History Slam 217: Storytellers, Colonialism, and Community in the Chilcotin Plateau

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By Sean Graham

For every strong, thriving community, there are people actively keeping it alive at its centre. Whether that’s hosting events, checking in on others, or sharing the living memory of the place, these individuals build an environment where stories are shared and passed to the next generation. But when they’re gone, what happens to their stories? Who is there to take that central role in the community? Especially in some of Canada’s rural areas, where younger people are increasingly moving to urban centres, there is a threat to the longstanding regional cultures, stories, and histories that have tied communities together for generations.

In the Chilcotin Plateau, Sage Birchwater spent years gathering stories from those people who spent their lives building the community. With tales from their own lives as well as those that had been passed down through the generations, Birchwater preserved stories that were being lost to colonialization. And as modern technology changes how we communicate, in particular the ways people stay in touch, the opportunities to share stories have decreased – a problem further exacerbated by the pandemic.

The result of this work is Talking to the Story Keepers: Tales from the Chilcotin Plateau. In the book, Birchwater shares the stories from his decades living in the region and provides a spectacular window into the lives and cultures of its residents. The stories are wide ranging – from the trauma of residential schools on familial relationships to the seeming absurdity of a brass band playing in a church while it was being transported across a river – leaving the reader both moved and entertained. And while the book is a regional history, it speaks to issues of community building, identity, and colonialism that exist across the country.

In this episode of the History Slam, I talk with Sage Birchwater about the book. We discuss his approach to the book and building trust with family members (6:01), the sense of community in Chilcotin (11:06), and how stories are lost to colonialization (13:29). We also chat about how stories disappear (17:31), moving a church across a river (27:26), and the national appeal of these stories (33:15).

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Sketching the Passage of Time

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Sketch by David L. Jones. Photo by author. Permission to publish courtesy of Miriam Davidson. Located in Miriam Davidson Papers, Box 2, File 11, Special Collections, University of Arizona.

Laura Madokoro

For the past few weeks, I have been deep into records relating to the 1980s sanctuary movement in the United States. This movement, which has been recalled in recent years as a result of renewed efforts to protect refugees and present-day undocumented migrants, consisted of a loose coalition of churches that offered refuge to arriving migrants from Central America (largely Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador) in the face of the Reagan administration’s ruthless foreign policy and its related refusal to consider people fleeing from the region as refugees.

As I research, I have been thinking about the significance of time to the refugee experience. Depending on the number of days spent in refuge, the experience of sanctuary can become almost carceral.[1] At the same time (no pun intended), refugees need time to prepare asylum claims and convince adjudicating authorities of their need for refuge.

Using the concept of time as a signifier of a particular kind of experience, I would like to use this post to consider the significance of doodles I came across while exploring the Miriam Davidson Papers held in Special Collections at the University of Arizona. Davidson was both a reporting journalist and a participant in the sanctuary movement of the 1980s. Her research notes, which I have been mining, informed the writing of Convictions of the Heart: Jim Corbett and the Sanctuary Movement (University of Arizona Press, 1988) that details the background, unfolding, and impact of the federal prosecution of the sanctuary movement.

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History Slam 216: Heroin & the History of Canada’s Drugs Laws & Use

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By Sean Graham

In recent years, there has been no shortage of news stories on opioids and overdose deaths in Canada. What tends to be missing from these reports, however, is the historical context that shapes public understanding of these issues. The legal, social, and cultural processes that have shaped both access and perception of drugs and drug use in Canada require a critical assessment as communities across the country work towards reducing lethal outcomes.

A good source for that context comes in Susan Boyd’s new book Heroin: An Illustrated History. In tracing the history of heroin from a prescription medication to an illegal substance, Boyd explores the failure to address overdoses, arguing that criminalization and resistance to harm-reduction policies, including safe consumption sites, prevent the implementation of viable solutions. While exploring how issues of race, gender, and class create further legal and cultural inequalities, Boyd provides an outstanding overview of how the past influences contemporary perceptions of such a pressing national issue.

In this episode of the History Slam, I talk with Susan about the book. We discuss the introduction and medicinal use of heroin (10:17), prescription v. elicit heroin (14:26), and prejudice within heroin legislation (24:01). We also chat about how HIV changed public perception of heroin use (29:38), efforts to punish drug manufacturers (36:25), and supervised consumption sites (52:33).

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History Slam 215: Provincial Political Trends & Saskatchewan’s Transition from Left to Right

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By Sean Graham

In the past two years, 7 provinces and territories have held elections, with Quebec and Ontario holding campaigns this year. And if that wasn’t enough, Jason Kenney’s resignation earliere this week further thrust provincial politics into the news. While campaigns and leadership changes generate plenty of interest, the pandemic has served as an important reminder of just how influential provincial/territorial governments are in our daily lives. At the same time, following provincial politics outside where you live, in particular during election campaigns, offers a great lens into local priorities and cultural differences across the country.

A particularly interesting trend in provincial politics has been Saskatchewan’s shift from left to right through the second half of the 20th century. The province of Tommy Douglas, who served as Premier from 1944 to 1961, had CCF and NDP premiers for the majority of the time between 1944 and 2007, with Grant Devine (1982-1991) the only Progressive Conservative premier in that era. That changed in 2007, however, when Brad Wall won the first of his three majority governments leading the Saskatchewan Party. The party won a comfortable majority again in 2020. This transition has been mirrored at the federal level, as the Conservative Party won all 14 of the province’s ridings in the 2021 election.

That shift in Saskatchewan’s political outlook is the subject of Dale Eisler’s new book From Left to Right: Saskatchewan’s Political and Economic Transformation. As the title suggests, Eisler, a long-time journalist who has also worked in the federal government, examines the causes of the province’s shift to the right of the political spectrum. From demographic changes to the transformation of agricultural industries to the economic power of energy production, the policy priorities of Saskatchewan voters have changed significantly over the last 70 years. Eisler not only traces these changes but also effectively engages with what these provincial shifts can tell us about political trends across the country.

In this episode of the History Slam, I talk with Dale Eisler about the book. We discuss Tommy Douglas’ rise to power and the generational shift that followed (10:17), the rise of rural populism in the 20th century (14:53), and how rural economic changes shaped the provincial political landscape (22:46). We also chat about the rise of the Saskatchewan Party and what has made it effective (30:15) and whether Saskatchewan politics foreshadows what happens at the federal level (36:40).You can find Dale’s other book, False Expectations, here plus more on his novel Anton and the subsequent film adaption here.

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Not Noted on the Voyage: Judith Desjarlais and John Rae

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Panoramic black and white photo of a river.

Bloody Falls, Coppermine River. Credit: George Mellis Douglas / Library and Archives Canada / e003894445

By Sara Wilmshurst

Nearly every time I review archival documents, I bump into a story that I’m desperate to pursue, but it is not relevant to the project at hand. This time I decided to just do it. My Google Alerts tell me it is time; Parks Canada’s underwater archaeology team recently announced they are returning to the Franklin Expedition shipwrecks after a two-year pause. This story is about one of the people who searched for the Franklin crews when there was still hope of finding them alive. We are most fortunate Judith Desjarlais told her own story. It appears no one else did.

In 1900 at Peace River Crossing Judith Cardinal, formerly Hope, nee Desjarlais, applied for Métis scrip. While recounting her places of residence Judith reported she “went north with Dr. Rea’s [sic] relief expedition to assist Sir John Franklin.”

At first glance it is not surprising a Métis woman joined a Franklin relief expedition. European travelers often relied on Indigenous women to feed, clothe, and shoe the party, translate, negotiate, and guide, and generally keep everyone alive and upright. Dr. John Rae, the Orcadian physician turned fur trader turned explorer[1], openly admired the Indigenous women he encountered and valued their skills.[2] He was also unusual among his contemporaries because he usually named the Indigenous people he wrote about.[3] I read through Rae’s correspondence, journals, and autobiography, and historians’ accounts of his expeditions, but found no reference to Judith Desjarlais (or any other woman) in the parties. Continue reading →

History Slam 214: Indigenous Voices, Resources, & Learning in Canadian Classrooms

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By Sean Graham

In its final report, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission included several Calls to Action regarding education. One of these was to develop and implement learning resources for all students in Canada so that more Indigenous voices, perspectives, and approaches were included in provincial and territorial curricula. As we’ve seen, however, some efforts to do this have not gone well. Fortunately, with better resources being made available to teachers, so many of whom are exhausted from over two years of pandemic teaching, the situation is slowly improving.

One such resource for teachers is Resurgence, a new volume edited by Christine M’Lot and Katya Adamov Ferguson. Organized using the 4-Rs – Resistance, Resilience, Restoring, and Reconnecting – it includes poetry, art, and narratives from a diverse group of Indigenous artists and writers. The book also includes resources for teachers that range from discussion questions to strategies for introducing Indigenous learning into classrooms. With material that can be used across provincial and territorial curricula and implemented in classrooms from elementary through high school, Resurgence is a terrific addition to the available educational material. Even if you’re not in an educational environment, though, you’re very likely to find plenty in the book to not only keep you interested, but to also learn/discover something new.

In this episode of the History Slam, I talk with Christine M’Lot about the book. We discuss her education background and how that influenced the project (3:45), the 4-R framework and how the book is organized (8:15), and its ability to be used across educational systems (14:14). We also chat about the editors’ learning process (22:31), how audiences can approach the material and Indigenous learning (29:03), and the benefits of meaningfully incorporating Indigenous voices into classrooms (34:42).

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Harvard and Slavery: The Moral Responsibility of History

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By Andrew Nurse

On April 26, 2022, Harvard University announced “that it will spend $100 million” as part of a plan to address what it’s president called “profoundly immoral” practices in the university’s past.[1] At issue is Harvard’s relationship to slavery, racism and colonialism. Harvard is not the first university to grapple with a deeply problematic past, but its response is certainly among the most detailed, expansive, and challenging. I’ll confess I like it, not the least because it asks us to think about history and its implications in important ways.

American universities began to address their historical relationship to slavery nearly two decades ago. In 2003, Brown University in Rhode Island appointed the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. Its 2006 Report provided a model of comprehensiveness that Harvard seems to have tried to follow.[2] In the time since then, William and Mary, Emory, Alabama, UNC Chapel Hill as well as Dalhousie, Huron, and McGill, among others, in Canada have, in different ways, grappled with the same or similar questions.[3] Continue reading →

Learning About Residential Schools At The Shingwauk Site 

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Gallery space in an exhibition with red text and image panels on left and right walls. Door at far end of hallway.

Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall exhibition space at Algoma University, 2018.

Krista McCracken 

The Shingwauk Residential School operated in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario from 1874 to 1970. In 1971, Algoma University College – today known as Algoma University – moved onto the Shingwauk Site. Since 2010, I’ve been part of the staff at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC) that seeks to promote sharing, healing, and learning in relation to the legacy of the Shingwauk Site. My work involves caring for the archival collections of the SRSC, community outreach and access work. My role has changed a number of times since 2010, but the public education focus of my job continues to be present.

Before going any further, I’d like to highlight that none of the work of the SRSC would be possible without the guidance and work of the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association (CSAA). The CSAA is a group of Survivor and intergenerational Survivors associated with the Shingwauk Site, who have been working to support Survivors and promote education since 1981. I am incredibly grateful to work alongside the CSAA. 

In this post, I am reflecting on how the SRSC’s outreach and education programming has shifted over the years. When I began working at the Centre it was common to have school and professional development groups visit who knew nothing or very little about Residential Schools. Likewise, it wasn’t unusual to meet people from Sault Ste. Marie who had no idea that there was a Residential School site located in the city. Continue reading →

History Slam 213: Colonial Violence, National Myths, & the Lynching of Louie Sam

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By Sean Graham

On February 24, 1884, Louie Sam, a Stó:lo teenager, was accused by an angry mob of starting a fire that killed James Bell, a shopkeeper in the settler community Nooksack, in what is now Whatcom County, Washington, which borders British Columbia. Without any evidence, the assembled mob determined that Sam was responsible and, despite him being arrested by Canadian authorities, crossed the border, took him by force, and hanged him. Nobody was ever arrested for Sam’s death, which simultaneously stands a rare documented lynching in Canada as well as a powerful example of the violence associated with colonialism.

Canadian mythology reinforces the idea that Canada was, and is, a ‘peaceable kingdom.’ Louie Sam’s case leads to the question of ‘peaceable for who?’ In 2006, Washington State legislators passed a motion expressing regret and their “deepest sympathies” to Sam’s descendants over the incident, which the CBC reported as being started by two white Americans “who stirred up the mob.”  Framing it as an American event ignores that the same colonial structures and racism shaped Indigenous-settler relationships on both sides of the border.

In his new book, Deadly Neighbours: A Tale of Colonialism, Cattle Feuds, Murder, and Vigilantes in the Far West. Chad Reimer explores the murder of Louie Sam, putting into a broader societal context and challenging the notion that it was a foreign event. In examining the wider colonial environment that surrounded the events of that February night, Reimer is able to provide tremendous depth to his analysis of the murder as well as how it can help us re-examine some of the main themes, narratives, and myths that have long shaped Canadian history.

In this episode of the History Slam, I talk with Chad Reimer about the book. We discuss the existing tensions in the region at the time of the murder and the way Canadians have long thought of colonialism (8:59) as well as the challenge of wading through colonial documents to try and find an accurate representation of what happened (11:55). We also chat about how the violence was about so much more than Louie Sam’s alleged crime (19:40), settlers being conscious of colonialism (25:45), and connecting local stories to broader national narratives (30:34).

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Settler Colonialism in Quebec: a blind spot of academic research? Part 5: The Institutions

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By Kathleen Villeneuve

Translated by Robert Twiss from an original publication in HistoireEngagée.ca

On November 25 to 26, 2021 the Université de Montréal hosted the workshop “Settler Colonialism in Quebec: a blind spot of academic research?” Organized by professors Catherine Larochelle and Ollivier Hubert, the aim of the workshop was to survey the state of research in settler colonial studies, a field which, while it is more developed outside the province, is still in its infancy in Quebec. The workshop was therefore conceived as a first step in the development of the study of Quebecois colonialism, in a context in which “colonial agnosia” still limits debate, in this province perhaps more than elsewhere. The presentations were grouped into thematic panels representing the physical and symbolic spaces through which settler colonialism carves a path.

This fifth and final reflection on the workshop wraps the project up by featuring the work of Ariane Benoît, François Dansereau and Samir Shaheen-Hussain and settler colonialism’s still-visible institutional heritage. At the end, we reflect on the workshop’s concluding words by Caroline-Isabelle Caron and David Meren. Continue reading →