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Un-Layering Landscapes: A Post-Colonial Critique of "Wilderness" in Tsimshian Territory, Northern British Columbia Brenda Guernsey B.A., University of Northern British Columbia, 2002 Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Master Of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies The University Of Northern British Columbia August 2008 © Brenda Guernsey, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48767-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48767-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and 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 Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou 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 et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada "Wilderness" is a term commonly used to describe the forested landscapes of northern British Columbia. The western colonial ideologies embedded in this interpretation of the land had the effect of dehumanizing and erasing an extant vibrant Aboriginal landscape during the long process of colonization. This re-writing of the landscape was accomplished through various colonial mechanisms. Primary and secondary literature demonstrates the extent to which the concept "wilderness" has become a meta-narrative of the landscape. Ethnographic work with the Tsimshian First Nation community of Kitsumkalum in northern British Columbia indicates that their ideologies of the land have not been erased through colonialism, but continue to exist and are deeply embedded in their culture and in their everyday lives. Thus it is important to work towards a space where more than one ideology of the land can be acknowledged and accepted especially when faced with treaty negotiations over land and rights. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of contents iii List of Figures v Glossary vi Acknowledgment vii Chapter One Introduction 1 A Post- Colonial Critique 3 Treaty in BC 5 Kitsumkalum: A Tsimshian Nation Community 6 Kitsumkalum, Ethnohistorically 9 Outlining the Thesis 10 Chapter Two Constructing Colonial Landscapes 13 Introduction 13 Landscapes: 'constructed' and construed 14 The sociability of place, space and landscape 16 Mentally mapping our landscapes 19 Landscapes of power 20 Unsettled Landscapes of British Columbia 25 Challenging Dominant Ideologies 29 Chapter Three Deconstructing the Wilderness 32 Constructing Wilderness and Clearing the Landscape: The Early Colonial Legacy 35 The Century of Modernization: The History of the Kitsumkalum Community 41 "Buried Epistemologies": The Contemporary BC Landscape 46 Closer to home... 49 Towards creating a new space 55 Chapter Four The Methods 58 Doing Ethnography 58 Ethnographic Concerns 59 Interviewing Methods 63 The Interviewees 65 The Analytic Process 74 A Synthesis of Voice: from thematic analysis to ethnography 76 iii Chapter Five Perspectives from Kitsumkalum 79 Social Landscape 81 Community 81 Living in Two Worlds 84 Home and Belonging 85 Shared Identity 87 Connections Across a Distance 88 Physical Landscape 90 Resource use 91 Resource Management 94 Conservation, Preservation, Protection 97 Valuing the Land 101 Ideological Landscape 103 Chapter Six Decolonizing the Landscape 106 Introduction 106 Un-layering the Landscape 110 First Nations Ideologies 114 A New Space 118 Bibliography 120 Appendix 1 130 IV List of Figures Figure 1 Tsimshian Traditional Territory 7 Figure 2 Tsimshian Nation Communities 8 Figure 3 Promotional Map of the Alcan Project 53 Figure 4 A Conceptual Map of the Ethnographic Analysis 78 v Glossary Standardized Spellings for Sm'algyax Words (Adapted from McDonald 2003) Sm'algyax English gaits'ap town, village, community laxyuup house territory, trapline, hunting ground, land pteex phratry (this is the technical term. The common translation is either "clan" or "tribe"). Sigidimnak Matriarch/princess Sm'oogyet Chief Waap House group (a corporate group) Wuwaap plural for house group The Four Pteex Sm'algyax English Ganhada Raven Gisbutwada Killerwhale Laxgibuu Wolf Laxsgiik Eagle VI Acknowledgment First and foremost, my acknowledgement must begin with a dedication. This thesis is dedicated to two extraordinary Tsimshian women. First, to Adeline Amdolth Turner (nee Nelson); who used her voice as a tool to have her truth heard, and to Linda Horner (nee Christiansen) who loved her home and expressed her connection to the land through her poetry. There are a number of individuals and organizations I acknowledge because they were all part of the realization of this thesis. I must start with acknowledging Jim McDonald who encouraged me to pursue a Masters degree in the first place and who, through his constant support, continues to encourage me to fly. I would not have been able to complete this thesis without the support and dedication of my supervisor, Dr. Angele Smith. She introduced me to the concept of 'landscape', showing me exciting new ways to see the world and how to better understand my place in it. An extraordinary teacher and mentor, Angele has continually challenged me, encouraged me, and has helped me become a better scholar. For this I am entirely grateful. I am deeply appreciative of my committee members, Dr. Gail Fondahl and Dr. Mike Evans, who gave of their time and lent their particular expertise to this piece of work. I would also like to thank Dr. Mark Nuttall for accepting the role of external examiner for my thesis defence. It was honour to have all three of these exceptional scholars read, comment on, and help shape this research. I met my colleague and friend, Suzanne Mitchell, in our very first Anthropology class as undergraduate students and her support has been invaluable. Since then, we have both completed our MA degrees and I want to acknowledge the times we spent studying together, sorting out difficult concepts and theories, feeding one another's enthusiasm for our post-secondary learning experiences. As a graduate student, I made wonderful friends whose support and camaraderie helped to get me through those long days and evenings in the grad office and who have continued to support me: Donna Atkinson, Jennifer Payson and Jacqui Stevens. Having others to share ideas with, to encourage one- another, to support, to vent with when you are a student working away from your particular institution is so important. Thus, I would like to acknowledge my colleagues and friends in my new home who were also working to complete graduate and post graduate work at a distance; Maureen Atkinson, Sheree Ronaasen, Mia Reimers. I would like to particularly acknowledge the support and friendship of Maureen over the past year as we worked through our graduate programs together. Finally, my business partner and friend, Cindy B. Hansen, who offered her invaluable support by never questioning the time I needed away from work and who listened to me and laughed with me when I needed it. vn I want to acknowledge the complete support of all my family. They diligently followed the "don't mention the thesis!" rule and always believed in me. I would also like to thank Jim's family for their continued support. I give a special thank you to my Aunt, Deborah Porter Taylor, and to my dear friend Megan Jones, who both understood the process and knew I could do it. Last, but most importantly, I thank the community of Kitsumkalum for their support of this research, in particular Diane Collins and Alex Bolton. I would like to give a special recognition to the individuals who were willing and enthusiastic interviewees for this thesis: Kathy Wesley, Allan Bolton, Adeline Turner, Linda Horner, Roy Nelson, Alex Bolton, Diane Collins and Annette Bolton. All of their voices contributed to documenting important social and cultural information about their community that can be utilized for generations to come. I acknowledge the valuable funding support I received through the Northern Studies Trust Program, the Arne and Lesley Carlson Graduate Student Scholarship, and the UNBC Travel Grants. vm Chapter One: Introduction We must be insistently aware of how... relations of power and discipline are inscribed into the apparently innocent spatiality of social life. [Soja 1989:6] How people are taught to experience the geographical landscape, with its particular topography, boundaries and place names, informs how we understand our place in the world and helps to shape our sense of belonging. In what is now British Columbia (BC), Canada, this sense of place and belonging has been contested, in part because of the colonization of the land and the people.