A Canadian climate of mind: passages from fur to energy and beyond

367 Pages·2016·22.362 MB·English

by  Leduc, Timothy B

A Canadian Climate of Mind
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A Canadian Climate
of Mind
Passages from Fur to Energy
and Beyond
Timothy B. Leduc
McGill-Q ueen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston London Chicago
• •
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© McGill- Queen’s University Press 2016
isbn 978- 0- 7735- 4761- 2 (cloth)
isbn 978- 0- 7735- 4762- 9 (paper)
isbn 978- 0- 7735- 9871- 3 (ePDF)
isbn 978- 0- 7735- 9880- 5 (ePUB)
Legal deposit second quarter 2016
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid- free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post- consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards
to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Funding has also been received
from the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University.
McGill- Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada
Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the
financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book
Fund for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Leduc, Timothy B., 1970–, author
A Canadian climate of mind: passages from fur to energy and beyond /
Timothy B. Leduc.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
isbn 978-0-7735-4761-2 (cloth). – isbn 978-0-7735-4762-9 (paper). –
isbn 978-0-7735-9871-3 (epdf). – isbn 978-0-7735-9880-5 (epub)
1. Human ecology – Canada. 2. Native peoples – Ecology – Canada.
3. Human beings – Effect of climate on – Canada. 4. Climatic changes –
Canada. 5. Climatic changes – Psychological aspects. 6. Climatic
changes – Social aspects – Canada. I. Title.
GF511.L43 2016 304.20971 C2015-908342-7
C2015-908343-5
This book was typeset by Interscript in 10.5/14 Sabon.
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Contents
Illustrations vii
Foreword by William Woodworth Raweno:kwas ix
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: Oh! Stranger … 3
1 When the Pain Started 19
2 Meeting Place in the Forest 50
3 Shapes of Violence 79
4 Protectress of Canada 111
5 One Mind, One Heart, One Mouth 147
6 Darkness Will Cover the Earth 184
7 A Life That Is Real 220
Epilogue: Look with Reverence 258
Glossary of Indigenous and Braided Terms 275
Notes 281
Bibliography 319
Index 341
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Illustrations
Unless otherwise specified, the photographs found in this book were
taken by the author. Apart from various works in the public domain
that are referred to below, I want to give specific thanks to the follow-
ing individuals and organizations for allowing me to include their
images in this book: Barbara and David Clark, Kevin Gordon, Jamie
Leduc, and City of Toronto Museums and Heritage Services.
1 Howard Tomb in 1874–75 (Permission to reprint courtesy of the
City of Toronto Museums and Heritage Services, 1978.41.42) 4
2 Two Row Wampum held by William Woodworth Raweno:kwas
(spring 2015) 5
3 Toronto marsh with a great blue heron (summer 2015) 20
4 Toronto traffic along a sunny Lake Ontario (summer 2015) 22
5 Toronto traffic along a dark Lake Ontario (summer 2015) 23
6 Fallen onerahtase’ko:wa near passage de taronto (winter 2015) 52
7 French Map of Lake Ontario, 1675 (By Father Pierre Raffeix, first
published in 1688, courtesy of Map and Data Library, University of
Toronto. Original with Bibliothèque Nationale in France) 53
8 Power dam where the longue sault once ran (spring 2015) 80
9 Looking south at Lake Ontario (Courtesy of City of Toronto,
Toronto Culture, Museums and Heritage Services, reference no.
1970.214.19) 80
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viii Illustrations
10 Bitumen-s ands development in Alberta, 2012 (Courtesy of Wikimedia
Commons, The Interior) 81
11 Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (Permission to reprint courtesy of Kevin
Gordon) 112
12 Colum Cille’s cell on Isle of Iona (spring 2005) 113
13 Blue Virgin with Lake Ontario view (summer 2015) 148
14 Turtle Island at Night, 2012 (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons,
nasa Earth Observatory, October 2012) 149
15 Labyrinth east of passage de taronto (summer 2015) 186
16 Staghorn sumacs in summer (summer 2015) 187
17 Great blue heron on a rock (Photo taken by Barbara and David Clark
in 2015. Permission to courtesy of Barbara and David Clark) 221
18 Rose cross on Howard tomb (winter 2015) 222
19 Turtle rattle (summer 2015) 223
20 cn Tower and White Pine (winter and summer 2015). Designed by
and courtesy of Jamie Leduc. 259
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Foreword
William Woodworth Raweno:kwas
The profound understanding with which A Canadian Climate of Mind
weaves together what might seem at first disparate narratives conveys
to us a healing cultural integration perhaps unique in the literature
around our relationship with nature. The sensitive life-e ncounters so
compassionately recounted in this book are suffused with the spirit of
a great elder in the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tradition. Jacob Ezra
Thomas was a traditional chief of the Six Nations Confederacy. He
carried the chiefly duties of the Snipe Clan of the Cayuga Nation with
the title Deyawenhethon (He Is So Real in a Double Way). Jake was
my teacher, and through me he became a teacher to Tim Leduc as he
considered the complex challenges to minding a passage through our
climate of change in these lands we call Canada.
To me, Leduc’s book is the culmination of our mutual journeying,
friendship, and respect for all those who have come before us. Our
kindred spirits coalesced around the mixed ancestries of our relation-
ship – Native, British, French, and the incredible natural world of
southern Ontario. As the following pages attest, this is a region imbued
with a rich natural history, vibrant pre-h istoric Native settlement, and
complex colonial narratives that are evident even in the dense urban-
ity of a place like Toron:to – the place where our relationship and this
book begins. All of our work together seemed surrounded by our
mutual ancestors, and particularly the ever-a ppearing spirit of Jake
Thomas as I shared with Tim the many teachings and experiences of
my time with Jake at Six Nations an hour west of Toronto.
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