English 4GR3
Gender, Indigeneity and Representation in Canada
McMaster University
Fall 2010
Dr. Amber Dean
Office: CNH 316, ext. 23725
Email: deanamb@mcmaster.ca
Office Hours: Mondays, 8-9pm or by appointment
Lectures: Mondays, 6pm-8pm, CNH 332
Important Notes:
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: In the event of class cancellations, students will be notified via ‘Avenue to Learn’ and the
English Department Website. It is your responsibility to check these sites regularly for any such announcements.
Link: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~english/ (Department)
Link: http://avenue.mcmaster.ca/ (Avenue; login is required)
2 : In this course I will be using a web-based service (Turnitin.com) to reveal plagiarism.
Students will be required to submit their work electronically to Turnitin.com and in hard copy so that it can be checked for academic dishonesty.
Link: www.turnitin.com
, for more information: http://www.turnitin.com/static/privacy.html
3: Email Policy: It is the policy of the Faculty of Humanities that all email communication sent from students to instructors (including TAs), and from students to staff, must originate from the student's own McMaster University email account. This policy protects confidentiality and confirms the identity of the student. Instructors will delete emails that do not originate from a McMaster email account.
4: Laptop Policy: Please refrain from using laptops and other electronic devices during class time. Because this is a seminar course focused on discussion of the readings, there should be no reason to use a laptop during class. Exceptions will be made for students doing seminar presentations or in unique circumstances (please come and see me if this is an issue for you).
5: Students will be requested to complete an online course evaluation at the end of the course.
Course Description:
In this course we will examine a variety of representations of gender and indigeneity in
Canada. Although we will focus our study on representations of Indigenous women, we will also explore, to a lesser degree, how gender matters in representations of indigeneity more broadly. Genres to be studied include auto/biography, fiction, poetry, theatre, media
(mainstream and alter/native), art, and documentary film. Our study of gender and indigeneity across these genres will be guided by the following questions: How are
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Indigenous women, in particular, represented in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural productions? What similarities and differences exist across historical and contemporary representations? Between self-representations and representations by others? What challenges arise in collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural producers? Do the representations being examined contribute to processes of colonization, provide opportunities for resistance, or both? What are the political or other implications of generic choices? And how is gender made to matter in relation to indigeneity as a category of identity, or as a claim to community, in the cultural productions we are examining?
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course students should be able to:

Offer critical, informed responses to the questions listed in the course description above.

Demonstrate critical thinking and reading skills, particularly through an ability to analyze a variety of representations of gender and indigeneity

Demonstrate advanced knowledge and critical analysis of one problem or issue related to the representation of gender and indigeneity through completion of the research paper.

Demonstrate skills in presentation, verbal communication and discussion through participation in the seminar presentation and weekly discussions.
Required Texts:
Available at Titles, the University bookstore:
Boyden, Joseph. Three Day Road. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2008
Griffiths, Linda and Maria Campbell. The Book of Jessica. Toronto: Playwrights Canada
Press, 1997.
Maracle, Lee. Daughters are Forever. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2002.
Mosionier, Beatrice Culleton. In Search of April Raintree. Critical edition edited by
Cheryl Suzack. Winnipeg: Portage and Main Press, 1999.
Murphy, Ryan Andrew (Ed.) “Cedar Table: Art and Anti-Colonialism,” a special issue of
West Coast Line 55 41.3, fall 2007.
ENGL 4GR3 Courseware Package
Course Evaluation:
Written Assignment #1 (Discussion paper, 750-1000 words) – 20% (assigned Sept. 20; due
Oct. 18)
Written Assignment #2 (Research paper, 2500-3000 words) – 40% (assigned Oct. 4; due
Dec. 6)
Research Paper Proposal – 10% (assigned Oct. 4; due Oct. 25)
Seminar Presentation – 20% (sign up in class Sept 13 & 20; distributed throughout the term)
Participation – 10%
**For detailed information on each of the above assignments or course requirements, please consult the related handout available under “Assignment Details” in ‘Avenue to Learn.’
The handout will be available on or before the “assigned” dates listed above.
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Since September 1982, the grading scale has been:
Grade
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
3
2
1
0
9
8
7
6
5
4
Equivalent Grade Point Equivalent Percentages
12 90-100
11
10
85-89
80-84
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
57-59
53-56
50-52
0-49 -- Failure
Written Work and Late Submissions Policy:
For more information on my approach to grading written work, download the handout
“Written Assignments Marking Guide” in ‘Avenue to Learn’ under Assignment Details. All written work will be marked on grammar, clarity of writing, and organization, as well as content and analysis. All essays must be properly referenced and include a bibliography. Use the Chicago (Turabian) or MLA style for referencing, whichever one you’re most familiar with. Examples can be found at http://library.mcmaster.ca/guides/turabian-chicago-styleguide or http://library.mcmaster.ca/guides/mla-style-guide
The Centre for Student Development also has a wonderful handout titled “Using and
Acknowledging Sources in Essays” which you may find helpful. You can download it as a
PDF from their website: http://csd.mcmaster.ca
Students are encouraged to visit the Centre for Student Development to improve their essay writing skills (MUSC B107; x24711). For information about the Writing Clinic and the
Centre’s other services, visit the Centre’s website: http://csd.mcmaster.ca
Please note that students anticipating difficulty with English grammar, punctuation, paragraph development, thesis statement development, or source citation should consult the
Centre for Student Development early on as you are expected to have already developed these skills.
All written work must be submitted at the start of class on the due date (unless otherwise instructed). Do not submit essays by email and do not slide them under the instructor’s door.
Late assignments will be penalized 5% a day (weekends will count as one day). Late penalties will not be waived unless your Faculty/Program Office advises the instructor that you have submitted to that office the appropriate documentation to support your inability to submit the work by the due date.
Academic Integrity:
Academic dishonesty consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent means and can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: “Grade of F assigned for academic
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dishonesty”), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university.
It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the various kinds of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically Appendix 3, located at http://www.mcmaster.ca/senate/academic/ac_integrity.htm
The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:
1. Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not one’s own or for which other credit has been obtained.
2. Improper collaboration in group work. (Receiving a group grade for a presentation without having done an equal amount of work on the project.)
3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.
Students will be required to submit their work electronically and in hard copy so that it can be checked for academic dishonesty.
AVENUE TO LEARN:
In this course we will be using ‘Avenue to Learn’ (the new learning management system at
Mac). Students should be aware that when they access the electronic components of this course, private information such as first and last names, user names for the McMaster e-mail accounts, and program affiliation may become apparent to all other students in the same course. The available information is dependent on the technology used. Continuation in this course will be deemed consent to this disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns about such disclosure please discuss this with the course instructor.
I will use ‘Avenue to Learn’ to distribute additional information about course assignments and expectations, including handouts and assignment guides, so you should make a point of accessing it frequently (at least once per week) in order to keep up-to-date with our course.
Any announcements about changes to assigned readings, office hours, or class cancellations will also be made through ‘Avenue to Learn’.
Students who are unfamiliar with the ‘Avenue to Learn’ system should seek immediate assistance by coming to see me during my office hours, or review the online tips available by visiting the McMaster ‘Avenue to Learn’ webpage.
A word about reading …
In this course, as with most seminar courses, the readings ARE the course. It is not possible to succeed in this course without reading and engaging with the primary texts and secondary, critical articles. Therefore, it is essential that you read all of the assigned reading at least once before attending class, and that you bring the reading material with you to class for discussion.
For tips on how to approach the reading material for our course, see the handout available in
‘Avenue to Learn’.
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SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND DISCUSSION TOPICS
At certain points in the course it may make good sense to modify the schedule outlined below.
The instructor reserves the right to modify elements of the course and will notify students accordingly. Please ensure you have completed the assigned readings before each class.
September 13: Introductions / Course Overview
Assigned Readings:
Hoy, Helen. “Introduction.” In
How Should I Read These? Native women writers in Canada.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001: 3-31. [Courseware]
Maracle, Lee. “Oratory on Oratory.” In
Trans.Can.Lit: Resituating the study of Canadian
Literature. Smaro Kamboureli, & Roy Miki, Eds. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University
Press, 2007: 55-70. [Courseware]
September 20: Representation and/as Colonization: Historical Contexts
Assigned Readings:
Carter, Sarah. “Categories and Terrains of Exclusion: Constructing the ‘Indian Woman’ in the early Settlement Era in Western Canada.” In
In the Days of our Grandmothers: A Reader in Aboriginal Women’s History in Canada Mary-Ellen Kelm and Lorna Townsend, Eds.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006: 146-169. [Courseware]
Mowat, Farley. “Walk Well, My Brother.” In The Snow Walker. Toronto: McClelland &
Stewart, 1975: 143-161. [Courseware]
Johnson, E. Pauline/Tekahionwake. “A Cry from an Indian Wife” (poetry) and “A Strong
Race Opinion: On the Indian Girl in Modern Fiction” (journalism). Both available online at http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~pjohnson/writings.html
[Courseware]
September 27: Representation and/as Colonization: Contemporary Contexts
Assigned Readings:
Fiske, Jo-Anne. “By, For, or About? Shifting Directions in the Representations of Aboriginal
Women.” Atlantis 25.1, 2000: 11-27. [Courseware]
Mojica, Monique. “Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots.” In
Princess Pocahontas and the
Blue Spots: Two Plays by Monique Mojica.
Toronto: Women’s Press, 1991: 9-62.
[Courseware]
Acoose, Janice/Red Sky Woman. “Fenced in and Forced to Give Up: Images of Indigenous women in selected non-Indigenous Writers’ Fiction.” In Iskwewak--kah' ki yaw ni wahkomakanak: Neither Indian princesses nor easy squaws.
Toronto: Women’s Press, 1995:
69-88. [Courseware]
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October 4: Representing Colonization’s Effects: Testimony and Truth-telling
Assigned Readings:
Mosionier, Beatrice Culleton. In Search of April Raintree. Critical edition edited by Cheryl
Suzack. Winnipeg: Portage and Main Press, 1999.
October 11: Thanksgiving Holiday, no classes
October 18: The Politics of Representation: The Appropriation of Voice Debates
Assigned Readings:
Cameron, Anne. “Preface,” “Song for the Dead,” “Old Magic,” “Copper Woman,” “The
Women’s Society,” & “The Warrior Women.” In
Daughters of Copper Woman. Vancouver:
Press Gang, 1981: 1-29; 59-63; 129-138. [Courseware]
Emberley, Julia .
“(De)constructing Affinities.” In Thresholds of Difference: Feminist critique, native women’s writing, postcolonial theory.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1993: 79-99. [Courseware]
October 25: Challenges of Collaboration Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Cultural
Producers
Assigned Readings:
Griffiths, Linda and Maria Campell. The Book of Jessica. Toronto: Playwrights Canada
Press, 1997.
Hoy, Helen. “‘When you Admit You’re a Thief’: Maria Campbell and Linda Griffiths’
The
Book of Jessica.
”
In How Should I Read These? Native women writers in Canada. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2001: 48-63. [Courseware]
November 1: The Political Terrain of Gender in Indigenous Communities
Assigned Readings:
Martin-Hill, Dawn. “She No Speaks and Other Colonial Constructs of the ‘Traditional’
Woman.” In
Strong Women Stories: Native vision and community survival. Kim Anderson and Bonita Lawrence, Eds. Toronto: Sumach Press, 2003: 106-120. [Courseware]
LaRocque, Emma. “Metis and Feminist: Ethical reflections on feminism, human rights and decolonization.” In
Making Space for Indigenous Feminism. Joyce Green, Ed. Black Point,
NS: Fernwood, 2007: 53-71. [Courseware]
Film Screening: Club Native. Dir. Deer, Tracey. Montreal: NFB, 2008.
November 8: Representing Indigenous Masculinities
Assigned Readings:
Boyden, Joseph. Three Day Road. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2008.
Media representations of Shawn Brant, Tyendinaga Mohawk activist; selections TBA
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November 15: Queering Indigeneity
Assigned Readings:
Heath Justice, Daniel, Mark Rifkin and Bethany Schneider, “Introduction” to “Sexuality,
Nationality, Indigeneity,” a special issue of
GLQ: Gay & Lesbian Quarterly 16.1-2, Daniel
Heath Justice, Mark Rifkin and Bethany Schneider, Eds, 2010: 5-39. [Courseware]
Driskill, Qwo-Li. “Double-Weaving Two-Spirit Critiques: Building alliances between Native and Queer Studies.” In “Sexuality, Nationality, Indigeneity,” a special issue of
GLQ: Gay &
Lesbian Quarterly 16.1-2, Daniel Heath Justice, Mark Rifkin and Bethany Schneider, Eds,
2010: 69-92. [Courseware]
Brant, Beth. “A Long Story.” In
Mohawk Trail: Degonwadonti . Toronto: Canadian
Scholars/Women’s Press, 1992: 77-86. [Courseware]
November 22: Representations of Murdered or Missing Indigenous Women
Assigned Readings:
Boswell, Randy and CanWest News Service. “The Vanished: Canada’s Missing Women
(Parts I – III).” The Vancouver Sun , October 27, 2009. Available online at http://www.canada.com/news/the-vanished/index.html
Native Women’s Association of Canada.
Voices of our Sisters in Spirit: A report to families and communities. 2 nd
edition, 2009. Available for download in ‘Avenue to Learn’
Amnesty International. Stolen Sisters: A human rights response to discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada , 2004. Available for download in ‘Avenue to
Learn’
Film Screening: Finding Dawn . Dir. Welsh, Christine. Montreal: NFB, 2006.
November 29: Representation and/as Resistance/Decolonization
Assigned Readings:
Maracle, Lee. Daughters are Forever. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2002.
Maracle, Lee. “I Want to Write” and “The Rebel.” In
I am Woman: A Native Perspective on
Sociology and Feminism. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2002 (rep edition): 3-13; 93-104.
[Courseware]
December 6: Last Class / Representation and/as Resistance/Decolonization ctd.
Assigned Readings:
Murphy, Ryan Andrew (Ed.) “Art and Anti-Colonialism,” a special issue of West Coast Line
55 41.3, 2007; selections TBA
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