The first reading addressed was “Settling differences: Managing and representing people and land in the Canadian national project.” by Eva Mackey. One of the first concepts Mackey discusses is the idea of “white settler innocence” (p. 26), which explores how European settlement in Canada claimed to be superordinate to the Native people already residing on the land, but seemingly treated them fairly, giving them land and autonomy, when in fact their intent was secretly selfish. Because of this “white settler innocence” (p. 26), Canada garnered a reputation as an accepting and tolerant nation, in particularly towards the Native people, especially when compared to the United State’s treatment of Native people. When in fact Canadian’s only used
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Because Canada is a northern country, it’s climate is considered to be much colder, especially when compared to the south. It was believed that this harsh climate created a stronger, more superior race, and that people from the south would not be able to survive such a climate as a result of natural selection. So therefore the north was better than the south because of it’s strong races and its “[exclusion of] Blacks and Asians on the grounds that they were unsuited to the cold climate of Canada” (Mackey, p.33). Canada soon became known for it’s wilderness, as a result of paintings created by the Group of Seven. The paintings were landscapes, void of human presence, which portrayed Canada as a vast, “impenetrable, and certainly uninviting, wilderness.” (Mackey, p.43). These paintings were problematic, in the sense that the painted wilderness attempted to remove any trace of Aboriginal inhabitancy, as the wilderness was previously thought to be a part of Native presence. During the group discussions the treatment of Aboriginals became a predominant topic when addressing Mackey’s …show more content…
Razack and Mackey share the idea of how geography can shape and affect the identity of those living there, Razack demonstrates this through racial hierarchies, and the idea that certain areas are defined by who lived there, Razack also discusses the national mythology of Canada, which portrays the country as vast untouched forests, and snow-covered lands, while Mackey explores the idea of the north vs the south, and how Canada’s cold, harsh weather, has shaped Canadians into a stronger race. During the group discussion, Razack’s article was briefly discussed, the main topic brought forth was that of how an area can be defined by who lives there, and how racism still occurs when dealing with this type of subject, though it is subtler. In the article “Eminently Canadian: Indigenous Sports and Canadian Identity in Victorian Montreal”, the author Gillian Poulter discusses how Native cultural practices have shaped Canadian identity. Many of Canada’s iconic activities and sports, such as lacrosse, snowshoeing, tobogganing, and even in some cases fishing and hunting, were actually adapted from Native cultural activities, to which they receive little to no credit. Because Canadians were trying to create an identity for themselves that was different than Britain’s or the United states, the one source they found to be perfect for this was the Native Americans. Initially, European Canadians had to rely on Natives to help teach and demonstrate how these activities took
Because Canada is a northern country, it’s climate is considered to be much colder, especially when compared to the south. It was believed that this harsh climate created a stronger, more superior race, and that people from the south would not be able to survive such a climate as a result of natural selection. So therefore the north was better than the south because of it’s strong races and its “[exclusion of] Blacks and Asians on the grounds that they were unsuited to the cold climate of Canada” (Mackey, p.33). Canada soon became known for it’s wilderness, as a result of paintings created by the Group of Seven. The paintings were landscapes, void of human presence, which portrayed Canada as a vast, “impenetrable, and certainly uninviting, wilderness.” (Mackey, p.43). These paintings were problematic, in the sense that the painted wilderness attempted to remove any trace of Aboriginal inhabitancy, as the wilderness was previously thought to be a part of Native presence. During the group discussions the treatment of Aboriginals became a predominant topic when addressing Mackey’s …show more content…
Razack and Mackey share the idea of how geography can shape and affect the identity of those living there, Razack demonstrates this through racial hierarchies, and the idea that certain areas are defined by who lived there, Razack also discusses the national mythology of Canada, which portrays the country as vast untouched forests, and snow-covered lands, while Mackey explores the idea of the north vs the south, and how Canada’s cold, harsh weather, has shaped Canadians into a stronger race. During the group discussion, Razack’s article was briefly discussed, the main topic brought forth was that of how an area can be defined by who lives there, and how racism still occurs when dealing with this type of subject, though it is subtler. In the article “Eminently Canadian: Indigenous Sports and Canadian Identity in Victorian Montreal”, the author Gillian Poulter discusses how Native cultural practices have shaped Canadian identity. Many of Canada’s iconic activities and sports, such as lacrosse, snowshoeing, tobogganing, and even in some cases fishing and hunting, were actually adapted from Native cultural activities, to which they receive little to no credit. Because Canadians were trying to create an identity for themselves that was different than Britain’s or the United states, the one source they found to be perfect for this was the Native Americans. Initially, European Canadians had to rely on Natives to help teach and demonstrate how these activities took