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ONE SIDED CONVERSATIONS: CHAPTERS in the LIFE of ODILLE MORISON by MAUREEN L. ATKINSON Integrated Studies Project Submitted To

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ONE SIDED CONVERSATIONS: CHAPTERS in the LIFE of ODILLE MORISON by MAUREEN L. ATKINSON Integrated Studies Project Submitted To ONE SIDED CONVERSATIONS: CHAPTERS IN THE LIFE OF ODILLE MORISON By MAUREEN L. ATKINSON Integrated Studies Project submitted to Dr. Jean Barman in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta March, 2008 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................ii Dedication............................................................................................iii Acknowledgements..............................................................................iv Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Northwest Coast of British Columbia................................................. 11 Chapter 1 Tsimshian Beginnings ................................................. 12 Chapter 2 Lineage Role Models................................................... 22 Chapter 3 Educating Diversities ................................................... 30 Chapter 4 A Year in Her Life ........................................................ 37 Chapter 5 Mrs. Morison of Fort Simpson ..................................... 49 Chapter 6 Transitions and Translations ....................................... 59 Chapter 7 Odille the Ethnographer............................................... 69 Chapter 8 Odille’s Heart ............................................................... 78 Appendices ........................................................................................ 90 Bibliography ....................................................................................... 97 ii Dedication This work is for: Odille Quintal Morison who lived the story, Frances Haberlin who taught me that a vibrant faith requires questions, and Maureen Samuels for her commitment to greater cultural understanding. Odille Quintal Morison, circa 1880 Hannah Maynard Photo, Aldous Family Collection iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I must recognize two very important families without whose support, patience, and confidence this project would never have been completed: the Aldouses and the extended Atkinson/Bruce clan. Howard and Donna Aldous showed great support early on and continued to provide information and insights during the past four years. Odille’s voice would have remained silent if not for the vital assistance from her descendants. To my own immediate family, Michael, Patrick, and Eden; thank you for your loving patience as I divided my time between work, school, home and ‘the project.’ I would like to recognize Athabasca University and the Master of Arts Integrated Studies (MAIS) program for providing ongoing support and flexibility to distance students such as myself. Without the MAIS program this project would not have been possible. I would especially like to thank Drs. Derek Briton and Mike Gosmondi for their expertise, and guidance. As second reader to this project, Dr. Alvin Finkel’s feedback and suggestions were encouraging and insightful. I would also acknowledge the History and First Nations Studies departments at the University of Northern British Columbia for my early graduate studies course work. An accurate and engaging history can only come from a wide base of information. I have drawn on many sources to flesh out Odille’s story and I would be remiss if I did not recognize the archivists and library sources which helped me out along the way. Thanks goes out to Chris Roth for his countless emails regarding genealogical and Tsimshian lineages and to Cliff Armstrong at the diocesan archives in Prince Rupert, and to the kind archivists at the Prince Rupert City archives (Carol, Jean, Heather and Barb) whose keen sense of local history made my work a joy. Isobel Tovar, formerly at the Chicago Field Museum, took up my request for information regarding Odille’s ethnographic research housed there. She also located the ‘all clans pole.’ Special recognition goes out to Dr. Margaret Anderson, Dr. Robert Galois, Bruce Watson, Ken Campbell, Dr. Susan Neylan and my friend Nicholas May who generously shared their research and primary sources. Thanks as well to Caroline Dudoward and Louise Hager for their interest and to Patricia Vickers for her perspectives. This project would not have been complete without the unflagging interest from my friends and colleagues Dina and Rod, Maureen, Jim and Brenda, Char and Dave, Patti, and Mia and most especially Kate. Finally to my friend and mentor Dr. Jean Barman, I cannot begin to express how deeply I appreciate your guidance and constant encouragement over the past few years. You exercised great patience as you kept this wayward researcher on task through your steady stream of emails and a few hours over coffee in the Vancouver airport. I see now that great research is the starting point for an accurate and engaging story, but there must also be commitment and maturity. This is a debt which I can never repay iv Introduction I was first introduced to Odille Morison in the summer of 2002 when I came across the manuscript written by her husband Charles Morison in the archives at the local community college in Terrace. Our first meeting was a casual affair as Charles, in the course of writing about himself, commented that his wife had translated portions of the Bible and Anglican prayer book into the dialect of the Tsimshian, a First Nations group of the Northwest Coast. I was intrigued. Although Charles’ story of his years as a self proclaimed pioneer was a good one, I wanted to know more about this Mrs. Morison. Why was it so important to Charles to mention her achievements, yet not even give her first name? Some people obsess over their families, spouses; some their pets, the latest water cooler gossip or even their possessions. I happen to be passionate (the glass half full version of obsession) about historical research – something I can do reasonably well. More questions began to surface as I searched for the mysterious Mrs. Morison in the vital events index in the BC Archives. These questions were not only about her, but also about how this information was transforming me. I began to see how little I knew of Northwest BC history even though I had lived in the region for nearly fifteen years. Once I had tracked down her name and later her obituary in the Prince Rupert newspapers of May 25th, 1933, I realized how extraordinary she, Odille, really was. The Prince Rupert Daily News article reported that she had been eulogized as “the greatest woman that Northern British Columbia has ever produced.” How is it possible that the life story of such a person could be absent from the collective memory? What social conditions would drive the erasure, or more accurately exclusion, of such an individual? As I continued my search for primary sources I did manage to find local and regional first person narratives which made reference to Odille. Often these comments were made only in passing and usually with reference to her bicultural heritage. These references were in a coded form as with her obituary which described her birth thus: “Mrs. Morison was born July 17 1855 of old Hudson’s Bay stock at Fort Simpson [emphasis mine] now 1 known as Port Simpson.”1 She was in other words, both First Nations and white. I eventually learned that Odille’s mother was Tsimshian and her father French Canadian. All references that I have located laud Odille Morison as a bright, articulate and powerful woman, yet her own voice was absent from not only the popular literature during her lifetime, but also from the recent scholarly literature. While I realized that she influenced many people, she remained outside the historical spotlight. My goal was to draw Odille out from the shadows and put together the pieces of her life story. Sources I was very fortunate in that my sources for my research project soon extended beyond the printed word. Through extensive archival research and a bit of good fortune, I made contact with living descendants of Odille and Charles Morison. The great grandsons were not aware of their First Nations heritage, but they were enthusiastic supporters of my research project. The family members have shared with me photographs, letters and personal items which had been passed to them in what is known as the “cookie tin.” These personal items - mementos saved by Odille and later by her daughter Victoria - could easily have gone astray as time created emotional distance between the articles and the individuals. I also uncovered references to Odille in government documents and missionary reports about her role as language interpreter, then later as an ethnographer who worked with Franz Boas. The most exhilarating find, however, has been the rich detail provided by her daughter and son in a series of audio tapes from the early 1960’s. It was, and remains, the most moving and intimate experience to hear the actual voices of Odille’s children as they tell stories of their youth and childhood. Not only were their memories captured on audio tape but also their emotions as they engaged in the act of remembering then narrating their lives. Perspectives 2 The longing for a reconnection to a mythical time is manifest both in the artifacts we save and in the stories we share. Odille is mentioned in a few autobiographical narratives written by residents and visitors to northern British Columbia. Their descriptions of Odille are expressed with fondness yet these same memories are also cultural constructs. As the scholar Svetlana Boym postulates,
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