Arrows of Time: Narrating the Past and Present," Wish to Thank Everyone Who Submitted Proposals in Response to the Call for Papers
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Introduction The organizers of this, the 39th edition of the American Indian Workshop, titled "Arrows of Time: Narrating the Past and Present," wish to thank everyone who submitted proposals in response to the call for papers. This conference has been nearly two years in the planning, and the level of interest shown by regular attendees of the AIW, as well as new participants, was encouraging. We particularly wished to highlight the historical connections –political, cultural, and academic – between the Low Countries, modern day Belgium and the Netherlands, and the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Interest in Early Modern Indigenous interactions with the Dutch in New Amsterdam is growing, but some lesser-known intersections have recently begun to draw wider attention. For example, in 2016, Ghent played host to a popular exhibition on Father Pieter-Jan de Smet and his mission to the Americas. At the same time, the city’s football team came under fire for its use of an ‘Indian’ logo and mascots, giving rise to debate regarding its origins and appropriateness. Other connections, however, such as Margaret of Austria’s collection of artefacts from the New World kept at her court in Mechelen, or Frans Olbrecht’s fieldwork among the Eastern Cherokee, have garnered comparatively little scholarly attention. Secondly, we invited contributions that problematize the uses and notions of ‘history,’ especially with reference to present day conflicts. This a very timely subject as the contested past is increasingly coming to the fore in the contested present. For example, the Idle No More and NoDAPL movements of the last five years rely heavily on the relatively recent past in their discourses about the present, and projected/envisioned/anticipated futures. Meanwhile, research published in Nature in 2017 that may push the peopling of the Americas back by 100,000 years has ignited a firestorm of controversy among the scientific community, and it may well become more widespread. The Clovis First and Bering Strait Land Bridge theories already play a prominent role in public discourses regarding ‘Indigeneity’ in North America, and the possible impact of these new findings on ongoing debates remains to be seen. Additionally, there is growing interest in how non-Western and syncretic communities conceptualize such notions as ‘the past.’ Thirdly, we wanted to explore the pedagogical and institutional side of history. The decolonization of academia is starting to gain traction, with increased discussion among educational policy makers on how to diversify curricula. How can this be achieved with reference to secondary and university history classes without trivializing the subject material and how can these topics be presented to a wider audience? Additionally, how can we accomplish the decolonization of the past within academia itself – especially in light of the recent controversies surrounding appointments at Dartmouth and elsewhere? Paper, panel, poster, and film proposals were submitted to the conference on a number of topics, including Low Countries connections, reception and representation of the past, contested histories, reconceptualization of key concepts, and the decolonization of classrooms and museums. We understand and appreciate the great lengths to which many of you have gone in order to be here, particularly considering the increasing budgetary constraints affecting many humanities departments around the globe. In the current climate, gatherings that encourage the free and open exchange of ideas are more important than ever. Thank you all for joining us. Lastly, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our friends, families, colleagues, and our student volunteers. Without your support, this would not have been possible. Sincerely, Prof. dr Michael Limberger Fien Lauwaerts Thomas Donald Jacobs April 5, 2018 12:00-1:00, registration Location: University Forum (UFO), Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35 1:00-4:00, conference opening Prof. dr René Vermeir, Ghent University Welcome and opening remarks Elizabeth James-Perry "Mobile islands, a fluid sense of home: Wampanoag views of our lives, history and belonging(s)" For countless generations, tribal people in modern-day Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island have been profoundly influenced equally by their homelands and home-waters. While our ability to practice some traditions such as near shore whaling and beach harvest, extensive wampum use, and annual storytelling ceremonies may have been hampered due to colonization, wars, and missionizing, Wampanoag people became adept at shoring up culture, preserving their values, beliefs and priorities through family lore, writings and visual clues in art and the landscape, even while participating in the new coastal economy and industrial scale whaling. In this discussion I will look at some historic and extant tribal villages oriented towards the sea for convenient travel, lucrative trade, and to procure huge quantities of seasonal food including through annual whale hunts, and consider the way tribal ocean clan identities and responsibilities are still important today. Camiel Van Breedam "Native American history and a contemporary Belgian artist: an interview" Hendrik Pinxten, Professor Emeritus of Cultural Anthropology at Ghent University will interview Camiel Van Breedam about his work and its themes, materials, and purpose. Questions posed include: "does your work express a political statement?" And "indignation is a moral position, but not necessarily a political one, nor an artistic one: what is your view?" Dr Lomayumtewa Ishii “The state of Native America: cultural survival and levels of historical authoritativeness” The State of Native America encompasses many social and cultural institutions that have a direct bearing on indigenous survival. Issues such as health, education, traditional knowledge, history, and sacred sites have been influenced by non-indigenous perspectives over time and space. The historical evolution and metamorphosis of contemporary issues is often defined by different levels of authority through history that define and articulate certainty about these issues. How can research negotiate both the western and indigenous while recognizing and highlighting these diverse perspectives? In this presentation, Dr. Ishii will provide insight into the roles that colonialism and “western tradition” research have played for indigenous communities, and how this authority has affected the current state of Native American research and issues. But more importantly, this presentation will address critical approaches that report, critique, identify, and combat the rhetorical techniques used to deny the value, authority, and legitimacy of indigenous knowledge production that has historically privileged non- indigenous knowledge, and how indigenous communities have used indigenously-based sensibilities for their cultural survival. 7:00-9:00, reception at UGent Ethnographic Collections Location: Het Pand, Onderbergen 1 Dr Pauline van der Zee, Ghent University The Ethnographic Collections of Ghent University (EVUG) comprise the oldest ethnological collection in Flanders. They are almost as old as the university itself; the first objects came from Java and were acquired in 1825. The permanent display comprises about 350 objects from Africa, Oceania, Indonesia and the Americas, and the EVUG is valued in both Belgium and abroad for its uniqueness. 2 Location: Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfskunde, Tweekerkenstraat 2 9:00-11:00, sessions 1, 2, and 3 Session 1: "Low Countries connections: Christian missions" Location: Auditorium 0.2 Hein Picard Moderator: Michael Limberger Karim Michel Tiro, Xavier University “'La bouche Belgique' at Detroit: Fr. Pierre Potier and the Huron, 1743-1781” E. Richard Hart, former Executive Director of the Institute of the North American West "Father de Smet and the Arrow Lakes" Session 2: "Conceptualizing time and history in literature" Location: Auditorium 0.3 André Vlerick Moderator: Misha Verdonck Michal Kapis, Adam Mickiewicz University "Circular perception of time in Tomson Highway's Kiss of the Fur Queen and Lee Maracle's Ravensong" James Mackay, European University Cyprus "Mapping time: re/conceptualisations of the past in Jordan Abel’s Un/Inhabited" Session 3: "Past and present perceptions of education" Location: Classroom 0.2 Camiel De Pelsemaeker Moderator: Amanda Wixon Lena Rüßing, University of Cologne “Coming to terms with the history of Indian residential schools in Canada: the example of the Exploratory Dialogues” Birgit Hans, University of North Dakota, and Jeanne Eder-Rhodes "An uneasy alliance: parents, students and administrators at the Bismarck Indian School" Juliette Billiet, Ghent University "Political apologies: the Indian residential school system and the apologies of Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau" 11:00-11:30, coffee break 11:30-1:00, sessions 4, 5, and 6 Session 4: "Re-conceptualizing concepts: the historian, sources and time" Location: Auditorium 0.2 Hein Picard Moderator: SteVen Vanden Broecke Bryan C. Rindfleisch, Marquette University “What does it mean to “decolonize one’s self” in Native American history?” Mark van de Logt, Texas A&M University at Qatar "The death and resurrection of Pahukatawa: genocide and religious change among nineteenth-century Pawnees" 3 Anna Shah Hoque, Carleton University “Indigenous storytelling: contesting, interrupting, and intervening in the nation-building project through Historica Canada’s Heritage Minutes” Araceli Rojas Martínez Gracida,