Constructing and Enforcing the “Medicine Line”: A Comparative Analysis of Indian Policy on the North American Frontier

The national self-images of the United States and Canada have been shaped, in part, by their contrasting histories and mythologies of westward expansion and nation-building. Those narratives are most distinct with regard to government policies toward aboriginal peoples on either side of the 49th parallel, what Indians called “the medicine line.” The purpose of this article is two fold: (1) to specify and develop a three-part conceptual framework (consisting of the Turnerian discourse, the Lipset Thesis, and Borderlands Studies) for examining the history of the North American frontier and (2) utilizing a wide range of scholarly literature, to apply that framework in a comparative analysis of national policies toward Indians and First Nations in the post–Civil War/post–Confederation period on the Great Plains and Prairies. Several explanatory factors for cross-national difference will be identified and examined, including variance in geography and geology; demography, demographic trends, and political pressures in each country; the types of national political institutions and their impact on policymaking; and the types of forces deployed in the West (the Mounties and the US Army).     

Late Iron Age transculturalism in the northern “periphery”: understanding the long-term prehistoric occupational area of Viinivaara E,Finland

The Late Iron Age of northern Finland is often approached through an ethnic perspective. Archaeological sites are defined as local or foreign and, accordingly, linked to either Sámi or non-Sámi groups. In recent decades, the concept of transculturalism and mixing of cultural traits has been discussed by several researchers, and their work has shown that such categorizations can be questioned. Correspondingly, certain sites and artifacts found in the northern parts of Finland seem to relate to interactions and contacts instead of ethnic backgrounds. One such site was excavated at Viinivaara E in 2013 and 2014. Based on the fieldwork, the site can be linked to encounters and cultural exchange between local groups and visitors. The entangled nature of the site is understood by taking into consideration its location and landscape, but also by examining the archaeological and historical conception of Late Iron Age northern Finland in general. Further, transcultural dynamics present at the site are also tied to social development on a broader temporal and spatial scale.     

Looking Out to Look In: The Use of the Periphery in China's Geopolitical Narratives

Using a previous paper published in Eurasian Geography and Economics (Agnew, 2012) as a point of departure, an American geographer and specialist on China explores the role of the periphery (frontier, borderlands) in forging perceptions of China's place in the world. By presenting counter-narratives to the myth of a singular Chinese culture/ethnicity spreading inexorably from a Yellow River hearth region over five millennia, the author demonstrates how the Chinese have "looked out" (i.e., used a complex and seemingly alien frontier space) in order to "look in" (mark a "Chinese" identity as culturally homogeneous even when it was not). The paper examines how this process worked through time to repeatedly reinvent an unambiguous and knowable China from histories of intermixing, ambiguity, and spatial complexity. It contrasts a Mao-era perspective of a periphery marking the leading edge of an expanding and homogeneous Chinese culture with post-Mao and post-socialist narratives, which view the periphery more as a "contact zone" between China and its neighbors, where Han ethnicity and Chinese civilization alike are viewed as having absorbed external influences.     

Explaining Canada–US Differences in Attitudes Toward Crime and Justice: An Empirical Test of S.M. Lipset’s Account

Despite cultural similarities between Canada and the United States, some observers contend that significant differences remain in attitudes and values between the two countries. For example, Lipset has observed that “efforts to distinguish Canada and the United States almost invariably point to the greater respect for law and order and those who uphold it north of the border”. Lipset’s argument is that Canadian values are based on the nation’s founding principles of “Peace, Order and Good Government” while American values stem from the country’s revolutionary origins and are based on the values of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We test Lipset’s observations, and those of some of his critics, using parallel surveys administered to university students in two institutions on either side of the Canada–US border. This is a very demanding test of his arguments so the supportive evidence we uncover for his arguments is significant.     

The (un)lettered frontier: power and literacy in the eastern Andes of Charcas,seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries

In colonial Latin America, notaries played a critical role in the generation of written, objective truth in an uncertain world. But were notaries indispensable? By the mid-seventeenth century, Spanish communities in the eastern Andean borderlands of the Audiencia of Charcas had not only begun to do without notaries, but even actively and sometimes violently kept them out of their jurisdictions. Borderland communities became spheres of legal activity where the ability to create law without notaries implied not only the transfer of writerly resources to new agents, but also a shift in the modalities of power and authority within the frontier. The impact of such a legal regime was not merely local. At times, frontier officials used their ability to create un-notarized documents as a tool to resist the spatial hierarchies of center and periphery, sometimes neutralizing the claims of officials in the Audiencia of Charcas to jurisdiction over local matters, while actively promoting local ties to the king.     

Time to Say Goodbye

Tim Hortons’ first donut store was established in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1964; other stores were added over time as the chain gradually diffused across Canada to become the country’s largest quick-service restaurant chain with more than 2,400 restaurants. In achieving this dominant status it adopted one of the strategies of any successful restaurant chain; utilizing a uniform architectural style to emphasize to customers the consistency in its menu and operations. This article examines the processes underlying the development of the Tim Hortons brand and the diffusion of its restaurants into the US, specifically the appearance of their restaurants in the Great Lakes borderlands. The study found a consistent architectural style in Ontario but several different styles in Michigan and New York. It is suggested that this lack of consistency in brand identification in its US restaurants is a contributory factor to their lack of profitability and smaller sales.