The Ojibwa have lived in Ontario longer than any other ethnic group. Until now, however, their hi... more The Ojibwa have lived in Ontario longer than any other ethnic group. Until now, however, their history has never been fully recorded. Peter Schmalz offers a sweeping account of the Ojibwa in which he corrects many long-standing historical errors and fills in numerous gaps in their story. His narrative is based as much on Ojibwa oral tradition as on the usual historical sources. Beginning with life as it was before the arrival of Europeans in North America, Schmalz describes the peaceful commercial trade of the Ojibwa hunters and fishers with the Iroquois. Later, when the Five Nations Iroquois attacked various groups in southern Ontario in the mid-seventeenth century, the Ojibwa were the only Indians to defeat them, thereby disproving the myth of Iroquois invincibility.</p In the eighteenth century the Ojibwa entered their golden age, enjoying the benefits of close alliance with both the French and the English. But with those close ties came an increasing dependence on European guns, tools, and liquor at the expense of the older way of life. The English defeat of the French in 1759 changed the nature of Ojibwa society, as did the Beaver War (better known as the Pontiac Uprising) they fought against the English a few years later. In his account of that war, Schmalz offers a new assessment of the role of Pontiac and the Toronto chief Wabbicommicot. The fifty years following the Beaver War brought bloodshed and suffering at the hands of the English and United Empire Loyalists. The reserve system and the establishment of special schools, intended to destroy the Indian culture and assimilate the Ojibwa into mainstream society, failed to meet those objectives. The twentieth century has seen something of an Ojibwa renaissance. Schmalz shows how Ojibwa participation in two world wars led to a desire to change conditions at home. Today the Ojibwa are gaining some control over their children's education, their reserves, and their culture.
This thesis traces the development of the western Ojibwa as an ethinic gorup. Reasons for Ojibwa ... more This thesis traces the development of the western Ojibwa as an ethinic gorup. Reasons for Ojibwa movement into the area west of Red River are examined, inlcuding the nature of their involvement in the fur trade and the effects of the smallpox epidemic of the early 1780's. Their initial ...
This article examines early watercolours and sketches by Peter Rindisbacher, who in 1821, emigrat... more This article examines early watercolours and sketches by Peter Rindisbacher, who in 1821, emigrated with his family from Switzerland to the Red River Settlement in Winnipeg, Canada. Rindisbacher's work has been praised, and made use of, for its detailed renderings of clothing and objects typical of the Northwestern fur trade. The article examines both the materiality of the images and the materiality within them, in order to understand his European mindset and training and consider their implications for the veracity of his work, which reflects European stereotypes of Aboriginal people. Viewers' responses to Rindisbacher's images are also explored, and the correlation between the assumption of veracity in these images and expectations about the ‘frontier’ is noted. Rindisbacher's images both reflect such expectations, and complicate them.
This study examines the representation of First Nations cultures, peoples, and histories at six N... more This study examines the representation of First Nations cultures, peoples, and histories at six North American public history sites: Lower Fort Garry, Old Fort William, the North West Company Fur Post at Pine City, Colonial Michilimackinac, Waswagoning, and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. The study examines the history and development of these sites and of their Native interpretation programs. The different meanings that representations of Native histories have for Native and non-Native staff and visitors at these places are also explored. Traditionally, historic reconstructions, the national historical narratives in which they figure, and the representation of Native cultures within such institutions have been shaped by members of the economically and politically dominant class of North American society, and these representations have justified and naturalized the power of that class over Native people. However, I argue that they have come to be sites of opposition to such power and...
This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rit... more This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rituals enacted by claimants and museum staff: a set of highlighted performances enacting multiple sets ...
This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rit... more This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rituals enacted by claimants and museum staff: a set of highlighted performances enacting multiple sets ...
Explores issues of gender, race and status around an embroidered Metis bag collected in 1841 by E... more Explores issues of gender, race and status around an embroidered Metis bag collected in 1841 by Edward Hopkins, and the painting Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall, by Hopkins&#39; wife, the artist Frances Hopkins.
The Ojibwa have lived in Ontario longer than any other ethnic group. Until now, however, their hi... more The Ojibwa have lived in Ontario longer than any other ethnic group. Until now, however, their history has never been fully recorded. Peter Schmalz offers a sweeping account of the Ojibwa in which he corrects many long-standing historical errors and fills in numerous gaps in their story. His narrative is based as much on Ojibwa oral tradition as on the usual historical sources. Beginning with life as it was before the arrival of Europeans in North America, Schmalz describes the peaceful commercial trade of the Ojibwa hunters and fishers with the Iroquois. Later, when the Five Nations Iroquois attacked various groups in southern Ontario in the mid-seventeenth century, the Ojibwa were the only Indians to defeat them, thereby disproving the myth of Iroquois invincibility.</p In the eighteenth century the Ojibwa entered their golden age, enjoying the benefits of close alliance with both the French and the English. But with those close ties came an increasing dependence on European guns, tools, and liquor at the expense of the older way of life. The English defeat of the French in 1759 changed the nature of Ojibwa society, as did the Beaver War (better known as the Pontiac Uprising) they fought against the English a few years later. In his account of that war, Schmalz offers a new assessment of the role of Pontiac and the Toronto chief Wabbicommicot. The fifty years following the Beaver War brought bloodshed and suffering at the hands of the English and United Empire Loyalists. The reserve system and the establishment of special schools, intended to destroy the Indian culture and assimilate the Ojibwa into mainstream society, failed to meet those objectives. The twentieth century has seen something of an Ojibwa renaissance. Schmalz shows how Ojibwa participation in two world wars led to a desire to change conditions at home. Today the Ojibwa are gaining some control over their children's education, their reserves, and their culture.
This thesis traces the development of the western Ojibwa as an ethinic gorup. Reasons for Ojibwa ... more This thesis traces the development of the western Ojibwa as an ethinic gorup. Reasons for Ojibwa movement into the area west of Red River are examined, inlcuding the nature of their involvement in the fur trade and the effects of the smallpox epidemic of the early 1780's. Their initial ...
This article examines early watercolours and sketches by Peter Rindisbacher, who in 1821, emigrat... more This article examines early watercolours and sketches by Peter Rindisbacher, who in 1821, emigrated with his family from Switzerland to the Red River Settlement in Winnipeg, Canada. Rindisbacher's work has been praised, and made use of, for its detailed renderings of clothing and objects typical of the Northwestern fur trade. The article examines both the materiality of the images and the materiality within them, in order to understand his European mindset and training and consider their implications for the veracity of his work, which reflects European stereotypes of Aboriginal people. Viewers' responses to Rindisbacher's images are also explored, and the correlation between the assumption of veracity in these images and expectations about the ‘frontier’ is noted. Rindisbacher's images both reflect such expectations, and complicate them.
This study examines the representation of First Nations cultures, peoples, and histories at six N... more This study examines the representation of First Nations cultures, peoples, and histories at six North American public history sites: Lower Fort Garry, Old Fort William, the North West Company Fur Post at Pine City, Colonial Michilimackinac, Waswagoning, and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. The study examines the history and development of these sites and of their Native interpretation programs. The different meanings that representations of Native histories have for Native and non-Native staff and visitors at these places are also explored. Traditionally, historic reconstructions, the national historical narratives in which they figure, and the representation of Native cultures within such institutions have been shaped by members of the economically and politically dominant class of North American society, and these representations have justified and naturalized the power of that class over Native people. However, I argue that they have come to be sites of opposition to such power and...
This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rit... more This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rituals enacted by claimants and museum staff: a set of highlighted performances enacting multiple sets ...
This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rit... more This special section of Museum Worlds explores the entire process of repatriation as a set of rituals enacted by claimants and museum staff: a set of highlighted performances enacting multiple sets ...
Explores issues of gender, race and status around an embroidered Metis bag collected in 1841 by E... more Explores issues of gender, race and status around an embroidered Metis bag collected in 1841 by Edward Hopkins, and the painting Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall, by Hopkins&#39; wife, the artist Frances Hopkins.
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