The changing functions, uses, and value of literacy in the lives of three successive biological generations of Anishinaabe residing in the same community form the basis of this study. Aboriginal people need and value western notions of literacy for participation in mainstream society. They are, at the same time, aware that western literacy has been imposed upon them, damaging their own forms of literacy which are closely rooted in their cultural traditions. The study describes three prevailing ideas about literacy among these seven sets of Anishinaabe families. The cultural traditions rooted in their relationships with land and family represent the understandings of Aboriginal literacy for the first generation of Anishinaabe, the oldest of this study. These Aboriginal women and men have constructed broader meanings for literacy that include print traditions and dominant languages, but also respect Aboriginal ways of knowing and incorporate cultural practices that give meaning to how people live and make sense of their world. A shift in cultural traditions and language is apparent as members of the second generation discuss their understandings of literacy within the contexts of family, school, and society. Formal schooling attempted to supplant Aboriginal literacy with the traditions of print in official languages that characterize western literacy. Western literacy becomes the means by which members of the second generation have re-asserted their rights to self-determination. The third generation, the youngest of this study, experience a greater orientation towards western literacy. The features that distinguish Aboriginal literacy are in decline. At the same time, their hold on western literacy allows them to assert their identities and prepare for a future beyond their community. The thesis is intended to challenge western notions of literacy, which privilege the written word and English/French languages, arguing for a broader conceptions of literacy which include languages, narrative traditions, and rich symbolic and meaning-making systems of Aboriginal culture.

The present study examined community/tribe, peer/family, and individual correlates of suicidal behaviour in a representative on-reserve sample of First Nations adolescents. Data came from the 2002-2003 Manitoba First Nations Regional Longitudinal Health Survey of Youth. Household interviews were conducted with adolescents ages 12-17 (n=1,125) from 23 First Nations communities in Manitoba. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between a range of factors and lifetime suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and any suicidality. A multivariate logistic regression analysis identified those correlates most strongly related to any suicidality. Findings showed that several correlates were found to be associated with an increased likelihood of suicidal behaviour, including being female, depressed mood, abuse/fear of abuse, a hospital stay, and substance use. Results of this study will likely be of importance in informing First Nations and government policy related to the implementation of suicide prevention strategies in Manitoban First Nations communities.

This thesis examines the relationship between the provincial Crown and Aboriginal peoples in the particular context of the prairie provinces to determine whether or not it can be described as fiduciary and, if so, what obligations arise from it. While very few judicial decisions have dealt with this specific issue, an analysis of the existing jurisprudence suggests that there are two types of fiduciary relationships in which Aboriginal peoples are involved. The first type is a manifestation of the more traditional fiduciary concept. It is similar to classic fiduciary situations, such as doctor/patient, director/corporation, partner/partner, in which a fiduciary having control over the property or person of another must act in that other person's best interests. In the Aboriginal context, the power of the federal Crown over surrendered Indian reserve lands and over Indian moneys is limited by its fiduciary obligations of this traditional type. The second type is unique to the situation of Aboriginal peoples. It arises out of the constitutional protection provided to Aboriginal and treaty rights and gives rise to obligations that limit the jurisdiction of federal and provincial governments over them. This thesis concludes that the provincial Crown in the prairie provinces possesses no fiduciary obligations arising directly out of its relationship with First Nations peoples, in the classic fiduciary sense, because history and the Constitution have established that that relationship is with the federal Crown. Provincial fiduciary obligations are limited to those arising from the constitutional protection of Aboriginal and treaty rights and thus arise only in respect of constitutionally valid provincial laws that infringe on such rights. In Saskatchewan, the only infringing provincial laws that are possible are those made under the authority provided by paragraph 12 of the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, 1930, which authorizes Saskatchewan to make limited laws relating to hunting, fishing and trapping applicable to Indians.

The present study examined community/tribe, peer/family, and individual correlates of suicidal behaviour in a representative on-reserve sample of First Nations adolescents. Data came from the 2002-2003 Manitoba First Nations Regional Longitudinal Health Survey of Youth. Household interviews were conducted with adolescents ages 12-17 (n=1,125) from 23 First Nations communities in Manitoba. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between a range of factors and lifetime suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and any suicidality. A multivariate logistic regression analysis identified those correlates most strongly related to any suicidality. Findings showed that several correlates were found to be associated with an increased likelihood of suicidal behaviour, including being female, depressed mood, abuse/fear of abuse, a hospital stay, and substance use. Results of this study will likely be of importance in informing First Nations and government policy related to the implementation of suicide prevention strategies in Manitoban First Nations communities.

My dissertation analyzes the development of the visual culture of the people known as the Gitksan, as witnessed through the creation of ‘Ksan, a tourist village located at present day Gitanmaax (Hazelton, B.C.). I demonstrate how the fields of ‘art’, ‘craft’ and ‘artifact’ come into play in a more nuanced understanding of the development of various sectors at this key tourist site. The focus of the dissertation includes the complex motives that led to the creation of ‘Ksan. I consider the interrelationship of its art, the school as well as its business practices. I offer new insights into the developmental advantages of governmental project funding, the selection of a teaching staff knowledgeable in the arts of the Gitksan, and the reasons that led to its dramatic early success, only to be followed by an equally dramatic decline, all in a space of about 40 years. My reliance on interviews and analysis of new documents contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex history at this site. I also examine how the vision of Marius Barbeau may have contributed to the vision for ‘Ksan, articulated in part by a non-Native woman, Polly Sargent, a prime mover in the development of the site, the contributions of professionals like art historian Bill Holm, and most importantly, the dedication of the Gitksan people. While the school has closed, ‘Ksan’s positive impact on First Nations art of the Northwest Coast and its influence on the acceptability of Native art as fine art in Canada and other parts of the world, is evident. / Graduate / 0377 / 0273 / 0740 / cdubreui@sbu.edu

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Dept. of Sociology/Anthropology) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Dept. of Sociology/Anthropology) / Simon Fraser University.

This thesis examines the historical record of the late 19th and early 20th century Canadian law against indigenous ceremonies, such as the potlatch and the sun dance, in order to investigate whether an alternative narrative of this history is possible. The main source of data is the archive of the Department of Indian Affairs, containing all the official correspondence that the department sent and received regarding these ceremonies during the time that the law was in effect. Classifying these practices as religious ceremonies, I will argue, was not an obvious or necessary classification, but a strategic move that was beneficial in the short term, both for First Nations advocates of the ceremonies and for their federal government opponents. This research sheds light on the political relationships between Canada and its First Nations, as well as clarifying the ways in which 'religion' is a strategic, rather than an absolute, category.

“The destiny of a people is intricately bound to the way its children are educated” (RCAP 1996, v. 3: 404). Firm in this belief, the current study undertakes an examination of language and education policy in Canada, seeking to understand how these two factors together impact the formation of identity, not only for individual students in a classroom, but more broadly for the linguistic and cultural communities of which they are a part, as these struggle to establish a place for themselves within the country’s social sphere. Despite the rhetoric of multicultural equality which predominates in Canadian public discourse, the examination of a corpus of historical legislation, carried out within the framework of narrative theory and critical discourse analysis, plainly demonstrates a clear hierarchy of languages and cultures in Canada – established and enforced in law, rooted and reflected in social institutions, reinforced and replicated through formal systems of schooling. As a result, even as speakers of minority languages are taught as students that to achieve success in schooling, they must translate their speech, thinking, and ways of knowing into the language and manners of the majority, so as members of their communities do they learn that, in order to gain a place of full participation in society, they must also translate their ways of acting, of relating to others, and of being in the world. In short, they must translate themselves. Recognizing that students are in this manner transformed in the very movement between classroom and community; and that as these transformed students return to their communities, these are likewise impacted in terms of their sense of belonging in society; we seek to discern what new insights might be gained from the consideration of education in light of a translational paradigm, ultimately identifying three productive methods of entry into such critical reflection: through the variety of significant questions that are raised, through the consideration of specific theoretical concepts reassessed and applied anew, and finally through the reframing and retelling of narratives in translation.

The changing functions, uses, and value of literacy in the lives of three successive biological generations of Anishinaabe residing in the same community form the basis of this study. Aboriginal people need and value western notions of literacy for participation in mainstream society. They are, at the same time, aware that western literacy has been imposed upon them, damaging their own forms of literacy which are closely rooted in their cultural traditions. The study describes three prevailing ideas about literacy among these seven sets of Anishinaabe families. The cultural traditions rooted in their relationships with land and family represent the understandings of Aboriginal literacy for the first generation of Anishinaabe, the oldest of this study. These Aboriginal women and men have constructed broader meanings for literacy that include print traditions and dominant languages, but also respect Aboriginal ways of knowing and incorporate cultural practices that give meaning to how people live and make sense of their world. A shift in cultural traditions and language is apparent as members of the second generation discuss their understandings of literacy within the contexts of family, school, and society. Formal schooling attempted to supplant Aboriginal literacy with the traditions of print in official languages that characterize western literacy. Western literacy becomes the means by which members of the second generation have re-asserted their rights to self-determination. The third generation, the youngest of this study, experience a greater orientation towards western literacy. The features that distinguish Aboriginal literacy are in decline. At the same time, their hold on western literacy allows them to assert their identities and prepare for a future beyond their community. The thesis is intended to challenge western notions of literacy, which privilege the written word and English/French languages, arguing for a broader conceptions of literacy which include languages, narrative traditions, and rich symbolic and meaning-making systems of Aboriginal culture. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate