Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 4-18-2019 1:00 PM The Anishinaabeg of Chief's Point Bimadoshka Pucan The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Darnell, Regna The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Anthropology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Bimadoshka Pucan 2019 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Recommended Citation Pucan, Bimadoshka, "The Anishinaabeg of Chief's Point" (2019). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 6161. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/6161 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1. Abstract Deep below the passing footsteps of the public, sacred Medicine Songs and Stories are held within Vault 54 of Museum London in London, Ontario. The oldest known audio recordings of the Anishinaabeg in Ontario were discovered in the summer of 2011 by Bimadoshka Pucan. Contained on wax cylinders and lacquered aluminium discs, songs and stories are recorded by Robert and Elizabeth Thompson of Chief’s Point Indian Reserve #28. Not all recordings are considered sacred by the Anishinaabeg, instead the collection provides a broad range of topics including humour, the fur trade, plant medicine, and family history. Sometime before 1939, at the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Edwin Seaborn organized the production of 19 audio recordings. The March of Medicine in Western Ontario (1944) signaled to their creation by preserving the Saugeen Anishinaabeg oral tradition of the death of Tecumseh, a story that continues to live on within specific families at Saugeen First Nation #29. Through community- based research methods, evidenced through archival and artefact examinations, the story of the Anishinaabeg at Chief’s Point comes through this work. The voice of the land comes through the voices of the people cited within. A collaborative partnership with Museum London and Saugeen First Nation, the digitization of the audio collection was successfully completed. The songs and stories were repatriated to Saugeen and to other concerned communities through a series of community-driven presentations. The project was celebrated through the collaborative exhibition, The Voices of Chief’s Point (May to September 2018). The exhibit received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation (2019). This represents the first historic compilation of the Anishinaabeg at Chief’s Point as no publications exist on this specific group of people until now. Keywords Digitization, Anishinaabeg, Chief’s Point, Saugeen, Medicine Songs, Wax Cylinders, Storying, Re-Contextualization, Identity, I.R.E.N.E., Community-Based Participatory Action Research. ii 2. Acknowledgments I have consistently felt and continue to feel that this is not my work. I feel that the right people were in the right place at the right time. Technology had to be developed just enough to be able to do this particular work. There were so many people who helped me overcome my own stubborn attitude and inspire me to think differently about a wide variety of issues and topics. In the very early days, I did not want to inquire further about the recordings other than to locate them and just to know they were there was enough. Avoiding the recordings did not help because it seemed that the objects themselves had agency and they were stirring thoughts and actions in many others. People quickly associated me as their controller or as the cylinders’ spokesperson. I attempted to fill my time with other projects, but I was always drawn back to the recordings by the actions of others reaching out to me. The archival evidence seemed to come easy and piled up rather quickly. The story of the wax cylinders continued to grow both forward and backward in time. I felt threatened, so I did my early archival work in secrecy and I did not apply for funding and I did not involve others. I worried about the right to ownership of and access to knowledge. I developed my own way of reading archival documents finding references to many objects that may still be in existence. I began to think about who might be interested in this type of project and what types of outcomes were possible particularly in terms of measurement of a public intervention, in this case, repatriation and community wellness. I did not involve the more vocal Indigenous folks, today’s outspoken warriors, because their interests are always seen as militant and anti-progressive in relation to the goals of Canada. Indigenous communities are seen as sick and impoverished because we all are conditioned to see the world from a physical lens and because past research frames Indigenous folks in this way. Most non-Indigenous folks do not engage with other ways of coming to know because they are described as deficient and outside the evidenced-based prescribed world demonstrated by counting things, for example. Instead, I chose people who carried the perspective of the Anishinaabeg people as rich and fabulous, culturally speaking. I chose those who evidenced to me, that they could see things in a new way, a different way, although I wasn’t really sure what that looked like either. I suppose it was their openness to listen and willingness to share iii constructively. Thus, the project is as much mine as it is the community’s, but it also belongs to the past and to the future and all those who have crossed my path along my journey through life. This is why I do not feel that this work is mine alone. It belongs to the people of Saugeen and their families far and wide. I would like to acknowledge the support of Dr. Regna Darnell, my supervisor, ally and friend, who allowed me to explore a new way of understanding the world. She is fierce and I definitely stressed her to excess, but she never gave up on me. I acknowledge her guidance and her strength in the face of seemingly insurmountable hurdles. She is dedicated to emulating lessons she learned from Cree Elders and community and I needed that gentle and consistent force to push me along. To Dr. Gerald McKinley, for his long-term personalized support and guidance in my academic and social lives. He recognized when I was struggling and always reached out to offer a coffee and a talk. A true ally, Dr. McKinley is resourceful and his work with Anishinaabeg communities provided concrete examples of community-directed initiatives supported by academia and health organizations. Thank you to the Anthropology Department at the University of Western Ontario for giving my research a home and providing me with access to dedicated individuals in community-based Indigenous research. I have enjoyed tremendous and life changing experiences; presenting at the NAISA Conference in Hawaii in 2017 and embarking on a scientific expedition into the North Pacific Ocean to investigate plastic and its effects on the environment and women’s health. I acknowledge the support of past professors and programs, particularly those at the Master of Public Health Program at Western University, as well as undergraduate programs in First Nations Studies and Psychology at Western University. Special recognition to Dr. Susan Hill and Dr. Rick Fehr. It was Dr. Fehr who really started me on this journey by putting Dr. Edwin Seaborn’s book in my hands. For that, Rick, I am forever changed, and my life has found new meaning. A thousand miigwechs! In addition, I thank Dr. Vivian McAllister for inviting me to publicly discuss ideas that challenge mainstream science and medicine. Just like Dr. Edwin Seaborn saw the value of different forms of medicine, Dr. McAllister continues to bring the same drive to his lifelong work. Miigwech, iv Vivian, as he continues to offer guidance and support in the extensions that grow from this work. I thank those that attended Dr. McAllister’s public lecture at the Historical Symposium in 2013 for it was their interest in Anishinaabeg medicine and historical perspectives that informed me Canadians, in general, were ready to do things in a new way. To try to understand the past would help Canadians empower their future. Many thanks to Melanie Townsend, Amber Lloydlangston, Brian Meehan and those at Museum London who facilitated access to the recordings very early on in the project. Particularly to Amber Lloydlangston, who chose to accept this challenging partnership as an equal and willing learner in the digitization project and taught me, from start to finish, to produce an exhibit of impeccable standards. I have learned so much from Amber and I hope I was able to teach her about the culture of the Anishinaabeg. We all have our own perspectives and parameters; this was sometimes incredibly frustrating for both of us, and for the museum, my community, and the partnership. We did not put our differences aside, instead we faced them head on, teaching each other why a particular issue held such importance and tried to attend to those differences. With all the frustration of doing something in a new way, I am thankful that the benefits of our partnership continue to grow. I am a witness to their organization’s growth and development of improved practices in working with Indigenous communities. The museum has always had an open relationship with academia and previous work with Dr. Dolleen Manning has held the door open for projects like this one. Museum London continues to create new and exciting spaces for cultural expression and public education.