y Anthropology, r e s p e c t i n g all agree, was relations. Unlike born in colo- p r e d o m i n a n t nialism and strains in US anthropologists Anthropology,

Photo: L-R Back: Brian Noble (Dalhousie), Jessica Ross (Dalhousie), Harvey Feit Continued /Suite Page 9 (McMaster), Mario Blaser (Memorial), Marc Pinkoski (Victoria), Rob Hancock (Western / Victoria), Britt Vegsund (Victoria / Dalhousie), Rob Wishart (Aberdeen)

L-R Front: Sylvie Poirier (Laval), Justin Kenrick (Glasgow / St. Andrews), Eva Mackey (Carleton), Regna Darnell (Western), Michael Asch (Victoria), Peter Stephenson (Victoria).

Others scholars who have presented in Crabgrass symposia and workshops include: Tony Fisher (Alberta), Deborah Bird Rose (Macquarie), Colin Scott (McGill), Marisol de la Cadena (U.C. Davis), Gillian Goslinga (Stanford), Karen Sykes (Manchester), Claire Poirier (Dalhousie), Shauna McGarvey (McMaster), David Dinwoodie (New Mexico), Tad MacIlwraith (New Mexico). Continued/Suite Page 11

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 9 THE CRABGRASS COLLECTIVE Continuation from page 8/Suite de la page 8 Anthropology” addressed to ontological nize how peoples can simultaneously live which tend to turn a blind eye to America's questions, organized by Mario Blaser and together in a mutually beneficial way, still-colonial relations with Indigenous Harvey Feit. thrive, and as importantly, form relations Peoples, Canadian anthropologists have among their polities, relations that are remained squarely engaged with the In 2007, Noble and Asch co-organized the renewable, mutual, and that take problematic. symposium “Anthropology's Colonial seriously the need to fulfill obligations to Impasse” for the Toronto CASCA-AES one another. How do we embody and Among us are newer and long established meetings, followed by the Victoria enable stories of relationality even within scholars who have had close research Symposium in early 2008, hosted by colonial structures of thought and associations with, for example, the Dene, Michael Asch and the University of practice? Harvey Feit put this in other James Bay Cree, Plains Cree, Victoria. Most recently, the 2009 terms suggesting how the work involves Aitkamek'w, Piikani Blackfoot, Stoney, Vancouver CASCA-AES meetings “identifying the effects and limits of Secwepemc, Six Nations, Anishnaabeg, looked to the pragmatics of engagement in governmentality when it is deployed in Yshiro, Mbuti, and Aboriginal peoples of the Symposium “Doing Politics, Undoing modern colonial relationships and to the the Western desert of Australia. Given the Anthropology”. relationships of Indigenous and a- complexity of the colonial apparatus and modern collectivities to modern states.” its historical unfolding, and the particular- As of 2010, Crabgrass members are ities of conditions faced by peoples with engaging matters in multiple ways Going forward, those associated with whom we work, the approaches to the including a panel on politial ontology Crabgrass will be continuing to produce project we have set for ourselves are organized by M. Blaser at the Society of interventions through direct engagement necessarily diverse, though set against meetings (Santa with the settler polity and with common problematics. Fe N.M.), though one major project Indigenous Peoples, bringing to bear the (involving Asch, Noble, Pinkoski, political consciousness and commitment The diversity of research attending to Hancock and others) looks to contour and that anthropology, in its best impulses, colonial relations includes: how anthro- advance inter-political praxes founded in opens on to. pologists engage the courts and land rights obligation between negotiations; the problematics of master peoples in respecting narratives in theoretic formulations of relations of freedom, that anthropology and of the presumption of is the practical founda- state sovereignty; political location and tion of what is termed action of anthropologists; the micro- 'treaty'. Such a project politics of knowledge and ontological cuts directly to the larger encounters in privileged locales including challenge of reconcilia- land rights negotiations, textbooks, tion between Aboriginal museums, university settings, bureaucra- peoples and the Crown in cies; the recovery of obligation and Canada, yet has reso- humility in political interchange. nances for conceptions of political relationality Our future dissemination will be through w e l l b e y o n d t h e internet, scholarly and public venues. Canadian context. While launched by practicing anthropolo- gists, we are all working very actively This project entwines with Indigenous thinkers, activists, and with a thread uniting all scholars, and a large number of graduate of our work, as discussed and undergraduate students, both b y U K S o c i a l Indigenous and non-Indigenous are Anthropologst Justin directly associated in advancing Kenrick. That is our Crabgrass. common acknowledge- ment of the ways in CASCA's annual meetings have provided which modernity — key venues for the development of the whether through political questions that gave rise to Crabgrass and and economic appara- its gradual coalescence into a Collective. t u s e s , o r t h r o u g h The Plenary sessions of the 2003 knowledge practices — CASCA-SANA meetings held in Halifax generates intensifying “Indigenizing the Global: Anthropology stories and ways of living and Fifty Years of Aboriginal Struggles that absorb and/or deny for Self-Determination”, were organized the potency of the stories by Brian Noble and involved several later and ways of living of Crabgrass members Michael Asch and others. Harvey Feit. This was followed by the 2005 Merida CASCA-SANA meetings We seek a political move through the sessions “Toward a Relational that allows us to recog-

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 10 CONGRATULATIONS! THE CASCA WOMEN'S NETWORK CELEBRATES ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY Pauline McKenzie Aucoin Department of Sociology and Anthropology studies. an evening showing of the documentary Carleton University film Weaving Worlds: Navajo Tales of How the West Was Spun with a discussion In 2008 and 2009, the CASCA Women's Numerous publications have resulted following the film with Nicole Network celebrated the 25th anniversary from this work including the edited Horseherder, member of Black Mesa of its founding in May 1984 with the volumes Ethnographic Feminisms (Sally Weavers. In 2009, a Women's Network organization of a series of tribute panels Cole and Lynne Phillips, 1995) and workshop on "Academia, Women and and events at the Canadian Anthropology Feminist Fields: Ethnographic Insights Administration" was also convened at Society Annual Meetings held at Carleton (Rae Bridgman, Sally Cole and Heather UBC with participants Christina Holmes U n i v e r s i t y a n d U B C . H o w a r d - B o b i w a s h , 1 9 9 9 ) . (Dalhousie), Jill LeClair (Humber), Jean Chapman (Concordia), Elvi Whittaker The CASCA Women's Network was In Ottawa in 2008, Christina Holmes (UBC), Janice Graham (Dalhousie), founded in 1984 at the annual meetings (Dalhousie) co-ordinated the events of the Pauline McKenzie Aucoin (Carleton), and held in Montreal, with Elvi Whittaker 25th Anniversary and organized the panel Margaret Critchlow (York). And finally, being its first co-ordinator. The Network “Women Anthropologists: From our 25th anniversary was toasted with soon had over 40 members from what was Academia to the Field - CASCA Women's much applause at the annual Women's then the Canadian Society Network 25th Anniversary Session.” This Network Luncheon and the CASCA (CESCE). The goal at that time was to panel included papers by Dawn Grimes- Annual General Meeting at UBC. give women a stronger voice in the MacLellan (St. Mary's), Susan Walter (St. CESCE. Women's Network co-ordinators Mary's), and Susan M. Thomson In addition to these activities, in 2008 a have included Elvi Whittaker, Bonnie (Dalhousie). A second panel, "Feminist fundraising campaign was initiated at the Kettel, Joan Ryan, Rae Bridgman, Jane A n t h r o p o l o g y C o n f r o n t s CASCA Women's Network Luncheon, Levenik, and Christina Holmes. Disengagement," was organized by Pamela Downe (Sask) and Robin and participants decided to set up a CASCA Women's Network Award; Prix Since its founding, the Women's Network Whitaker (MUN), and included partici- du Réseau des femmes de la CASCA, for a has provided a forum for women to meet pants Jean Mitchell (PEI), Glynis George Graduate Paper in socially and connect professionally at the (Windsor) and Julia Murphy (Mount presented at the CASCA meetings, as well CASCA meetings. Network members Royal). as a Contributions to Feminist have organized dozens of panels and Anthropology and Achievement Award. symposia, providing role models for This was followed by the “Women's The Graduate Paper Award will be junior women anthropologists, uncover- Network Roundtable - 25 Years of the presented for the first time at the 2010 ing the history of women and making a C A S C A W o m e n ' s N e t w o r k : meetings. Our 2010 panel of adjudicators place for feminist perspectives in the Remembering our Past and Supporting for this award includes Elvi Whittaker discipline, and advancing the position of Future Generations of Women in (UBC), Harriet Lyons (Waterloo) and Canadian anthropology internationally in Canadian Anthropology,” organized by Heather Howard (MSU) and Pauline R e g n a D a r n e l l ( U W O ) . M c K e n z i e A u c o i n We look forward to meeting you at the ( C a r l e t o n ) . CASCA 2010 meetings in Montreal Elvi Whittaker where Elvi Whittaker has organized a ( U B C ) panel on "Women in the Universities" for provided an June 1. In celebration of the 25th overview of the Anniversary, this panel will bring together history and scholars, including a number of the activities of the founding members of the CASCA network, and Women's Network, to discuss current participants issues relating to academia, anthropology, discussed past administration and gender issues. Our and current annual Women's Network Luncheon will issues facing take place on June 2 at Concordia w o m e n a s University. We hope to see you there!! a n t h r o p o l o- g i s t s a n d Pauline McKenzie Aucoin (Women's a c a d e m i c s . Network Co-ordinator) The anniver- Christina Holmes (past Women's Network sary events Co-ordinator) also included Heather Howard (MSU) E l v i W h i t t a k e r ( U B C )

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 11 UNIVERSITY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND ANTHROPOLOGY PROGRAM The Editors of Culture extend their Students can choose from a variety of had a longstanding interest in the apologies to the UPEI Anthropology course offerings which engage a wide a n t h r o p o l o g y o f v i s u a l Department for not including them in range of topics and themes: gender, representations and the anthropology our introduction to Atlantic and of science and technology, leading to Maritime anthropology departments in rural society, postcoloniality, science a previous issue of Culture. and technology studies, post- research in German colonial structural theory, development photography and water locating Anthropology at the University of studies, political economy, religion, through divining rods and hydro- Prince Edward Island dates to the belief systems, , geological engineering in Africa. He early 1970s. The Department of globalization, youth, migration, has shifted focus in recent years onto Sociology and Anthropology today and social organization, the anthropology of advanced offers a major in Anthropology, a joint applied and , technologies in the present, asking major in Sociology/Anthropology, as race and racism, ethnographic questions concerning the cultural well as an option for a minor. Our methods, modernity, violence and practices surrounding Information honour's program provides students honour, masculinities, political Te c h n o l o g i e s , c o m p a r a t i v e with the opportunity to undertake a n t h r o p o l o g y , a s w e l l a s biotechnoscience, and how the two research projects designed in p a l e o a n t h r o p o l o g y, f o r e n s i c overlap. consultation with a supervisor, and anthropology, and an has served as a springboard for fieldschool. Udo Krautwurst’s current research in admission into numerous professional a Prince Edward Island research schools and graduate programs Full-time Faculty Members: facility examines the biosciences in nationally. concrete practice and context rather U d o K r a u t w u r s t ( A s s o c i a t e than the ideal of Science that much of Our faculty, primarily sociocultural Professor): Africa; kinship and family; the general public accepts. This anthropologists, are committed to s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n ; v i s u a l research is informed by, and hopes to broadly critical and comparative anthropology; knowledge and culture; inform, some of the recent changes approaches to the discipline, and are colonialism and post-colonialism; over the last three decades in the fully devoted to the twin vocations of post-structural theory; science and biosciences, recent technological research and teaching. All three full- technology studies. advances, and the world economic time faculty members are involved in restructuring over the same time ongoing research projects, the results Education: B.A. University of period broadly referred to as of which have appeared in numerous Manitoba (1983), M.A. University of 'neoliberalism'. Simply, 'bio-cluster publications. As teachers, we strive to Manitoba (1987), Ph.D. University of development', as a combination of provide students with as wide a range Connecticut (1997). these three social currents, is a of courses and areas of focus as we relatively recent phenomenon can reasonably manage for a small Trained largely in the field of the worldwide. With the information department. anthropology of post/colonialism in collected he aims to situate how the southern Africa, Udo Krautwurst has facility he is o researching overlaps with other social institutions and social movements (including other scientific ones), ranging from within the university through the social, political, and economic life of P.E.I., to the increasingly rapid global growth of bio-industries as a path to economic development. · Jean Mitchell (Associate Professor): Anthropological theory; ethnography; gender; applied and medical anthropology; Melanesia; colonial and postcolonial issues; youth; migration; modernity.

Education: BA University of Prince E d w a r d I s l a n d ( 1 9 7 7 ) , M A (Developmental Studies) Carleton University (1991), MA () (1993), PhD York University (2002)

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B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 12 UNIVERSITY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND ANTHROPOLOGY PROGRAM Continuation from page 11/Suite de la page 11 with understanding the changes Kinship and social organization; A f t e r c o m p l e t i n g a M . A . i n South Asia; Southeast Asia; Rural and Development Studies, Jean Mitchell that accompany late modernity drives his ongoing research on Peasant ; Community. worked extensively in South Asia and Oceania and later received her M.A. social memory and traditionalism in highland Sardinia, Italy. Education: B.Sc. University of and Ph.D in Social Anthropology from Calcutta (1956), M.Sc. University of York University. She has conducted A further interest stemming from his Calcutta (1958), Ph.D. University of research on women and children's Calcutta (1964). health in Solomon Islands, conducted fieldwork relates to the dynamics of feud and vendetta in Italy, and is part research in Kiribati on women's J a m e s R o d d : T h e o r y a n d fishing, co-editing Pacific Voices: of a broadly synthetic comparative perspective on the study of violent m e t h o d o l o g y ; p r o d u c t i o n o f Equity and Sustainability in Pacific knowledge; aboriginal issues in Island Fisheries. masculinities throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond. context of the colonial experience; The results of his current research introduction to cultural anthropology. Jean Mitchell’s research interests include modernity, youth, gender, have recently appeared in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Education: B.A. (Psychology and migration, and health. While Anthropology) University of Prince conducting her doctoral research in Institute and in the Journal of the Society for the Edward Island, MA University of Vanuatu, with the Vanuatu Cultural Victoria (1998) Centre, she initiated and developed the Vanuatu Young People's Project R i c h a r d F o r s y t h : F o r e n s i c and she has also been anthropology, archaeology, physical engaging her students in a n d c u l t u r a l a n t h r o p o l o g y, innovative programs for youth archaeology field school. Forensic in Prince Edward Island. anthropologist for RCMP (PEI). I n t e r e s t s : b u r i a l s , I s l a n d Her SSHRC-funded research a r c h a e o l o g y ( S c o t t i s h a n d has been on youth, labour and Maritime) and African archaeology, migration in Vanuatu and her most human palaeontology and recent research is exploring links comparative anatomy. between early missionaries from Prince Edward Island who worked Education: B.A. (Biology) Brock in Vanuatu and their influence on University (1971), B.Sc. (Human popular culture such as Lucy Maud Biology) University of Guelph Montgomery's works. Her recent (1976), M.A. (Anthropology) publications include a book chapter (1979), “Remembering a Tonkinese Orphan in PhD (ABD) University of Toronto French Household in New Hebrides” An- and an edited collection entitled Storm thropology of and Dissonance: L.M. Montgomery Europe. His latest under- Valerie Campbell: Rural women, and Conflict. taking, more theoretical in scope, gender, race and racism, cultural examines anthropology's move diversity and multiculturalism, social · A n t o n i o S o r g e ( A s s i s t a n t away, over the past two decades, change, aging, women in fisheries Professor): Europe and the from sited fieldwork in favour of management, environment and Mediterranean, political anthropology, m u l t i - s i t e d m e t h o d s t h a t economic sustainability, addictions, belief systems, violence and honour, emphasizes interconnectivity of social issues. masculinities, agrarian society, social locales. He asks whether this history and cultural change, urban life, emergent trend has sacrificed the Education: B.A. UPEI (2004), MA field methods, ethnography. r i c h n e s s o f e t h n o g r a p h i c University of Guelph (2006) description that is the hallmark of Education: B.A. McGill University long-term cultural immersion, in the Lawrence LeClair: Introduction to (1997), M.A. Carleton University process forsaking approaches that s o c i o l o g y ; i n t r o d u c t i o n t o (1999), PhD. University of Calgary yield descriptive ethnographic anthropology; and (2007) accounts that serve as a chronicle of human evolution, evolutionary the human condition. psychology; anthropology of Antonio Sorge is a sociocultural education. anthropologist with longstanding Part-time Faculty Members: interests in processes of social Education: BA University of Prince change and transition, particularly as Satadal Dasgupta (Professor Edward Island (1983), BEd University they affect historically marginal rural Emeritus of Anthropology): Taught of Prince Edward Island (2003), MA communities. His perennial concern full time at UPEI, 1969-2003; Carleton University (1987)

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 13 Film Notes Films en Bref

Terra Sacer

Banned in the United strength to fight for Terra Sacer (2008). States in the 1960s, but recognition and justice Dir. Alberto Guevara and Elysee Nouvet. Running sold throughout the third while camped in downtown Time: 17 min. Dist. VTAPE (www.vtape.org) email: world well into the 1980s, Managua, Terra Sacer [email protected] the pesticide Nemagon and engages these important its after effects haunt over ethnographic questions. 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 N i c a r a g u a n The film has been screened agricultural workers and at Toronto's Planet in Focus their families. How does F e s t i v a l , D O X A one make visible the (Vancouver), and will be connections between discussed within the panel exploited landscapes and “Whose Truth is It?” at bodies? How does one Peterborough's REFRAME communicate a group of film festival in January p e o p l e ' s o w n s e l f - 2009. Alberto Guevara and presentation as victims, Elysee Nouvet are based at while avoiding a victimizing York University in Fine Arts representation? What are Cultural Studies and Social the possibilities and limits Anthropology respectively. of making bodies in pain For further information: speak? Focusing on [email protected] Nemagon victims who are using their remaining

B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E ! SPRING/HIVER 2010 (Vol. 4:1) C U L T U R E 14

Book Notes Livres en Bref Jeunesses autochtones. Affirmation, innovation et résistance dans les mondes contemporains

Natacha Gagné et Laurent Jérôme (coord.) I Presses de l'Université Laval © 2009. 194 pp.

La jeunesse, c'est la création de l'esprit » affirmait Johnny Jean- Pierre, un jeune Innu de la communauté de Bestiamites, au Québec. Mais que signifie être jeunes et autochtones aujourd'hui ? Quelles sont leurs expériences des mondes contemporains ? Quels sont leurs projets, leurs visions du monde, leurs espoirs ?

Alors que les jeunes autochtones sont les premières victimes du racisme et de la discrimination à l'endroit de leurs communautés et qu'ils sont aux prises avec de nombreux problèmes sociaux, ils sont aussi à considérer comme des agents culturels et sociaux compétents. Loin d'incorporer passivement les valeurs, les schèmes et les significations socioculturelles véhiculés au sein de leur société comme de la société dominante, les jeunes autochtones participent activement à la transmission et à la transformation des mondes auxquels ils prennent part . Comment, de quelle manière et dans quels lieux les jeunes autochtones prennent-ils la parole ? Quelles sont leurs demandes en termes d'autonomie, de droits, de liberté ? Voilà quelques-unes des questions explorées dans cet ouvrage .

The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History

Aldona Jonaitis and Aaron Glass University of Washington Press © 2010, 344 pp.

The Northwest Coast totem pole captivates the imagination. From the first descriptions of these tall, carved monuments, totem poles have become central icons of the Northwest Coast region and symbols of its Native inhabitants. Although many of those who gaze at these carvings assume that they are ancient artifacts, the so-called totem pole is a relatively recent artistic development, one that has become immensely important to Northwest Coast people and has simultaneously gained a common place in popular culture from fashion to the funny pages.

The Totem Pole reconstructs the intercultural history of the art form from the 18th century to the present in its myriad manifestations. Aldona Jonaitis and Aaron Glass analyze the totem pole's continual transformation since Europeans first arrived on the scene, investi- gate its various functions in different contexts, and address the significant influence of colonialism on the proliferation and distribution of carved poles.

The authors also describe their theories on the development of the art form: its spread from the Northwest Coast to World's Fairs and global theme parks; its integration with the history of tourism and its transformation into a signifier of place; the role of governments, museums, and anthropologists in collecting and restoring poles; and the part that these carvings have continuously played in Native struggles for control of their and their lands.

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Book Notes Livres en Bref

Contesting Aging & Loss

Janice Graham and Peter Stephenson (edited by) University of Toronto Presses © 2010, 209 pp. The dominant biomedical paradigm of loss has seeped into too common a practice of engaging elders on terms that are not their own. Instead, Contesting Aging & Loss approaches aging from the viewpoint of those growing old.

The contributors to this book take seriously the proposition that aging is complex and multifaceted and encompasses many experiences including those that entail a deep sense of loss. But so too, they discover people who are continuing to encounter fulfilments, gains, struggles and resistances.

The voices heard here contest the dominant paradigm of disease, decline and dementia, and the idea that much of what we experi- ence as we age is simply “inevitable”, a perspective that robs us all of power, agency, and the ability to determine and live fulfilled lives –– whether we are engaged in the study of aging, or are simply growing old.

ZAPATISTAS: Rebellion from the Grassroots to the Global Alex Khasnabish Fernwood Publishing and Zed Books © 2010, 176 pp. In 1994 a guerilla army of Indigenous Mayan peasants in Southeast Mexico emerged and declared ‘Enough!’ to 500 years of colonial- ism, racism, exploitation, oppression and genocide.

The effects of the Zapatista uprising were profound and would be felt beyond the borders of Mexico. At a time when state-sponsored socialism had all but vanished and other elements of the left appeared defeated in the face of neoliberalism’s ascendancy, the Zapatista uprising sparked a powerful new wave of transnational socio-political action.

In exploring the movement’s origins, history, structure, aims, political philosophy and possible new directions, Alex Khasnabish provides a critical and comprehensive overview of one of the most important rebel groups in recent history.

Culture is published by the English Editor, Craig Proulx. Canadian Anthropology Society Rédacteur francophone: Martin Hébert and we encourage submissions Coordinator/coordonnateur: Michel Bouchard to the newsletter. Design: Ekaterina Bouchard Culture est publié par la E-mail: [email protected] Société Canadienne d’Anthropologie et Mailing address/Adresse postale: nous vous encourageons à nous envoyer Culture, C/O Michel Bouchard vos soumissions. Anthropology Program, UNBC 3333 University Way, Prince George BC V2N 4Z9 HTTP://WWW.CAS-SCA.CA B E C O M E A M E M B E R ! H T T P : / / W W W. C A S - S C A . C A D E V E N E Z M E M B R E !