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Embodied Sovereignty: Dialogues with Contemporary Aboriginal Dance

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Embodied Sovereignty: Dialogues with Contemporary Aboriginal Dance NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMIs > EMBODIED SOVEREIGNTY: DIALOGUES WITH CONTEMPORARY ABORIGINAL DANCE Katie Apsey A Thesis in The Department of Art History Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Art History at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada August 2009 © Katie Apsey, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-63150-8 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-63150-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque 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 telecommunication ou par I'lntemet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondares ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. 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. 1+1 Canada Abstract Embodied Sovereignty: Dialogues with Contemporary Aboriginal Dance Katie Apsey Within Aboriginal communities, dance has a long history of embodying knowledge—operating as a way of psychologically infusing spaces with new energies, passing on knowledge systems and histories, and enlivening voice. The power of dance is evidenced by the way that colonial powers and hegemonic popular culture have simultaneously suppressed and (mis)appropriated dances originating in Native communities. By examining performance practice in relation to these traditions and histories, this thesis discusses Contemporary Aboriginal dance through a de-colonizing lens in order to demonstrate the capability performance has to create sovereign spaces for artists while considering dance within an Aboriginal context - as expressive visual culture with inseparable links to visual art, music, theater, and oral histories. Foregrounded by Indigenous epistemologies and world views, Western theories of contemporary performance from academic discourses accompany writings by performers and artists of color to illustrate how such theories merely abstract concepts Aboriginal dancers have been enacting for millennia. Dialogues with dancers Sandra Laronde, Gaetan Gingras, Jerry Longboat, and Michael Greyeyes, as well as narrative experiences of specific dance works make up a significant portion of the work and express common themes within the movements such as: embodiment rather than performance; the creation of sovereign, sacred, and alternative spaces; working through trauma and healing with the body; combating stereotypes and expectations; access to Blood Memory; experiential learning; and dance as knowledge and history. iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to express many thanks to the Concordia art history department for all of its support, funding, and patience throughout my graduate studies, especially when I was forced to take time away for personal reasons. The financial assistance they facilitated for the Hydro Quebec Graduate Research Award and the Renata Homstein Graduate Fellowship made my research possible; many thanks to these companies/groups for their support of the arts. This project would also not have been possible without the intellectual and personal support of my advisor, Dr. Sherry Farell-Racette. From the moment she first asked "why not write about what you love—dance?" to her feedback on my final draft, she has been there for me with patient advice, quotes, articles for me to read, dancers for me to watch, and warm bannock to soothe the stress. The monolithic amount of scholarly pursuits and diverse projects that Sherry is able to undertake truly inspire me. I am grateful to her for her time and for not giving up on this multi-year, multi-country project. The understanding of my supervisors at the Brooklyn Museum (Joan Cummins, Ladan Akbarnia, and Kevin Dumouchelle) allowed me to work strange hours and take vacation time for last minute research trips. They have been supportive of my research, writing, ideas, and career and I am deeply indebted to them for their professional and personal encouragement. Many people helped me by looking at chapter drafts and offering constructive criticism. I would like to thank: my fellow graduate students at The Chocolate Room, Ms. Neelofer Qadir and Ms. Jessie Shaffer for their general feedback; my work roommate Ms. Kasia Zurek-Doule for taking an "outsider" look at my work; Brooklyn Museum iv Asian Art curator Joan Cummins for trying to help me sort through theory and for always asking such insightful questions; and London's newest Iran Heritage Foundation Executive Director Ladan Akbarnia, for helping me look at the big picture while reminding me of the small details like hyphens and commas. I would also like to thank my amazing roommates, Keonna Hendrick and Pablita Santos—two of the best art educators and future art historians New York City has—for their valuable feedback and late-night talks about cross-cultural research despite their own busy schedules. Last, but certainly not least, it is imperative for me to thank all the artists involved with the creation of this thesis: Gaetan Gingras, Jerry Longboat, Sandra Laronde, Michael Greyeyes, and Rosalie Daystar Jones, and Byron McKim for sharing their art, time, DVDS and e-mail inboxs with me and for responding to my interview transcriptions, chapter drafts and questions over the years. Merci beaucoup. Niawen'ko:wa. Kinana'skomitina'wa'w (kitatamihin). Migwetch. v to Montreal for showing me the world, to Brooklyn for showing me myself and to Jocelyn.. .may you grow up dancing proudly VI Table of Contents List of Diagrams and Figures ix Epigraph: A J; Dancing Brother by Arnie Neskahi xiii Note on Language. xv Introduction: Narrative: Manitowapan 1 Positioning 4 Embodied Sovereignty: Contemporary Aboriginal Dance 7 Methodology 10 Review of Literature 21 Chapter 1: Narrative: Chinook Winds opening segment 30 Revisiting History 31 Prohibition and Control 32 Modern Appropriations and Negotiations 36 A New Era 40 Chapter 2: Narrative: Throw Away Kids 54 Theoretical Approaches to Contemporary Aboriginal Dance 56 Reverse Appropriation and Re-infusion 58 Creation of Space 63 Performance as Mirror 67 Embodiment of Knowledge 69 Exposing the Hollowness of Stereotypes 72 Reclaiming the Physical Body 74 Indigenous Performance Theory 76 Chapter 3 Narrative: Raven Stole the Sun 82 Dance Group Focus: Red Sky and Sandra Laronde 86 To Exercise Culture 89 To Teach or Persuade 95 To Deal with Trauma and Healing 102 Chapter 4 Narrative: Ma Pere m 'a Raconte 109 Choreographer Focus: Gaetan Gingras and Jerry Longboat 112 vii To Exercise Culture/To Create Culture 119 To Make or Change Identity 122 To Deal with Natural or Spiritual Forces 125 Chapter 5 Narrative: Triptych 130 Dance Piece Focus: Triptych and Michael Greyeyes 133 To Exercise Culture/To Create Culture 134 Triptych 144 To Deal with Trauma and Healing 150 To Make or Change Identity 152 To Deal with Racism/Romanticism 153 Chapter 6 Narrative: Mesa 2.0 156 Conclusion 158 Bibliography 164 Images 174 Appendix I: Naming 194 Companies 194 Artists 206 Schools and Organizations 230 Deceased Artists 233 Now Defunct 235 For Further Research 236 Appendix II: Revisiting: Selected Relevant Historical Dates .....*. 238 Appendix III: Thesis Consent Form for Interviewees 241 Appendix IV: Traditional and Historic Dance References for Further Reading 242 Vlll List of Diagrams and Figures Diagram 1: "The Indigenous Research Agenda" by Linda Tuhiwai Smith 19 Diagram 2: Timeline of selected dates relevant to Indigenous dance 53 Diagram 3: Lara Evans' "Spheres of Performance specifically applicable to Native Performance Art" 77 Diagram 4: "Spheres of Performance" alongside Themes of Contemporary Aboriginal Dance 81 Figure 1: Manitowapan. Image courtesy of Manitowapan. Photograph by Rolline Laporte. Date not given 174 Figure 2: Manitowapan. Image courtesy of Manitowapan. Photograph by Rolline Laporte. Date not given 174 Figure 3: Manitowapan. Image courtesy of Manitowapan. Photograph by Rolline Laporte. Date not given 174 Figure 4: Red Rhythms Conference promotional poster. Image courtesy of University of California Irvine. 2004 175 Figure
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