PhD
Dissertation
"Our Strength is Ourselves":
Identity, Status, and Cultural Revitalization Among the Mi'kmaq in
Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland
2008
Abstract
Mi’kmaq in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador are currently
divided in terms of status under the Indian Act, a division which has
had a significant and lasting impact on the sense of a Mi’kmaw
community in the province. Through two case studies, this dissertation
investigates differences in the practice of musical culture as a result
of the status/non-status divide and questions what the localization
strategies of each group can tell us about notions of identity,
indigeneity, and community. It examines how Mi’kmaq in Newfoundland
acknowledge, create, negotiate, embody, enact, and maintain a sense
Mi’kmaw identity and community through the localization of “pan-Indian”
powwow culture.
The first case study focusses on a community of status Mi’kmaq in the
province, located in Miawpukek, and encompasses the localization of
powwow as curriculum in the band-run Se’t A’newey School, musical
expression of the local drum group Sipu’ji’j Drummers, and annual
community event. The second case study focusses on non-status Mi’kmaq
in the province, specifically the drum group at the St. John’s Native
Friendship Centre. Musically, these two contexts display several
differences, particularly in terms of the repertoire each performs (one
“traditional” Mi’kmaq, the other northern powwow) and the singing style
that is used. Related extra-musical elements, such as cultural dress,
also display distinct approaches to participation in powwow as a
representation of identity. However, in both case studies, similarities
emerge in the use of recording technology as a didactic tool, the
egalitarian structure of the drum, and the subversion (at times) of
gender roles asserted as part of the powwow tradition.
Comparative analysis of the two case studies at the centre of this
dissertation demonstrates different strategies for the
localization of powwow. Three primary means of localization emerge: 1)
incorporating pre-existing Mi’kmaw or local songs (such as I’ko) and
dance genres (such as Ko’jua) into the structure of the powwow,
sometimes transposing them for different instrumentation (powwow drum)
or singing style (northern), and sometimes not; 2) inscribing borrowed
powwow traditions with local or Nation-specific meaning through the
embellishment of regalia, the use of local singing style or language,
and discourse that emphasizes tradition or “the Mi’kmaw way”; and 3)
explicitly referencing or implicitly performing local histories. At the
same time that powwow may be localized to assert a Nation-specific
identity, however, it may also be used to express a more personal
identity, or even one broadly constructed as indigenous.
The diversity and contradiction present in the performance of identity,
as well as the ethnic simultaneity experienced by mixed-blood,
non-status individuals in this study, would seem to suggest that
theoretical lenses that emphasize diversity and connectivity, such as
music scenes, would allow one to move past homogeneous notions of
community or singular constructions of ethnicity. However, it is shown
that the way in which individuals speak about their experiences, indeed
the reasons for their engagement in cultural pursuits, is specifically
referring to community-building practices.
This study, grounded in binary structures of status and non-status,
rural and urban, focusses on two ways of knowing and two ways of being
Mi’kmaq in Newfoundland, a doubleness that finds expression in the
Mi’kmaw double-curve motif. These ways of knowing and being are
connected and overlap in many ways while coexisting. They nuance the
commonly recounted histories of encounter, hidden heritages, and
revitalization in the province, and insist that identity be understood
as multiple, as simultaneities.
Chapters
Chapter One: Introduction – Newfoundland’s Union with Canada and its
Lasting Impact on Ktaqmkuk Mi’kmaq
Chapter Two: Mi’kmaw Music in Newfoundland: Issues of History and
Contemporary Practice
Chapter Three: (Re-)Introducing Mi’kmaw Music: Learning, Sharing, and
Expressing Culture On the Rez
Chapter Four: Making Powwow Local: Miawpukek’s Community Drum and Powwow
Chapter Five: Mi’kmaw Powwows: Music, Dance, and Regalia
Styles In Miawpukek
Chapter Six: Creating an Urban Community: Learning, Sharing and
Expressing Culture Off the Rez
Chapter Seven: Making Powwow Local: Sounding Diversity Through A
Friendship Centre Drum Group
Chapter Eight: Conclusion – Localizing the ‘Pan-Indian’ Powwow On and
Off the Rez