Date of Award
2006
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Anthropology
Supervisor
Dr. Regna Darnell
Second Advisor
Dr. Karl Hele
Abstract
The Caldwell First Nation is a small Chippewa community that lives scattered throughout the central Great Lakes region and has persisted for over 150 years without a land base. This thesis examines the dialogic processes through which this Band has been able to collectively remain as a community long after their dislocation from Point Pelee and Pelee Island. This ethnohistoric and ethnographic project explores the way that academic research and this Aboriginal community have intersected and conflicted, in order to develop a methodological approach that is both academically rigorous and respectful of the concerns of the community. Through the integration of ethnographic fieldwork and archival research, this thesis examines oral histories from contemporary Caldwell descendents, along with the recorded histories of Caldwell leaders, in order to demonstrate that persistence of this Aboriginal community is primarily the result of their collective maintenance of oral histories. Despite being displaced, this community has persisted through narratives.
Recommended Citation
Conley, K. Jack, "The Persistence of the Caldwell First Nation without a Land Base" (2006). Digitized Theses. 4672.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4672