Music, Power, and Relations: Fiddling As a Meeting Place
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
MUSIC, POWER, AND RELATIONS: FIDDLING AS A MEETING PLACE BETWEEN RE-SETTLERS AND INDIGENOUS NATIONS IN MANITOBA MONIQUE GIROUX A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO JUNE 2013 © Monique Giroux, 2013 Abstract This dissertation examines fiddling as a meeting place between Turtle Island's Indigenous nations and Manitoba's re-settler population. Based on archival research, interviews, and fieldwork in Manitoba, it argues that fiddling both reflects the broader relationship between Indigenous nations and re-settlers (which is marked by an unequal distribution of power) and is used to remake this relationship. The first section focuses on Indigenous fiddling. Using mainstream (re-settler) newspaper articles from the early twentieth century to the present day, it examines re-settler representations of Indigenous fiddlers and fiddling; it also explores Metisfest, a contemporary Metis rendezvous that functions as a space for Metis cultural resurgence, using fiddling as a central 'draw'. The next section considers the old-time scene by providing a working definition of the style, exploring fiddle contests, and addressing a number of key tensions in the old-time fiddle community. It argues that old-time fiddling functions as an unmarked centre that reinforces an unequal relationship between nations; at the same time, it acknowledges the significant contributions made by Indigenous fiddlers to Manitoba's old-time scene. The final section focuses on the Manitoba Open Old Time Fiddle Championships, a fiddle competition that explicitly brings old-time and Metis (style) fiddling together through the inclusion of a Metis-style category. This final section points to the tension between mainstream and Metis understandings of Metis fiddling and how Metis-style fiddling (at the competition) ultimately serves to affirm the dominance of an unmarked (i.e., old time) style of fiddling. By exploring the Indigenous and old-time fiddle scenes from varied perspectives, this dissertation uncovers the complex relationships between central Turtle Island's two main fiddle styles. It also fills a significant lacuna in the research on Manitoba's fiddle scenes and recognizes that the burden to decolonize Turtle Island should not be placed (solely) on the shoulders of Indigenous nations. ii Acknowledgements Thank you first and foremost to all the fiddlers, accompanists, organizers, judges, and fiddle fans from Manitoba's old-time and Indigenous fiddle communities who took the time to assist me with this research. Thank you to everyone who answered my emails and phone calls, spoke with me in interviews, chatted with me at various events, and read sections of my drafts. Your names are too numerous to mention here, but I will never forget your generosity. Your contributions made this dissertation possible. Thank you to the many people at York University who supported me in the completion of this degree. Thank you to Louise Wrazen, Sherry Johnson, and Bob Witmer: your feedback challenged me to become a better writer and more discerning scholar. I could not have had a better committee. Thank you also to Beverley Diamond, David McNab, and Mark Chambers: your comments gave me much food for thought and will undoubtedly help me develop this dissertation into a much stronger monograph. Thank you to Tere Tilban-Rios: your work does not go unnoticed! Knowing that you were there to assist with paperwork (and, as often happened, to solve my paperwork problems) saved me many weeks of stress. And, finally, thank you to my colleagues in the department: your friendships made York University a community, not 'just' a university. This project received generous financial assistance from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). This assistance allowed me to spend an extended period 'in the field,' giving me the opportunity to learn about Manitoba's fiddle scenes on a level that otherwise would not have been possible. I also received iii financial support through university scholarships and assistantships. Thank you to everyone who made this possible, including the professors at York University who taught me so much through my work as their assistants. Thank you most of all to my partner, Michael (and, of course, to my 'research assistants' Charlie and Juno). We did it! Thank you for staying by my side through thick and thin and for being a sounding board for all of my ideas. While I did not always acknowledge your unwavering support, I always knew that it was there. You gave me your hand and kept me going even when the path became rocky and rough. For that I am more grateful than I could ever express. I am looking forward to continuing down our path together post-dissertation. iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents v List ofFigures ix A Note on Terminology x Preface 1 Introduction 3 Relations: The Music between Us and 'Other' 4 Methodology 6 Outsider/Insider (Relations) 10 Literature Review: Research on Canada's Fiddle Traditions 13 Research on Fiddling in Manitoba/the Prairies 18 Ethnomusicology and Research with Indigenous Peoples 27 Overview of Chapters 34 PART I: METIS (STYLE) FIDDLING 38 Chapter One: Indigenous Fiddling in Public Discourse 41 From Turtle Island to Manitoba: Contextualizing Fiddling 40 On Becoming Manitoba: Invisible Nations and White Immigration 43 Controlling Indigenous Lives: State Intervention in Canada 47 From the Status Quo to New Directions 54 Assuaging White Guilt with the 'Indian' /Metis Problem 57 Multiculturalism, Immigration, Racism, and Pride 60 Public Discourse on Metis Fiddling, 1900-2012 64 A Thrilling Memory: Setting the Stage 66 Metis Fiddling and the Thrilling Past, 1900-1940 71 A Flourish of Dance to a Style of Our Own: The 1940s and 50s 77 Separate Spaces, Hidden Identities: Indigenous Fiddling in the 1950s 80 Indigenous Fiddling Comes to the Forefront, 1960-1990 84 From the 20th to 21st Centuries: Metis Fiddling in the Mainstream 89 v Power and Privilege in a Colonized World 95 From the Distant Past to Recognition 96 Something to Call Our Own: Appropriating Metis Fiddling 98 Concluding Comments 101 Chapter Two: Fiddling and Jigging in a Metis Space 103 Metisfest 2012: A Narrative Overview 105 Style and (Inter)National Relations: Four Fiddlers At Metisfest 123 Garry Lepine 125 Shawn Mousseau 127 JJ Lavallee 129 Alex Lamoureux 131 Connecting Fiddle Styles to the Everyday 133 Metisfest and the Metis Resurgence 139 Concluding Comments 145 PART II: OLD-TIME FIDDLING 147 Chapter Three: Towards a Definition of the (Red River) Old-time Style 148 Fiddling Comes to Turtle Island 150 Commercialization and the New (Canadian) Old-Time Style 155 Defining 'Old-Time' in Contemporary Manitoba 165 A Working Definition of Old-Time Fiddling 177 Chapter Four: Old-Time Fiddling Contests in Manitoba 180 Ethnographic Overview of an Old-Time Contest 182 Contest Infrastructure: From Early Roots to Contemporary Practice 194 Venues and Purpose 195 Competitive Categories 197 From Tea Towels to Cash: Bringing Home a Prize 200 Reel Repertoire: Required Tunes and Tunes of Choice 202 The People: From Creating Venues to Making Music 204 Fiddlers: "Dumb Kids" Become Stars 204 Attracting Spectators: The Changing Audience at Old-Time Contests 207 Making Fiddlers Sound Good: The Role of Accompanists 212 Choosing Winners, Judging Ideals 214 Making It All Happen: The Role of Organizers 217 Concluding Comments 219 vi Chapter Five: Old-Time Fiddling in a Modern World 221 Dancing to the Fiddle 222 Competitive Jigging/Step Dancing at Fiddle Contests 223 The Demise of Jigging Contests 225 Jigging and Indigenous/Re-Settler Relations 227 Current Trends 229 Tensions in the Old-Time Scene 231 Fiddling as Art Music: Old-Time Fiddling and Classical Violin 232 Preserving Old-Time, Changing Old-Time 235 Identities 245 Women and Manitoba's Old-Time Fiddle Scene 246 Setting the Stage: 1950 Versus 2011 249 Finding Old-Time Women 250 An Analysis of Absent Old-Timers 253 Women Contestants, 1975-2012 257 Gender Relations in the Contemporary Scene 259 Socio-Economic Class 261 Ethnicity 263 Concluding Comments 264 PART III: AN OLD-TIME/METIS ENCOUNTER 266 Chapter Six: Metis (Style) Fiddling at the Manitoba Open 267 A Day at the Manitoba Open (2012) 268 Encountering the 'Other' Through Music 27 4 Indigenous Voices: Maintaining Agency and Power 276 Metis Music for an Old-Time Audience, Or Metis-Flavoured Manitoba 280 Centering Old-Time, Multiculturalizing Metis 283 Concluding Comments: The Good Colonizer 286 Conclusion 291 Overview of Key Issues 293 Contributions to the Field 298 Future Directions 299 Closing Remarks 300 vii Appendix One (Early Red River Style/Old-Time) 301 Appendix Two (Grand Masters Showcase) 304 Appendix Three (Contemporary Old-Time) 306 Glossary 313 References 314 Newspaper Articles 333 Interviews 346 Discography 347 viii List of Figures Fig. 1: Manitoba Landscape, Mid-Summer 108 Fig 2: Metisfest Program (2012) 110 Fig. 3: Sponsors Metisfest (2012) 110 Fig 4: Main Stage Metisfest (2012) 111 Fig 5: Jiggers at Metisfest (2012) 116 ix A Note on Terminology Indigenous scholars have pointed to the importance of names and of naming. Citing Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Ngati Awa and Ngati Porou) notes that "[n]aming the world has been likened ... to claiming the world and claiming those ways of viewing the world that count as legitimate" (1999, 81). To Smith and other Indigenous scholars (e.g., Alfred 1999, 23), decolonizing must include "renaming the world using the original indigenous names" (Smith 1999, 157). Yet the project of renaming is complex. My r~search, for example, covers the traditional lands of several nations, each with its own name for North America. Which name is most appropriate? Although not a perfect solution, I have chosen to use the name 'Turtle Island' to refer to North America.