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Springtime in N'daki Menan, the Homeland of the Teme-Augama Springtime in n’Daki Menan, the Homeland of the Teme-Augama Anishnabai: Babies, Cradleboards and Community Wrapping by Alexandra Kahsenniio Nahwegahbow A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art History Carleton University Ottawa (Odawa, Unceded Algonquin Territory), Ontario © 2013 Alexandra Kahsenniio Nahwegahbow ii Abstract This is a study of how the tikinaagan (cradleboard) as an object related to pre-colonial Indigenous childcare can be metaphorically investigated as a model for traditional social frameworks that illustrate the central place and role of babies and young people within Anishinaabe families and communities. Through this, I approach the ornamentation and arrangement of a small cradleboard collected by Frank Speck in the early-twentieth century during his visit to the territory of n'Daki Menan in northeastern Ontario. By exploring the historical context in which this cradleboard was created, used, and collected I address the gaps in the early literature where the Indigenous voice and value placed on these objects were disregarded or overlooked. I argue that cradleboards, through their stylistic design and contextual power, have the ability to communicate traditional knowledge and values of parenting, family and community across generations to present day. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to offer my warmest gratitude to June Twain, Mary Katt, and Virginia McKenzie for taking the time to sit with me and share their stories. I am so grateful for what I learned from each of them and for the ways in which they helped this thesis shapeshift and re-form into what it now is. I also owe an enormous amount of thanks to Temagami First Nation and the Teme-Augama Anishnabai and their Chiefs and Councils for welcoming me onto their territory of n’Daki Menan – land that I have grown incredibly fond of throughout this journey, and a place that I feel I will always have an attachment to and continually visit. Many thanks to Holly Charyna and Alice Becker for taking the time to read my initial project proposal and for being so helpful in preparing me for my first visit to the Island. Thank you to Dean Potts for the boat rides to Bear Island, Linda’s Wigwams and June Twain for the comforts of home, Mary Laronde for the sound advice, Lucille McKenzie for showing me some of her family’s keepsakes, Verna Friday for sharing some of your family’s photographs and memories with me, Cathy Metcalfe for the afternoon visits, and gchi miigwech to many other community members that I have met and learned a great deal from. My advisor, Ruth B. Phillips, has provided me with unshakeable support throughout the three years that it has taken me to complete my Masters. I am incredibly grateful to her for her patience and thoughtful advice, and for introducing me to historical Indigenous art of the Great Lakes – thank you for lighting that fire. Allan J. Ryan has also continually been in my corner since the very beginning of this journey and has provided me with a mentorship and friendship that I cherish dearly. Gchi miigwech to Armand G. Ruffo for taking the time to read and consider my work; I admire your writing and insight, and your perspective is very important to me. I am also very appreciative of those who have helped this lost researcher find her way through various archives and collections. I’d like to thank the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the place where I was first introduced to the collection from n’Daki Menan, and I am particularly grateful for the guidance of Judy Hall and Jamieson Brant, and the help of Jonathon Wise, Vincent Lafond, and Nathalie Guenette. Trudy Nicks provided me with the valuable experience of working in the museum space, and acquainted me with some very special tikinaaganan in the Royal Ontario Museum collection. I am also grateful to the staff at the library of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia who also offered very helpful assistance throughout the research process. I would like to express my great appreciation to the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (Indspire) for their support of my research. And also to Joe Horse Capture and Shiri Pasternak whose words have helped me navigate between the worlds of academics and Indigenous/personal knowledge. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their ongoing love and support. There aren’t words to explain everything you have been for me throughout this journey. From my heart – Gchi Miigwech / Nia:wen kowa. iv Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iii List of Illustrations ...................................................................................................................... v List of Appendices .................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One .............................................................................................................................. 23 Chapter Two .............................................................................................................................. 38 Chapter Three ........................................................................................................................... 57 Chapter Four ............................................................................................................................. 99 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 130 Illustrations ............................................................................................................................. 133 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 142 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 146 v List of Illustrations Fig. 1 “cradle-board”, (CMC III-G-196), c. 1913, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau QC, Speck Collection Teme-Augama Anishnabai artist, Bear Island ON source: Canadian Museum of Civilization……………...………………133 Fig. 2 Map “Temagami First Nation Traditional Territory, n’Dakimenan” source: Brian Back / Ottertooth.com …………………………………..134 Fig. 3 “cradleboard”, (NMAI 24/2019), c. 1790, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Likely Anishinaabe artist, Great Lakes source: National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution………………..........................................................……...…134 Fig. 4 “cradle”, (ET Am2003,1942), pre-1825, British Museum, London UK Anishinaabe artist, Great Lakes region of Minnesota source: British Museum………………..…………………………….…135 Fig. 5 “cradle-board”, (CMC III-G-1166), c. 1940, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau QC, Foster Collection Anishinaabe (Ojibway) artist, Pic Mobert ON source: Canadian Museum of Civilization .....…….........................……135 Fig. 6 a, b “woven bag”, recto and verso, (NMI 1902.329), c. 1800-1809, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin IRL, Jasper Grant Collection Anishinaabe artist, Central Great Lakes source: Phillips, catalogue no. 20, pg. 68……………………...……….136 Fig. 7 “cradleboard ornament” or “cuff”, (ET Am 1949,22.132), c. 1750-1850, British Museum London UK, Oldman Collection no. 1036 Anishinaabe artist, Central Great Lakes source: British Museum………………..…………………………….…137 Fig. 8 “pouch”, (CMC III-X-374), mid-18th century, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau QC Anishinaabe artist, Eastern Great Lakes source: Canadian Museum of Civilization……………………….…….137 vi Fig. 9 “doll”, (III-L-276), c. 1779, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau QC, Speyer Collection Anishinaabe (Algonquin) artist, Northeastern Woodlands source: Canadian Museum of Civilization………………………..…….138 Fig. 10 “cradleboard decoration” (HBC 47-6), c. 1822, Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg MB, Hudson’s Bay Company Collection – Lower Fort Garry Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) artist, Red River source: Manitoba Museum……………………………..……………….139 Fig. 11 “Cee-Cee Whitebear Becker with son Walter in tikinaagan”, (no. 23966), 1913, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau QC Photograph taken by Frank G. Speck, Bear Island ON source: Canadian Museum of Civilization…………………...…………140 Fig. 12 “Roles and Responsibilities: The Role of Children”, Parenting Bundle Program, Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, Ottawa ON source: Wabano Parenting Society, pg 14………………..…….………141 vii List of Appendices Appendix 1 A little bit about June, Mary and Virginia.…….....………………...…142 Appendix 2 The right kind of moss.……………………………………….………...144 Appendix 3 Glossary of Anishinaabemowin terms……………………………….…145 1 Introduction Beginnings… I first visited Temagami First Nation on Bear Island (Makominising) through the Eastern Door, in Springtime at the very end of March. The lake was beginning to swell, and I could hear the ice groaning, the Underwater Beings were already at work preparing for open water.
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