"TRICKY STORIES ARE THE CURE:" CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS WRITING IN CANADA A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada © Molly Blyth 2009 Canadian Studies PhD Program May 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-53089-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-53089-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives 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 I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, 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 this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada ABSTRACT "Tricky Stories are the Cure": Contemporary Indigenous Writing in Canada Molly Blyth This dissertation begins by addressing the question of which methodology is the most appropriate for reading a selection of contemporary Indigenous poetry and fiction in Canada. In my review of the most influential literary critical approaches today, I find that the postmodern and bi-cultural trickster hermeneutics of the Native American theorist, Gerald Vizenor, adequately recognizes the cultural differences of Indigenous literatures while also respecting their hybrid textuality. As a result, I engage with Vizenor's methodology in my reading of Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach and Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road; of poetry by Maria Campbell, Louise Halfe, Armand Ruffo, Wayne Keon, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Gregory Scofield, Annharte, Beth Cuthand and Marilyn Dumont; and of the short fiction of Beth Brant and Thomas King. I argue in my analysis of these texts that Vizenor's 'tribal postmodernism' best foregrounds and celebrates their multi-vocal, fragmented and contradictory character while also honouring contemporary mixedblood Indigenous subjectivities. Consequently, I find that these texts act as powerful tools of decolonization and recognize the importance of Vizenor's position that "tricky stories are the cure." ii Key words: Trickster hermeneutics, Postmodernism, Poststructuralism, First Nations and Metis identities, Native literature in Canada, Decolonization, Kateri Akiwenzie- Damm, Marie Annharte Baker, Joseph Boyden, Beth Brant, Beth Cuthand, Marilyn Dumont, Louise Halfe, Wayne Keon, Thomas King, Eden Robinson, Armand Ruffo, Gregory Scofield, Gerald Vizenor. iii PREFACE The format of this dissertation is an attempt to replicate, in a small way, the multi-vocal quality of small group teaching in Indigenous Studies at Trent University which I describe in Chapters 1 and 6. Instead of paraphrasing ideas from the writers and critics on whom I focus, I have included, as far as possible within the limits of the dissertation format, their voices as quotations within the text. Not wanting biographical information to intrude and diminish this attempt at providing some sense of textual orality, I have included it in an appendix at the end of the dissertation. Information provided there, for the most part, comes from statements made by the writers and critics themselves. I am aware, however, that while my dissertation celebrates trickster writing that interrogates and destabilizes the one, 'true,' authorial voice, mine has ended up being the loudest one of all. This trickster contradiction is one that I must live with while fully acknowledging that the last laugh is on me. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have happened without financial assistance from Trent University and Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS). I am most appreciative of the help I received from the staff at Library and Archives Canada and Bata Library at Trent University, especially Sharon Bosnell of Interlibrary Loans. I'm also grateful for the support from faculty and staff in Canadian Studies and the Frost Centre at Trent, especially Davina Bhandar, Jeannine Crowe, Julia Harrison, Winnie Janzen, John Milloy, Joan Sangster and Jim Struthers. A very sincere 'thank you' goes to Bryan Palmer for the special gift of a quiet office where so much of my writing has taken place. I am especially grateful to members of my dissertation committee, Gordon Johnston, John Wadland and Allan Ryan, who have spent so much time reading and offering valuable comments on various drafts. My deep appreciation goes to Allan Ryan, my supervisor, not only for his patience and support but also his continued belief in and critical engagement with my work. I would like to thank Erin Stewart-Eves, Bridget Glassco and Clare Glassco who offered superb assistance behind the scenes. A very special note of appreciation goes to Jane O'Brian, Clare Glassco, Jeremy Milloy, Bridget Glassco and M-J Milloy to whom this dissertation is dedicated. A version of Chapter 1 appeared as "So, What's a White Girl Like Me Doing in a Place Like This? Rethinking Cross-Cultural Teaching in a First Nations Context." In Resources for Feminist Research 33, nos. 3/4 (2008): 63-78. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Preface iv Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vi Chapter 1 Introduction: "So, What's a White Girl Like Me Doing in a Place Like This?" ....1 Introduction 1 Pedagogical practices ... or what my students have taught me 4 Native Studies 430: Trent University, Peterborough 11 Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, Saskatoon 13 Mushkegowuk First Nation Band Office, Moose Factory 14 Conclusion 19 Chapter 2 "Tricky Stories are the Cure." 21 Historical Contexts 25 The Crisis of Subjectivity 30 Texts in Context 37 Decolonizing Methodologies 43 Literature Review 54 Trickster Hermeneutics 60 Conclusion 66 Chapter 3 Trickster Dancing: Re-reading the First Nations Novel 69 Introduction 69 Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach 79 Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road 104 Conclusion 134 Chapter 4 "Writing Voices Speaking": Trickster at Serious Play in Indigenous Poetry... 136 Introduction 136 A Poetics of Decolonization 153 Indigenous Erotica 171 Songs From the Urban Rez 181 Conclusion 189 Chapter 5 Coyote Pedagogy: Re-reading Indigenous Short Fiction 194 Introduction 194 Beth Brant's "Coyote Learns a New Trick" and "This Is History" 195 Thomas King's A Short History of Indians in Canada 205 Conclusion 218 Chapter 6 Conclusion: "Tricky Stories are the Cure." 220 vi Notes 226 Bibliography 248 Appendix: Brief Biographies of Writer and Critics 281 vii CHAPTER 1 Introduction: "So, What's a White Girl Like Me Doing in a Place Like This?" Native writing, publishing, performing, reviewing, teaching, and reading necessarily take place ... in contexts shaped and controlled by the discursive and institutional power of the dominant white culture in Canada. Editorial boards, granting agencies, publishing companies . enact policies of inclusion and exclusion, and produce meanings based on norms extrinsic to, even inimical to Native values and interests. ... So, what's a white girl like me doing in a place like this?1 Helen Hoy Introduction My students at Trent University are the inspiration for this dissertation. While formulating my own ideas, I have continued to hear their voices speaking from positions around seminar tables, in circles on the floor, and in a band council office in Northern Ontario. They have also, without knowing it, become my teachers. In this introductory chapter, I discuss the lessons that they taught me that have radically changed both my pedagogical practices and my readings of the Indigenous novels, poetry and short fiction on which I focus in this study. I begin by addressing Helen Hoy's question above - "So, what's a white girl like me doing in a place like this?" - which acts as a framing device for her book, How Should I Read These: Native Women Writers in Canada. By appropriating this question as the title of my chapter, I align myself with Hoy. Like her, I am a white academic working in the field of Indigenous Studies and, as such, complicit in the 1 unequal relationship of power between Aboriginal peoples and mainstream cultural institutions in Canada. There are,