First Nations, Identity, and Reserve Life

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First Nations, Identity, and Reserve Life

The Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia

Simone Poliandri

376 pages
18 illustrations, 7 maps

Hardcover

November 2011

978-0-8032-3771-1

$65.00 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

November 2011

978-0-8032-3811-4

$65.00 Add to Cart

About the Book

Issues of identity figure prominently in Native North American communities, mediating their histories, traditions, culture, and status. This is certainly true of the Mi’kmaw people of Nova Scotia, whose lives on reserves create highly complex economic, social, political, and spiritual realities. This ethnography investigates identity construction and negotiations among the Mi’kmaq, as well as the role of identity dynamics in Mi’kmaw social relationships on and off the reserve. Featuring direct testimonies from over sixty individuals, this work offers a vivid firsthand perspective on contemporary Mi’kmaw reserve life.

Simone Poliandri begins First Nations, Identity, and Reserve Life with a search for the criteria used by the Mi’kmaq to construct their identities, which are traced within the context of their different perceptions of community, tradition, spirituality, relationship with the Catholic Church, and the recent reevaluation of the iconic figure of late activist Annie Mae Aquash. Building on the notions of self-identification and ascribed identity as the primary components of identity, Poliandri argues that placing others at specific locations within the social landscape of their communities allows the Mi’kmaq to define and reinforce their own spaces by way of association, contrast, or both. This identification of others highlights Mi’kmaw people’s agency in shaping and monitoring the representations of their identities. With its theoretical insights, this richly textured ethnography will enhance understanding of identity dynamics among Indigenous communities even as it illuminates the unique nature of the Mi’kmaw people.

Author Bio

Simone Poliandri is an assistant professor of anthropology at Framingham State University.

Praise

"Featuring direct testimonies from over sixty individuals, this work offers a vivid firsthand perspective on contemporary Mi'kmaw reserve life."—Canadian Anthropology Society Newsletter: Culture

“Poliandri has captured a unique cultural identity . . . and the appreciation of identity and appreciation of our past, present, and future understanding of our cultural traits by the Mi’kmaq people today.”—Donald M. Julien, executive director of the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations  

Preface    

Acknowledgments  

Introduction     

1. The Mi'kmaq: Socio-Geographic Context and Historical Background     

2. Tracing the Boundaries: Community, Social Relationships, and Mi'kmaw

      Identity   

3. Back to the Future, Ahead to the Past? Mi'kmaw Perceptions of Tradition   

4. The Way of the Pipe: Native Spirituality and Mi'kmaw Identity 

5. The Way of the Cross: The Catholic Church and Mi'kmaw Identity

6. Annie Mae Aquash: A Renewed Source of Mi'kmaw Identity and Pride    

Conclusion 

Notes      

References 

Index

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