COLD WAR COLONIALISM: THE SERPENT RIVER FIRST NATION AND URANIUM MINING, 1953-1988 by Lianne C. Leddy BA, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2005 MA, University of Western Ontario, 2006 DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Doctor of Philosophy in History Wilfrid Laurier University © Lianne C. 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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 The area surrounding the Serpent River watershed in Ontario has long been the traditional territory of the people of the Serpent River First Nation. As a result of the influx of uranium companies and settlers in the 1950s, the powerful narratives of mining and 'progress' silenced competing worldviews. In the context of a colonial relationship in transition in the Cold War period, the decision-making processes surrounding resource development excluded the Serpent River Anishinaabek. As effluent from mining tailings polluted the Serpent River threatened key community resources, so too did a sulphuric acid plant that was established on the reserve. As a result of both internal and external factors, the community began to successfully assert its traditional role as stewards after decades of inaction on the part of the federal and provincial government. This dissertation relies on both oral and archival sources, as well as media coverage to argue that colonialism in the Cold War period was in a time of transition, but its effects were no less pervasive. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout the course of this research journey, I have been helped by many people along the way. As a young child I first heard about this story from my Nookomis, Gertrude Lewis, who also agreed to be interviewed for this study. It is to her that I owe a great debt of gratitude for passing on our community and family history and inspiring me to study it further at the graduate level, and so I have dedicated this work to her and to my grandfather, Lawrence Lewis. Susan Neylan at Wilfrid Laurier University also encouraged me to pursue an academic career and has been a very thorough and patient advisor. She and my committee members, Adam Crerar and Whitney Lackenbauer, offered invaluable critiques and have helped to improve this dissertation immensely. This project was made possible by a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship. Gloria MacKenzie at Library and Archives Canada was most helpful in locating documents, as well as navigating the Access to Information process that can be daunting to a new scholar. Merci to Marthe Brown and Janie Theoret at the Laurentian University Archives for their research assistance. Chief Day and the council of the Serpent River First Nation were encouraging and facilitated the band council resolution that allowed me to access many closed records at LAC and the Archives of Ontario, and also demonstrated community support for my project. Thanks also to Ray Ethelston of The Standard. John, Tarn, and Imogen Maker, Chantal Bourret and Robert Hughes, as well as Dave and Erin Ethelston offered their ii hospitality and friendship during various research trips. Miigwetch to Jean Becker and Melissa Ireland for their encouragement and dedication to the Laurier community. Chi miigwetch to the elders of the Serpent River First Nation who shared their knowledge with me: Valerie Commanda, Arnelda Jacobs, Betty Jacobs, Terry Jacobs, and Peter Johnston. Janice Gamble and my auntie, Diane S. Meawasige, were helpful in pointing me toward resources available at the Serpent River First Nation Library. My parents, Peter and Andrea Leddy, have provided unconditional love, support and encouragement throughout my twenty-five years of education. Miigwetch for the use of the Nitro! Thanks to my sister Patricia, her partner Stan, and my nephew Braeden for the visits, laughs, and much-needed Facebook distractions. Last but not least, miigwetch to my partner, Mark Osborne Humphries. Your maps, words of encouragement (even when it was dangerous to mention the diss-word) and willingness to traipse around tailings ponds with me are much appreciated. I promised it would be an adventure! All my relations. 111 PREFACE Elliot Lake Mining Camp - Evidence of radioactive ore prompted Aime Breton and Karl Gunterman to stake claims south of here near Lauzon Lake in Long Township in 1948. Geologist Franc R.Joubin became interested and persuaded mining financier Joseph H Hirshhorn to fund drilling operations. In 1953 they located the ore body that became the Pronto Uranium Mine. The discovery of further uranium deposits near Quirke and Elliot lakes led to a mining boom. The town of Elliot Lake flourished until the US stopped buying Canadian uranium in 1959. By the late 1960s, non-military uses for uranium were being developed, and mining activity revived. By 1970, the Elliot Lake camp had produced uranium oxide worth 1.3 billion.1 - Ontario Heritage plaque at Elliot Lake I'm concerned about the fact that the mines have closed. The owners are moving away and leaving the mess that we have to live with. My Grandpa is a trapper. He tells me stories about the way the land was a long time ago. He 1 Ontario Heritage plaque at Elliot Lake, picture taken by author, Summer 2009. See Photos 6 and 7. iv trapped in the Elliot Lake area. He tells us about how things have changed in the land and the animals and doesn't trust those things anymore. That makes me worried about the water, animals, and the land. This is very important to me and my community. Please make sure they clean it up right. Meegwetch.2 - Angela Lewis, 1993 The history of Elliot Lake and Serpent River First Nation (SRFN) is inextricably linked through the history of uranium. The above quotations point to very different understandings of that history. While the plaque commemorates man's victory over nature in the name of economic development, the speech of a young girl to a room full of people emphasizes the true cost of uranium operations. One narrative privileges the story a municipality's determination to overcome a boom-bust cycle, and the other demonstrates the social, cultural, and environmental consequences the development of settler society3 has had on the First Nations in the area.4 2 Laurentian University Archives [LUL], USWA Local 5417, PO 24, Box 61, M43,1 File 22 "Transcription of Scoping Session, Federal Environmental Assessment Review Panel on the Decommissioning of Uranium Mine Tailings Management Areas in Elliot Lake, Ontario," Serpent River First Nation,1993. This quotation is from Angela Lewis' presentation to the Decommissioning review panel. 31 purposely use the term "settler" rather than alternatives such as "newcomer" or "non-Indigenous" in this context. It is meant to underline the fact that the invasion Elliot Lake as a settler town did not exist until the Cold War. Uranium, a substance in high-demand for the American nuclear weapons program, was found in the area, a staking frenzy ensued in 1953, and by the end of the decade, a modern town had been established at the site of an Anishinaabe village. Twelve mines operated in the area in its heyday, but it went the way of many single-industry towns as the boom period ended when Americans did not renew their contract. By the mid-1970s, a new purpose was found for Elliot Lake uranium and Ontario Hydro was interested in it for energy production.5 of First Nations territory is decidedly not a phenomenon that is relegated to the past, but rather one that persistently challenges communication and co-operation between nations. See, for example, Paulette Regan, Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada, (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2010), 4. Elizabeth Furniss also interrogates settler myths in The Burden of History: Colonialism and the Frontier Myth in a Rural Canadian Community [Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1999). An international comparative approach is taken in Daiva Stasiulis and Nira Yuval- Davis, eds., Unsettling Settler Societies: Articulations of Gender, Race, Ethnicity and Class (London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1995).