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Sarah Gordon - Review of Jeffrey S. Denis, Canada at a Crossroads: Boundaries, Bridges, and Laissez-Faire Racism in Indigenous-Settler Relations

Sarah Gordon - Review of Jeffrey S. Denis, Canada at a Crossroads: Boundaries, Bridges, and Laissez-Faire Racism in Indigenous-Settler Relations


Painting of Indigenous and White women staring at Earth above a fire

We are in a fraught historical moment to be reflecting on the relationships between prejudice, group dynamics, and colonialism – which makes this an important moment, and makes this book a timely one, even if it was published three years ago about research conducted from 2007 to 2009. Canada at a Crossroads is a strong, nuanced ethnography of settler-Indigenous relationships in the Rainy River District, a part of rural Ontario near the Manitoba border, in Treaty 3 territory.[1] Author Jeffrey S. Denis specifically tackles the issue of racism: what it is; its individual, social, and political influence; and how it is rationalized and perpetuated in an area where Indigenous-settler relationships are closer and more integrated than they are in many other parts of Canada. Based on this research, Denis comments on the real-life effectiveness of a variety of proposed solutions to racism, ranging from education to social contact to direct action.

The first chapter of the book provides a history of Indigenous-settler relations in the Rainy River District, with a focus on how present-day inter-group tensions have deep and complex historical roots. The second, third, and fourth chapters engage with different dimensions of group-making and the negotiation of power in group positioning and boundary-making. The fifth chapter presents a case study of the work that went into proposing and then preventing the construction of a group home and resource center for Indigenous youth in the settler community of Alberton. The remaining chapters discuss strategies and pitfalls when addressing prejudice and racism in the region: chapter 6 focuses on how Indigenous and non-Indigenous people tend to embrace “bridge” strategies that align with their existing prejudices; chapter 7 discusses how inter-group contact is not in itself an effective solution; and chapter 8 discusses the limited effectiveness of education as a strategy for reducing racism. Chapters 9 and 10 take an ethnographic lens to discuss the impacts of formal residential school apologies and community-based direct action.

Canada at a Crossroads is very much a sociological text; it applies existing theories of group-making and racism (classical social psychology, realistic group conflict theory, and Denis’s preferred group position theory) to ethnographic data, in contrast to the folklorists’ “humble” preference to allow theory to grow from our data and participant engagement. For this reason, however, it will be of great use to folklorists seeking to deepen their theoretical understanding of group formation through both affirmative and differential sociological processes. The research also raises interesting questions for related folkloristic research. Interview quotes frequently contain allusions or references to rumors, legends, and other types of folk belief that are not analyzed as such. This does not speak to a problem with Denis’s analysis — it’s simply outside his scope — but suggests avenues for new knowledge creation. I would be curious to read Denis’s original interviews through the lens of Gary Alan Fine and Patricia Turner’s Whispers on the Color Line.

Folklorists may occasionally be frustrated by how the theoretical emphasis on group beliefs and behavior does not effectively explain why individual group members may act outside their group norms—in this case, when settlers advocate for and align themselves with Indigenous groups and rights, or when Indigenous individuals align themselves with settlers and express internalized racism (a common problem for many Residential School survivors who were taught with violence to think of all things Indigenous as inferior). Denis acknowledges this conundrum on several occasions, most notably in chapters 7 and 8, but given the sociological basis for the study, he continues to emphasize group norms rather than the peripheries that so often entice folklorists.

Folklorists will find particular value in this book for its reflection on racism as a kind of traditional attitude that shapes narratives of personal experience and local history. It’s about power, certainly, but also about the validation of existing norms of relation and kinship, and the affirmation of beliefs that undergird those norms. The case study of the Weechi-it-te-win Family Services building (chapter 5) is a compelling and upsetting tale of vernacular beliefs driving institutional and political decision-making, and discussions of collective action raise interesting questions surrounding the formation of traditional performance practices to solve immediate political problems (chapter 10).

Footnote

[1] Most of the landmass we now call Canada was colonized through the negotiation of a numbered series of treaties between the British crown and various Indigenous groups and leaders. These treaties created the reserve system, restricted the free movement of Indigenous people outside of reserves, and prohibited most frameworks for Indigenous property ownership. These treaties have been enforced almost exclusively in bad faith by the British and Canadian governments since their incipience.

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[Review length: 768 words • Review posted on October 4, 2024]