Walking the Noble (Savage) Path: The Didactics of Indigenous Knowledge (Re)Presentation in the Toronto Zoo's Canadian Domain By Danielle Lorenz 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 The School of Canadian Studies Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario ©2012 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-91558-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-91558-5 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, distrbute 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. Canada ii Abstract As one of the largest zoos in the world, the Toronto Zoo boasts some 5000 animals of 500 species, and over 1.2 million visitors annually from 2006-2010. With their focus on human-animal relationships, the rationale for Indigenous content at the zoo is not straightforward, but suggests the importance of Indigenous peoples to Canadian national narratives. The Toronto Zoo's Canadian Domain and Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Trail aim to teach zoo guests about Indigenous Knowledge through the reading of informative placards. Interpreting these placards using a multisite methodology informed by Saussurean semiotics determines if the didactics of transmitting Indigenous Knowledge is effective. This paper argues that the (representation—the synchronic culmination of the presentation and construction—of Indigenous Knowledge at the Toronto Zoo misrepresents and stereotypes the First Nations cultures and knowledges that are located in the Canadian Domain and Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Trail. Keywords: semiotics, Indigenous, zoo, education, stereotypes, Indigenous Knowledge iii Acknowledgements This thesis was written on the unceded land of the Algonquin Nation, while the site of my research is on the land of the Mississaugas of New Credit. I feel that, like Scott Morgensen (2011), it is important for me to mention them as "Naming these storied places and their nations reminds of my responsibility to act in response to not only them but all ongoing struggles by Native peoples on lands that much they might have changed, remain Indigenous" (p.231). Indeed, the Indigenous inhabitants of these lands—and all of Canada for that matter—need to be recognized because without them, Canada as it is today would not exist. Without Anne Trepanier's guidance this thesis would not have come to fruition. Her patience, tenacity and guidance helped me write the paper I was striving for. Merci, Anne, for everything. Last, but certainly not least are my parents: they have always given me the guidance and support I needed through life. Still waiting on that puppy, though. iv Table of Contents INTRODUCTION: PASTWATCH 1 CHAPTER ONE: TERMS, TERMINOLOGIES AND KEY CONCEPTS 8 TERMS AND TERMINOLOGY 8 Aboriginal 9 Indigenous 11 Indian 12 First Nations 13 Culture 14 Anishinaabe 16 CHAPTER TWO: SOCIAL LOCATION 17 BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH 17 THE OTHER. 20 Learn From the Other Rather Than About the Other 26 THE INDIGENOUS-SETTLER HYPHEN 28 CHAPTER THREE: INDIGENOUS STEREOTYPES AND (RE)PRESENTATION IN CANADIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS 31 STEREOTYPES FOUNDED IN MYTH/OLOGY 31 FIRST NATIONS STEREOTYPES 36 The Savage 37 The Noble Savage 38 Living Fossils 41 Vanishing Race 45 The Generic Indian 46 The Ecological Indian 47 The Native Warrior 49 INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN CANADIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS 50 CHAPTER FOUR: THE HISTORY OF ZOOS 62 HISTORY OF ZOOS 63 Human Zoos 65 MODERN ZOO POPULARITY IN THE WEST 70 Toronto Zoo 71 ZOOS AS EDUCATIONAL INSTUTUTIONS 73 CHAPTER FIVE: INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE 77 PROBLEMS WITH CREATING A DEFINTITION 78 V Description of Indigenous Knowledge 80 WESTERN KNOWLEDGE AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AS COMPLEMETARY SYSTEMS 82 How Indigenous Knowledge is Overlooked in Canada 86 How Indigenous Knowledge Could be Included Within Western Educational Paradigms 87 THE TORONTO ZOO AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE 89 CHAPTER SIX: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: THE (RE)PRESENTATION OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE 91 PRIMARY SOURCES 92 ABORIGINAL TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRAIL BACKGROUND 95 Conceptions of Space 95 Description of the Canadian Domain and the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Trail 97 HOW THE ABORIGINAL TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRAIL IS CONTINUING STEREOTYPES 101 Exotification of Indigenous Peoples 102 Locating Indigenous Peoples in the Past 104 Indigenous Peoples' Relationship with Nature 106 Indigenous Peoples as the Generic Indian 108 HOW THE ZOO MAKES LEARNING DIFFICULT Ill CONCLUSION: FUTURE ON HOLD 116 APPENDIX 120 PHOTOGRAPHS 120 TORONTO ZOO INTERVIEW TRANSCIPTION 141 WORKS CITED 157 Lorenz | 1 INTRODUCTION: PASTWATCH Academic writing can be analogous to walking in the forest. Although what can cause one to stumble is not physical—but rather theoretical and can also lead to faltering—it is still a challenging task. Likewise, the base of an epistemology grows upwards, branching out into particular theories, which in turn nurture certain ideas until they sprout into a specific discussion on a topic. With much of what symbolizes Canada being tied to the land and environment—the Rocky Mountains, the Arctic tundra, the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and each province and territory having a designated flower, tree, animal, rock—thinking critically about Canada should correlate with its physical environment as well as its people. Rooted in an anecdotal and idealized narrative surrounding their 'primitivism' Indigenous peoples have been stereotyped as maintaining a harmonized life with nature for centuries. This construction relegates them to a romanticized past that never existed, and is why their histories are primarily foreign to the Canadian population. Kanienkehaka academic Taiaiake Alfred states that "Most people in Canada understand very little of the realities of Indigenous peoples' lives, the challenges they face, or the history of interaction between Indigenous peoples' ancestors and their own ancestors that have created these realities" (2011). The Canadians Alfred is referring to are what are otherwise known as settlers: people or ancestors of these people who left their countries of origin to immigrate to Canada. The term settler embodies the idea that settlers are "founders of political orders who carry with them a distinct sovereign capacity" (Canavagh and Veracini, 2010). In other words, settlers have created a society and nation that disregards the rights to prior occupancy held by Indigenous peoples. In the context of this thesis, the term settler refers to peoples whose ancestral heritage comes from a place other than what would eventually become Canada. Lorenz | 2 Knowingly or unknowingly, these individuals continue to perpetrate colonialism through their residency in Canada. When writing about issues that affect Indigenous peoples, often settler journalists use incorrect terminologies in their work. As Kanienkehaka journalist Dan David sarcastically comments, when journalists are describing Indigenous peoples in the media, they should remember that "you can't go wrong staying as unspecific as possible. Forget the facts. Dump the details. Use one word: "aboriginals." Simple. No muss, no fuss. No complications" (2012). Because many media professionals regularly apply inexact wording, the language used in the media is reflective of settler ignorance. This lack of awareness is also apparent when reading online commentaries on news articles on Indigenous topics. For example, EricTheBlue, commenting on Jeffrey Simpson's problematic "It still comes down to fixing the reserves" article in the Globe and Mail, states: Simple solution, eliminate the reserves, remove all tax benefits aboriginals have, and integrate them into mainstream society. That is the best possible "reparations" that we can pay them for our history. It is still possible to maintain your culture while functioning as part of society