The Only Good 'Indian' Is a Screened 'Indian'! First Nations Culture and Its Representation in Contemporary Canadian TV Series
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Katrin Maslona The Only Good 'Indian' Is A Screened 'Indian'! First Nations Culture And Its Representation In Contemporary Canadian TV Series 1 gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem holz- und säurefreiem Papier THE ONLY GOOD 'INDIAN' IS A SCREENED 'INDIAN'! FIRST NATIONS CULTURE AND ITS REPRESENTATION IN CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN TV SERIES Dissertation vorgelegt von Katrin Maslona 2011 Im Fachbereich 3 der Universität Siegen For my mom who made me feel For my dad who made me think For my friends who made me watch For Christian who made me write* * positions may interchange according to the respective point in time and the author's particular state of mind FOR INDIANS LIVE IN INDIA! – THE CRUX OF THE RIGHT TERMS These are just generic terms used to describe us 'Indians.' Grab some aspirin and let me give you some examples. First of all, lets start with the basics. Status, non-Status, Métis.... I guess next would come the already mentioned Indian, followed by Native, Aboriginal, Amerindian, Indigenous and First Nations.... There are the wannabe's (the White variety), the apples (the red variety), the half-breeds, mixed bloods and of course, the ever popular full-bloods.... Get, the picture? Right, there are two dozen separate names for our people. Where does it all stop? ... Even I get confused sometimes. That's why I usually use the term "Indian." I'm just too busy and too lazy to find out which way the political wind is blowing or to delve deeply into the cultural/governmental background of who I'm talking to or writing about. (Funny, 65-66) As the 'Indian' author and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor describes, naming the former 'Indian' correctly without causing offense seems to be comparable to walking through a minefield. Yet, apart from the fact that in my opinion the use of the term Indian without hyphens should be left to the persons concerned, I decided to vary between a considerable amount of phrases like First Nations, First Inhabitants, Original Inhabitants, Aboriginals, Indigenous or Natives, whereby I constantly provided these terms with Capitals giving them the same stage as any nationality like the Canadians in general, the Scots or the Swiss. Phrases with borderline connotations of prejudiced, politically incorrect or racist attitudes like 'dominant or 'master race' for instance are put in hyphens to stress their explosive nature or falsity. I did not want to relinquish them, though, because these terms often illuminate a particular subliminal public opinion and an overall atmosphere quite well. Furthermore, this work does not dispense without occasional generalizations like 'the Canadian public/society' or 'the First Nations.' Canada's Aboriginals consist of a high number of different nations, every one having its own unique culture; yet, when I use a generalizing term describing all of them, I do so, because the statements and analyses I make concern Canada's First Inhabitants as a whole apart from their specific background. Additionally, the 'Canadian public/society' and 'Canada's Aboriginals' are frequently juxtaposed to one another, conveying that I do not count Natives to be a part of the latter. This should not be seen as an offence but as a major facet of the painful reality, which will now be discussed in this thesis. If somebody still feels offended, I do apologize. This was not my intention. CONTENTS PART ONE: PRESSING THE RED BUTTON – INTRODUCTION .......................1 1.1 THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE .......................................................1 1.2 LATEST STATE OF RESEARCH ......................................................5 PART TWO: OVER-SEXUALIZING THE 'INDIAN' – EROTICISM AND GENDER ...9 2.1 PENETRATING INTO THE 'INDIAN REALM OF LUST' – INTRODUCTION ....9 2.2 OF BIRDS, BEES AND NANABUSH – GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN NATIVE SOCIETIES ..........................................................................11 THE ADVANTAGES OF POLYGAMIES – GENDER ROLES ..................................11 THE DISADVANTAGES OF DECENCY – NATIVE EROTICA .................................11 2.3 OF DISGUST, REPRODUCTION AND FORBIDDEN HUNGERS – GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN FORMER OCCIDENTAL SOCIETIES ...........................15 JUST BLAME EVE FOR SHE HAS ALWAYS SPOKEN WITH A FORKED TONGUE – THE FALL'S OUTGROWTH ...................................................................19 2.4 WHEN IDEOLOGIES BECOME BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS – THE DISASTROUS OUTCOME ...........................................................................20 "I FELT THAT I MIGHT DIE JUST TALKING ABOUT IT" – RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS AND SEXUAL ABUSE ..........................................................................20 TODAY'S SADDEST NATION ...................................................................22 2.5 COLONIZING THE 'INDIAN' REALM OF LUST' – SEXUAL STEREOTYPING .24 PLEASE, MERCY-SLAY ME – THE 'HORNY INDIAN' .......................................24 THE ART OF PICKING BERRIES – 'PLAYFUL POCAHONTASES' AND 'VOLUPTUOUS SQUAWS' .................................................................................26 DIET COKE VERSION OF AN INDIAN – THE 'NOBLE SAVAGE' ..........................29 2.6 OPENING THE GROANING GATES OF SEXUAL LIBERTY ......................34 PART THREE: UN-MAPPING THE 'INDIAN' – LAND .................................36 3.1 EMERGENCY AID AFTER THE GREAT FLOOD – FIRST NATIONS CREATIONAL LEGENDS VS. CHRISTIAN GENESIS ............................................36 OF CANOES AND ARKS AND FUZZY MUSKRATS AND GRACIOUS DOVES... ..........38 3.2 AND THE GODS SAID: "BE HUNTING AND MULTIPLY!" ......................41 3.3 OF HOW TO JUSTIFY THE CONQUERING OF THE 'ERSATZ-GARDEN OF EDEN' ................................................................................45 3.4 RETURN OF THE PALE AND UNHEALTHY CLOT OF CLAY .....................50 'THANKSGIVING' THROUGH THE AGES .....................................................50 CHAINING THE CANOE FOR GOOD – IMPERIALISTIC HARDWARE AND STATELESSNESS ........................................................................52 MOVING THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLAND TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC AT NIGHT – RESERVES IN CANADA .................................................................54 3.5 THE MUSKRAT'S LEGACY ...........................................................58 MUSKRAT'S BITING BACK – OF FISHING RIGHTS, LAND CLAIMS AND THE OKA CRISIS .....................................................................................58 THE BURDEN OF THE LATECOMER – OR WHEN DOVES CRASH ........................60 UNLEASH THE CANOE AND DUMP THE ARK – CULTURAL APPROPRIATION .........60 ABORIGINAL DECEPTION PACKAGES – GREY OWL AND THE GREENING INDIAN ....62 ONLY WHEN THE LAST TREE HAS DIED ... ................................................65 PART FOUR: DIS-TEACHING THE WORLD – EDUCATION AND HISTORY ........67 4.1 OF GROWING WINGS AND CLIPPING WINGS – EDUCATION ..................67 'LOOK, HE IS RETRACTING HIS ELBOWS...' – NATIVE CHILD REARING ..............67 JUST EXTEND YOUR ELBOWS – WHITE CHILD REARING ................................70 FOR PAUL MCCARTNEY WAS RIGHT – EDUCATIONAL METHODS IN COLLIDED WORLDS ..................................................................................71 THE AGE OF THE WICKED STEPFATHERS – WESTERN PATERNALISM .................71 "CAUSE NATURE HATES A VACUUM" – THE AFTERMATH ...............................75 4.2 OF GROWING ROOTS AND CLIPPING ROOTS – HISTORY .....................81 INSPIRITING THE SYNTAX – NATIVE EXPERIENCE OF HISTORY .......................81 THE LUST FOR HUMAN FLESH – WINDIGO .................................................83 FEATHER-FOOTED FREEFLOATING – DREAMS AND VISION QUESTS ..................85 LET CHAOS RING – NANABUSH ...............................................................85 THAT MAKES SENSE! – THE ART OF STORYTELLING .....................................87 SLAUGHTERING THE SEMANTICS – WHITE EXPERIENCE OF HISTORY ...............90 BOOKWORM PRACTICES – OR HOW TO FILE AWAY NATIVE HISTORY .................91 BLAME IT ON PHIL COLLINS' TAPES – LOST IN MEDIATION ............................95 4.3 ADORNING ONESELF WITH BORROWED PLUMES – FALSIFICATION OF ORAL HISTORY ............................................................................98 DEFROSTING THE 'PLAINS INDIAN' .........................................................98 'INDIAN' TENTS WITH A ZIPPER – AN EXPERIMENT .....................................98 RIDING A HORSE IN THE 'COUNTRY OF LAKES' – HISTORICAL FACTS ...............100 FOR UGH! SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD – MEDIA DISTRIBUTION ............101 BETTING ON THE RED – PLAYING 'INDIAN' ..............................................105 GIMME SOME EN VOGUE LEATHER HEADBANDS – 'INDIANS' AND FASHION .......106 GIMME SOME YUGOSLAVIAN WOODS – WINNETOU AND THE GERMANS ............107 GIMME SOME OVERPRICED 'INDIAN' NAME – NEO-TRIBALISM .......................108 GIMME SOME NATIVE GENES – INDIAN BY EJACULATION ..............................111 4.4 BURNING DOWN THE THEATER – RESISTING THE IMAGE ..................114 UNWRAPPING THE TURBANS – INTRODUCING THE CHARACTERS ...................114 STAGING A NATIVE COMEDY – UNEARTHING NATIVE HUMOR ........................117 THE ATMOSPHERE: 'TEASE FOR PEACE' – COMMUNITY BALANCE ...................117 THE PROPS: THE KNIFE AND THE SPIRITUAL PEMMICAN – RESISTANCE HUMOR 118 THE AUDIENCE RESPONSES: FREE TICKETS TO POLITICAL INCORRECTNESS ......120 4.5 TEACHING THE WORLD – NEGOTIATION AND RENEWAL ....................126 PART FIVE: TIME TO START A NEW RELIGION – IN-TEGRATING TELEVISION128 5.1 INTRODUCTION