Belonging to Lake Nipissing: Knowledge, Governance, and Human-Fish Relations by Nicole Latulippe A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Geography and Planning University of Toronto © Copyright by Nicole Latulippe (2017) Belonging to Lake Nipissing: Knowledge, Governance, and Human-Fish Relations Nicole Latulippe Doctor of Philosophy Geography and Planning University of Toronto 2017 Abstract Fishing constitutes an essential relation through which Nipissing peoples belong to Lake Nipissing. Belonging in and through human-fish relations is an affective, embodied, and dynamic relation. It is a reciprocal relation that expresses an Anishinaabe cosmology and rich knowledge and governance traditions. The diverse ways that Nipissing peoples belong to the lake are not represented in provincial fisheries policy and dominant epistemic frameworks; on the contrary, current provisions for Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge, ecosystem-based management, and Aboriginal partnerships preserve what Douglas Harris calls the legal capture of fish. In this dissertation, I write beyond the question of how Indigenous Knowledge Systems can improve Canadian fisheries management to center the diverse ways that Nipissing peoples value fish, know the lake, and enact their laws. Theorizing with difference, with that which seems contradictory and fragmented, my research performs important bridging work. Drawing on Nipissing and Anishinaabe theories and embodiments of power, change and transformation, my work seeks to interpret the efforts by Nipissing First Nation members to maintain relations with a hotly contested resource in a deeply challenging historio-legal environment. ii Acknowledgments Many teachers, friends, and institutions have supported this work. Deb McGregor, my academic supervisor, has been so important to my learning process. I am grateful for her wisdom and experience, guidance, and friendship. I also want to thank Susannah Bunce and Susan Ruddick, members of my supervisory committee, for their incredible insight and support, theoretically and in terms of the writing process. My external examiners, Jay Johnson and Neera Singh, have offered exciting ideas that help me to envision a scholarly future that extends past the PhD. Before starting the PhD program, staff, Elders, leadership, and members of the Union of Ontario Indians, and those I met working on the Ipperwash implementation process – at the Chiefs of Ontario, other First Nations organizations, and at Kettle and Stony Point First Nation – introduced me to this important political work, and to Indigenous histories and geographies in Ontario, and so I would like to acknowledge them. I would like to recognize my community research partner, Nipissing First Nation. Facilitating this work at an institutional level, and acting as important mentors and friends, I want to appreciate Clint Couchie, Dwayne Nashkawa, Glenna Beaucage, Elder Peter Beaucage, Evelyn McLeod, Jeff McLeod, Joan McLeod, Nikki Commanda, Fran Couchie, Cathy McLeod, Clayton Goulais, Steve Commanda, Mike Sawyer, former Chief Marianna Couchie and Council, current Chief Scott McLeod and Council, and everyone involved with Aanmitaagzi. I want to extend my deep gratitude for the community participants of this research. Only few are named in this work (and for the published version of this research I will seek permission and name those who wish to be identified), but the contribution of participants, those named and unnamed, deserve great credit. Without them, this work would be non-existent. I appreciate the knowledge and experiences that were shared, and particularly the ways in which I was gifted, with respect, honesty, trust, generosity, and wisdom. Along the way, I have met an incredibly smart, gifted, and kind group of scholars. Modeling what it is to bring heart into smarts, they practice kindness with critical thinking, accountability with curiosity, sustaining me through this process. In Geography and Planning, I want to acknowledge and especially thank Elsie Lewison and Alex Gatien for hosting many a delicious dinner, David K. Seitz for being a better friend and interlocutor than I could have iii hoped for, Elizabeth Lord for bringing fun with her always, even during our comps, Leah Fusco and Rebecca Osolen for the comfort of commiseration especially in the early days (I need to visit in Newfoundland!); Lauren Kepkiewicz, Raili Lakanen, and Maddie Whetung for prioritizing community and promoting it their engagement with academia; the comradery and know-how demonstrated by my ‘older’ counterparts in the program, Martine August, Martin Danyluk, Heather Dorries, Lia Frederiksen, Caitlin Henry, Katie Mazer, James Nugent, Shiri Pasternak, Emily Reid-Musson, and Jess Wilczak; Ben Butler and Andrew Picard for being team CUPE Stewards; and Ayesha Basit, Amy Buitenhuis, Beth Denaburg, and Kat Snukal for being awesome. Outside the department, Alan Corbiere, John Cutfeet, Lewis Debassige, Carly Dokis, Kirsten Greer, James Jenkins, Robin Kimmerer, Carolyn Podruchny, VK Preston, Nick Reo, Dan Rück, Gabrielle Slowey, Katrina Srigley, Zoe Todd, and Kyle Whyte have modelled what I am now calling heart-smart, the ultimate combination as far as I can tell. I want to acknowledge my fellow up-and-coming scholars Emily Bingeman, Shelley Denny, Saul Milne, and Mirjam Wirz- Held, my Fish-WIKS counterparts out east, west, and up north, who I look forward to working with. The 2014 Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga writing retreat and 2017 Manitoulin Island Summer Historical Institute have broadened my sense of what is possible in terms of collaborative learning, and I want to thank the organizers, facilitators, and new friends. My family and friends are written into this work. They’re part of who I am and have supported my curiosity and ambition: Diane, Bob and Michelle Latulippe, Gerry and Don Latulippe, Yvonne Buckner, Natasha (Anne Linda Landry) Laframboise and her family; my mom’s sisters, Cécile, Rachelle, Yvette, Odile, (the late) Lucille, Laurette, Hélène, Thérèse, and Susanne, her brothers, Henry, Marcel and Denis, and their families; my dad’s sisters, Monique, Sue, and Lise and their families; my cousins, second-cousins, great-aunts and –uncles are all important to me. The warmth of my North Bay friendships stays with me always. I want to thank the presence and influence of my buds, Christine Charette, Melanie Eckensviller, Cara-Beth Elliott, Shannon Falconi, (honourary North Bayite) Krista Farley, Ben Hermann, Matt Laporte, Tasha Laframboise, Jacey Larochelle, Liz Lott, Sachi Nagasawa, Eli Nefedow, Odessa Turner, Dustin Wall, Ali Wilkes, and Chris Wyness; thanks is also due to Christina Lella and Rob Joanisse for their yoga and movement acumen. I am grateful for Saro Sahagian who has offered iv unwavering support, partnership, and most excellent strategic advice to help me finish this mammoth project. Life in Toronto has been made rich by new friends and experiences. I want to especially thank my housemates at 22 Melbourne – some have stayed while others have gone, Vanessa Faria, Amber Goldfarb, Daniela Graziano, Emily Kedar, Melanie Robitaille, Nico Racicot, and Dana Sipos, visitors – especially Ira Rabinovitch, and neighbours for creating a home in the city; and also thanks to Dufferin Grove Housing Co-op for the accessible housing! I did a lot of writing at Capital Espresso and need to acknowledge the staff and regulars there. I got to know and appreciate my Parkdale neighbourhood, High Park, the waterfront, and Toronto Islands, my favourite places to walk and to sit with the water. I want to acknowledge my Scorpio sister Sylvia Plain, and Francine Bouchard for bringing a touch of northern class to Toronto. Integral to this work has been my relationship with Lake Nipissing itself. I want to thank the water, fish, rocks, spirits, and the interplay of agents and forces that I do not understand but appreciate nonetheless. I want to thank the knowledge keepers, artists, and writers who render legible at least parts of the wisdom that is embedded in places. I also need to acknowledge my own curiosity, drive, and motivation to learn and communicate. I want to acknowledge the support of the Fish-WIKS Partnership, and also the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Vivienne Poy Chancellor’s Fellowship, Barbara Frum Memorial Award, John Horner Graduate Scholarship and funding from the Geography and Planning department and School of Graduate Studies for making this research possible. Being so good at what they do, Jessica Finlayson, Jenny Jung, and staff in the department have made it possible to access these supports, navigate the system, and pull it all together. I have probably misspelled a name and forgotten to mention people. In a classic grad student move, I’ve prepared this list at the very last possible minute before the final dissertation is due. Despite any accidental omissions, I’m deeply grateful for this entire experience and for the relationships it has fostered. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... vi List of Tables .............................................................................................................. viii List of Plates................................................................................................................