Exploring Indigenous Studies: Culture, Theory, and Land Management

1 Unit – 1 Activity 1 Question 1 - What is indigenous study? Understanding First Nation people's culture, religion, traditions, and interests within Canadian society is the primary goal of indigenous studies. Indigenous people had attended residential schools for seven generations, during which they were compelled to give up their language and culture. Children who are not Aboriginal were also taught that their culture is superior to that of the Indigenous people. The educational system has exacerbated this issue in our nation. People are now aware of how previous generations were duped under the pretence of good and bad culture, thanks to Indigenous studies. There are different kinds are approaches to indigenous studies: The methodological approaches in indigenous studies: Indigenous knowledge can be examined from a variety of angles using methods, epistemology, and ontological examples. The methodology gives indigenous studies an ever-evolving approach that employs several ways of thinking about research by relying on surveys, documents, group discussions, and interviews. Epistemology is the ability to protect and preserve the social structure while using evidence to distinguish ideas from accepted beliefs. Conversely, ontology emphasizes credibility and responsibility by showing how indigenous studies relate to the land, cosmos, surroundings, and language. The Theoretical Approaches to Indigenous Studies: A range of theoretical frameworks, such as postcolonial, critical, feminist, queer, and Marxist, are used by Indigenous studies to explore and inform Indigenous research. Although postcolonial theory is still up for debate, some

2 contend that it does not inevitably mean that colonialism is coming to an end. Reducing the influence of rules, discrimination, helplessness, and other related factors on society is the goal of critical theory. It is crucial to understand that by educating people about discrimination, sexism, and colonialism, as well as by building consciousness via solidarity, indigenous feminists promote democracy and nationalism in society. Marxists acknowledge the unique struggles of Indigenous people. Due to the desire to break free from cultural norms and penal structures that do not acknowledge the diversity of ethnicity, indigenous studies have struggled to establish itself as a discipline. The author's contribution to the canon can be divided into four categories: destruction, interrogation, exposure, and knowledge creation. These categories serve to highlight the body of work of Indigenous research that resulted from the rigorous examination process. References for Unit 1 Forsythe, L. E. (2020). Indigenous Studies: Methodological, Theoretical, and Canonical Foundations . https://doi.org/content/enforced3/571349-REV_INDG1220/Indigenous Studies Methodological, Theoretical, and Canonical Foundations.pdf “TRC Mini Documentary - Senator Murray Sinclair on Reconciliation.” YouTube , YouTube, 7 Feb. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjx2zDvyzsU. Faculty of Arts: University of Manitoba - Department of Indigenous Studies . Faculty of Arts | University of Manitoba. (n.d.). https://umanitoba.ca/arts/indigenous-studies

3 Unit – 2 Activity – 3 The role of burning in land Management: Each landscape demonstrates the past and customs of the people living there. The current American surroundings reflect the enduring effects of one perspective positioned on another colonial versus indigenous. Society's worldview is frequently more accurately recorded in the land than in its records. When European Americans first came to North America, they brought their folk wisdom, which believed that forest fires were dangerous and damaging to people. The traditional wisdom of the native people, who valued burning and were adept at using fire technology, starkly contrasted this viewpoint. Native land management practices aimed at increasing productivity significantly impacted the presettlement landscape. Fire was the most effective instrument for manipulating the landscape. Question 1: Identify and discuss the philosophy of burning in Indigenous agriculture. Intentional fires were started for many reasons, including long-distance signalling or clearing community sites (Brown, 2000). Western fire suppression practices are based on the idea that nature is controllable. Interestingly, efforts to manipulate nature by putting out fires have made things more unpredictable. The indigenous perspective highlights the dual nature of all creative and destructive forces. The usage of fire by humans is an illustration of interdependence. The reciprocal responsibility ethic, which fosters an adaptive symbiosis in which burning helps both, is the foundation of indigenous peoples' usage of fire. It is fascinating to note that Indigenous

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4 Peoples hold fire in high regard. For instance, to enhance the yields of root crops like camas and geophytes, Native Americans in the Northwest burned grasslands and savannas. The Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Ottawa peoples have been burning the prairies of Walpole Island First Nation as part of their rituals since ancient times. They acknowledge this obligation and refer to themselves as the "firekeepers." Question 2: What were the goals of Indigenous burning? Fire was used to improve food security, manage crops, remove pests, produce mosaics, and boost crop output. It also altered the environment to secure their survival. Fire stills are commonly employed to maintain basketry plants, resulting in a constant crop of straight, slender shoots and roots (Ortiz, 1993). Fire was used to build prairies, attracting species such as elk and deer. Indigenous Peoples adapted fire regimes to produce forest openings at different stages of postfire succession, enhancing the diversity and yield of wildlife, berries, root crops, seeds, and medicinal plants. Question 3: Outline the evidence shared to support Kimmerer & Lake's (2001) assertions. Some evidence suggests that indigenous burning was not a constant practice but rather the outcome of mistaken views toward traditional knowledge. Western scientists reject accounts of aboriginal burning, arguing that it destroys plants and land, rendering agriculture obsolete. Fire played a crucial role in the survival of tribal cultures. Indigenous people found fire the most effective land-management strategy for conserving energy. Fire technology has evolved through millennia of trial and observation. Fire is essential in many civilizations, reflecting a worldview that values human involvement with the environment. References for Unit 2

5 Kimmerer, R. W., & Lake, F. K. (2001). The role of indigenous burning in land management. Journal of Forestry , 99 (11), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1093/jof/99.11.36 Erlandson, J. M., Graham, M. H., Bourque, B. J., Corbett, D., Estes, J. A., & Steneck, R. S. (2007). The Kelp Highway Hypothesis: Marine ecology, the Coastal Migration Theory, and the peopling of the Americas. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology , 2 (2), 161–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564890701628612 Unit – 3 Activity – 3 Indigenous contributions to the World. Question 1: Outline the biological exchange of disease following the 1492 voyage by listing the diseases brought to Turtle Island and their effect on the Indigenous population. Smallpox, Measles, Whooping Cough, Chicken Pox, Bubonic Plague, Typhus, and Malaria: Many Indigenous Peoples died due to smallpox outbreaks. Their numbers and ability to resist European colonialism were dramatically decreased. All of these imported diseases were lethal, either highly contagious or bacterial. Indigenous Peoples, who had no prior exposure or immunity to the disease, had a terrible effect on populations. The exact scale of the depopulation is unknown, although it is estimated that 80-95% of Native Americans died within the first 100- 150 years after 1492. Syphilis: Venereal syphilis, the twelfth-deadliest illness in history, is the most controversial exception. The sickness had much more severe symptoms and was frequently fatal. Genital

6 ulcers, rashes, giant tumours, excruciating agony, dementia, and death were among the symptoms. Question 2: List some of the foods found on Turtle Island that are widely used and describe the significance of the transfer of food. Foods high in minerals and carbohydrates, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and cassava, were abundant on Turtle Island and helped mitigate the effects of food scarcity. The exchange brought a range of calorie-dense staple crops to the Old World. Old World cultures were introduced to low-calorie foods such as tomatoes, chilli peppers, cocoa, peanuts, and pineapples, improving live foods' taste and vitamin intake. The development of regional cuisine was frequently greatly influenced by New World goods. For example, Hungarian peppers, the nation's national spice, and side dishes like hot Korean kimchee were shaped by chilli peppers or dried capsicum. Due to their high vitamin content (particularly vitamins A and C), tomatoes significantly impact Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. The New World's introduction of sugar, coffee, soybeans, oranges, bananas, and other crops was embraced most fervently by America. Question 3: Describe the forced and voluntary migrations of the Columbia Exchange. After Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas in 1492, people, ideas, food crops, and diseases were transferred between the New and Old Worlds. This was known as the Columbian Exchange. The largest forced migration in human history took place during the transatlantic slave trade, which transported approximately twelve million Africans to the Americas between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries (Lovejoy, 2000; Manning, 1990; Nunn, 2008b). Native Americans were compelled to relocate after losing their homeland. Forty-five million Europeans

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7 immigrated to the Americas between 1851 and 1924; 34 million settled in the United States. For instance, the Indian subcontinent sent half its one million forced labourers to the British Caribbean, where they were employed in the cotton and sugar sectors. After their contract expired, they were refused fundamental human rights, such as the right to citizenship in the country. They were forced to live in harsh, dangerous conditions like starvation and other harmful diseases. References for Unit 3 Nunn, N., & Qian, N. (2010). The Columbian Exchange: A history of disease, food, and ideas. Journal of Economic Perspectives , 24 (2), 163–188. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.24.2.163 Login - University of Manitoba. (n.d.). https://universityofmanitoba.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/590628/viewContent/ 3888292/View Unit – 4 Activity – 2 The British/French Fur Trade

8 Question 1: Describe women's roles in York Factory in the early 1800s. In northwest Manitoba, under the little island dividing the Hayes River from the Nelson, the HBC York Factory stood operational from 1684 to 1957. This site was one of HBC's most significant posts and distribution centres during the fur trade. The Hudson's Bay Company's London Committee conducted negotiations to recognize the worth of women's labour with workers at the York, Eastmain, and Moose factories between 1802 and 1803. The male members of York Factory penned a forceful response in 1802, reminding the committee of women's vital roles in trade and postal services. Question 2: Identify what women were contracted to do for the Northwest and Hudson’s Bay Companies in the Big Houses and the fields. While wives of labourers, translators, and tradespeople often worked as domestic servants in the homes of affluent men, labourer women and the wives of Hudson's Bay Company officers were more concerned with their homes, and the women of the Northwest Company enjoyed several advantages over these women about their husbands. Women in the workforce were employed as itinerant workers. The other women were forced to work as McDonald's domestic slaves by "scrubbing" their own homes and "the big house" to earn their allowances and daily necessities. The big plaza needed to be kept clean, shovelling snow in the winter, cleaning up after

9 stray sled dogs, and sweeping and clearing rubbish. In addition, they had to create "a certain number of tracking shoes for the voyageurs," maintain "the square clean," and grow and harvest potatoes (Cowie, 1993, p. 213). In addition to haying, weeding, and mixing mud for building dwellings and reconstruction, most of the work entailed breaking prairie grass or digging for potatoes. For physically taxing jobs, especially those outside the post's boundaries, women from other communities were employed in addition to Métis women. Question 3 In the transition from Fur Trade to Rural Labourers, what type of roles did women take on in the early 1900s As women moved from the fur trade to agricultural labour in the early nineteenth century, their roles and responsibilities varied according to their backgrounds. Women who worked in the sugar beetroot industry in the early 1800s relied on it as their primary income source. Women pick up skills in all areas of housekeeping, including laundry, cooking, and dairying. They also learn how to sew most of the boy's garments. They were significant to cattle and agriculture. They also assist with the garden, milk the cows in the summer, and are in total charge of the chickens. Native Americans in Canada suffered social, legal, and economic difficulties as white colonization increased. Their standing and the regard they received for their job plummeted. Many women went on to manage their homes and families after working in any field. References for Unit 3 Williams, C. (2012). In Indigenous women and work: From Labor to activism : essay, University of Illinois Press.

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10 Canadian Geographic. (2018, June 4). Fur trade . Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/fur-trade/

Unit activities 1-4

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