‘TORONTO HAS NO HISTORY!’ INDIGENEITY, SETTLER COLONIALISM AND HISTORICAL MEMORY IN CANADA’S LARGEST CITY By Victoria Jane Freeman A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto ©Copyright by Victoria Jane Freeman 2010 ABSTRACT ‘TORONTO HAS NO HISTORY!’ ABSTRACT ‘TORONTO HAS NO HISTORY!’ INDIGENEITY, SETTLER COLONIALISM AND HISTORICAL MEMORY IN CANADA’S LARGEST CITY Doctor of Philosophy 2010 Victoria Jane Freeman Graduate Department of History University of Toronto The Indigenous past is largely absent from settler representations of the history of the city of Toronto, Canada. Nineteenth and twentieth century historical chroniclers often downplayed the historic presence of the Mississaugas and their Indigenous predecessors by drawing on doctrines of terra nullius , ignoring the significance of the Toronto Purchase, and changing the city’s foundational story from the establishment of York in 1793 to the incorporation of the City of Toronto in 1834. These chroniclers usually assumed that “real Indians” and urban life were inimical. Often their representations implied that local Indigenous peoples had no significant history and thus the region had little or no history before the arrival of Europeans. Alternatively, narratives of ethical settler indigenization positioned the Indigenous past as the uncivilized starting point in a monological European theory of historical development. i i iii In many civic discourses, the city stood in for the nation as a symbol of its future, and national history stood in for the region’s local history. The national replaced ‘the Indigenous’ in an ideological process that peaked between the 1880s and the 1930s. Concurrently, the loyalist Six Nations were often represented as the only Indigenous people with ties to Torontonians, while the specific historical identity of the Mississaugas was erased. The role of both the government and local settlers in crowding the Mississaugas out of their lands on the Credit River was rationalized as a natural process, while Indigenous land claims, historical interpretations, and mnemonic forms were rarely accorded legitimacy by non- Indigenous city residents. After World War II, with new influxes of both Indigenous peoples and multicultural immigrants into the city, colonial narratives of Toronto history were increasingly challenged and replaced by multiple stories or narrative fragments. Indigenous residents created their own representations of Toronto as an Indigenous place with an Indigenous history; emphasizing continuous occupation and spiritual connections between place and ancestors. Today, contention among Indigenous groups over the fairness of the Mississauga land claim, epistemic differences between western and Indigenous conceptions of history, and ongoing settler disavowal of the impact of colonialism have precluded any simple or consensual narrative of Toronto’s past. iv For Martha v Acknowledgements I wish to thank first and foremost my supervisor, Cecilia Morgan, who took me on at a difficult moment in my academic career and patiently stood by me through thick and thin, always offering calm, useful, and constructive advice. I would also like to thank the other members of my dissertation committee, Ruth Sandwell and Ted Chamberlin, as well as Allan Greer, Sean Hawkins, Ritu Birla, Eric Jennings, and Sylvia Van Kirk (my original supervisor until her retirement in 2004), for their significant contributions to my intellectual development. I would especially like to thank my interviewees, who entrusted me with their words and experiences and taught me so much. This dissertation might not have seen the light of day had it not been for the tremendous support and encouragement I received from Simon Ortiz, Lee Maracle, and Lillian McGregor. To them, I owe a special debt of gratitude: they were there for me at crucial moments, believed in me, and taught me so much about Indigenous perspectives and my own connection to them. I also could not have done this without the support of Athina Goldberg or the encouragement and sense of humour of my immediate household: my husband Mark Fawcett, my children Claire and Ariel, and Jacob Currie. My parents, June and George Freeman, my sister Kate, and brother Eric were also there for me in significant ways. My sister Martha died during my first year of PhD studies, and I wish to remember her here. I want to thank Keren Rice, Jean-Paul Restoule, Donald B. Smith, Monica Bodirsky, Roger Simon, Alison Norman, Jennifer Bonnell, Chris Parsons, Melissa Williams, Rauna Kuokkanen, Eileen Antone, Carolyn King, Jani Lauzon, Julie Nagam, Heather Howard, Coll Thrush, Paige Raibmon, Jarvis Brownlie, Rick Wallace, Jordan Stanger-Ross, Dorothy Christian, Susan Dion, Ron Williamson, Carl Benn, Michel Gros-Louis, Bill Woodworth, vi David Redwolf, Sue Hill, Isaac Day, Keith Jamieson, David Sanford, Phil Coté, and Frank Cunningham. I am indebted to Alex McKay and Maya Chacaby for their patience in Anishinaabemowin language instruction and the cultural teachings that go with it. I would also like to thank my fellow graduate students in SAGE (Supporting Aboriginal Graduate Enhancement) and the Toronto Area Women’s Canadian History Group, and the members of the Toronto Native Community History Project for their interest and encouragement. I also greatly appreciated the assistance of the archivists and librarians of the United Church Archives, Library and Archives Canada, the City of Toronto Archives, the Ontario Archives, the Canadian National Exhibition Archives, the Fischer Rare Book Library and other University of Toronto libraries, and the Woodland Cultural Centre. Special thanks to Caeli Mazara and Jacob Currie for tape transcription, and Caeli again for tremendous assistance with copy editing of the footnotes and bibliography, and formatting of the final manuscript. I would also like to express my gratitude for the financial assistance I received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto and the Department of History, University of Toronto, as well as from the funders of the Margaret S. McCullough Scholarship for Canadian Historical Research, the Barbara Frum Memorial Award for Canadian Studies, and the Women’s History Association of Toronto Award. Lastly, I thank the Mississauga-Anishinaabek who agreed through treaty to share the land I live on. May we all work together to ensure its health and regeneration for all future beings. vii Contents List of Figures …………………………………………………………………….….….…. iv Preface …………………………………………………………………………..…….…… ix 1. Introduction: Indigeniety, Settler Colonialism and Historical Memory in Toronto ……... 1 2. The Toronto Purchase ………………………………………………………...………… 38 3. A New People ……………………………………………………………………...…… 95 4. Commemorations ……………………………………………………..……………….. 130 5. 1885: Triumphal Narratives and Indigenous Responses …………………………..….. 176 6. Changing the Subject …………………………………………………………..……… 217 7. Family Ghosts and Hybrid Histories …………………………………………………… 250 8. The Activism of Indigenous Ancestors ………………………………………………… 290 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………...... 320 Postscript ………………………………………………………………………………..... 330 Appendix …………………………………………………………………………………. 342 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………... 343 viii List of Figures Page Figure 1 Eagle Feather from the Naming Ceremony of Kahkewaquonaby ...…....…. xx Figure 2 Covenant Chain Wampum Belt …………………...………………………. 53 Figure 3 Twenty-Four Nation Wampum Belt ...………………………..…………… 54 Figure 4 Dodem Marks on 1805 Confirmation of the Toronto Purchase ...………… 73 Figure 5 1834 Toronto Coat of Arms ……………………………………………..… 84 Figure 6 Toronto Semi-Centennial Celebration Program, 1884 ………….……..… 138 Figure 7 “The Indian Wigwam”……………………………………………….…… 147 Figure 8 “The Occupation of the British”………………………………………….. 151 Figure 9 “Little York”……………………………………………………………… 153 Figure 10 “The Incorporation of Toronto”……………………………………....….. 153 Figure 11 Cover of Memorial Volume, 1884 Toronto Semi-Centennial ……...….… 165 Figure 12 New Toronto Coat of Arms ………...……………………………………. 245 Figure 13 Cover of brochure on Toronto Purchase Specific Claim……….………… 246 Figure 14 Emory Village Wall Mural ……………………………………….……… 330 Figure 15 Kahkewaquonaby (Peter Edmund Jones) at the Smithsonian …………… 337 Figure 16 A Golden Eagle ……………………………………………...…………… 339 ix Preface To begin a history dissertation by discussing a dream may be highly unorthodox, but in order to convey a sense of the theoretical framework which informs this work, it is the logical place to begin. About twenty years ago, while working to promote the work of Aboriginal writers, I dreamt a huge eagle landed on my left arm, then flew off, leaving behind two feathers which drifted to the ground. In the dream, I picked up a long brown flight feather and a downy white underfeather and resolved to give them to an Aboriginal friend who was going through a hard time. At the time, I knew no teachings about eagles, feathers, or the significance of dreams; all I knew was that they were part of Native spirituality and culture. I knew little Indigenous history and only a few Indigenous people. What I did know was that in the feminist and literary circles in which I was then active, there was outrage, confusion, and agonized debate over a 1990 op-ed article published in the Globe and Mail entitled “Stop Stealing Native Stories,” by Lenore Keeshig Tobias, an Anishinaabe