tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68108621941445133932024-03-13T23:11:36.649-04:00Pro Bono HistoryRethinking Canadian railway history with Thomas Blampied.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-90747999779681244712023-05-05T09:35:00.003-04:002023-05-05T09:35:39.478-04:00Schivelbusch: A True Genius of Railway History<p>Unbeknownst to many of us, Wolfgang Schivelbusch <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/books/wolfgang-schivelbusch-dead.html">died in Germany in March</a>. I didn't know until this morning, when the <i>New York Times</i> published an obituary. Schivelbusch was what many of us dream of being: an independent scholar. As qualified as any professor, he operated free of institutional constraint, writing the histories he wanted to. It is no exaggeration to say that, were it not for his work, I might not have completed a PhD.</p><p>I first encountered Schivelbusch in the first year of my undergrad in a lecture given by <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/history/people/honorary/wootton/">David Wootton</a> on the history of time and space as intellectual constructs. Using Schivelbusch, Wootton explained how the construction of the railways in Britain had fundamentally changed how people perceived time and space. The increased velocity of rail travel allowed people to travel further in less time. The result was a shrinking of distance. My mind was blown. </p><p>As I delved deeper into railway history, I bought a used copy of <i>The Railway Journey: The Industrialization of Time and Space in the 19th Century</i>, perhaps Schivelbusch's best-known work. I devoured it. It's a truly eclectic book: the chapters don't lead logically from one to the next. Whatever aspect of the railways that Schivelbusch wanted to talk about, he did. He introduced me to the cultural history of rail travel, which helped me to break away from the technical and economic narratives I had been used to. This was how people saw train travel, how they felt train travel, how they loved and feared it. Chapters 3-5, which focus on time and space, are probably more cited than any other work of transportation history (my guess, don't know if this is actually true!). I studied and wrote about Victorian railway travel as an undergrad because of his work. I ultimately fell back into railway history during my MA, albeit from a material culture and memory perspective. </p><p>My PhD also returned to railways, but not in the way that I think Schivelbusch would have expected. Schivelbusch featured twice on my comprehensive examination reading list. <i>The Railway Journey</i> held up well, although I now saw how the second part really did pale compared to those first few critical chapters. Having read much more widely, I also saw how influential he had been on a generation of scholarship. I also had the opportunity to peruse <i>Disenchanted Night: The Industrialization of Light in the Nineteenth Century</i>, which focused on the advent of electricity. This was how I summarized it in my notes:</p><p></p><blockquote>Nobody makes a book quite like Schivelbusch. It’s easy to read, but so incredibly detailed without being heavy. It makes huge claims without being complicated. As is the case in other Schivelbush work, the first chapter(s) is the crucial bit. The rest sort-of peters out. Also, and especially in the chapter on nightlife, the book could have very easily become a social history talking about the people in the night. Instead, it stays true to its focus on technology. This is important as it shows that effective books must stay on topic.</blockquote><p></p><p>When it came time for me to write my dissertation, I focused on politics, development, and colonialism. Oddly, Schivelbusch largely rejected the first two themes in his work and he predated the third. While I did cite him (how could I not?), I largely worked around his assessment of railways. But this is how scholarship works: you contribute to a conversation, taking it in different directions and moving it forward. Without Wolfgang Schivelbusch, it is quite likely that I would never have written my contribution to that conversation.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-32767023624521193232022-12-13T10:24:00.002-05:002022-12-13T10:24:41.101-05:00Behold! A PhD.<p>As the title says, I am no longer a historian-in-training. I am now a doctor, and in the Western academic tradition, that is the end of the road. It has been a long journey, but comparatively short compared to the average. I finished my PhD in five years, whereas the average time to completion is somewhere between 6.5 and 8 years for history. There are a number of reasons for this, and I recognize that I have had some advantages not available to many graduate students. I chose to study a topic geographically close to me, making research travel simple. I lucked out when it came to funding (not that it's ever enough, but everything helps). That funding let me take a year off from teaching, giving me uninterrupted time to process research and to write.<br /></p><p>I have chosen not to place an embargo on the dissertation. I didn't see the need and I know that some people were eager to read it. You can too! (Be warned, it is very long). A PDF can be downloaded from the University of Toronto website here: <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1807/125081">https://hdl.handle.net/1807/125081</a>. <br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-56530943288306953602022-11-03T14:12:00.003-04:002022-11-03T14:12:56.128-04:00The end of northland-book.net<p>In the Internet world, eight years seems like an eternity. Even in the normal world, eight years is quite a long time. In the autumn of 2014, <i>Call of the Northland</i> was published, including a website to host errata and updates. After nearly a decade, I've decided to close down that website. As of today, northland-book.net is no more. Of course, it does live on in the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220523211518/https://www.northland-book.net/">Internet Archive</a>. <br /></p><p>So, if you happen to find northland-book.net somewhere on the Interwebs, it won't be me. If you wanted those errata and updates, you can find them <a href="https://www.probonohistory.ca/p/my-books.html">here</a>.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-49097283895052801302022-09-14T09:27:00.007-04:002022-09-15T18:42:43.688-04:00Ontario Northland's "Every Child Matters" Locomotive<p>This week, Ontario Northland unveiled a repainted locomotive. GP38-2 #1808 is now bright orange and emblazoned with the phrase "Every Child Matters." The phrase has become the slogan for the commemoration of residential schools across Canada and for the recognition of the damage they did. Orange has become the representative colour through Orange Shirt Day (now the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation), which is held on September 30 every year. <br /></p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today we were proud to unveil locomotive 1808 that recently received a new Every Child Matters paint scheme. Thank you to Chief McLeod from Nipissing First Nation, June Commanda, and Blair Beaucage for your participation in this event. <a href="https://t.co/KX066Spc6F">pic.twitter.com/KX066Spc6F</a></p>— Ontario Northland (@OntNorthland) <a href="https://twitter.com/OntNorthland/status/1569422961656086528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <p></p><p>It's not the first time that a railway has chosen to acknowledge residential schools. Last year, <a href="https://www.cpr.ca/en/community/every-child-matters-locomotive">Canadian Pacific painted a locomotive orange</a>. Shortly afterwards, CP painted a second locomotive the same shade of orange (or ridiculously close), but with the <a href="https://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/company/about-us/newsletter/2022/01/first-hapa-lloyd-train-ever.html">Hapag-Lloyd logo to promote a logistics partnership</a>. While I felt that this diluted the message of the first locomotive, the idea of a railway acknowledging residential schools would have been unheard of even a decade ago. Several years ago, Canadian National began including its Aboriginal Affairs logo in its standard locomotive paint scheme. However, <a href="https://www.probonohistory.ca/2019/02/an-indigenous-railway-history-of-canada.html">as I wrote</a>, CN's decision seemed at odds with its corporate policy.</p><p>I applaud all of these gestures designed to acknowledge the treatment of Indigenous people in what we now call Canada. However, I wonder whether railway companies realize how deeply ingrained they are in this colonial reality. If they do realize it, will they ever acknowledge it publicly? Railway construction and operation were fundamental to the expansion of Canada and to the ongoing colonial control by the Canadian state. I think there is a sincere desire to improve relations, but I do wonder if companies have realized what better relations might mean. As someone who spent the past five years studying the impact of railway development on Indigenous communities in Northeastern Ontario, I have come to realize just how daunting a challenge moving forward in a good way will be.</p><p>While "Every Child Matters" is being used by these companies to represent the entire relationship between railways and Indigenous communities, let's not forget that it is supposed to be rooted in one of the federal government's key Indigenous policies: residential schools. Publicly at least, Ontario Northland has been quiet about its own role in residential schools. I'm sorry to say that my research is also largely quiet on this question. My work was based almost entirely on archival research, and connections between Ontario Northland and the schools are almost non-existent in the archival record. </p><p>However, there is just about enough material to make some very broad observations about Ontario Northland and the schools. Were trains used to transport Indigenous children to residential schools? Yes. <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Geniesh_an_Indian_Girlhood.html?id=Ni4aAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">Jane Willis's autobiography</a> recounts that this happened, as does the TRC report and the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220319230305/https://www.mushkegowuk.com/?cat=63">Mushkegowuk Council's Peoples's Inquiry</a>. Did the expansion of the Ontario Northland Railway improve logistics in Northeastern Ontario? Yes, I hope that part is obvious. Did the aforementioned improvements to logistics allow for the expansion of the Horden Hall Residential School at Moose Factory? Yes, correspondence between the federal Department of Indian Affairs and the Church of England says so. Further research, especially in collaboration with local communities, would provide a much clearer answer. This is one of those times when local people, those who lived this, would provide a much better answer than I ever could. As such, my observations should not be the final word on this. Instead, take them as a call for further thought.</p><p>Gestures like the ONR's special paint scheme are important. As media coverage has noted, this is only a part of a much larger effort by the railway to foster better relations with First Nations along the line. And this is key! Gestures must be backed up with lasting positive actions. I look forward to seeing what comes next. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-19135669793274107152022-04-26T12:41:00.002-04:002022-04-26T12:41:25.441-04:00FYI: I am no longer on Twitter<p> Bye-bye Twitter!<br /><br />It’s a cliché right now, people dumping Twitter in righteous indignation at Elon Musk’s purchase of the social network. I’m not happy about the move at all, I think it’s a dangerous concentration of power and influence, but ultimately it was only the catalyst for me leaving the site. I took a long hiatus from Twitter last fall and really didn’t miss it. I was never a productive user and my presence was minimal. Even with carefully curating what I read and followed, it was still too angry. Most of the time, it just left me feeling sad. I'm not really a social media person.<br /><br />I have now deleted my account. If you find a Thomas Blampied on Twitter, it’s not me. If you find a ProBonoHistory on Twitter, it’s not me. My website isn’t going anywhere and those of you who want to get in touch can through it. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-14271492491683801902021-01-09T11:25:00.000-05:002021-01-09T11:25:15.160-05:00Lasso’s Erased, or why everything I thought I knew about the Panama Canal was wrong<p>Review of Marixa Lasso, <i>Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal</i> (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2019).</p><p>Many years ago, I studied the construction of the Panama Canal as my main academic focus. In particular, I researched leisure time and tourism during the construction period and the fascinating contrast between life in the American-controlled Canal Zone and in the neighbouring Panamanian cities. In general, I relied on the <i>Canal Record</i> (the official newspaper of the Isthmian Canal Commission), travelogues, memoirs, and existing secondary literature. After several years, academic politics and research limitations forced me to shift my focus and I ended up back on North American topics.<br /><br />However, my interest in the Canal has never really gone away. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to deliver a guest lecture summarizing the Canal construction and my conclusions about leisure and tourism in the Zone. While I was putting together lecture slides, I struggled to find images of Panamanian towns from the early 20th century. I could find many photographs of official Canal buildings and housing, but almost none of Panamanian communities. Marixa Lasso’s recent and groundbreaking study of the Canal explains why.<br /><br />Although <i>Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal</i> is a sensationalist choice for a title, it should not detract from what is an extremely valuable contribution to the historiography on the Canal. This is a rigorous piece of scholarship that uses a broad and rich array of sources to challenge many of the standard conclusions about the construction of the Panama Canal. Lasso’s central argument is that as construction of the Canal neared completion, the American authorities undertook a campaign of relocation to remove non-Canal personnel from the Canal Zone. Fuelled by growing racial prejudice and inaccurate understandings of the region, officials hoped to transform the Zone into a civilized tropical paradise. However, as Lasso skillfully demonstrates, this erased centuries of republican government, a sophisticated polity, and denied agency to a Panamanian/Columbian community that saw itself very much as part of the ‘civilized’ world. <br /><br />Through extensive archival research and work on the ground in Panama, Lasso is able to begin the process of reconstructing the lost world of central Panama as it existed before the 1912 order to depopulate the region. The forced relocation literally erased centuries of thriving mercantile communities that were a global crossroads. In their place, new communities were promised far from the Canal, but they were left mostly incomplete and languished without the trade connections that had brought centuries of prosperity. <br /><br />By focusing on the immediate consequences of Canal construction, Lasso counters most of the corpus on the Canal. David McCullough’s triumphalist account is the story of American technological and political superiority, but it fails to see the complex and sophisticated society that already existed on the Isthmus. Labour histories by Julie Greene and Michael Conniff focus on the workers but say little about the local population. Alexander Missal’s work on the cultural attraction of the canal (a personal favourite) does focus on the control of the Zone, yet says little about those who lived there before. Perhaps only Michael Donoghue’s borderlands history of the Zone comes close, but even it tends to focus on the post-construction period and the growing movement for Panamanian control of the Zone in the mid-20th century. By shifting the focus onto the local (and adopted immigrant) populations, Lasso calls into question the assumptions made by decades of scholarship. <br /><br />If I have one criticism of the book, it is one that would be shared by any work trying to resurrect a world that has been eradicated from the record. While Lasso has done an excellent job of piecing together the Panamanian world prior to Zone depopulation, there remains a degree of speculation in the book which is somewhat unsettling. As someone working on Canadian Indigenous history, I appreciate the complexity of archival erasure and understand that speculation may be the best answer given the circumstances. I do not believe that this detracts from the book and it offers encouragement for further research.<br /><br />It is no surprise that I struggled to find images of Panamanian life away from the Zone. As Lasso’s important contribution to the history of the Panama Canal shows, the American fixation on the Canal was rooted in a mindset that could not accept the existing Panamanian society. By shifting the focus away from Canal construction, Marixa Lasso’s book should be required reading for anyone studying the Canal, or infrastructure in a colonial context more broadly. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-1732130235848998592020-12-14T14:50:00.001-05:002020-12-14T14:50:33.436-05:00The Afterlife of a Book<p>I recently received some completely unexpected and very kind <a href="https://twitter.com/Jorg_Broschek/status/1338164159318515715" target="_blank">tweets</a> about my most recent book, <i><a href="https://www.northland-book.net/" target="_blank">Call of the Northland</a></i>. I say recent, but it's already six years old. Apparently, the reader bought the book last year and recently got around to reading it. The timing was uncanny. I've been thinking a lot about that book recently, but not in a good way.<br /><br />Maybe I went about writing it in the wrong way. I chose to title this post the "afterlife" very deliberately. For me, publication was the end, not the beginning. I didn't think much about reception (I was just starting my MA and was a tad busy). To this day, I've never read my book in full, but I have read enough to make me cringe. In particular, I am very upset with the way I portrayed Indigenous people and Indigenous issues. My understanding at the time was beyond superficial and played into more stereotypes than I was conscious of. In all likelihood, I probably did a better job than the majority of Canadians would have in 2014, but still. I have learned so much since, nowhere near enough, but the connections between Indigenous life and infrastructure have become my 9 to 5. Most importantly, I have learned how much I don't know. If <i>Call of the Northland</i> were written today, it would be a very different book.<br /><br />I don't want to say I'm ashamed of the book now, even though I am, and I rarely mention it to people. I suppose I should be proud. After all, were it not for <i>Call of the Northland</i>, I probably wouldn't be studying the relationship between Ontario Northland and Indigenous communities today. I love the work and I still love writing. I guess I'm pretty lucky.<br /><br />One of the tweets asked about the sequel. It's true, another problem with a book is that it captures a moment in time. The story ends the day that it hits the printer. Someone picking up <i>Call of the Northland</i> in 2020 is reading my thoughts from six years ago. I did upload an "<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/y50s3nf9svqvqsw/Updates_and_Corrections.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">updates and corrections</a>" document that concluded at the end of 2014, but I haven't said much since. In the past six years, Ontario Northland has gone through a sort of rejuvenation. Bus transportation has become much more prominent within the organization, as has the remanufacturing division. The <i>Polar Bear Express</i> has been upgraded for the first time in nearly 30 years by refurbishing the passenger cars made surplus by the cancellation of the <i>Northlander</i>. Of course, this move means that Ontario Northland would need to source more passenger cars if the <i>Northlander</i> were restarted. The fate of the <i>Northlander </i>itself remains uncertain. In April 2020, the Doug Ford government shifted oversight of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission from the Ministry of Northern Development & Mines to the Ministry of Transportation. The last time that Transportation was in charge of Ontario Northland was back in the 1970s, which was an era of expansion and innovation for the railway. Don't get me wrong, I think it is far too soon to celebrate, but the signs are more positive than they were even two years ago. <br /><br />I don't think that the repositioning of Ontario Northland as a transportation, rather than a development, entity is a proactive move. The transportation landscape in Northern Ontario has changed a great deal since the attempt to divest the Ontario Northland was cancelled in 2014. The CN (formerly Algoma Central) passenger service from Sault Ste. Marie to Hearst doesn't run anymore. VIA Rail reduced service on the Toronto-Vancouver run. Greyhound cancelled its bus services in the region as well. If the Ontario government had not shifted its thinking and worked with Ontario Northland to boost bus service first with the (ultimately aborted) Manitoulin Island expansion and more recently with expansion to White River, Thunder Bay, and Winnipeg, Northwestern Ontario would have been completely isolated with the exception of private cars. While some smaller bus companies tried to fill in some gaps, the region needed some sort of network. In December 2020, the Ministry of Transportation published its new strategy for Northern Ontario transportation, including a serious examination of reinstating passenger rail service between Toronto and Northeastern Ontario. Time will tell if this amounts to anything, but the signs are better than they have been for quite some time. As I said, this change of direction is not so much proactive as a reaction to a rapidly changing transportation situation. In particular, it has become impossible for government to ignore Indigenous issues, even if this attention does not always lead to better, more respectful outcomes. The Ring of Fire mining exploration continues, although plans for rail connections are now off the table. The focus is now on road development and establishing better communications infrastructure. The Ford government has also loosened environmental assessment requirements, which has upset many Indigenous communities (see my point above about better, more respectful outcomes).<br /><br />So, what's the story since 2014? It's one of a leaner Ontario Northland setting off in different directions in Ontario and beyond with, at least for now, better government backing. COVID-19 has changed transportation everywhere, so these are still uncertain times. All in all, the attempted divestment from 2012-14 is beginning to fade into the background. It had lasting effects, but they were perhaps not as drastic as had been predicted. In <i>Call of the Northland</i>, I predicted that I would never see the North again. It was a bit dramatic perhaps, and in the summer of 2019 I did visit North Bay, travelling by bus from Toronto. I have to say it: Ontario Northland buses are comfortable with decent leg room. No, they don't beat the train, but things could be much, much worse. <br /><br />If there is a lesson here, it's that books have a life - or an afterlife as I like to think about it. They are a snapshot; a moment in time. Sometimes they sit on a shelf and gather dust. But sometimes, they jump out again.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-17445876287552899482020-04-08T09:49:00.000-04:002020-04-08T09:49:28.011-04:00Why Pierre Berton Should Not Define Canadian Railway HistoryDuring the past two weeks I have been filling one of those reading gaps that shouldn’t exist. If you claim to study some aspect of railway history in Canada, you really need to know what Pierre Berton said in his two-part chronicle of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway: <i>The National Dream</i> and <i>The Last Spike</i>. After all, Canada’s unofficial historian probably penned the most-read account of anything rail-related in Canada.<br />
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My reluctance to read his work was because I thought I knew what he would say: the construction of the CPR built Canada, it was a triumph over untamed wilderness, it was the heroic endeavour of a bunch of white guys. Oh Berton, I misjudged you. A little.<br />
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Don’t get me wrong, that’s basically what his two books say, and he tells it like the master wordsmith he is. But that isn’t the whole story here. I tried to approach these books from the perspective of an Indigenous history of the railway. I had assumed that Berton had nothing to say about Indigenous people and the railway. I assumed wrong. Indigenous people are present in several parts of the books. But I think that actually makes it worse. Berton actually has some very emotive passages about the impact that the CPR had on Indigenous people, but his grappling with this issue is even more clumsy than mine is.<br />
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Even before the construction of the railway really gets going, we catch glimpses of the tropes that Berton uses. Surveyors “tended to fall in love with the virgin territory they explored.” (Berton, <i>The National Dream</i>, 156) Here he plays with two notions: the myth of wilderness, and the penetrative (sexual) conquest that so informed the colonial mindset. This is a land (and everything in it) for the taking. Were it not for acknowledging the legacy of the HBC, you would think the CPR had stumbled across terra nullius.<br />
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It’s in the <i>The Last Spike</i>, however, that Berton really gets going and his thoughts on Indigenous people are worth quoting at length:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“To the Indians, the railway symbolized the end of a golden age – an age in which the native peoples, liberated by the white man’s horses and the white man’s weapons, had galloped at will across their untrammelled domain, where the game seemed unlimited and the zest of the hunt gave life a tang and purpose. This truly idyllic existence came to an end with the suddenness of a thunderstorm just as the railway, like a glittering spear, was thrust through the ancient hunting grounds of the Blackfoot and the Cree … From a proud and fearless nomad, rich in culture and tradition, he became a pathetic, half starved creature, confined to the semi-prisons of the new reserves and totally dependent on government relief for his existence.” (Berton, <i>The Last Spike</i>, 232)</blockquote>
Let’s unpack this. Berton is clearly aware of Indigenous people and he understands quite a bit about settler contact. But he is also totally oblivious to the reality as he wrote in the 1970s, a moment when these supposedly dead cultures were growing and taking on the federal government and Canadian society. He has bought into the idea of the Indigenous being only in the past, something relegated to history that no longer concerns present-day Canadians. This is the noble savage, the passing of a stoic race. Even more, it seems that Indigenous people should be thankful. After all, their freedom had only been secured through settler horses and weapons. Both of these things had significant impacts on Indigenous cultures, but to suggest that they are what made Indigenous peoples successful is settler conceit in the extreme. Berton goes on, to the annoyance of any academic historian, stating that “The buffalo, on which the entire Indian economy and culture depended, were actually gone before the coming of the railway; but the order of their passing is immaterial.” (Berton, <i>The Last Spike</i>, 232) Actually, the order is very much material. If we are going to pretend it isn’t, then we are contributing to the erasure of the past.<br />
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But then Berton changes tack and things get a little disturbing. Berton tries to explain the benevolence of government agricultural policy, which<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“born of expediency, was a two-stage one. The starving Indians would be fed at public expense for a period which, it was hoped, would be temporary. Over a longer period, the Indian Department would attempt to bring about a sociological change that normally occupied centuries. It would try to turn a race of hunters into a community of peasants. It would settle the Indians on reserves, provide them with tools and seed, and attempt to persuade them to give up the old life and become self-sufficient as farmers and husbandmen. The reserves would be situated on land considered best suited for agriculture, all of it north of the line of the railway, far from the hunting grounds. Thus the CPR became the visible symbol of the Indian’s tragedy.” (Berton, <i>The Last Spike</i>, 232-33). </blockquote>
Berton didn’t have Daschuk’s <i>Clearing the Plains</i> to read, but he seemed to have a lot of information at hand. So, why didn’t he say that the starvation was in fact part of the government policy of coercion? Would not transforming a “race” into a “community” against its will be tantamount to genocide? Were reserves really placed on prime agricultural land? (Actually, Daschuk says sort-of, although hobbled by government policy and inadequate resources). In Berton's retelling, the government is taking on a tough sociological puzzle; what brave visionaries! This painfully romantic image of the situation (which we can look back on, tut-tut at our forefathers, and move forward from) is sugar-coated in a way which makes me suspect that Berton knew more than he said. When he suspects he has said too much, he re-centres the story: the Indian Commissioner Dewdney and the CPR are cold of the plight befalling Indigenous people until Father Albert Lacombe intervenes to save his Indigenous followers. Once again, the story becomes a settler-dominated one.<br />
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Things become even more messy with the Métis, as Berton spends little time going into detail about Riel’s cause, yet dedicates dozens of pages to the heroic journey of the soldiers travelling westward to suppress him. This choice does two things: firstly, it centres the Red River Resistance as a settler issue and, secondly, it makes Métis and Indigenous resistance a sideshow to the imposition of law and order by the Canadian state. This denies Indigenous agency. More broadly, this sidelining suggests that First Nations and Métis people are not part of the Canadian historical narrative, a position apparently only held by settlers. As most writers have, Berton also indicts Poundmaker, although this assertion has now been thoroughly discredited. As Berton explains, the defeat of Riel marks the end of Indigenous resistance and I find this claim to be rather amusing. If resistance had truly ended, would there still be First Nations and Métis people across the Prairies today?<br />
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Pierre Berton undoubtedly did much to further the Canadian understanding of its past, but he did so within the confines of his time. I suggest that he knew more than he said, and that in doing so he perpetuated the stereotypes and quiet acceptance of colonial government policy that still hurt Canada today. In a related vein, the Onderdonk's Chinese workers in the Rockies are described in detail, albeit largely in terms related to government policy. This also reinforces the notion of Canada as a nation of immigrants, which further erases the Indigenous presence.<br />
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As Andy den Otter lamented in the late 1990s, Berton's narrative of the CPR has been taken as gospel by both the Canadian public and Canadian historians. While <i>The Philosophy of Railways</i> did a lot to counter Berton's understanding of what motivated railway construction, it did not address the complex issues of the Indigenous perspective. Since den Otter's book was published, only one monograph has dealt with Canadian railway history. But rather than further our understanding of the Indigenous perspective, Saje Mathieu's <i>North of the Color Line</i> shows us that we understand railway history even less than we thought by investigating the transnational networks of African-American and African-Canadian sleeping car porters. So, do we really know Canada's railway history at all?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-51207428727297865422020-02-15T10:57:00.000-05:002020-02-15T10:57:46.718-05:00My research interests are front-page news and I have so much to think about!<h2 style="break-after: avoid; font-size: 13pt; margin: 10pt 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Canada is having a woke railway moment<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> What a moment Canadians find themselves in. A courageous movement of people have paralyzed a large portion of the national railway infrastructure and have caused what is frankly the most significant railway disruption in Canadian history. I study railway development in Northern Ontario and its impact on Indigenous communities. In short, I am in academic overdrive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> However, as my brain fires on all cylinders, I am left with far more questions than answers. I do not really study Indigenous activism, so on this side of the issue I am much less clear. When it comes to the railway, I am on stable ground. What follows is a selection of my thoughts, some of which are more complete than others. I think that all Canadians have a lot to think about right now. For many, once the blockades are lifted this will soon fade into memory, but this will stay with me longer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What Happened?<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> For years, the Wet’suwet’en have been fighting to ensure that pipeline construction projects are conducted on their own terms. This happened, sort of. Elected band council chiefs mostly agreed to allow the Coastal GasLink pipeline plan to go ahead. But the elected chiefs are only representatives in the highly artificial and imposed structure of <i>Indian Act</i> Crown-Indigenous relations. Hereditary Chiefs, because the Wet’suwet’en are a people who have hereditary Chiefs, do not agree to allow pipeline development. This means that there is an internal conflict within their communities, let alone the tension with outside forces. For an excellent primer on this, see the <a href="https://www.firstpeopleslaw.com/index/articles/438.php" target="_blank">First Peoples Law guide</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Many Wet’suwet’en people do not want the pipeline, so they set up camps to block construction access. Naturally, the pipeline consortium called the police, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s involvement over the past two years has made things much worse. According to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/canada-indigenous-land-defenders-police-documents" target="_blank">Guardian</a>, the RCMP authorized snipers to use whatever force was needed to subdue the occupation. For those of you unfamiliar with the RCMP, it borders on paramilitary – from its tactics to its ranking system. But that was a year ago. The catalyst for this series of protests was the RCMP decision to enforce an injunction to clear the Wet’suwet’en protest camps this month. This is what caused sympathy protests to take place across Canada, many choosing to target railway tracks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unprecedented disruption<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Unless I am very much mistaken, shutting almost the entirety of VIA Rail (except Northern Manitoba and Sudbury-White River) along with pretty much all of the eastern portion of CN’s network, is the most significant disruption to Canada’s railway network ever. Labour disputes rarely shut down every train and normally there is a wind-down period first when trains are moved to yards. This time, trains are stuck on the main line. Passenger trains never reached their destinations. I think that CN’s decision to shut down is a practical response to the situation, but I am also sure that it is partly a pressure tactic to scare the government into action. From an Indigenous perspective, these blockades are a very visible form of resistance and a real statement against the colonial structure that continues to shape Canada. After all, the railway plays a central role in the history of Canadian colonialism. For examples, see Adele Perry’s amazing Twitter thread <a href="https://twitter.com/AdelePerry/status/1228424207320657921" target="_blank">here</a> or my discussion of Treaty 9 in Northern Ontario <a href="http://activehistory.ca/2018/12/queens-park-looks-to-the-north-mining-treaties-transportation/" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> The most significant blockade is at a location known as CN Marysville, east of Belleville, Ontario. I was actually there last summer, just watching the trains roll by. It is a very unassuming location, but it borders the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. If the boundaries on Google Maps are to be believed, the crossing is not actually on reserve land, but it is certainly on the traditional territory of the Tyendinaga community. This is CN’s main line between Toronto and Montreal and it carries all VIA passenger trains from Toronto to Montreal and Ottawa. Trains stopped moving on February 6, and haven’t moved since. Other blockades have sprung up across the country, disrupting railway operations in BC, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec (and probably elsewhere, this is a fast-moving story). The majority of these blockades have targeted CN tracks, but CP has also experienced disruptions, notably in Southern BC. While CN has received a provincial court injunction to clear the blockade at Marysville, the Ontario Provincial Police has yet to carry it out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> The hesitancy about clearing the blockade says many things. For one, it says that the place of railways in Canada is not what it once was. By allowing the blockade to stand, the pipeline development is being given the higher priority. While the national railway network was 19<sup>th</sup>-century Canada’s megaproject, the 20<sup>th</sup> and 21<sup>st</sup> centuries belong to pipelines. While many, including federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, are calling on the Justin Trudeau to step in, the reality is that Ottawa can’t do much. The injunction was provincial and therefore it is up to Doug Ford’s government to act. I am not surprised that the government is hesitating. The state has learned a lot since Oka, Ipperwash, and Caledonia. While the police default is still to prepare for an all-out war, the last thing Ontario or Canada wants is violence being broadcast by the world’s media, which is perhaps why the <a href="https://www.canadalandshow.com/podcast/312-siege-on-wetsuweten/" target="_blank">media are having such a hard time covering this</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> More broadly, we are seeing a very different tactic. While Andrew Scheer calls for Indigenous people to “<a href="https://aptnnews.ca/2020/02/14/they-need-to-check-their-privilege-scheer-calls-for-police-to-end-demonstrations/" target="_blank">check their privilege</a>” and essentially go back to being subjugated, Trudeau is letting the protest run its course. Meanwhile, Doug Ford isn’t doing much, which he is highly skilled at doing. If Scheer was Prime Minister, the blockades would be down and I suspect blood would have been shed by now. I’m not letting Trudeau off the hook here, the Crown-Indigenous relationship remains highly adversarial on his watch and the state continues to meddle unnecessarily in Indigenous lives, but at least he likes to talk rather than lead with his fists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Railways matter, my work matters<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> One of the most difficult parts of doctoral study is feeling that you are accomplishing nothing. You spend years on things that most people will think are a waste of time. For the past week, my research topics have been front-page news in Canada. I study railway development. I study how this development affected Indigenous people. True, my work looks at Northern Ontario, but this is a region that never gets any media attention. In a sense, this makes understanding the role of the railway near James Bay even more pressing. The Tyendinaga defenders of Indigenous rights chose their location wisely. It is near enough for Toronto journalists to actually visit. No doubt this will fade from media attention and I will feel my work doesn’t matter more often than I think it does, but it is also hard not to think that something is happening right now. Settler people are connecting railways to colonialism in a way that few of us have before. This is exciting.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-12144416964614792462020-02-11T10:24:00.000-05:002020-02-11T10:24:01.161-05:00Six Months On: Reflections on “Railroads in Native America”<h2 style="font-size: 13pt; margin: 10pt 0cm 0.0001pt;">
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Thirty Thousand Feet Above the Fields<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> One of the most striking examples of the imposition of European Enlightenment rationality onto North America is the overlaying of the grid system onto land by European settlers. The surveying of towns and farm plots for private ownership during the 19<sup>th</sup> century was a tangible articulation of the new order being imposed by settler colonialism onto Indigenous land. Flying over the American Midwest, the rigid grid structure of Iowa farmers’ fields was a striking reminder of the historical process of settlement, and its lasting form. As the plane began its descent over the Missouri River, we neared Omaha, where I would be exploring another facet of this settler colonial process: the railroad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Throughout 2019, commemorations and celebrations were held to mark the 150<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the completion of the American transcontinental railroad. In 1869, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific met near Promontory, Utah, linking the Pacific Coast to Council Bluffs, where the UP joined up with the rest of the American rail network to the Eastern Seaboard. As Richard White has pointed out, this was not really a transcontinental railroad at all, but when its construction was combined with the frontier ethos, it felt like a bringing together of the disparate states of America, helping to heal the divisions of the Civil War.[1] The last spike was a momentous occasion for the relatively young nation, but for the people who had occupied the land for millennia, the railroad was a confusing, intimidating, exciting, and above all transformative newcomer. I was meeting a group of people who hoped to think beyond the commemorative celebrations and understand what the railroad has meant in Native America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I don’t officially study the United States, and I certainly don’t study the transcontinental railroad. In fact, I have to confess that much of what I knew about it before this gathering was informed by the AMC series <i>Hell on Wheels</i> (ok, and White’s book). I was the only Canadian at this symposium, and I hoped to explain the similarities and differences between my work on railway development in Northern Ontario and the much larger project in the American West that had taken place over 30 years earlier. More importantly, I wanted to see how other professionals, scholars, and elders understood railway development and its impact on Indigenous people. As the headquarters of the Union Pacific, Omaha was an ideal location to hold this discussion, which was sponsored primarily by the UP, the National Parks Service, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which also hosted the gatherings. Omaha itself is an excellent example of the settler understanding of land. It is a sprawling city, over 140 square miles, with few buildings taller than two or three stories. This is a space where land appears unlimited and can be used inefficiently without consequences. Indigenous teachings tell us a different story, where actions have consequences and land and all it does for us must be respected. The development of the American West really was the imposition of a new worldview.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> If nothing else happens in my doctoral journey, my few days in Omaha will have made it all worthwhile. It was my first foray into the academic world as a doctoral candidate, my first presentation in the United States, and there wasn’t a single bad paper or presentation during the whole event. The participants were friendly, knowledgeable and, above all enthusiastic about the topic. While the work was all of a truly excellent quality, several of these discussions really stood out for me, and it is these that I want to reflect on. (For a full list of presentations and presenters, visit the Union Pacific Museum’s <a href="http://www.uprrmuseum.org/uprrm/tours/news/railroads-in-native-america-symposium-2019/index.htm" target="_blank">website</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The California Myth<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Until very recently, most people’s understanding of California’s past was the story of the Missions: Franciscan outposts spaced a day’s journey apart as Catholicism headed North along the coast. The Spanish place names all over California seemed to corroborate this Hispanic heritage. After all, who else would pick names like San Diego, San Luis Obispo, or Ventura? It turns out that it was mostly Anglo-Americans in the late 19<sup>th</sup> and early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries. California is home to one of the most enduring historical myths in the U.S., and Indigenous history blows it apart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> As Michael Connelly Miskwish and Theresa Gregor showed, the Mission Myth is an act of historical erasure. California was home to a wide variety of Indigenous peoples, and perhaps the greatest concentration of Indigenous languages anywhere. “El Camino Real,” as we have come to know it, was really a weak patchwork of missions, mostly concentrated around Baja California. In many cases, the Padres met strong resistance, controlled little land, and most mission development was abandoned by the 1840s, but not before disease had significantly weakened Indigenous communities. The coming of the railway and later roads encouraged local businessmen to promote the region to investors. To do this, they chose to resurrect the piecemeal mission system and to bolster it through a constructed Hispanic heritage. A key tactic in constructing this was to replace Indigenous place names with Spanish ones: Tecuan became Tijuana, and so forth. By constructing the idea of “El Camino Real,” the Automobile Club of Southern California hoped to attract tourists looking for the mythical Spanish past. All this helped to hide California’s Indigenous past and marginalize the surviving tribes. Only recently has the California Genocide been acknowledged as an act of physical and cultural erasure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> But there is another, equally troubling side to this story. Historians and educators have been complicit in perpetuating the Mission Myth. Until very recently, all California 4<sup>th</sup> grade students were required to complete what is known as the “Mission Project,” a history module where a passing grade was determined by how well a student could retell and explain the Spanish Missions. For Indigenous students, who knew better, they could choose to accurately explain the erasure of their cultures and the imposition of the Spanish myth (and fail), or toe the line (and pass). As the complexity of California’s development has become more widely known, the curriculum has been revised, and the “Mission Project” now allows for multiple interpretations. Why were educators complicit? According to Miskwish and Gregor, the Mission Myth was too vital to the California tourism industry to lose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Food Sovereignty<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I don’t study food history, but Adae Romero-Briones and Hillary Renick convinced me of the railroad’s role in damaging Indigenous foodways. Railway development reshaped land, which in turn reshaped cultivation patterns and migratory routes for animals. Railroads and the farmers they brought introduced new animals to the West, like pigs and horses, which upset existing ecosystems. Railroads were part of an extractive system, where commodities like bison were collected in mass quantities and then shipped away. In fact, in the Cochiti language, the same term is used for white railway passengers and for invasive species. As the railroad promoted tourism, it built the pottery industry, which shifted Indigenous communities to a cash economy, which also changed how food was sourced. Where Indigenous people had once grown their own food, they now needed money to buy it. Perhaps most damaging, railroads brought in a sugar-heavy diet, which continues to wreak havoc on Indigenous (and frankly settler) health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> But all is not lost, as these two strong community leaders showed, the tide is turning and Indigenous communities are reclaiming their food sovereignty. Key to this is getting the next generation interested in food and in cultivating traditional food practices through local projects. Most importantly, we need to see the dollar as a tool, not the end-goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Telegraph<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> In Canada, the telegraph was synonymous with railroad development. In the U.S., it actually predated it by eight years! And just like the railroad, one company built east and one west, with the two meeting at Salt Lake. As Edmund Russell explained, this complicates our understanding of the role of the telegraph in the colonization of space. Here, the telegraph is actually the agent driving railway development, not the other way around. While Russell is now a senior scholar, he is very much at the same juncture as me: we are both trying to take an established historiography and challenge it by thinking about how Indigenous peoples fit into the picture and about how this changes our understanding of technology. With the telegraph, it was obviously a technology foreign to tribes. It was both a dramatic demonstration of settler technology, and a dangerous system that could deliver a powerful electric shock (something that was done to unsuspecting Indigenous people on more than one occasion). But its construction also offered opportunities for guiding and supplying of the construction crews. We cannot forget, however, that the technology also encroached on Indigenous land and was met with armed resistance on multiple occasions. This resistance meant an increased army presence in the West, and the improved communication offered by telegraphy boosted military efficiency. In the context of the American West, Russell argues, we can see the telegraph as a prototype for the railway development that followed it. These ideas will be part of a larger book project on the construction of the transcontinental telegraph and I am looking forward to reading it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Symposium Painting<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<a href="http://www.uprrmuseum.org/cs/groups/public/@uprr/@corprel/documents/digitalmedia/img_uprrm_rr_native_america.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="621" height="308" src="https://www.uprrmuseum.org/cs/groups/public/@uprr/@corprel/documents/digitalmedia/img_uprrm_rr_native_america.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Sitting near the entrance was a modest-sized painting by Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist and teacher Paul High Horse. This is an image steeped in symbolism depicting the coming of the Ȟemáni, the Lakota word for train. The track is coming from the East, the land in the West darkens as the railroad approaches. The white buffalo, a symbol of peace, will not cross the track as a cloud of smoke follows the right-of-way. But this is but a moment in time: the smoke will disperse; and the nearby lodge and altar are still standing. In this painting, the visual representation of the symposium, the railroad is a powerful transformative force, but one that will pass just as smoke does not linger forever. The land will outlast it, and so will Indigenous peoples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Metal Road<o:p></o:p></span></i></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> The short documentary, <i>Metal Road</i>, was something I was not expecting to see, but it was an important reminder that Indigenous interactions with railroads are not all negative. For generations in the Southwest, the Union Pacific has employed a track gang made up almost entirely of Navajo workers, often including multiple generations of the same family. Their employment came at a moment when the UP was desperate for manpower. After WWII, Mexican labourers brought in to keep the railroad operating were deported, leaving a void in UP’s workforce. Track maintenance is hard work for anyone, but it has two main advantages that have kept some Navajo coming back. Track work is outdoor work and allows for a continued connection to the land. Further, track maintenance shifts are often intensive with substantial breaks in between. In the case of the UP, shifts are either four days on/three off, or eight days on/eight off. This time flexibility allows Navajo workers to remain close to home for long periods of time and retain a great deal of autonomy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> However, it isn’t an ideal situation because this shift design wreaks havoc with seniority and benefits, and the Navajo reach retirement age with no security, something that advocates within the railroad are working to remedy going forward. This is part of a wider commitment UP is developing to better engage with tribal communities and to make their employment opportunities more attractive for Indigenous people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Meskwaki Understanding of the Railroad<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> If any one paper offered a blueprint for the sort of rethinking of the railroad that I hope to do, it was Erik Gooding’s presentation of the Meskwaki perspective on the UP’s tracks through their territory. In North America, the Meskwaki is an unusual Indigenous community because it lives on private land secured with the help of the state of Iowa over 100 years ago. As a result, the railroad needed to negotiate for access to the area, promising free passage (which doesn’t mean much when passenger rail is abolished). Critical to the Meskwaki understanding of the railroad is the separation of train and track. The train is a momentary phenomenon and soon passes by. On the other hand, the track is a permanent presence and its alteration of the land is more lasting. Gooding listed the multitude of ways the railroad has influenced life, both in good and bad ways. The right-of-way changed the landscape; scared wildlife; caused environmental damage (especially through derailments); increased access to alcohol and provided an easy option for suicide; disturbed traditional land use; and cut their territory in half. But there were also more positive developments as well. The railroad provided some employment, its bridges offered an easy (but risky) route across water, and it fostered cultural contact with the hobo community so lauded in nearby Britt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> As Gooding pointed out, the key here is balance and to understand the railroad as both a positive and negative force. An anthropologist, he has worked with the Meskwaki for over 20 years and developed the presentation in collaboration with them. Recently, the railroad has completed extensive drainage upgrades on Meskwaki land without consultation. These upgrades have caused sacred gardens to flood. By presenting this problem in his paper, Gooding is bringing it to the attention of UP representatives who are responsible for Indigenous relations. This is an excellent example of the reciprocal scholarship advocated by Indigenous scholars such as Kovach and Smith as a way of conducting research in a good way.[2] In this relationship, Gooding is granted the insights necessary for his presentation and the Meskwaki’s views are conveyed to the UP through the presentation. Both sides benefit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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How the Osage Beat the Railroads<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> As David Treuer explains, we often talk about doom and gloom à la <i>Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee</i> or the presentation of the stoic Indian in Ken Burns’ and Stephen Ives’ <i>The West</i>, but this is a misrepresentation of the historical record.[3] The Osage are often brought forward as an exception to the rule through their royalties from oil discovered on their land, but as Alexandria Gough showed, their ability to negotiate extended to the railroad as well. Back when railroads were vying to cross the Indian Territory, the Osage were able to skillfully negotiate the legal system in Washington and prevented railroad encroachment on their land. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> When a breakaway group of warriors attacked local settlers, railway and government interests used the incident as a way of forcing the Osage into abiding by the Sturges Treaty, which forced the sale of Osage land to the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad on unfair terms. In an example of excellent political skill, the tribe hired a lawyer and took their case to Washington, arguing that they had been coerced into giving up their land. So compelling was the case they presented that President Grant ultimately declared the Treaty to be annulled, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court. The railroad remained stuck on the edge of Osage territory and ultimately went out of business. This early victory encouraged the Osage to further hone their ability to take on the American government and led to new treaties offering generous and meaningful concessions in exchange for access to land and resources. When we talk about Indigenous peoples and the development of a settler society around them, it would be inaccurate to assume that it was a straightforward victory for the growing United States. In some cases, the original inhabitants beat Americans at their own game and came out ahead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Indigenous Capitalism?<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Like the Osage, Robert Voss demonstrated how the Choctaw and Chickasaw understood that railroad development might be used to their advantage. At the time of the 1855 <i>Net Proceeds Act</i>, both asked for rail access, but this was denied. Voss argues that this was an attempt at Indigenous economic development and that the federal government did not want to encourage this. However, the development restrictions placed on the Indian Territory allowed tribes to tax businesses that wanted access to the resources on their land. Through this, the Choctaw became important mine owners and by the 1890s, they were even asking for the help of federal troops to act as strike breakers. Again, this paper challenges our idea that Indigenous peoples have no agency and that the government and settlers always had the upper hand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gerard Baker<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> As bizarre as it sounds, there is one direct flight from Toronto to Omaha each day. In fact, it’s the only international flight to the city. Unfortunately for me, it departs mid-afternoon, and when the symposium closing ran late, I needed to duck out before Gerard Baker could finish his closing remarks. I’m sorry to have missed the end, but grateful for what of his wisdom I was able to listen to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Baker recounted how, in one of those rare but delightful moments when government forgets what it’s doing, he was appointed to head the commemorations for the anniversary of Lewis and Clark’s journey to the Pacific. Thanks to his leadership, the commemorations were not a celebration, but a sober reflection on what two hundred years of settlement had meant to Indigenous peoples. He encouraged us to be angry about the changes that development, including the railroad, brought. But he was clear that this anger must be used positively, to push for a greater understanding of what happened and to work towards making it better. Now is the time for settlers to listen, to learn, and then – and only then – to act. These actions must be done in collaboration with Indigenous peoples, for only through this reciprocal approach can we live in a good way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Northern Ontario?<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> One thing that Gerard Baker emphasised over and over again in his closing remarks was that we must think about what the legacy of the symposium would be. I think about this every day. What did those gathered in Omaha contribute? What did I contribute? What do I do now? Although my students never seem to believe me, thinking takes time, and so my research and thinking continue slowly to move forward. I am thinking about what a railway is. As Gooding explained, do we need to separate the train from the track? All of these papers, including the wonderful ones I have not mentioned above, show how the Indigenous perspectives can no longer be ignored when we think about railway development. Most of the events discussed took place in the mid 19<sup>th</sup> century, and Canada was watching. By the time the Ontario government was building tracks through Northern Ontario, treaties in Canada were being worded in such a way as to prevent the sort of agency that the Osage and the Choctaw had demonstrated. As always seems to be the case, Canadian history is like American history, only a bit different. I keep working my way through the ideas surrounding railways, infrastructure, government power, colonialism, and Indigenous understandings of all of these things. As I do so, I am reminded of the energy in that room over those days. I am reminded of how privileged I was to be able to learn from so many people coming from so many backgrounds. I am reminded that my work, and all of our work, matters. Railways shaped North America and now it is time to really think about what that means.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Richard White, <i>Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America</i> (New York: W.W. Norton, 2011).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Margaret Kovach, <i>Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts</i> (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009); Linda Tuhiwai Smith, <i>Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples</i>, Second edition (London: Zed Books, 2012).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. David Treuer, <i>The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present</i> (London: Corsair, 2019).</span><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-61109923669954519902019-08-19T17:38:00.000-04:002019-08-19T17:38:13.655-04:00Did we learn anything from Lac-Mégantic? Bruce Campbell isn't so sure.In my work, I have to think about how railways are an extension of state power during the development of Northern Ontario in the early twentieth century. I think a lot about railways in Canada more broadly too: past, present and future.<br />
<br />
I remember when the tragedy unfolded at Lac-Mégantic in 2013, and I remember the federal government and the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway both scrambling to distance themselves from it. It wasn't particularly surprising when the criminal liability was placed almost entirely at the feet of the crew on duty that night, even though safety violations were systemic throughout the company and even the regulatory system. I knew this was wrong, and I donated to the legal defence fund in the hopes that the trial would see this as well. Ultimately, the justice system worked and recognized that almost all the charges simply didn't fit the accused standing in the dock.<br />
<br />
I even wrote about the issue of crude-by-rail on my website, and ultimately for <a href="http://rabble.ca/news/2015/04/crude-oil-transportation-danger-on-canadas-rails" target="_blank">Rabble</a>. I called for increased track inspections and for companies to focus more on safety. However, I didn't say anything about government. Bruce Campbell shows how short-sighted this was.<br />
<br />
In <a href="http://www.lorimer.ca/adults/Book/3067/The-LacM233gantic-Rail-Disaster.html" target="_blank"><i>The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster: Public Betrayal, Justice Denied</i></a>, Campbell (the former Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) looks at the safety issues plaguing the railway industry in Canada and specifically those created by oil trains. This is a solid book, meticulously-researched and focused on the roles played by both the federal government (regardless of political stripe) and big business in what should have been an unimaginable disaster. It can get a little sensationalist at times, but this does not detract from what is a thorough explanation of just how engrained the safety problems are that led to the deaths of 47 people in the small Quebec town.<br />
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While I only bothered to look at the industry, Campbell looks deeply into the regulatory holes left by years of neoliberal ideology in government, and within Transport Canada in particular. He charts the origin of this transformation back to the Mulroney government and its decision to shift much of the regulation of the railway industry from government to the industry itself. When the new Canadian Railway Operating Rules came into effect as part of the new 1988 <i>Railway Safety Act</i>, the regulations had largely been drafted by industry and put efficiency ahead of safety. Since then, the erosion of regulation has continued under both Conservative and Liberal governments, often with close ties to railroaders. Mulroney himself had been CEO of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, which owned the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway, the first railway in Canada to successfully lobby for one-person crews. After he left politics, former Harper cabinet minister John Baird accepted a seat on the board of Canadian Pacific.<br />
<br />
Campbell charts lobbying efforts from the railway and energy industries to roll back regulation on both sides of the border, to remove power from government investigators, and to undermine workplace safety in the name of cost-cutting. The derailment in Lac-Mégantic was inevitable - not necessarily in that town, or with that train, or with that crew - but it was going to happen somewhere because the system was designed to ignore all the mistakes that led to the derailment.<br />
<br />
Not only does Campbell look at the history of railway regulation leading up to Lac-Mégantic, he also examines what happened after the derailment. In short, not a great deal. Yes, the most dangerous tank cars have been removed from oil service, but railway regulations have not changed much, the Transportation Safety Board still lacks teeth and railway companies can still push the government around too much. In fact, the number of runaway train incidents across Canada is increasing. I'd like to say that we can peg all of this on Stephen Harper, but progress under Justin Trudeau has been almost as glacial. Even more stunning, for me at least, is that railway safety regulation in the United States is actually more robust than it is in Canada, even if Donald Trump is trying to undermine it.<br />
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Campbell looks deeply at a subject that most of us never think about. The people of Lac-Mégantic have been forced to think about it whether they wanted to or not. As Canada's railways post healthy profits, we need to ask whether regulation would really be that much more expensive? Perhaps more important, would we rather have a government willing to ensure that those profits keep rolling in, or one that makes sure that the residents of Lac-Mégantic never have to relive their ordeal as they read about another town razed by an inferno on the rails?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-69173508918604401442019-03-31T15:02:00.000-04:002019-03-31T15:02:07.069-04:00Deconstructing a Scene: Through Black Spruce<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhouj6xpX58fJIAgb-wXyr3kNWI2v1nln7ZFEYYV4BCMHPLUXNuqfEsgMPaFKlpsdMBtIrtsbvWklgolL4M7JhKU9eTAG-y5BbVUaAxGhIXHuxdKYnjJ9mWoD1kW5Zexbjd-LBIzFbxfP1j/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-31+at+2.40.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1017" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhouj6xpX58fJIAgb-wXyr3kNWI2v1nln7ZFEYYV4BCMHPLUXNuqfEsgMPaFKlpsdMBtIrtsbvWklgolL4M7JhKU9eTAG-y5BbVUaAxGhIXHuxdKYnjJ9mWoD1kW5Zexbjd-LBIzFbxfP1j/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-03-31+at+2.40.16+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving Moosonee Behind</td></tr>
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A <a href="http://www.dfilmscorp.ca/through-black-spruce" target="_blank">new film</a> based on Joseph Boyden’s novel <i>Through Black Spruce</i> is now in limited release across Canada. It follows the Bird family from Moosonee as they struggle with the disappearance of one daughter, an uncle's guilt and a drug feud. Near the start of the film, Annie (Tanaya Beatty) ventures south to Toronto. While it is supposed to be a vacation, Annie soon finds herself immersed in Toronto's Indigenous and drug cultures as she follows in her missing sister's footsteps. How does Annie leave Moosonee? By train of course.<br />
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Pretty much the entire railway sequence is shown in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ZlaJmNxdQ" target="_blank">trailer</a>, but having seen the whole movie, it is clear that the train is there for a reason. As Annie's uncle Will (Brandon Oakes) watches the train leave, the camera looks out at the forest as the southbound <i>Polar Bear Express</i> leaves Moosonee behind. The only break in the trees is the right-of-way. This marks the train as the connection between the Indigenous and settler worlds. It is the transitional space. It also adds great realism to the production. Large portions of the movie are very clearly filmed in Moosonee and Toronto with wonderful touches and references that will only make sense to people who have lived in or researched these places. Apart from the railway, aircraft and vehicles also play central roles. In particular, Will's float plan also serves as a transitional space from the conflicts of life in Moosonee to the traditional peace of life on the land.<br />
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On the whole, I found the movie somewhat inconsistent and I think it carries a great burden on its shoulders. At times, it feels like the writers are trying to fit every possible contemporary Indigenous issue into the script. Yet this is also powerful because it shows how much of an overwhelming mess we find ourselves in. While brutal, the film is also a story of resilience as Annie nearly succumbs to the city, but ultimately finds herself again.<br />
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With powerful acting and a thoughtful portrayal of traditional Omushkego hunting and Cree dialogue (I don't speak Cree, so I can only assume that it's accurate), <i>Through Black Spruce</i> is definitely worth a look. I know it's not a railway movie, but the train is important nevertheless.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-37257331753926843082019-02-20T15:04:00.001-05:002019-02-20T15:04:47.684-05:00An Indigenous Railway History of Canada?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLteNqfM_loNpD2BuShsaRE2UG0CUBLWNYCoeLcnnNEojEIaPzGw3bGmHdFPWJhTwVm5ElxRVqiu4W0lY-MsfPSjoVNOMxfsCG11OpeuMsJOUEZN_sWrrJWF-_IV8DdThkemGtzR0Hs8Q5/s1600/CN3812DPU_WashagoCAN_9December2018_RE_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLteNqfM_loNpD2BuShsaRE2UG0CUBLWNYCoeLcnnNEojEIaPzGw3bGmHdFPWJhTwVm5ElxRVqiu4W0lY-MsfPSjoVNOMxfsCG11OpeuMsJOUEZN_sWrrJWF-_IV8DdThkemGtzR0Hs8Q5/s320/CN3812DPU_WashagoCAN_9December2018_RE_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of CN's newest locomotives, complete with Indigenous logo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Everyone knows about the building of the transcontinental railway in Canada. It helped to get British Columbia into Confederation and to keep the Americans out. It was a foundational event in Canadian history. We are told that, thousands of dead Chinese labourers and government corruption notwithstanding, it was a key event in uniting Canada. The more erudite might even know how vital the railway was in suppressing the Red River Rebellion* and thus fuelling the Métis struggle for recognition that continues today. But what happens to Canada’s railways when we try to bring railway history into conversation with Indigenous history?<br />
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The short answer is that we don’t know. In fact, historians know surprisingly little about Canada’s railway history. Every survey of Canadian history talks about the Canadian Pacific, but beyond that it’s normally taken for granted. Like most Canadians today, railways for historians are something in the background that don’t really matter anymore. To my knowledge, A.A. den Otter’s <i>The Philosophy of Railways</i> was the last monograph devoted to Canadian railways to be published, and that was in 1997. As a result, we are woefully ill-equipped to begin thinking about an Indigenous history of railways in Canada. As a result, these musings are a very hesitant first step.<br />
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For those of you with long memories, the tragic story of Chanie Wenjack came to your attention <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/society/the-lonely-death-of-chanie-wenjack/" target="_blank">from the pages of Maclean’s magazine</a> in February 1967 or perhaps from the naming of the <a href="https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/news-story/8166116-trent-university-s-wenjack-theatre-is-named-after-the-subject-of-gord-downie-s-new-solo-album-12-year-old-chanie-wenjack/" target="_blank">Wenjack Treatre</a> at Trent University in 1973. For those of you who are younger or have shorter memories, Chanie’s story comes to you through the late Gord Downie’s <a href="https://www.secretpath.ca/" target="_blank">Secret Path</a> project.<br />
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Chanie didn’t want to be at residential school in Kenora - he wanted to be at home with his family at Ogoki Post (Marten Falls, Treaty 9). Along with two other boys, he ran away and tried to use CN’s transcontinental main line as a path home. After a brief stop in Reddit (a place you’ve only heard of if you know railways) he set off on his own heading east along the track. He had a CN passenger map and was told to seek help from railway section crews along the way. Marten Falls lies well to the north of any railway line, so the tracks would never have led Chanie home, even if he had somehow managed to complete the 400 mile journey. In fact, he only managed to walk 12 miles from Reddit. It was late October and snow was already falling. After about 36 hours, Chanie died. The next morning, a locomotive engineer spotted Chanie’s body, as Ian Adams put it in Maclean’s, “just four-and-a-half feet from the trains that carry the white world by in warm and well-fed comfort." To most, the railway is what unites Canada. For Chanie, it was a futile path home. Anyone who has seen the animated version of Secret Path will know that the railway looms large in the story.<br />
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The Chanie Wenjack story is the most well-known case of a child running away from residential school, but it is not an isolated incident. We will probably never know the number of children who ran away - either temporarily or permanently. Chanie wasn't even the only one to use the railway. The Maclean's article about his death explained that Indigenous children ran away all the time, "Sometimes they lose a leg or an arm trying to climb aboard freight trains."<br />
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Northwestern Ontario's Indigenous connection to the railway is still a very live issue today. Ryan McMahon's <a href="https://www.thunderbaypodcast.com/" target="_blank">Thunder Bay podcast</a> is a harrowing listen as he tries to figure out just how messed up the city on Lake Superior really is. If you're Indigenous in Thunder Bay, life is difficult. If you live on the Fort William reserve, across the Kaministiquia River from the city, the railway makes your life a daily ordeal. The problem is the <a href="https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry-news/transportation/cn-rail-looks-to-supreme-court-for-northwest-bridge-decision-1128364" target="_blank">James Street bridge</a>, a rather unique stucture with two decks: one carrying a CN spur line, the other carrying the road. In 2013, vandals set the bridge on fire. CN quickly repaired the damage to the rail deck, but six years on, the road deck remains closed.<br />
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The bridge was built by the Grand Trunk Pacific at the start of the twentieth century. When the bridge was built, the railway agreed that it would be accessible to rail, pedestrians and vehicles in perpetuity. When the Grand Trunk Pacific became part of Canadian National in 1918, CN became responsible for the bridge and the original agreement. While CN was quick to repair the rail portion of the bridge, it claims that the damage to the road deck goes beyond its maintenance commitment. So far, two levels of courts have disagreed with CN. CN appealed to the Supreme Court, but no decision has been made. While this legal fight drags on, residents on the reserve must drive an extra 10km to reach the next bridge into Thunder Bay. As McMahon notes in his podcast, this also means that ambulances are taking longer. In CN's defence, it has hired an engineering firm to prepare a plan to repair the bridge by 2020. Of course, CN's continued legal appeal suggests that it still hopes to get out of the repair bill.<br />
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This particular legal wrangle pits the city of Thunder Bay against one of Canada's most established companies. As is so often the case, Indigenous people are stuck in the middle. It is also happening at the same time that CN is <a href="https://www.cn.ca/en/delivering-responsibly/community/aboriginal-relations/" target="_blank">boosting its Indigenous relations</a>. By "Working alongside Aboriginal communities across the CN network, [CN] hope[s] to strengthen [its] ties, cultivate economic opportunities and set an example among [its] industry peers." This includes a new Indigenous logo on the railway's newest locomotives. While their commitment to Indigenous communities is to be praised, the protracted legal dispute in Thunder Bay seems to contradict this initiative.<br />
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What does an Indigenous history of Canadian railways look like? I'm not sure. My own work on the Ontario Northland Railway in Treaty 9 territory is only in its infancy and I am excited about where my research might lead me. I know one thing for sure, I will never think the same way about Canada's railway history again.<br />
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* Or fight for political, ethic and cultural recognition, depending on your perspective.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-68258356843057379652018-12-12T10:16:00.000-05:002018-12-12T10:16:26.298-05:00The Exhilaration and Fear of Changing PhD Topics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivw9Xl4EBWBYH-moiD2vJkeTn6Wuztqn48GOyfJsJoDuZ_-8shtkJ_yO4nIoQUp8s6JH9bWnTPdZoshqt3-tWZQwisJXww4qa3-goRTBBHI-04ELcoA-Sq1NbTx6T49RccHw_sQkIKTD3g/s1600/PostOne_TorontoCAN_10October2018_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivw9Xl4EBWBYH-moiD2vJkeTn6Wuztqn48GOyfJsJoDuZ_-8shtkJ_yO4nIoQUp8s6JH9bWnTPdZoshqt3-tWZQwisJXww4qa3-goRTBBHI-04ELcoA-Sq1NbTx6T49RccHw_sQkIKTD3g/s320/PostOne_TorontoCAN_10October2018_5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is Post One (and my feet). If you visit the Ontario Legislature in Queen’s Park and walk around to the east side of the building, you will find Post One and a commemorative plaque explaining its significance. Unveiled as part of centennial celebrations in 1967, it is the symbolic first survey post in Ontario and a very fitting place to begin this reflection on the decision to change PhD research topics. A symbolic first post would be special enough, but it is actually related to my historical interests as well.<br />
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Choosing to embark on doctoral study is a decision that should not be taken lightly. After all, it begins with the hurdle of actually being accepted into a program, but then comes years of hard work, little money and introspective malaise. Nevertheless, this was a decision I began making in 2016 and ultimately found myself beginning my PhD study in the history department at the University of Toronto in the fall of 2017. I had received my MA from U of T two years earlier, but my interests had changed and so had my proposed project. On paper and in spirit I was embarking on a study of American plastic toys from the 1960s. Everything was going well as I readjusted to academic life: I had an excellent supervisor, excellent seminars to attend and friendly colleagues to work with. As the year progressed, all seemed well, even if I couldn’t really pin down exactly what my project would be or what I would actually study (I mean, how do you study toys from 60 years ago? Material culture analysis, advertising, participant observation?). I completed my first year and buried myself in books to learn the canon of American history along with petroculture (after all, plastic toys come from oil). After two months of reading, things began to get very real and I realized that this was not going to work. Something had to give.<br />
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It wasn’t so much an abrupt shift as a lot of thoughts coming to a head at once. Could I see a project? No. Could I see an audience for it? No. Could I see a source base for it? No. Did I want to spend months at a time in the U.S.? No. Perhaps more than anything else, did it have meaning? No.<br />
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It is easy when surrounded by academics to assume that everyone has a whole arsenal of degrees on their resume, but that simply isn’t the case. Even in Canada, a country with an exceptionally high rate of post-secondary education, only 24% of working-age adults have completed a university degree. Less than 8% have a graduate degree. <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/12-581-x/2017000/edu-eng.htm" target="_blank">It really is a very small group</a>. Statistics like this show the privilege of graduate study – the chance to study a topic you love on somebody else’s dime. When you put it like that, it becomes real very quickly and the quest for meaning becomes acute. It is a gift to study, and I wanted to make it count.<br />
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American toys just didn’t do it for me. But what did? Anyone who has looked at my previous writing would see that I have a lifelong fascination with railways, but that I have struggled to reconcile it with academic work. My MA looked at model trains, but I couldn’t see the project getting bigger (thus my shift to toys). However, railways had been slowly creeping into my work through an unlikely avenue: treaties.<br />
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As part of my coursework, I took Prof. Heidi Bohaker’s Canada By Treaty, which examined the history of treaty-making between Indigenous groups and the Canadian government. I took it because I thought that it was important for a Canadian to know about the Indigenous issues that continue to be important today. Quickly, I realized that Treaty 9, signed in 1905-06 with additions in 1929-30, covered much of the land I had studied for my book on Ontario Northland. Even more interesting, the railway’s development coincided perfectly with the treaty. Coincidence? I think not. This turned into a paper, which became a conference paper, which became an article draft. Stuck facing an American future I didn’t want, the choice was clear: I was working on railways and Treaty 9 when I should have been looking at toys. On paper, I was studying toys. In spirit, I was studying treaties and railways. Most importantly, this meant something. The implications of Treaty 9 continue to affect thousands of lives every day. Transportation in Northern Ontario is a pressing issue. Perhaps most urgent, the Ring of Fire mining development in the region echoes the situation that led to the signing of Treaty 9 over a century ago.<br />
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The process of deciding to change topics took many weeks, but the final decision took only a matter of hours. The hardest part was breaking the news to my supervisor who, as a good supervisor should, was compassionate, understanding and excited that I had found a motivation to sustain my study. Within an hour, (sort-of) ceremonial handover complete, I was studying Canadian and Indigenous history. Yes, it was a nerve-wracking experience, but the relief more than made up for the trepidation.<br />
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How will this story end? I don’t know, but I am academically driven in a way that I haven’t been for quite some time. Remember Post One? It’s a symbol of government dominion over the land. So is the railway and I intend to explore what that means. If this story has a moral, it’s that doctoral study is an incredible privilege. For me, this privilege comes with the obligation to produce meaningful work in the hopes of making Canada a better place. I don’t know if my work will do this, but I have to try.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-49870625904241127472018-07-01T09:58:00.000-04:002018-07-05T17:03:07.915-04:00Thinking About the Pope Lick MonsterOn the whole, my television tastes are decidedly more low-brow than you might expect from a graduate student. Then again, by the end of a day of thinking, maybe junky TV is just what the doctor ordered. My biggest weakness is paranormal documentaries – bigfoot, UFOs, hauntings – I just love them. They are dramatic, often over-the-top and just plain fun. I’m pretty sure that many of these documentaries are simply fake. Their stories are simply too bizarre and improbable, but I just can’t stop watching them.<br />
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Recently, I was watching <i>Monsters and Mysteries in America</i>, a 3-season series that appeared on Destination America and is now all over the internet (especially on DailyMotion). Each episode is made up of three different stories of real-life encounters with monsters and unexplained phenomena in the United States. People retell their stories, while actors re-enact the events. Plenty of glowing red eyes, smoke machines and shadows make this very addictive viewing.<br />
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During the first season, one of the episodes depicted the Pope Lick Monster. This axe-wielding half-man, half-goat haunts the <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/9FZ3zCdkTey" target="_blank">Norfolk Southern trestle bridge</a> in Fisherville, Kentucky. Legend has is that this creature entices teenagers to climb up on the bridge, where they are sure to meet their death when faced with an oncoming train and nowhere to run. According to the show, the first stories of the monster appeared in the 1940s and 1950s and since then a number of teens have indeed died on the bridge, most recently in <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2016/04/24/tourist-dies-search-pope-lick-monster/83470646/" target="_blank">2016</a>. The origin of the monster is, unsurprisingly, shrouded in secrecy. Some say it escaped from a circus train crossing the trestle. Others say it is the result of bestiality. Some even say it’s Satan himself. It’s a local tradition for teenagers to climb the bridge in the hopes of encountering this creature.<br />
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If the show is to be believed, the brother of their featured witness was out with friends one night in 1988 and suddenly had the urge to climb up on the trestle and walk across it. Sure enough, when he was about half-way across, he encountered an oncoming train and was killed. Grieving the loss of her brother, the witness went to the bridge herself a few days later and became convinced that her brother had been enticed by the Pope Lick Monster. While filming for the show, she breaks down on camera as a train rumbles by overhead, apparently signifying the creature's return.<br />
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Let’s step away from the entertainment value for a moment and think about this story and how it was presented. The United States was founded by Protestants and its early folklore is full of satanic encounters. Associating this beast with satanic imagery is carrying on a long tradition of American narratives. The appearance of the creature in the 1940s and 1950s isn’t a coincidence. After all, this was when the modern teenager we know and love became a distinct part of American culture. Post-war suburban affluence increased the amount of leisure time and disposable income available to white middle-class Americans. For their teenage children, the relentless consumer culture and proliferation of automobiles encouraged greater autonomy. Media culture at the time was also important. That late 1950s saw a wave of interest in monsters as Universal’s classic monster movies were dusted off and shown at drive-ins and on syndicated late-night television. Throw in a good dose of Cold War paranoia and you have the perfect conditions for stories of a monster terrorizing the next generation of Americans.<br />
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But let’s say that the stories were older. Where might they have come from then? The Pope Lick Monster shares all the common characteristics of any parent’s cautionary story. How better to keep young children away from danger than to invent some sort of monstrous entity to scare them away? Who among us hasn’t been told Little Red Riding Hood or Sleeping Beauty in the hopes that we will grow up to be cautious and wary of strangers? Of course, for teenagers, such stories only heighten the appeal of dangerous locations. Throw in hormones and an appetite to impress their peers and you’re basically inviting them to get into trouble.<br />
<br />
What are we to make of the idea that her brother suddenly had the urge to cross the bridge? Enter the teenage brain, one of the hottest topics in behavioural science. What scientists have come to realize is that, while society defines most teenagers as being fully-fledged adults somewhere between the ages of 18-21, they really aren’t and still make poor decisions. The current thinking is that the decision-making centres in the human brain do not reach what we would consider to be sober, mature, adult capabilities until around the age of 25. When a teenager is asked to explain a stupid decision and claims “I guess I wasn’t thinking,” they are probably telling the truth. The decision processes that keep us adults alive are still under construction. So, why did her brother go up on that bridge? It might have been because he was entranced by a goat-thing, but it’s more likely that the mixture of thrill-seeking teenager with an immature decision-making ability pushed him to try something dangerous and his luck ran out.<br />
<br />
And what of her conviction that a monster is responsible for the loss of her brother? If we take the story presented in the documentary as her sincere belief, and these shows do not seem all that credible, then it strikes me as a case of our primal desire to understand what we cannot comprehend. When something happens that we cannot explain, we search for explanations that bring us some form of closure or comfort. For many, this is where religion comes in. Unable to process the loss of a loved one, attributing it to a local legend would help a distraught relative to answer that really difficult question: why?<br />
<br />
Is there a Pope Lick Monster? Probably not. But it’s that “probably” that makes these shows so entertaining and keep viewers hooked.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-46371720962104154562018-04-11T15:53:00.000-04:002018-04-11T15:53:20.573-04:00Understanding Horror with Margee Kerr and Mathias ClasenMargee Kerr, <i>Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear</i> (New York: PublicAffairs, 2015). Details <a href="https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/margee-kerr/scream/9781610394833/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Mathias Clasen, <i>Why Horror Seduces</i> (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017). Details <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/why-horror-seduces-9780190666514?cc=us&lang=en&" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Up until last year, the number of horror films that I had seen could have been counted on one hand. As part of my early research into toys for my doctoral work, I have become drawn to toys depicting horror motifs and wondering what the big deal is, and whether these toys were something children should really be playing with. With this in mind, I decided that I should probably figure out more about horror.<br />
<br />
As with anything I want to figure out, I tend to approach it academically. Several years ago, just as I was finishing up my MA and trying to decide what to do, I came across a <i>Psychology Today</i> <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201509/eccentric-s-corner-she-knows-why-you-scream" target="_blank">article</a> profiling Margee Kerr's sociological work on fear and how she was now a consultant for haunts in Pennsylvania. I was immediately impressed by her decision to bring real-world relevance to academic work. Intrigued, I put her 2015 book on my reading list. I came across Mathias Clasen's work by accident while browsing through the publishers' stalls at the <a href="https://pro-bono-history.blogspot.ca/2018/03/conference-fatigue-is-real-scms18.html" target="_blank">2018 SCMS conference in Toronto</a>. I had decided to attend some of the horror panels to try and figure out what the big deal was and I came across his book, entitled <i>Why Horror Seduces</i>. Well, that sounded like it would answer my question, so I bought it. (I was really good, it was the only book I bought).<br />
<br />
Kerr is a sociologist by training and chose to write for a popular audience, allowing her a platform outside of the academic sphere. <i>Scream</i> is a confessional work of sorts which tries to link common fears, her experiences with them, and the latest scientific theories surrounding them together in a very readable and accessible book. Through eight chapters, Kerr documents her own experiences with a variety of common fears: heights, the sensations of a roller coaster or other thrill ride, the dark, the occult (especially hauntings and ghosts), death, and violence. Her final chapter shows how her work has been put to good use through the scientifically-driven development of the Basement, a new attraction in the popular <a href="http://www.scarehouse.com/" target="_blank">ScareHouse</a> haunt outside Pittsburgh. As a consultant on the project, Kerr combined the latest scientific research with audience surveys to create a more immersive experience than the usual haunt offers. As Kerr explained, the team at ScareHouse "decided to try an experiment inspired by the interactive or 'immersive' theatrical productions that put the customer in the performance, where actors can touch you." (Kerr, 197) What Kerr is getting at here is why humans like scary things: evolution. Fear responses are ingrained in evolutionary and cultural conditioning. Things that can harm us, or worse kill us, provoke extremely powerful emotions. Thrill rides, haunted houses, and horror media are designed to provoke these emotions, but at the same time we remember that we are safe: the roller coaster has safety barriers even as we drop to our simulated death; the haunted house is full of actors who may frighten us, but will not actually harm us; the scary movie is just make-believe on a screen and we can leave or turn it off. These survival emotions are followed by the dopamine hit - we feel good and want more. Kerr and ScareHouse go further by pushing that reassurance out of the conscious mind. It involves a great deal of paperwork, pre-experience interviews and vetting of potential customers, but the Basement at ScareHouse is designed with the feeling of safety in conventional horror attractions pushed to the limits. Here, the scary actors don't seem like actors, they reach out, touch you, control you (sort of like breaking the fourth wall). The idea is to provoke actual fear, a more authentic feeling because, while you are in fact perfectly safe, your brain might not think so.<br />
<br />
Kerr recounts her own experiences with fear and relates them to science, creating a very accessible way to understand what it going on. (Notes at the back of the book are provided for those who want to take their knowledge to the next level). Kerr's choices for experiences are interesting. She uses the Edge Walk at the CN Tower to explain the primal fear of heights and the limbic system taking over from executive processing. Through more globetrotting, she uses the Daiba Strange School in Japan to explain how culture also plays a part in determining our expectations from experiences. As she explains, "Japanese culture is traditionally more future oriented and values the investment of time and energy into telling a story," so a haunt based around a plot becomes more rewarding. (Kerr, 130) Further, a more collectively-minded culture would appreciate a scenario where visitors are invited into the narrative. While I would not recommend wandering the backstreets of Bogota to test your reflexes (which she does as well), it does make for a good read. Adding the human element to academic writing makes it much more accessible, and <i>Scream</i> does this admirably.<br />
<br />
Clasen's <i>Why Horror Seduces</i> is an academic book through and through, but is just as readable as Kerr's work. Broken into three parts, Clasen, a Literature and Media professor at Aarhus University, breaks down the latest evolutionary theories surrounding our attraction to horror and debunks a great deal of prior scholarship by analyzing some of the most influential American horror works of the 20th century through an evolutionary lens. He chooses a mix of literary and cinematic classics ranging from <i>Night of the Living Dead</i> and <i>Jaws</i> to the <i>Blair Witch Project</i> and <i>Rosemary's Baby</i> to offer a refreshingly simple interpretation of what makes them scary and why we are drawn to them. He concludes by attempting to predict where horror media will go next, through virtual reality and more immersive haunts. This is where the two books really connect. In fact, Clasen is a consultant for a Danish haunt very similar to the one Kerr works with.<br />
<br />
Clasen is highly critical of media studies' fixation on Freudian interpretations. As he explains, audiences "thrill at the sight of a limb chopped off by a chainsaw-wielding maniac." A classical media studies interpretation would see this fascination as a manifestation of "the infantile fear of castration" with all sorts of buried symbolism. (Clasen, 3) But, especially as Freud's pioneering theories are increasingly replaced with more empirically robust ones, isn't basing media interpretations on debunked theory like "building a house on sand"? (Clasen, 3) Clasen doesn't pull punches here: evolutionary biology offers much neater and compelling explanations. "Horror stories are particularly efficient in targeting evolved danger-management circuits when those stories reflect or respond to salient sociocultural anxieties." (Clasen, 4) Basically, humans are not normally keen on getting hurt or dying. We see the chainsaw guy as a potential risk (there are deranged people and there are chainsaws), therefore we should probably pay attention to the scene because it might offer clues for how we might avoid or survive a similar situation (however remote the chances).<br />
<br />
Similarly, Clasen attacks media criticism's fixation with the "liberationist paradigm" - using scholarly means for activist and political ends. (Clasen, 16) He charges that "humanists have been busy ignoring biology or actively denying it any shaping role in human lives." (Clasen, 16) As an historian, I am a humanist, but I also recognize that biology offers much more sensible (although probably not as colourful or fun) explanations for why horror is so darn seductive. I enjoyed my time at the SCMS conference, but there were moments that echoed Clasen's contention that Freudian-based interpretations are "like a Rube Goldberg contraption with a receptacle for texts at one end and an interpretative spout at the other, churning out thrillingly arcane and counterintuitive explanations." (Clasen, 18) Why not give evolutionary biology a try? It might be easier. Put simply: "Humans are fearful creatures." (Clasen, 24) Things in horror scare us and we want to learn as much as we can about them lest we might one day find ourselves in a zombie apocalypse (OK, zombies do need some deconstruction, but pathogens and unpredictable human behaviour are things we might encounter).<br />
<br />
After several chapters outlining the latest scientific thinking on fear and why we fixate on horror, Clasen gets into his case studies, which are excellent summaries of each work followed by an explanation of why an evolutionary biology lens makes more sense than the deep (and fun!) Freudian explanations. Consider his deconstruction of John Carpenter's <i>Halloween</i>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Myers became a horror icon not because he is a symbolic embodiment of sexual guilt or a castrating, phallus-wielding agent of conservatism, but because he is a supercharged representation of an ancient danger - a murderous conspecific outside rational reach, an individual perfectly capable of, and willing to, take lives using whatever implement is at hand." (Clasen, 133) </blockquote>
Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the best. While the deep layers of textual interpretation make for robust academic writing, the average audience is unlikely to see what the scholar sees. If we instead interpret Myers as a homicidal maniac, then his appeal is more broad as it taps into a universal fear. <i>Why Horror Seduces</i> is full of equally amusing and damning discussions. Is the <i>Blair Witch Project</i> "a collection of signifiers bopping around in a textual funhouse," or just a group of teenagers doing normal, innocent, teenage things when something goes horribly wrong? (137)<br />
<br />
Taken together, these two works provide highly accessible and entertaining explanations and explorations of how recent scientific research is helping to explains something that is far more primal and conscious than some media scholars would have us believe. As I try to figure out what the big deal is with horror toys, I am drawn to the idea that it is all about tapping into something much more primal and basic: things that scare us deserve our attention, because the things that scare us can be detrimental to our evolutionary standing. It's not complicated, or that fun, but sometimes life isn't as hard as we might think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-54490980218591990092018-03-20T17:55:00.000-04:002018-03-20T17:55:54.947-04:00Conference fatigue is real #SCMS18This past week was the 59th annual conference of the <a href="http://www.cmstudies.org/" target="_blank">Society for Cinema and Media Studies</a>. I'm an historian, not a media scholar, but my interests often gravitate towards the quirky and pop culture, so it made sense to be surrounded by the quirky and pop culture for a while. Since it was happening in Toronto, I went along. After all, when you have a chance to attend a global conference without incurring hotel bills, you might as well go.<br />
<br />
This was by far the largest conference I have ever seen. Spread over five days, there were a total of 445 panels, which roughly equates to 1,700 papers! More than once, I had to pick one panel over another (who knows what I missed!). In short, conference fatigue is REAL. This was especially apparent on Sunday, when panelists outnumbered the barely conscious audience.<br />
<br />
As a scholar-in-training, you will eventually encounter the monster conference of your discipline, so having dry-runs without presentation anxiety is really valuable. You quickly pick up conference etiquette, learn how to plan which papers to attend, and (very important!) how to eat lunch in the middle of six hours of papers. It is also a great opportunity to meet people with similar interests from all over the world. Networking doesn't have to be Machiavellian; simply asking a question after a paper you found really interesting counts just as much - and is probably more sincere.<br />
<br />
As one of the few historians in attendance, I probably stuck out like a sore thumb. My eyes would glaze over as people excitedly debated the inner workings of many, many isms I have never heard of. Instead, I would get really frantic about dates and context, so it all evened out in the end. This is not meant to say that one discipline is better than another. In fact, I came away with many interesting ideas, including a few theoretical ones which might help me understand my own work. It never hurts to see what other scholars are doing - especially when you are approaching the same material from completely different angles. I chose panels based on what looked interesting, from petroculture to horror, toys to fan studies. These are a few of the papers I thought really stood out:<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="https://americanstudies.yale.edu/people/ila-tyagi" target="_blank">Ila Tyagi</a>, "Extending the Eye: Vision and Technology in Midcentury American Petroculture"</h4>
Looking at the promotional material of the American Petroleum Institute, this paper made me think about all the lobbying that corporate America did (and still does). Petroculture is a very hot field right now as scholars realize that, although oil is ubiquitous, we don't pay much attention to it.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="http://ucriverside.academia.edu/JReyLee" target="_blank">Jonathan Rey Lee</a>, "Deconstructing Construction Toys"</h4>
Other than the fact that Lego is amazing, this paper questioned our assumption that construction toys are somehow neutral. Rather, they are embedded in complex frameworks of gender and social structures.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="https://tisch.nyu.edu/cinema-studies/phd-research-profiles/kartik-nair" target="_blank">Kartik Nair</a>, "Grotesque Surfaces: Tracking Bombay Horror's Unfinished Special Effects"</h4>
I had never thought of makeup and film prosthetics as being material culture, but they are and what a fascinating topic to study. In particular, I was intrigued by how makeup and latex extend the boundaries of the body.<br />
<br />
<h4>
The Entirety of Panel Q12, "Materiality and Merchandising in Screen Consumption Cultures"</h4>
This was by far my favourite panel as <a href="https://research.hud.ac.uk/ourstaff/profile/index.php?staffid=1582" target="_blank">Matt Hills</a>, <a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/182930-garner-ross" target="_blank">Ross Garner</a>, <a href="https://communication.depaul.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty/Pages/booth.aspx" target="_blank">Paul Booth</a>, and <a href="http://staff.southwales.ac.uk/users/1441-rwillia3" target="_blank">Rebecca Williams</a> took my mind on a delightful journey through Doctor Who auctions, Funko, the Rickmobile, and theme parks. Fan studies, and the material culture associated with fans, it a really interesting field of study and very much linked to my interests in toys. Now if I could only figure out what paratexts are, they sound really useful...<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="http://heathermdavis.com/" target="_blank">Heather Davis</a>, "Plastic Media"</h4>
Plastic is oil, oil is petroculture, and petroculture is so hot right now. Davis, who is writing a book about the theory of plastic, explored how plastic has redefined our world. Plastic never really goes away, it just gets smaller. In short, we are all plastic now.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="http://ampd.yorku.ca/profile/kenneth-rogers/" target="_blank">Kenneth Rogers</a>, "Pathways Diversions: Plastic Media and Neuro-ecologies"</h4>
Tupperware parties: plastic meets the social. A domestic (ie. safe) way to be introduced to the exciting new world of oil-based plasticity. Speaking of which, need to figure out plasticity too...<br />
<br />
Media studies and critical theory are very different disciplines from history. History remains one of the most theory-averse subjects and I generally agree with this. Theory is dense, often full of overly complicated language and becomes a sort of fence to keep out the uninitiated. That said, when applied by someone who can explain it well, there are moments when theory jumps out as being just what is needed to explain something. Having said that, for the sake of us backwards historians, please use it sparingly!<br />
<br />
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the world of cinema and media. If you happen to be in Seattle next March, I suggest you check out the 60th SCMS conference. It will be worth it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-7274677094369293422018-01-19T08:57:00.001-05:002018-01-19T08:57:25.515-05:00Revisiting Canada 150<div class="MsoNormal">
And so the 150<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Confederation has
come and gone. I have to say that it was a bit of a disappointment. Or was it?
Growing up with the popular memory of 1967, Canadian exceptionalism compared to
the United States, and the echoes of Pierre Trudeau, I couldn’t wait to
experience the next chapter: 2017, a chance to renew Canada, break free of Stephen
Harper’s legacy and be the coolest place on the planet once again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given Brexit, Donald Trump, economic uncertainty and
continued global unrest, a big Canadian party seemed to be the easiest thing to
imagine. The traditional feeling of superiority over the United States had returned,
the federal/provincial system looked stable compared to European strife, and we
had the world’s hippest leader in the form of – who else? – the son of Pierre
Trudeau, superstar of Canadian popular memory (the Anglophone/Eastern part at
least).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, there were big celebrations on July 1; yes the Canada
150 logo was plastered on trains, buildings, advertising and a few front lawns;
and yes, there was even a memorable political gaffe when Justin Trudeau forgot
to list Alberta as a province during his Parliament Hill address on Canada Day.
But the tone was far from festive. People didn’t seem in the mood to celebrate.
The CBC’s special Canada 150 programming didn’t generate much discussion (even
two new episodes of the wildly popular <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Canada:
A People’s History</i> felt rushed and feeble) and much of the coverage focused
on those who felt that the party was not a celebration, but a betrayal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If 1967 was a chance for Canada to come of age and show the
world a new model for a diverse (ish) and inclusive (ish) society at a time of
ideological conflict, then 2017 was a moment to advertise to the world just how
awful a place Canada was: Indigenous people living without clean drinking
water, scarred from decades of cultural (and, at times, literal) genocide;
police brutality directed disproportionately at urban black communities; and an
economy still firmly rooted in the destruction of the planet for the purpose of
selling off natural resources. Within the academic sphere, this mood was
especially pronounced.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this year’s Congress, the annual meeting of over 100
academic associations, the conclusion was that Canada in its 150<sup>th</sup>
year deserved a universally failing grade. The country had never done a good
thing for the world. Instead, it has secretly practised genocide and was
continuing to oppress all who were not what a census might consider ‘average’.
I personally beg to differ: Canada is not currently facing a crisis of its
existence; our Prime Minister actually believes that science is real and that
facts cannot have alternate equivalents; and, in almost every imaginable circumstance,
one can walk down the street with a reasonable expectation of still being alive
once you have reached your destination. None of these points were made.
Academic discussion was not a debate, but a relearning of an alternate reality,
free of critical reflection.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, both Canadas are real and need to be acknowledged
and confronted. There are lots of truly wonderful things about Canada, from the
wide expanse of land to the world-class and affordable health care (which is at
risk of being eroded). But there are many, many things which Canada has done
wrong (and continue to do wrong) that need to be rectified as soon as possible.
History feeds off nuance. Public debate should too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And this is why I found Canada 150 to be such a
disappointment. I for one actually wanted a party. There was a great deal to
celebrate. Instead, the year became one long telling off from every possible
angle. But it was a telling off without a remedy. Yes, we should feel bad, but
to what end? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But maybe that was the whole point. From the disappointment
came a renewed understanding of all the things that needed to be improved. All
the things that Canada had ignored for too long. Fireworks would fade; feelings
of guilt in the face of injustice might not. Maybe then, the true meaning of
Canada 150 was to highlight a country that was willing to give up its birthday
party to consider those who didn’t feel much like celebrating.</div>
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To salvage some optimism, we can see Canada 150 not so much as
a commemoration, but as a new beginning. Many Indigenous leaders chose to focus
on the next 150, an opportunity to try again, to make Canada (Turtle Island
even) a place of fairness, inclusivity (not just tolerance) and genuine
custodianship of this country and those who live here. History cannot really
show us the way forward, but a nuanced understanding of it can show us what has
worked and what hasn’t. Let us hope that for Canada 200 (maybe even 175), everyone
can truly have a reason to celebrate.<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-35210269214781385822017-08-29T10:37:00.003-04:002017-08-29T10:37:40.746-04:00Reconciliation: When History is Now and it Means Something<div>
For a very long time, I’ve felt that history must always have a contemporary relevance. It’s the activist in me, but I do believe that we must understand the past in order to make the present and future better. Now, this belief does make understanding the medieval mind a little more challenging (but by no means impossible!) and it also compels the historian to become an active participant, rather than a hidden figure in the ivory tower.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Canada is at a crossroads, a true tipping point. One fork leads to more of the same, the other leads to a redefinition of the country, its government and the way indigenous people fit into the mix. Yesterday, Prime Minister Trudeau <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/seamus-oregan-veterans-affairs-minister-1.4264773" target="_blank">announced plans</a> to abolish the Ministry of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (let’s face it, everyone still called it Indian Affairs) and replace it with two new departments: Indigenous Services (with a focus on the social service-type issues) and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs (more politics). The move is contingent on legislation being tabled, but it is almost guaranteed to pass given the majority government.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
According to reports, the move is based on recommendations made as part of the <a href="https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100014597/1100100014637" target="_blank">Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples</a> back in 1996 and is designed to put First Nations on a level playing field with Ottawa. It’s too soon to tell what this will mean (and, given the history of Indigenous issues in Canada, “if anything” is a very valid answer), yet it could be a true turning point in history.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“In the spirit of reconciliation” is a phrase being used more at all levels of government and it stems from the 2015 Final Report of the <a href="http://www.trc.ca/" target="_blank">Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada</a> (TRC), which investigated the residential school system, its impact and how to move forward. Although Trudeau’s move apparently draws inspiration from 1996, it is no doubt formed in the moment of reconciliation - something which his predecessor decided to quietly ignore.*</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I finally read the <a href="http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf" target="_blank">executive summary</a> of the TRC’s report this summer. It felt like an appropriate gesture in what is the 150th birthday of Canada. In fairness, executive summary is a misnomer: this abridged volume still weighs in at over 400 pages and it is difficult to find any way to shorten it. It’s a long and methodical read, but not as emotive as I had expected. Backed up by the most copious endnotes I have ever seen (the chapter on the history of the residential school system has a staggering 674), the report outlines the origins, goals, realities, impacts and future of the residential school system and its aftermath.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For more than a century, native children (mostly from Western Canada, the North, Northern Ontario and Northern Quebec) were removed from their communities to be educated (and often housed) in schools run by either the federal government or a religious denomination. On paper, this was to offer them the best start in a modernizing country in which there was no place for the traditional life of First Nations people. For many of the students, it was a difficult time away from all that was important and familiar to them, cut off from their families. For many others, it was a living hell of abuse. Incredibly, the last residential school only closed in the 1990s, but the damage began from the earliest days.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
What I found most interesting was that the report was ambiguous as to the cause of the abuse. On the one hand, some school staff were clearly evil, given the ultimate control over a vulnerable group. On the other hand, chronic underfunding meant that inadequate resources were available, so even those with the best of intentions couldn’t make the system work, meaning that it would always fall short.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is far more clear that the impact of the residential schools was overwhelmingly negative. Yes, there were opportunities for further education and extracurricular activities, but the few shining moments cannot outweigh generation after generation of students who grew up unable to fit into either their birth society or their ‘adopted’ society. If we accept that childhood trauma shapes the rest of our lives (and those of our descendants), then all the ills that plague Canada’s First Nations can be blamed on the residential school system: a group so distorted by the schools that they were unable to look after the next generation, which was further hobbled by their own residential school experiences and so on. Based on this argument, the statistics on health, criminality, suicide and unemployment among First Nations point to a country that has completely failed an entire group of people for over 150 years.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The apologies have been made (still waiting on the Catholic Church to step up though), the TRC report has been published and Trudeau’s government is making steps to change the route forward, but what next? Prejudices on both sides must be overcome: Canadians must drop the “drunk Indian” stereotype and First Nations must believe that there are politicians and other Canadians who do want things to change. Non-indigenous Canadians must learn a hidden chapter of history and must be ready for things in the country to change, especially in terms of government, land ownership and culture.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The TRC makes <a href="http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf" target="_blank">94 recommendations</a> to make Canada a better place for everyone who lives here. There is a lot of work to be done and it will not happen overnight. One step at a time, one recommendation at a time. Let’s talk. Let’s make this work.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oh yes, and read the <a href="http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf" target="_blank">TRC executive summary</a>, or at least the <a href="http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf" target="_blank">recommendations</a>! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
*<i>It is no secret that I believe that Stephen Harper’s government was one of the worst things to ever happen to Canada. Yes, Harper did issue the official apology for the residential school system in 2008, but his commitment to reconciliation ended there. One thing that struck me from the TRC report was how much it relied on census data for its analysis. In 2010, Harper abolished the long-form census, citing privacy concerns. While Trudeau reinstated it in 2016, we will forever have a dark age with no data. A true commitment to reconciliation will require as much data as possible to create the most detailed picture of the situation. Any government willing to abolish its core source of demographic information cannot have been sincerely committed to reconciliation.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-16469355873926254542017-04-20T16:57:00.000-04:002017-04-20T16:57:16.161-04:00CBC talks Canadian history, and somebody noticed<div class="MsoNormal">
The CBC is in trouble
again, but not due to a funding crisis. In honour of Canada’s 150th birthday,
the national broadcaster is airing a new history of the country called “<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/2017/canadathestoryofus" target="_blank">Canada: The Story of Us</a>.” Each episode uses key historical figures (many who have
received little public attention) to retell Canada’s history while relating it
to themes central to Canadian identity, such as hardiness, courage or
diversity. By breaking away from a rigid chronology and choosing a more thematic approach, the series is remarkably complex and allows for a more academic concept of history to be given a more public audience.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">So far so good. Each
hour also features commentary from historians and prominent Canadian figures
(politicians, actors, activists and so forth) talking about how the history
relates to identity. Herein lies the problem. </span>The CBC has received <a href="https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/cbc-apologizes-after-canadian-history-series-sparks-uproar-in-quebec-maritimes/article34666160/" target="_blank">significant complaints</a> from Quebec and the Maritimes surrounding a lack of diversity in the
selection of stories. Quebec has complained that there is a lack of content on
New France, while the Maritimes charge that the Mi'kmaq and early British
settlements are forgotten.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Four episodes in,
some of these allegations are true. Eastern Canada features very little, other
than a link to privateers making Halifax a vital port during the War of 1812 and beyond.
The Mi'kmaq do not feature at all. On the other hand, French Canadians were the
focus of most of the first episode. My personal pet peeve has been why the CBC
couldn’t find a fluently bilingual narrator, an oversight which leaves some
French names comically Anglicized. I also found the discussion of the alliance
between Brock and Tecumseh to be fleeting. Apparently they both died and faded away
into obscurity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">There is no doubt that
a history of Canada is an ambitious undertaking, especially when it is done so
infrequently. In order to condense the narrative, a selective presentation is
necessary. Academic history does this all the time, but it is also speaking to
an audience the author can assume had a solid grounding in the context of the
topic. When the audience isn’t so familiar, things get difficult.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t agree with many
of J.L. Granatstein's arguments, but I do agree that history curricula in
Canada and the public’s knowledge of even the most fundamental facts in
Canadian history are both dangerously inadequate. That the CBC undertook to provide a
new history is commendable (the broadcaster will also <a href="http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/2016/12/07/" target="_blank">add two new episodes</a> to
its epic "Canada: A People’s History" series to bring the
story up to date), but I question whether it has the clout to make its voice
heard. Outside of hockey and the national news, their programming rarely enters the
top 20 TV ratings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Still, I applaud the
show. Never have women and indigenous people featured so prominently in a
popular history of Canada. As we begin to digest the truth and
reconciliation committee's report, we need a much better understanding of how
we got to where we are so that we don’t make the same mistakes again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">I also applaud the
criticisms. By unpacking the content of the show, people have begun a
conversation about what Canadian history is. This can only be a good thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-78832342073828081312017-01-14T15:11:00.002-05:002017-01-14T15:11:29.460-05:00Back to ThinkingAfter a very long hiatus, I am back with a series of articles based on my MA research into model railways.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-3797470711027009262015-02-13T09:26:00.000-05:002015-02-13T09:26:16.740-05:00Upcoming Roundtable: Activism and AcademiaI have been helping to organize a roundtable discussion at the University of Toronto on February 24. <i>Professors + Publics: A Roundtable on Academic Activism</i> will explore how activism and academic work fit together.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/pBAE5-UCCVo8zVuiuLkGq2H7JsPDYn3iNw3uky2Kn1k?feat=directlink"><img alt="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/pBAE5-UCCVo8zVuiuLkGq2H7JsPDYn3iNw3uky2Kn1k?feat=directlink" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPhanBoM0ykZwNX9B1YQtaQ9ydtFnYai0e0EZ4HSY0VlDBzqiBtXNGZORxWM9Iec8xM37Yx8SV0qfOe2iKDglAi7TszZAxF9Z0aXwmqJPkOl5LFxHVbYHOMOHJHabrKv4yHpsqOEjCGm_/s1600/2015RoundtableLandscape.jpg" height="290" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The panel includes:<br />
<ul>
<li>Prof. Nadia Jones-Gailani (University of South Florida)</li>
<li>Prof. Michelle Murphy (University of Toronto)</li>
<li>Prof. Melanie Newton (University of Toronto)</li>
<li>Melonie A. Fullick (York University)</li>
<li>Prof. Sean Kheraj (York University)</li>
</ul>
The roundtable will be moderated by the host of CBC Radio's <i>Ideas</i>, Paul Kennedy.<br />
<br />
The discussion takes place at the University of Toronto Arts Centre at 1:30pm. You can register for free <a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/professors-publics-a-roundtable-on-academic-activism-tickets-15680131696">here</a>. <br />
<br />
It promises to be an interesting afternoon. Join us if you can!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-59223580195475554962014-12-01T09:41:00.001-05:002014-12-01T09:41:18.049-05:00Dissertation featured in ACJS BulletinMy work on fundraising in the Toronto Jewish community has been featured in the <a href="http://acjs-aejc.ca/">Association for Canadian Jewish Studies'</a> Fall 2014 <i>Bulletin</i>. Fittingly, it appears next to the announcement of new funding for the <a href="http://www.ontariojewisharchives.org/">Ontario Jewish Archives</a> (the principal repository used in my research), which is looking to better preserve its records for the future. <br />
<br />
To read about my work, and all the other interesting developments in the field of Canadian Jewish studies, click <a href="http://acjs-aejc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ACJS_Bulletin_Autumn_2014.pdf">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-73048124555197430052014-11-19T10:04:00.001-05:002014-11-19T10:06:30.603-05:00From the Academic to the Public: Using Academic Research in MuseumsTake a look at the NRM's latest online exhibition: <a href="http://www.nrm.org.uk/OurCollection/health-safety/main.aspx">Caution! Railway safety since 1913.</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
It was based on research by <a href="http://www.port.ac.uk/centre-for-european-and-international-studies-research/members/dr-mike-esbester.html">Mike Ebester</a>, a senior lecturer at Portsmouth, who specializes in the history of health & safety. With his expertise and interest in railways (both his MA and PhD were in railway studies), this exhibition has academic clout behind it, yet has been presented in a very accessible way for the general public. Also of note is the decision to put the exhibition online. This allows people from around the world to see it and also makes some of the NRM's archival material available to a much wider audience.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Academic work is increasingly expected to have public impact. Working on museum exhibits is a good way to do this. An important part of being a historian is translating research into a variety of forms: lectures, books, articles, theses and so forth. Museums offer yet another avenue for that hard-earned research material. <br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810862194144513393.post-63479323688459359672014-11-09T18:17:00.000-05:002014-11-09T18:17:57.189-05:00Can history and mobilities ever get along?
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<span lang="en-CA">This
past weekend, the <a href="http://www.ssha.org/">Social Science History Association</a> (SSHA) held its
39th annual conference in Toronto at the iconic Royal York Hotel.
Being right on my doorstep, I decided to attend. The SSHA is a
global group of scholars (although primarily American) who combine
social science topics and concepts with the canon of historical
study: temporality. I have always thought that history and the social
sciences would work well together, but my penchant for highly social
topics of study appears to be an unusual choice for historians.</span></div>
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<br />
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I attended three
paper sessions, each of which was tied to one of my areas of
interest, but all of them unique and interesting in their own ways.
The first, <i>Migration to Tropical Frontiers</i>, although
disappointingly lacking two of the four presenters, allowed me to
learn about a facet of the twentieth century's Jewish diaspora that I
had never encountered before, namely a small enclave of
migrants-cum-dairy farmers under the Trujillo dictatorship in the
Dominican Republic. Of particular interest in <a href="http://www.bowdoin.edu/faculty/a/awells/">Allen Wells'</a> paper on
the subject was how the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which
had been bankrolling the group of 750 Jews, found itself in 1946 torn
between the project and the enormous task of funding the urgent
resettlement of Jewish refugees from Europe to Palestine. In the end,
the Dominican project gradually lost its funding as Israel's needs
became central to Jewish fundraising around the world. Just like my
local case study of how Toronto's United Jewish Appeal became
increasingly focused on Israel, the Joint Distribution Committee
found itself shifting its priorities from multiple diasporic spaces
to just one: the nascent State of Israel.</div>
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<br />
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Two panels on
Saturday attracted my attention. <i>Toronto, European Suburb: Postwar
Migrant Communities and their Visions of Homeland in Canada's Largest
Diasporic City</i> looked at how migrant communities in Toronto
continued to stay connected to their places of origin. While my
research on Jewish Toronto showed an increasingly vocal and assertive
community, these papers showed that Toronto's other immigrant groups,
including the Portuguese, Polish, Macedonians and Italians, were also
gaining their voices at the same time, often using the same
techniques of political lobbying, internal sponsorship, fundraising
and public demonstrations. I was particularly interested to learn in
<a href="http://www.yorku.ca/gradhist/students/cv/GilbertoFernandes.html">Gilberto Fernandes'</a> paper that the Portuguese community found itself
divided by the 1961 'Bay Street Riot,' when rival groups fought for
and against the Portuguese dictatorship of the time. It is quite
similar to 1965, when Toronto's Jews took part in the 'Allan Gardens
Riot' against neo-Nazis.</div>
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<br />
</div>
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The last, and
best-attended of the sessions I chose was <i>Migration History and
the 'Mobilities Turn.'</i> My interest in transport history has
introduced me to both pure transport history and also the world of
mobilities, a new sociological sub-field which examines how people
move around and how their movement becomes part of their daily
routine. However, as two of the papers showed (one delivered by the
geographer <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/groups/mobilities-lab/profiles/colin-pooley">Colin Pooley</a> and the other by historian <a href="http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/hcs/donna-gabaccia">Donna Gabaccia</a>),
while historians and social scientists study almost the same thing,
they rarely communicate or collaborate. As Pooley showed, mobilities
work is rarely historical. Most scholarship is theoretical and often
uses field work undertaken in the present to address today's mobility
landscape. Rarely does it venture into mobilities of the past.
Likewise, Gabaccia clearly demonstrated that leading journals in the
field of migration history and mobilities (<i>The Journal of World
History</i> and <i>Mobilities</i> respectively) do not cite each
other and, while both are ostensibly talking about people moving
around, they use incompatible vocabularies.</div>
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Both papers came to
a very similar conclusion. In short, these two sub-disciplines (and,
as Pooley did, I would add transport history as a third) need to
collaborate and realize that they both have techniques and ideas to
share with each other. Mobilities offers insight into the
experiential side of moving around, while history allows us to see
change over time and whether mobility was different in the past. It
is, however, early days. As Gabaccia explained, the social sciences
need a "rupture" from their current dichotomy of the
present and a contiguous past to appreciate that past events are not
homogenous. Until then, mobilities cannot effectively be implemented
into historical study. As Pooley demonstrated in his own extremely
interesting work reconstructing everyday mobility from life writing
in the 19th and 20th centuries, the gaps in historical sources make a
social science-like analysis problematic. Several people in the panel
suggested a roundtable at next year's SSHA meeting to begin the
process of reconciling historians and social scientists in a joint
study of mobilities and (as several people correctly mentioned)
immobilities with migration and other histories of moving around.</div>
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Reflecting on the
mobilities debate, I wonder if the sides really are that far apart. I
think immediately of the copious work on 'railway spine' and similar
imagined ailments in Victorian rail travel. In the latter part of the
19th century, reports of mysterious ailments afflicting railway
travellers began to appear in the press and even in he pages of the
<i>Lancet</i>.[1] Freud spoke of the sexual excitation caused by the
rhythmic movement of trains.[2] The railway compartment was an
ambiguous mix of public and private, cosy and threatening (especially
after the Briggs Murder).[3] The railway compartment necessitated a
new set of behaviours. Reading while travelling became a popular
activity to respect the privacy of fellow travellers. This, in turn,
spawned the mass publishing of books.[4]</div>
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As these examples
show, the history of Victorian railway travel seems to mix the
temporality of history with the experience of travel as outlined by
mobility studies. Part of the difficulty in reconciling these two
fields is that much of the work on Victorian railway travel is part
of yet another discipline – Victorian Studies – which combines
history, literature and social science. Similarly, my introduction to
much of this was through railway studies, a discipline combining
history, geography, archaeology, social science and economics. Could
it simply be that social scientists and historians are being a little
stubborn? As this debate unfolds, we may find that the differences
are not so insurmountable as we once thought.</div>
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Notes:</div>
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1. Ralph Harrington,
“The Railway Journey and the Neuroses of Modernity,” in
<i>Pathologies of Travel</i>, ed. Richard Wrigley and George Revill
(Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000), 229–59.</div>
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2. Sigmund Freud,
<i>Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex</i>,
[<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Three_Contributions_to_the_Theory_of_Sex">https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Three_Contributions_to_the_Theory_of_Sex</a>]</div>
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3. Harrington, “The
Railway Journey,” 229-59; Matthew Beaumont, “Railway Mania: The
Train Compartment as the Scene of the Crime,” in <i>The Railway and
Modernity: Time, Space and the Machine Ensemble</i>, ed. Matthew
Beaumont and Michael Freeman (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2007), 125–53;
Kate Colquhoun, <i>Mr. Brigg’s Hat: A Sensational Account of
Britain’s First Railway Murder</i> (London: Little, Brown, 2011).</div>
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4. Wolfgang
Schivelbusch, <i>The Railway Journey: The Industrialization of Time
and Space in the 19th Century</i> (Leamington Spa: Berg, 1986).</div>
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