Oskisihcikêwak / New Traditions in Cree Two-Spirit, Gay and Queer Narratives
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OSKISIHCIKÊWAK / NEW TRADITIONS IN CREE TWO-SPIRIT, GAY AND QUEER NARRATIVES by JUNE SCUDELER B.A (Honours), Simon Fraser University, 2001 M.A. Simon Fraser University, 2002 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (English) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2016 © June Scudeler, 2016 ABSTRACT “oskisihcikêwak/New Traditions in Cree Two-Spirit, Gay and Queer Narratives” works in a field where very little historical or foundational material exists. I provide this groundwork for playwright and novelist Tomson Highway and his younger brother, dancer and choreographer René Highway (Woods Cree), and for the performance artist, filmmaker and painter, Kent Monkman (Swampy Cree). Using Cree methodologies, such as wâhkôhtowin or kinship and miyo-wîcêhtowin or getting along with others, the project illustrates how the Highways and Monkman use their art not only to combat racism and homophobia, but more importantly to show the survivance and vibrancy of Indigenous ways of knowing. By using Cree epistemologies, I show how queer theory and queer-of- colour theory can neglect to address colonisation. In four chapters, I show how the Highway brothers “stood together” to form community for their early and undocumented performances, such as New Song . New Dance, and through their involvement with Toronto’s Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada’s first professional Indigenous theatre company. I then compare a script written for a made-for-television movie with what it turned into the novel Kiss of the Fur Queen. I then examine Kent Monkman and his establishment of what David Garneau calls “Aboriginal sovereign display territory” in his paintings and performances, and devote a chapter to the work of his alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. My overview of the range of media in which these artists worked (film, dance, theatre, painting, performance art) sees this work as a holistic Cree response to colonisation, including sexual colonisation. ii PREFACE This is an original work of research by the author, June Scudeler iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii PREFACE .......................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv LISTS OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION: Situating Cree Two-Spirit, Gay and Queer Narratives ....................... 1 oskisihcikêwak / New Traditions ................................................................................................. 1 Cree Methodologies ..................................................................................................................... 4 Two-Spirit Arts as Decolonisation ............................................................................................. 11 Two-Spirit Theories ................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter Overviews ..................................................................................................................... 21 âcimisowin / Personal Story ....................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER ONE: nîsokâpawiwak: René and Tomson Highway’s Woods Cree Artistic Practices ............................................................................................................................ 26 The Sage, the Dancer and the Fool ............................................................................................ 43 The Rez Sisters ........................................................................................................................... 50 New Song . .New Dance ........................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER TWO: “This show won’t mean anything without the people:” wâhkôhtowin in the Kiss of the Fur Queen Movie Treatment ................................................................ 76 CHAPTER THREE: “That’s Who the Stories Are About:” Kent Monkman’s Artistic Inclusivity ....................................................................................................................... 109 A Coyote Columbus Story ........................................................................................................ 123 The Prayer Language ............................................................................................................... 127 A Nation is Coming .................................................................................................................. 129 Future Nation ........................................................................................................................... 134 George Catlin ........................................................................................................................... 140 Welcome to the Studio: An Allegory for Artistic Reflection and Transformation .................... 147 Urban Res ................................................................................................................................. 150 CHAPTER FOUR: “Indians on Top:” Kent Monkman’s Sovereign Erotics ................. 155 Heaven and Earth .................................................................................................................... 164 Lot’s Wife ................................................................................................................................. 165 Miss Chief: Justice of the Piece and Mary ............................................................................... 168 Séance ...................................................................................................................................... 175 Shooting Geronimo .................................................................................................................. 178 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 184 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 188 iv LISTS OF FIGURES Figure 1: René Highway. Choreography Notes. 1976-1990. n.d. MS René Highway Collection. U of Guelph. ........................................................................................... 59 Figure 2: René Highway. Choreography Notes. 1976-1990. n.d. MS René Highway Collection. U of Guelph ............................................................................................ 60 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Marsii to the Musqueam people, on whose ancestral, traditional and unceded territory UBC is located. Marsii to my supervisor Margery Fee for her keen insight, steady hand and good humour. I spent many informative and laughter-filled hours in her office, to Daniel Heath Justice for his probing questions, generosity, and encouragement, and to Deena Rymhs for her editing skills and advice. Maarsii to Coll Thrush and Chris Lee for being on my PhD final examination committee, and to my external examiner Sam McKegney for his careful and thoughtful feedback on my dissertation. I am grateful for funding from the First Nations House of Learning’s Aboriginal Graduate Scholarship, Indspire, Faculty of Arts Entrance Scholarship, Gabriele Helms Memorial Scholarship, Barbara Anne Wiebe Memorial Scholarship, William Royce Butler and Jean Campbell Butler Scholarship, Graduate Entrance Scholarship, Pacific Century Scholarship, Irving K. Barber Aboriginal Scholarship and the Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle Centre for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. I am fortunate to have so many supportive people in my life who are integral to my academic life and beyond: Marsii to the Indigenous literary studies community including: Sophic McCall, Nancy Van Styvendale, Neal McLeod; Warren Cariou, the very much missed Jo-Ann Episkenew, and Lisa Tatonetti, among many others, and to Deanna Reder for her sage advice, friendship, and encouragement. Marsii to the UBC community: the Department of English; First Nations and Indigenous Studies; Supporting Aboriginal Graduate Excellence, particularly Jo-ann Archibald and Michelle Pidgeon; the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, particularly Janice Stewart; Dave Gaertner; my dissertation buddy Lucia Lorenzi; Cameron Paul; Monica Brown; Jasmine Spencer; Mike Borkent; Mike Fabris; Brendan McCormack; Dallas Hunt; Maddie Reddon; Matt Wildcat; Mique’l Dangeli, and my Aboriginal lit buddy Jamie Paris. Marsii to Vin Nardizzi and Dory Nason for being on my comprehensive exam committee. vi Marsii to the Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts crew (past and present): Lianne Payne, Ashly Van Steele, Eugene Boulanger, Bracken Hanuse Corlett, Ronnie Harris, Marie Prince, Steven Eastman, and John Pantherbone, and to the Vancouver Métis Community Association: J Paul Stevenson, Ron and Jay Kearse. Marsii to Louise Soga for the chocolate and for shepherding me through the programme. Marsii to