Brian Gettler
pp. 7–18
Record
Abstract
This article makes a series of modest proposals to overcome two recent and highly problematic historiographical trends in the study of the political community in Quebec that tend to obscure First Nations contributions to national history. The author proposes studies of Indigenous history that work to create a productive dialog between the largely separate bodies of work on Quebec, on the one hand, and its Indigenous population, on the other. By emphasizing methodological problems, often arising directly from present-day political projects, and the diverse ways of overcoming such difficulties, the article’s objective is to encourage renewed research (already underway) into Indigenous history in Quebec, not in order to assimilate it into the narrative arc of national history, but to ensure that these two distinct yet connected historiographies interact and inspire one another.
Philippe Charland
pp. 19–36
Record
Abstract
This article is a discussion of the ethnonyms used by the Abenaki people to designate other indigenous nations with which they had contact. As with many toponyms, these ethnonyms have been subject to variations throughout history that make reading, understanding and interpreting them difficult; these variations arise mainly from a lack of knowledge of native languages and the bureaucratisation of their vocabulary. Through exhaustive research of the ethnonyms available in primary sources, it was possible to identify 19 ethnonyms referring to 14 Indigenous groups of the northeast (Algonquin, Attikamek, Huron-Wendat, Inuit, Iroquois, Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, Mohawk, Mohican, Naskapi, Nipissing, Odawa and Penobscot). Several of the ethnoynms identified were found to be loanwords from other Algonquian languages, while some groups were designated by more than one ethnonym. Also of note is the fact that for certain indigenous groups of Quebec, no Abenaki-language ethnonym could be identified in spite of documented contact between the two groups.
Leila Inksetter
pp. 37–47
Record
Abstract
This article examines one aspect of cultural change experienced by Northern Algonquins during the nineteenth century, namely, the gradual introduction of a dual system for designating people, involving first the addition of a Christian name, then at the end of the nineteenth century, a surname. This dual system was integrated in a dynamic and complex fashion which involved much more than the simple introduction of Christian baptisms. This article analyses these changes using a combination of historical and ethnological sources. It shows the advantages of using multiple sources to understand cultural change over time.
Stéphanie Boutevin
pp. 49–62
Record
Abstract
In this article, the author presents an Abenaki minister’s thoughts about his religious beliefs: Peter Paul Osunkhirhine was a Protestant minister for the former Jesuit mission of St. Francis during the nineteenth century. With the example of two of his letters, the author will show that he was active in debates of his contemporaneous society. He wrote many texts, some of which were published, and he tried to be a key engine of positive social change for his community. He did not hesitate to defend his ideas, even against the Reverend Burns, an eminent member of the Knox church who disagreed with him. Through Osunkhirhine, the active part played by several Amerindians in the social change of their communities is brought to light. The Abenaki minister showed how he managed to make Protestant ideas and values his own to adapt them to his situation.
Marie Lise Vien
pp. 63–74
Record
Abstract
This article relates events happening in Kahnawake in the 1830s and 1840s as members of the community contested the acceptability of Mohawk-white marriages. It shows how a preexisting discomfort about the presence of Euro-Canadians in the community was used by local Native and non-Native actors to serve their economic and political interests, whether personal or collective. For that purpose, they sought to redefine the acceptability of those marriages according to racial and patriarchal criteria. By focusing on the role of local actors, this article shows that the legal definition of Indian status in the laws of 1850 and 1851 introduced racial and gendered lines to frame the integration of whites by marriage, reflected the contradictory discourses in circulation in the St. Lawrence Valley’s Native communities, notably in Kahnawake.
Amanda Ricci
pp. 75–85
Record
Abstract
This article addresses Indigenous women’s activism in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It highlights women’s role in the Red Power movement, a North American-wide push for Indigenous self-determination, as well as traces the, not unrelated, quest to eliminate article 12(1) b) of the Indian Act where women lost Indian status upon out-marriage. The author also outlines the rise of the Quebec Native Women’s Association (QNWA), a pan-Indigenous women’s group based in Kahnawake. Although the organization contested article 12(1) b), the QNWA was equally critical of the colonial aspects of the education and health care systems. Therefore, the author discusses the various tactics adopted by Indigenous women in their quest for self-determination and equality. By doing so, the article contributes to our understanding of Indigenous women’s organizing, in a manner inclusive of, yet not limited to, the battle to amend the Indian Act.
Alain Beaulieu and Stéphanie Béreau
pp. 87–102
Record
Abstract
Until the early nineteenth century, the British mainly sought the military support of First Nations. After the war of 1812, they gradually engaged in another policy, that of “civilization”: from the 1830’s onwards, this program lead to several laws controlling Aboriginal life and aiming at their better integration into the white society. Traditional political structures were quickly affected by this change. In 1869, the Canadian Parliament adopted measures to abolish the traditional system of chiefs and replace them with elected band councils, but it was not until the late 1890s that Ottawa managed to impose them in the province of Quebec. This system still exists today, the powers of band councils having however been extended after 1951, with the adoption of a new Indian Act. The purpose of this article is to study the implementation and operation of band councils examining a particular example, the case of Pointe-Bleue’s Innu reserve (Mashteuiatsh).
