Ecofeminism and First Nations Peoples in Canada: Linking culture,gender and nature

Many ecofeminists see women's subordination as a result of linking women with nature. Thus one of their tasks has been to unravel the underlying dualistic structure of the categories ‘women’ and ‘nature’ and to argue for a reconceptualization of these categories. However, there exist amongst ecofeminists epistemological differences pertaining to the ways in which the women–nature connection should be addressed. Spiritual ecofeminists argue that the connection between women and nature is worth reclaiming and celebrating. In contrast, social ecofeminists contend that the connection represents a patriarchal artifice that reinforces oppression. In support of both perspectives, ‘Western’ ecofeminists have invoked the cultural beliefs and histories of Aboriginal peoples. Such use of Aboriginal beliefs and experiences within much of Western ecofeminist discourses is partial and uninformed. In this article an alternative approach is offered—one that emphasizes the importance of listening to Aboriginal voices describing contemporary connections to nature. Aboriginal voices are presented in the context of in-depth interviews conducted with Anishinabek (Ojibway and Odawa peoples) living in one First Nations community and three cities in Ontario, Canada. The interviews highlight the importance of listening to Anishinabek describe their connections to Mother Earth (nature) as they reveal counter-narratives that offer the potential to reconcile spiritual and social ecofeminism and to reconceptualize nature (Mother Earth) as an active and dynamic agent. Such counter-narratives may improve current understandings of gender–nature connections within Western ecofeminisms.     

Control of Indigenous Archaeological Heritage in Ontario,Canada

Few Indigenous peoples have control over their heritage, despite international recognition of this right in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007. In Ontario, Canada, the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990 regulates archaeology and grants licences to archaeologists to investigate archaeological heritage. Indigenous people want more control of their archaeological heritage in Ontario. To uphold Indigenous rights to archaeological heritage in Ontario, heritage legislation and policy needs to be revised and site protection increased. This paper recommends that Indigenous archaeological heritage in Ontario would be best protected by strengthening Ontario government land development policy and legislation to require the free, prior, and informed consent from affected Indigenous communities before removal of significant archaeological sites and remains from their ancestral territories.     

加拿大的第一次城市改革及其评价

19世纪末20世纪初,加拿大城市在政府形式、服务设施领域、规划和住房项目以及社会救助和福利四个分面进行了改革。本文介绍了这次改革的基本内容,提出它具有三个特点:以工商业阶层和专业人士为主导;受到美英两国的影响,但强调适合自身的需要;在城市公共事业领域里公私两种所有制相互补充。同时认为,它以工商业者整体利益为核心建立的管理机制,既可以让工商业阶层利用良好的城市环境发展经济,又能发挥他们监督城市财政的本能。然而,改革过分强调经济效率而忽视了社会公平,如何有效地监督行政人员和发挥市民在城市事务中的作用也是以后需要解决的问题。     

The Recent Evolution of Ontario Central Place Systems in the Light of Christaller's Concept of Centrality

Christaller's model is used to establish the central place importance of principal Ontario cities at ten-year intervals between 1930 and 1971. Newspaper circulation data are used to determine centrality and linkages within central place systems. The evolving central place pattern exhibits considerable overall structural stability, but new systems are constantly emerging. Patterns of territorial and hierarchical change are repetitive and result in ever more complex and more highly integrated central place systems. The continuing contribution of Christaller's approach is demonstrated.
Le modéle de Christaller est utilise afié de déterminer importance de la fonction régionale des villes principales de 1'Ontario, tous les dix ans entre 1930 et 1971. Une série d'informa-tions sur le tirage des journaux sert de base pour déterminer l'importance de cette fonction et les liens a l'intérieure des systemès de places centrales. La répartition des places centrales est caracterisée par une stabilité globale dans ses éléments principaux, mais des nouveaux systemes se développent constamment. La dynamique du changement territorial et hiérar-chique se répète, et mène à des systèmes de places centrales de plus en plus complexes et de plus en plus intégrés. Cette étude, done, démontre la contribution unique et permanente de l'approche de Christaller.     

The contested meanings of home for women caring for children with long-term care needs in Ontario,Canada

Home as a place of caring is theorized using the literature from geography, sociology, housing and feminist studies. To support our theorization, grounded theory is used to capture and interpret the experiences of women caring for children with long-term care needs in the home. Eleven semi-structured interviews conducted with women in Ontario, Canada uncovered differences in the way the women perceived their homes and highlighted their multiple and complex experiences. The findings revealed three key issues. First, women do not want their homes to be completely defined by long-term care activities as many other types of activities are situated in their homes. Second, long-term care activities and schedules are not segregated but become deeply embedded and enmeshed within the spatial and temporal practices and processes of family life. Third, the meanings, characteristics and ideal of ‘home’ portrayed in popular culture and the academic literature often clashed with what the women experienced on a daily basis. Analysis revealed the tensions surrounding ‘reconstructing spaces in the home’ and ‘the home as a private and public place’ which are indicative of the women's struggles with the disjuncture between the ideal and lived home. The women's experiences challenge us to consider new ways of theorizing the home, and the home when it is a place where long-term care is provided.     

Iktomi in the Land of the Maymaygwayshi: Understanding Lived Experience in the Practice of Archaeology Among American Indians/First Nations

In discussions concerning American Indians/First Nations and the practice of archaeology in North America, the issues are typically presented in a polarized fashion with American Indians/First Nations on one side and archaeologists on the other. Frequently the literature discusses how archaeologists should modify their practice in response to the needs of American Indian communities. Very little of the literature looks at the roles and challenges faced by American Indians who choose to pursue archaeology. This paper addresses this latter issue by examining my own work among First Nations communities in Ontario, Canada. Through the lens of ‘lived experience’, I will examine the interplay of identity, personal and communal histories, and the contemporary situation of my self and the First Nations communities I worked with, looking at how having ‘insider’ knowledge can be both useful and a handicap in fieldwork.     

Holocene paleoshorelines,water levels and submerged prehistoric site potential of Rice Lake (Ontario,Canada)

Rice Lake, located in the eastern Great Lakes of North America, has a high density of prehistoric (11–0.5 ka BP) terrestrial archaeological sites. It has been speculated that a large number of sites are submerged on the lakebed, as lake levels have risen >9 m since the arrival of Early Paleoindian peoples (∼11 ka BP). In order to better understand the submerged landscape and its archaeological potential, a detailed bathymetric survey and sediment-coring program was conducted across a 30-km² area of northeastern Rice Lake. Changes in Holocene water levels and shoreline positions were reconstructed by integrating core data with a digital elevation and bathymetric model (DEBM) that accounted for differential isostatic uplift and basin sedimentation. The DEBM was used to generate a series of maps showing changes in the lake paleobathmetry and paleogeography and areas of prehistoric archaeological potential.