Systematic erasure and exotification of Indigenous peoples within Canadian towns was common during the span of McKenzie’s life and benefitted Canada’s Euro-Canadian classes in several ways. Indigenous peoples were believed to be lower-class and uncivilized throughout Canada, by the crown, the government, the media, higher-class or affluent individuals and much of society. Simultaneously erasing and exotifying Indigenous peoples suggested to the public that the ‘old ways’ of Indigenous peoples were being ‘civilized,’ that the Euro-Canadians were helping and that together Indigenous peoples and Euro-Canadians could look back at the ‘old ways’ and be entertained.
In Chilliwack, in the early 1940s, Indigenous peoples were often exotified in the
In Chilliwack, in the early 1940s, Indigenous peoples were often exotified in the